50 research outputs found

    24th Nordic Conference on Computational Linguistics (NoDaLiDa)

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    Board diversity in the pursuit of environmental, social and governance goals: a United-Arab-Emirates-based study

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    This qualitative, empirical study explores the influence of board diversity on the attainment of environmental, social and governance (ESG) objectives within organisations based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Building upon existing literature, this research explores the connection between board diversity and ESG objectives in a novel context. Through the thematic analysis of data derived from interviews with 42 board members from UAE-based firms, the study identifies four key themes. The themes are: (i) social resources, (ii) knowledge resources, (iii) contextual resources and (iv) community resources. The findings reveal that diverse board members contribute social resources through their access to various networks, such as senior networks, government networks, international networks and expert networks. The research also underscores the importance of directors possessing extensive professional and educational connections. The study offers a comprehensive review of the knowledge resources available among board members by examining skills, cognitive diversity and demographic diversity. The results demonstrate that contextual resources, such as culture and religion, significantly affect the implementation of ESG objectives. Upon analysing the data, community resources, including geographic and representational diversity, were found to considerably influence the execution of ESG objectives. These findings enrich resource dependence theory (RDT) by pinpointing specific resources that stem from board diversity, as seen from the perspective of board members themselves. The study offers valuable insights for the development of existing literature and for policymakers in formulating regulations pertaining to ESG and board diversity in the UAE and other Gulf region economies

    STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT IN SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING IN INDONESIA

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    This research aims to understand the ways the preparers of sustainability reports in Indonesia embed stakeholder engagement in sustainability reporting. This research seeks to understand the perceived role of stakeholder engagement in sustainability reporting and examines whether the report preparers decouple their stakeholder engagement disclosures from the actual practices. The neo-institutional theory is used to illuminate the companies’ non-conformity responses to institutional influences. This research utilises mixed methods by deploying questionnaires, sustainability reports and semi-structured interviews. The questionnaire survey was analysed using descriptive statistics. The interviews were conducted face-to-face and analysed using thematic analysis. Content analysis of stakeholder engagement disclosures was also undertaken on the 2007 to 2018 sustainability reports issued by the companies participating in the interviews. The findings of this research reveal that the report preparers attempt to embed stakeholder engagement in the companies’ sustainability reporting in response to coercive, normative and mimetic influences. However, stakeholder engagement is loosely embedded as a result of contextualising the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)’s conception of stakeholder engagement into Indonesia’s local contexts. Stakeholder engagement is perceived as having important roles in mandatory corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes and materiality assessment to define the report content. External stakeholders are engaged more inclusively in the former whereas internal stakeholders take control of the latter. It is not evident that the report preparers in Indonesia decouple stakeholder engagement disclosures from practices. However, the ways in which the companies practise their stakeholder engagement (means) deviate from the goals of stakeholder engagement suggested by the GRI’s principles for defining the report content (ends), known as the means-ends decoupling. The report preparers in Indonesia accept the GRI’s concept by meeting the suggested indicators, but unintentionally overlook the GRI’s principles that are required to be implemented as a new institution, rather than intentionally avoiding them. The main contribution of this research to the literature is that it provides insights into the need to embed stakeholder engagement in sustainability reporting in an integral way, including by translating the GRI’s global conception into local context. This research also provides insights into the presumption that ‘companies report the practice’ of stakeholder engagement in sustainability reporting—as suggested by the GRI and the extant literature. Just because the companies report the practice (means) by making reference to the GRI, it does not necessarily follow that the companies have conformed to the goals of stakeholder engagement suggested by the GRI’s principles for defining the report content (ends). Taking into full consideration Indonesia’s politicoeconomic, sociocultural and legal contexts, which can be dissimilar to other local contexts, this research contributes to an understanding of decoupling, especially the means-ends decoupling, which tends to be unintentional in the companies’ non-acquiescent response to institutional influences. The decoupling indicates that the report preparers consider the GRI’s stakeholder engagement indicators as technical prescriptions leading to box-ticking activities, rather than being thoroughly understood and implemented as a new institution. Besides, this research offers a practical contribution in that the companies’ sustainability reporting consultants could shepherd their clients’ stakeholder engagement, guided by the GRI standards (previously called guidelines), to go beyond merely meeting the GRI indicators and producing ‘nice to read’ sustainability reports

