"Brain-drain" in an era of business and socio-economic uncertainty: the role of diversity training in managing social integration at the workplace. The case of Greece and Portugal

Purpose: This study examines the extent to which diversity training is being used in workplaces in the UK to better integrate migrant workers. The paper also aims at assessing the perceived challenges and benefits that diversity training may produce for individuals in an era of economic and social uncertainty and insecurity. The underlying reasons that made many highly-skilled individuals to emigrate would also be highlighted. Most importantly though, the paper aims at initiating a discussion as to what extent diversity training could facilitate their social integration at the workplace. Thus, to better serve its purpose, the study explores Greek and Portuguese migrant workers' perceptions of the phenomenon under investigation. Design/Methodology/Approach: Individuals who left Greece and Portugal for UK were identified as the target audience of this research. Due to time and access constraints, web-based social and professional networks proved to offer the best solution in accessing our sample population. The snowball technique was also utilised (recommendations from existing participants). For instance, Facebook was one amongst them by accessing various Greek and Portuguese community groups. Additionally, several professional sub-groups within Linkedin resulted to higher participation. Further to that, specific levels of integration were suggested (e.g. participants' intention to stay in the organisation, social support from British colleagues, type of diversity training programmes, psychological & work-related distress etc.) so to better evaluate the extent to which diversity training could facilitate their social integration at the workplace. So far, 56 people have successfully completed the survey questionnaire, yet with a response rate to be quite low compared to the members within the respective groups. Findings: Research evidence describes "brain-drain" as an intriguing and important issue both within the organisational and national contexts. The findings of this study indicate that crisis, low wages, and limited career advancement opportunities are amongst the most important reasons reported by respondents. On one hand, research participants reported an overall mediocre or inexistent diversity training programmes implemented within their workplaces. As a result, their social integration was difficult, with some participants indicating high levels of marginalisation within the workplace. In contrary, there were others suggesting that diversity training have offered them the social support being required to effectively integrate within the organisational and work settings. A large majority of our research participants outlined the importance of diversity training as a means of social integration at work. To this extent, the research could make a strong argument that diversity training can be viewed as a means to better integrate migrant workers at the workplace. Originality/Value: The research is expected to offer both theoretical and practical recommendations. The paper offers an association between the "social integration" paradigm and the institutional perspective by suggesting that the two elements of social integration at work (e.g. social connectedness & work context) can facilitate migrant workers’ social integration at work, while concurrently to eliminate its negative aspects. A brain-mobility process has dominated the headlines of most global media over the last 9-10 years, since the global financial crisis commenced. Final research findings and suggestions could constitute the starting point of future research within different national contexts; thus, to offer a comparison amongst people and nations over the phenomenon under investigation

Information Entropy-based Social Capital Measure Method of Online Influential Users

Measuring online user influence is a major research topic in social marketing performance maximization. In this study, we comprehensively investigate how online influential users gain, accumulate, and use their social capital from the perspective of information resource management and social capital measurement. First, we define the social capital of online influential users and the attribute characters and relationships reflected fully by personality and sociality index data. We then construct a social capital measurement indicator system and information entropy model of online users. After the calculations of this model, we finally forma social capital measure method of online influential users. The rationality and validity of proposed model are tested by experimental study on real datasets

The South African youth employment programmes: exploring the experiences of young black African parents in Johannesburg.

Mini Dissertation (MSS (Gender Studies))--University of Pretoria, 2022.The high rate of youth unemployment in Johannesburg and the increased demand for highly skilled job seekers have created a need for effective youth employment programmes which aim to bridge this gap. To determine the impact of youth employment programmes on young parents’ participation, we examined their experience as beneficiaries of such programmes and the identities they derived from the programme using a multi-case study approach. A semi-structured text-based interview was conducted with 12 participants aged between 18 and 35 years old who resided or participated in youth employment programmes in Johannesburg. The participants came from varying experiences regarding parenthood and internship participation. The results indicated that young parents who participated in youth employment programmes faced new financial and emotional challenges. Additionally, all the participants strongly requested that the youth employment programmes be enhanced with additional resources to support youth in gaining permanent employment and extend the programme to two years. A prominent identity uncovered was resilience fatigue identity and the impact of COVID-19 and youth employment programmes on exacerbating and providing financial and emotional relief for young parents. The results also indicated that youth employment programmes might positively impact young parents and position them as active contributors to their community. The findings suggest that the current format and duration of the youth employment programmes may need to be reviewed, with particular attention paid to integrating developmental elements.SociologyMSocSci (Gender Studies)Unrestricte

