Breaking barriers or locked out? Class-based perceptions and experiences of postsecondary education

This article provides an overview of objective and subjective class differences in experiences of postsecondary education. Using the metaphor of a funnel, it argues that cumulative disadvantage results when first-generation and low-income college students are disproportionately filtered out at each stage of the postsecondary education process. Subjective class differences largely serve to reproduce existing inequalities, although the potential for transformation exists. This article considers inequalities during childhood and the transition to adulthood, stratification within institutions, and class differences in postsecondary educational enrollment, attendance, college life, work, financial aid, and attainment. Directions for future research and program and policy interventions are outlined.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/58086/1/208_ftp.pd

China's coal industry transformation: performance, challenges and prospects

This thesis examines the performance, challenges and prospects of the Chinese coal industry under transformation in the market transition period from 1993 to date. The term 'transformation' is used intentionally to distinguish it from 'transition', which is more commonly used. While issues arising from state-ownership are central in an economic transition, the tenn 'transformation' also takes into account the existence of China's other specific challenges including the many small scale mines, poor mining safety, and pressure on the industry's prospects resulting from increasingly stringent environmental regulations. ... Based on the results of empirical and quantitative analysis, several policy recommendations are proposed which include deepening market reforms of State-owned coal mines through privatisation or relinquishment of state ownership, changes of corporation governance and debt restructuring; and improving governance of small coal mining through improvement of the legal and fiscal frameworks and building of SCM's capacity. The participation of stakeholders is useful in the process of improving safety and regularising small coal mining. The formulation of industrial policies such as participating in the unemployment insurance system, promoting export liberalisation, strengthening mining consolidation, are also recommended. The thesis also argues that the policy of simply closing down mines in China is impractical and ineffective, and that a better alternative is to govern their development through regularisation. The thesis also outlines some directions for future research into the coal industry's transformation.Rio Tinto-ANU China Partnership, ANU-PKU exchange program, Vice-Chancellor's travel gran

The Development of Financial Markets in Poland

This project analyzing the development of Polish financial markets sponsored by the USAID grant was aimed at examining selected problems of the banking system and financial markets in Poland. The main criterion for selection of these problems was their potential usefulness for policy-makers at the present stage of the economic transformation. The studies within the project address the issues that require special attention of policy-makers in their efforts to design future stages of the economic transformation and to formulate a program of effective preparations for the EU accession. The topics examined include: the advancement of risk management in the banking system, the economic and legal aspects of capital account liberalization, contagion effects of world financial crises, and sensitivity of financial markets to Exchange rate policies. The studies find visible improvements in the methodology of risk management in the banking system in Poland and in the institutional framework of financial markets. It is further suggested that a larger participation of foreign, more experienced banks Gould improve efficiency of Poland's financial institutions. It remains debatable whether the banks ought to evolve in the directions of universal or specialized institutions. The financial system is prone to contagion effects of external financial crises as documented by the impact of the Asian and the Russian crisis episodes. Several measures aimed at developing an effective cushion against potential contagion effects of financial crisis are proposed. They include: an effective system of bank monitoring and supervision, a lower reliance on debt in relation to equity, a low (less than a multiple of three) ratio of M2 money to foreign exchange reserves, a higher degree of transparency of financial institutions, more transparent fiscal and monetary policies, and a significant increase in national savings. The advancement of capital account liberalization shall not be restrained by taxes on foreign exchange transactions or by similar measures aimed at containing capital flows. Capital controls could be devastating to still very fragile and volatile Polish financial markets.Financial Markets, Poland