    Journalism in Turkey

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    Journalism in Turkey has an ambivalent characteristic. On the one hand, the social demand for genuine journalism has increased, and on the other hand, news has turned into a tool within the polluted political polarization atmosphere. In the age of fake news and post-truth, practices of journalism in Turkey both contain significantly striking examples of how media professionals overcome the barriers and also give some clues about the changing nature of journalism. The book examines the deep crisis mainstream media experience in Turkey. New-born media institutions, alternatives, their start-up strategies, and transformation of journalism field are scrutinized by qualitative and quantitative methods. The book aims to present a current picture of journalism in Turkey by underlining both historical continuities and breaks from the tradition

    National Identity of Arab Citizens in Israel: A Socio-Educational Study of the Palestinian Minority in the “Hand in Hand” Bilingual Schools

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    Wydział Studiów EdukacyjnychNiniejsze studium badawcze ukazuje kształtowanie się tożsamości narodowej ucznia arabskiego w szkołach dwujęzycznych w Izraelu. Badania kontynuują twierdzenia większości badaczy, przedstawione w przeglądzie literatury, dotyczące sytuacji i jakości arabskiego systemu edukacji w Izraelu, w zakresie kształcenia, osiągnięć oraz rozwoju osobowości i tożsamości arabskiego ucznia. Stwierdzono, że podręczniki i ich treść oraz cele państwowej edukacji w Izraelu całkowicie ignorują potrzeby arabskiego ucznia w państwowych publicznych szkołach arabskich w Izraelu, w wymiarze osobistym, społecznym, kulturowym i narodowym. W wyniku rozczarowania intelektualnego społeczeństwa arabskiego sytuacją i jakością nauczania w szkołach arabskich we wszystkich dziedzinach, zaczął się ostatnio rozwijać trend "edukacji alternatywnej". Arabscy rodzice zaczynają szukać, a nawet zakładać prywatne szkoły jako alternatywę dla szkół publicznych. Ponieważ w publicznych szkołach arabskich nie ma edukacji narodowej, ani formalnej, ani nieformalnej, pole badawcze dotyczyło rozwoju tożsamości narodowej w szkołach dwujęzycznych należących do Stowarzyszenia Hand in Hand. W badaniach własnych autorka przyjęła strategię badań o charakterze jakościowym. W badaniach wykorzystano wywiady półstrukturalne, a populacja badawcza składała się z dwunastu arabskich nauczycieli, dwunastu arabskich absolwentów, dwunastu arabskich rodziców i trzech arabskich dyrektorów. Wszyscy badani pochodzili ze szkół dwujęzycznych. Wyniki badań wskazują na rozwój trendu alternatywnej edukacji prywatnej w społeczeństwie arabskim. Ponadto stwierdzono, że szkoły dwujęzyczne, będące szkołami dwunarodowymi, odniosły sukces w realizacji swojej roli w zakresie jakości kształcenia, w aspekcie pedagogicznym, społecznym i kulturowym oraz w kształtowaniu i wzmacnianiu osobistej i narodowej tożsamości arabskiego ucznia w większym stopniu, niż jednonarodowe publiczne szkoły arabskie. Tajemnicą tego sukcesu jest "jakość" rodziców, którzy posyłają swoje dzieci do tych szkół. Dotyczy to zarówno rodziców izraelskich, jak i arabskich, z których większość należy do wyższej klasy społeczno-ekonomicznej i którzy uznają znaczenie dobrej edukacji dla swoich dzieci. Edukacja ta uwzględnia kształtowanie osobowości ucznia i dostrzega jego podmiotowość. Równie ważne są wartości edukacji humanistycznej oraz efektywne nauczanie.This research study shows the formation of the national identity of the Arab student in the bilingual schools in Israel. This research study continues the assertion of most researchers, as presented in the review of the literature, about the situations and quality of the Arab education system in Israel, in terms of teaching-pedagogy, achievements, and the development of the personality and the identity of the Arab student. It was found that the “core” studies, the textbooks and their contents, and the goals of state education in Israel ignore completely the needs of the Arab student in the state public Arab schools in Israel, in personal, social, cultural, and national terms. As a result of the disappointment of intellectual Arab society with the situation and quality of teaching in the Arab schools with all the areas, there began to develop recently the trend of “alternative education”, in which the Arab parents begin to search for and even to establish themselves private schools as an alternative to the public schools. Since in the public Arab schools there is no national education, whether formal or informal, the research field addressed the development of the national identity in the bilingual schools that belong to the Hand in Hand Association. The research method is qualitative. The research instruments were semi-structured interviews, when the research population consisted of twelve Arab teachers, twelve Arab graduates, twelve Arab parents, and three Arab principals, all from the bilingual schools. The research result is the development of a trend of alternative private education in Arab society. In addition, it was found that the bilingual schools, which are binational schools, succeeded in implementing their role in terms of the quality of education, in the pedagogical, social, and cultural aspects in general and in the formation and reinforcement of the Arab student’s personal and national identity in particular, more than did the single-national public Arab schools. The secret of this success is the “quality” of the parents who send their children to these schools, both Jews and Arabs, most of whom belong to the upper class in social-economic terms and who recognize the importance of a good education for their children in the aspects of the formation of the student’s personality, the student at the center, the values of a humanist education, as well as good instruction