FAMILY TIES: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FAMILY AND WORKFORCE BEHAVIORS (RETENTION, SEPARATION, AND RE-ENTRY) IN THE ROYAL AUSTRALIAN AIR FORCE’S OFFICER AVIATION WORKFORCE

The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) delivers air power for the Australian Government. To produce and sustain the personnel capability that generates air power, the RAAF must understand the retention and separation behaviors of their Officer Aviation (OA) workforce. Given the tremendous importance that people place on both their families and their careers, this thesis explores the interaction between family and workforce behaviors in the RAAF's OA workforce. Using a series of linear probability models, I investigate the relationships between the separation characteristics of OA members and their family structure and composition. I further investigate the association between family composition and re-entry of OA members into the permanent service (after a period of separation). I find that within OA, being in a recognized relationship has a positive association with a member's retention, and that having children reduces the propensity to separate and increases the chance of re-entry. Parents do, however, separate at an increased rate after their eldest child commences schooling or when their family consists of one child. My research can be used to inform further workforce analysis. With a greater appreciation of the influence of family on employee behaviors, workforce strategists can refine human resource management policy, target specific family constructs, and improve capability generation and sustainment.Squadron Leader, Royal Australian Air ForceApproved for public release. Distribution is unlimited

Neighborhood Experiences and the Co-Construction of Neighborhood, Race, and Gender: A Qualitative Study of a Middle-Class, Latino-White Neighborhood

This dissertation incorporates three distinct bodies of scholarship to bridge theories on: 1) the social construction of community and neighborhood, 2) the social construction of race, and 3) the social construction of gender. In doing so, I identify similarities in these theories by focusing on the symbolic and interactional dimensions. I draw from this theoretical framework to address the research question: for a middle-class neighborhood with a relatively even mix of both whites and Latinos, what are the patterns of neighborhood experiences in terms of race and gender? I develop the multidimensional analytic concept of neighborhood experiences to include neighboring, emotional connections, and neighborhood activities. I draw from qualitative data collected from an Albuquerque, New Mexico neighborhood that I refer to as Las Flores. In particular, I conducted in-depth interviews with neighborhood residents and field notes from neighborhood activities and argue that neighborhood and race are co-constructed and neighborhood and gender are co-constructed. Co-construction refers to how neighborhood is given meaning via race and how race is given meaning via neighborhood. Similarly, gender is given meaning via neighborhood and neighborhood is given meaning via gender. This dissertation presents three main results chapters. First, I explore neighboring interactions and the symbolic meaning given to neighbors, specifically highlighting the concept of friendly distance. Second, I examine emotional connections to the neighborhood and the co-construction of neighborhood and race with results on racial differences in residents\u27 descriptions of sense of belonging, neighborhood history, and neighborhood attachment. Third, I address neighborhood activities and gendered expectations within the neighborhood highlighting how women experienced the neighborhood as mothers and linking these results to the systemic model of community. Taken as a whole, the results point to the significance of examining the co-construction of race and neighborhoods and the co-construction of gender and neighborhoods to better understand neighborhood dynamics in a contemporary, middle-class Albuquerque neighborhood. This dissertation concludes with a discussion of insights, implications, and suggestions for future research

From Bonding to Bridging: Using the Immunity to Change (ITC) Process to Build Social Capital and Create Change

A group of diverse women from various ethnic, religious, socio-economic and generations were brought together over the course of four months to determine if the Immunity to Change (ITC) process (Kegan & Lahey, 2009) would create bridging social capital as well as individual change. The group sessions included a process of assigned readings, discussions, and completion of ITC maps allowing women to reveal their identities and journeys through the sharing of their personal narratives. As a result, many experienced perception transformation regarding issues of gender, leadership, race, and class. The dissertation explores topics of power and privilege, relational leadership, and relational cultural theory in women. The electronic version of this Dissertation is at OhioLink ETD Center, www.ohiolink.edu/et

From Bonding to Bridging: Using the Immunity to Change (ITC) Process to Build Social Capital and Create Change