The Development of Financial Markets in Poland

This project analyzing the development of Polish financial markets sponsored by the USAID grant was aimed at examining selected problems of the banking system and financial markets in Poland. The main criterion for selection of these problems was their potential usefulness for policy-makers at the present stage of the economic transformation. The studies within the project address the issues that require special attention of policy-makers in their efforts to design future stages of the economic transformation and to formulate a program of effective preparations for the EU accession. The topics examined include: the advancement of risk management in the banking system, the economic and legal aspects of capital account liberalization, contagion effects of world financial crises, and sensitivity of financial markets to exchange rate policies. The studies find visible improvements in the methodology of risk management in the banking system in Poland and in the institutional framework of financial markets. It is further suggested that a larger participation of foreign, more xperienced banks would improve efficiency of Poland's financial institutions. It remains debatable whether the banks ought to evolve in the directions of universal or specialized nstitutions. The financial system is prone to contagion effects of external financial crises as documented by the impact of the Asian and the Russian crisis episodes. Several measures aimed at developing an effective cushion against potential contagion effects of financial crisis are proposed. They include: an effective system of bank monitoring and supervision, a lower reliance on debt in relation to equity, a low (less than a multiple of three) ratio of M2 money to foreign exchange reserves, a higher degree of transparency of financial institutions, more transparent fiscal and monetary policies, and a significant increase in national savings. The advancement of capital account liberalization shall not be restrained by taxes on foreign exchange transactions or by similar measures aimed at containing capital flows. Capital controls could be devastating to still very fragile and volatile Polish financial markets.

Travel for Transformation: Embracing a Counter-Hegemonic Approach to Transformative Learning in Study Abroad

This article reviews literature from 2006-2016 on study abroad (and other forms of travel) to investigate frameworks that create the best plausible opportunities for transformative learning within study-abroad experiences. According to the literature reviewed, in order to be considered travel for transformation, the travel experience must respect the values and knowledge of the host culture, acknowledge the presence of differences in privilege among study-abroad participants, and utilize environmentally sustainable practices. In addition, the duration, purpose of travel, and degree of immersion plays a significant role in perspective transformation. A repeated benefit to study-abroad programs among the articles indicate that study abroad is better positioned for transformative learning than the traditional classroom environment is that it situates the student in a new context where the place, culture, people, and hopefully the language are “other.” While almost all of the literature reviewed for this article included cautions to avoid essentializing and exploiting the host culture, very little could be found on the possible negative outcomes to participants—and especially the host culture—when students from the United States study in other contexts. Therefore, the author recommends that future research investigate the possibility of study abroad as exploitation of both the host culture and the participants of the study-abroad program

Sustainable planning of cross-border cooperation: a strategy for alliances in border cities

In recent years, cooperation among nations has become a critical issue towards sustainable development of neighbor cities in border areas. In this regard, sustainable common planning approaches and policies are an increasing reality, particularly in European territories. Considering the significant amount of cross-border cooperation (CBC) projects and strategies within Europe, it is crucial to promote research approaches that are able to identify the most positive approaches towards the establishment of alliances in border territories, serving as pivotal methodologies for achieving success. Contextually, the present study considered direct and indirect research methods and tools, literature reviews, data collection, computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) and computer-assisted web interview (CAWI), all applied over two European border cities: Cieszyn (Poland) and Cesky Tesin (Czech Republic). These methods enabled the assembly of perspectives of local authorities, public and private institutions, non-governmental organizations, and entrepreneurs from the cities under study. Through the analysis of the collected data, five conditions have been identified for the success of strategic alliances in CBC projects: (i) well defining the alliance goals; (ii) ensuring participation in the alliance of various groups of stakeholders; (iii) involvement of both partners with extensive experience in CBC; (iv) ensuring the coherence of the key objective; and (v) guaranteeing the alliance benefits both sides. These conditions might effectively contribute to achieve more successful outputs in CBC projects, highlighting the relevance of previously developed strategies on the definition of future approaches.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Preparing Teacher Candidates to Serve Students From Diverse Backgrounds: Triggering Transformative Learning Through Short-Term Cultural Immersion

This study followed 24 teacher candidates in a short-term cultural immersion field experience designed to help them reflect on their assumptions and perspectives in order to better understand the culturally, ethnically, and linguistically diverse students they will teach. Qualitative methods were informed by a phenomenological research approach to examine candidates’ transformative learning experiences in a cultural immersion context. The findings are discussed within a three-stage framework of transformative learning: triggering experiences, frame of reference examination, and transformative change