    Employing Master Narratives to Theorise the Missing Men in Higher Education:a grounded theory case study in the UAE

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    There has been significant international progress in female participation in education with a vast amount of research dedicated to the subject. However, more recently a reverse gender gap has emerged in several areas of the world including West Africa, North America, Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe, the UK, and the MENA region. In the UAE this reverse gender gap includes female students significantly outnumbering male students at tertiary level. However, quality data on the issue is relatively lacking, especially when compared to the gender gap literature focusing on girls in education, thus the reasons behind the “missing men” are not well understood. Employing a social constructionist grounded theory design and a responsive interviewing technique, this study emerged into three distinct stages using Ras Al Khaimah, a northern emirate in the UAE, as a case study. In Stage 1, the favourable response given by most of the male “no shows” in continuing their studies contradicted the reality wherein only a minority of young men attend tertiary education each year in the UAE. In recognition of my “cultural outsiderness”, in Stage 2 I referred to male and female Emiratis who shared a cultural and historical context with the young men to describe, explain and exemplify the concepts and themes from Stage 1, before returning to the target demographic in Stage 3. Embracing the complexity of the issue, this thesis provides a nuanced understanding of the missing men in the research context while demonstrating the capacity of the theoretical framework of master narratives to incorporate research and theories from different academic fields, meeting the call from several of the cited scholars for a greater integration of scholarly research. In particular, I suggest that master narratives provide a valuable conceptual tool to “undress” patriarchy and open up the discussion on masculinities, facilitating an interdisciplinary growth of theory. The findings suggest that patterns of male participation are affected by a combination of the country’s demographic situation, socioeconomic history, and evolving sociocultural practices. A master narrative framed in terms of autonomy and relatedness, imbued with patriarchy, was seen to be of particular importance in the research context. Adding to the existing body of knowledge on psychological needs, I contend that a need for security is the driving force behind these young men’s autonomy and relatedness seeking behaviours

    Pension Reforms in Viet Nam: Voices of Local Citizenry

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    Many developing countries have reformed their national pension systems in response to ageing populations and to increase pension scheme participation. The World Bank has been active in pension reforms in developing countries since the 1990s, and Vietnamese pension reforms since 2004 have reflected many proposals of the World Bank – a leading international donor to Viet Nam since 1993. There have been many criticisms of the World Bank’s pension privatisation proposals for developing countries – for example, the World Bank did not take into account country-specific environmental factors such as financial market conditions and regulatory capacity, and it focused on economic growth rather than old-age poverty reduction. This research studies whether the Vietnamese pension reforms, with the World Bank as an active agent, have taken into account the concerns and expectations of an important stakeholder group: the Vietnamese people. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and a survey of Vietnamese people. The findings from interviews and the survey were analysed with reference to the World Bank’s proposals for Viet Nam and changes in Vietnamese legislation. The aim of the research is to explore the extent to which the World Bank, with its global power, and the Vietnamese government, with its dependence on global finance and technical knowledge, have responded to concerns and expectations of Vietnamese people