A group of diverse women from various ethnic, religious, socio-economic and generations were brought together over the course of four months to determine if the Immunity to Change (ITC) process (Kegan & Lahey, 2009) would create bridging social capital as well as individual change. The group sessions included a process of assigned readings, discussions, and completion of ITC maps allowing women to reveal their identities and journeys through the sharing of their personal narratives. As a result, many experienced perception transformation regarding issues of gender, leadership, race, and class. The dissertation explores topics of power and privilege, relational leadership, and relational cultural theory in women. The electronic version of this Dissertation is at OhioLink ETD Center, www.ohiolink.edu/et

Support needs of fathers of children with autism

Fathers of children with autism experience many challenges in adapting to and coping with their roles (Carpenter & Towers, 2008; Fletcher, Vimpani, Russell, & Keatings, 2008; Naseef, 2002). Research on the various aspects of parental support needs, to date, has traditionally focused almost exclusively on the mothers (Flippin & Crais, 2011; Mallers, Charles, Neupert, & Almeida, 2010; Oelofsen & Richardson, 2006; Paynter, Davies, & Beamish, 2018; Potter, 2017a). This study sought to determine what fathers themselves cite as their support needs, and to describe those met and unmet. This mixed-methods study focused on fathers of children with autism who had verbal speech challenges, as determined by the Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ; Rutter, Bailey, Berument, Lord, & Pickles, 2003). Participants were recruited via postings on nationwide autism organization web sites. Survey data were collected using an online questionnaire that included questions from existing validated instruments (the SCQ; The Fathers of Children with Developmental Challenges questionnaire, Ly & Goldberg, 2014; the Modified Convoy Model, Smith, Greenberg & Seltzer, 2012) and several generated by the researcher. Survey responses from 52 fathers were analyzed using descriptive and correlational methods. In addition, interviews were conducted with ten fathers. These data were analyzed by methods informed by grounded theory to identify themes. The results of this study largely supported existing research, although they gave a fuller picture of what fathers of children with autism believe that they need for support. Major themes found were that adjustment and raising children is difficult, adjustment is possible, and specific supports would have been helpful. The major supports suggested were (a) a specific early plan given by the time that they leave the initial diagnostic examination, (b) help with developing a useful support network of others who understand their situation, including peers, mentors and fathers-only support groups, and (c) receiving adequate respite to achieve breaks from childcare and time to be a couple with their spouses. Implications for practice are provided, based on the data collected

The meanings of the 'struggle/fight metaphor' in the special needs domain: the experiences of practitioners and parents of children with high functioning autism spectrum conditions

The special needs domain has long been recognised as problematic and adversarial. Much research has focused on areas of contention, such as the relationships between parents and practitioners, especially in educational settings, or on problems within the structure and operation of the domain. This study adopts a whole system approach in combining discussion of the structural basis of tension within the domain with an investigation of how both parents and practitioners describe, experience and respond to tensions within the special needs domain; such tensions being viewed as facets of the 'struggle' and 'fight' metaphor. Whole systems approaches are derived from the systems discipline, which developed initially out of the nineteenth century interest in organic and engineering systems, but more recently has focused on organisational and inter-organisational arrangements, including the part people play in enabling or disabling such arrangements. It is a strongly interdisciplinary approach more commonly found in organisational studies than in the social sciences more generally. Fifteen practitioners, from health and education settings, and twelve parents of children and young people with diagnoses of high functioning autism spectrum conditions participated in the study. The participants' stories of their experiences of the special needs domain were collected using a narrative inquiry approach. The data was analysed using concepts and theoretical frameworks derived from the work of Pierre Bourdieu, Uri Bronfenbrenner and Charles Wright Mills. An exploration of the influences shaping the special needs domain revealed a number of areas of unresolved tension, some of which result in tensions for those involved in the domain such as can be described as 'fight', and some of which might be addressed by structural changes to the systems comprising the special needs domain such as those envisaged in forthcoming legislation. However importantly the empirical study found that many tensions and struggles experienced by both parents and practitioners did not emanate from the structures of the domain and therefore were unlikely to be amenable to structural changes. Parents 'struggle' to maintain their identity as 'good' parents, to acquire information and to navigate the system in order to access services and resources. Practitioners experience conflict as they seek to access information and training, engage in the complex choreography of cooperating and collaborating in interagency and interprofessional working and endeavour to harmonise their professional practice with agency and public policy priorities. The thesis concludes with a brief discussion of the relationship between whole system approaches and other interdisciplinary approaches to investigating complex problems in the human sciences. It is suggested that systems diagramming techniques such as systems mapping and rich pictures are useful additions to the sociologist's toolkit