    Mastery of Hanyu Pinyin of Non-native Speakers

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    Proficiency in third language is a much-needed added value present day. Third language learning has been highlighted in the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013 - 2025. One of the skills that needs to be mastered by students is communication in social situations using Malay, English and an additional language. There is an increase of trend in primary and tertiary educational institutions in Malaysia offering foreign language courses. Mandarin has become one of the most popular elective course options among students due to the factor of better career opportunities in the future. Hence, the purpose of this study is to examine the non-native speakers’ mastery in Hanyu Pinyin at the early stage. This study uses a survey to answer the main research questions. With the aim of achieving the research main goal, a survey will be conducted accordingly. Questionnaire instruments will be given to the students taking Mandarin language subjects at a public university. The findings of this study are expected to elevate the university, especially the for the academicians to produce high quality graduates with the ability to speak a third language fluently. On top of that, it will also enhance the university's reputation with outstanding student achievement, thus benefiting national development especially in international relations

    Understanding informal caregivers' use of assistive technologies in Mexico during their dementia caregiver experience

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    Dementia is a long-term progressive condition with no cure that is considered to be a major public health priority worldwide. Currently, 60% of people with dementia (PwD) reside in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and by 2040 the number will increase to 71%. Families from these countries are being overwhelmed by the increased numbers of cases as the depleted health infrastructures and lack of governmental support mean that families have to rely on informal caregivers (ICs) to provide essential support and care. By 2050, Latin American countries, such as Mexico and Brazil, will experience an increase of >400% in the number of dementia cases. The World Health Organization (WHO) stated in 2017 as part of their “Global action plan on public health response to dementia” that culture- and community-specific approaches need to be developed and implemented in LMICs. They argued that this need emerged from the results of various studies on LMICs that showed how each country interpreted dementia differently. Cultural interpretations have been shown to influence the dementia caregiving experience directly. However, only few studies have been conducted about ICs of PWDs from LMICs. Hence, the need to understand the complexities of the dementia caregiver’s experiences within LMICs. In-home technologies, such as Assistive Technologies (ATs), have been shown to be effective in dementia care to improve the quality of life of the PwD and alleviate the IC’s caregiver burden. However, only a few studies have evaluated the usefulness of ATs in LMICs and no research has been conducted on the experiences of ICs with ATs in LMICs. This thesis explores the lived experiences of ICs of PwD in Mexico, a country in which ATs are used as part of their caregiving role. The study adopted a phenomenological approach, the aim of which was to understand the role and impact of ATs in the caregiving role and caregiving experience. Nine ICs of PwD in Mexico participated in in-depth semi-structured interviews. The data were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) in two parts: an idiographic analysis of the first-person accounts of each participant and a cross-case analysis that examined the convergences and divergences of their experiences across the group. The findings from the study revealed that, to a certain extent, all of the participants went through five stages during their lived experiences as caregivers. The ICs subconsciously divided the lengthy path of their caregiving experiences into two phases: pre-AT usage and AT usage. The stages were established as: 1) emotional triggers; 2) avoidance; 3) personal values assessment; 4) self-forgiveness; and 5) acceptance (i.e., of the disease). During the pre-AT usage phase (stages 1-4), participants attributed a combination of different negative feelings and double caring responsibilities as the factors that motivated them to acquire an AT and care for their own well-being, as well as that of the PwD. It was revealed during the second stage, the AT usage phase (stages 4-5), that the ICs’ interactions with ATs were complex. On the one hand, the participants concentrated on testing, accepting and appropriating the AT to fit their own needs. On the other hand, it was revealed that ATs mediated the experience and, as a consequence, influenced the ICs’ roles and caregiver experiences. This thesis provides a new, and in-depth, understanding of some of the complexities that derive from the dementia caregiver’s experience in Mexico, an LMIC. It also provides an insight into the human-technology relationship that develops from daily interactions with the AT and how it influences the essence of the caregiver experience. Recommendations are made for designers and developers of ATs for use in the care of PwD based on the findings from this study
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