Women as social entrepreneurs in the hospitality and tourism industry: Does empowerment play a role?

This paper which is a work in progress presents a qualitative study exploring the nature, motivations and extent to which female entrepreneurs use their H&T businesses as platforms for engagement in various forms of social entrepreneurship (SE) leading to value creation, economic and community development. Although SE is seen as a key contributor to the creation and diversification of entrepreneurial activity, women empowerment and local economic development, there is limited research on the role of female H&T entrepreneurs in emerging non -western destinations. We focus on the following research questions: a) Can female entrepreneurs in H&T be considered as social entrepreneurs? b) How does the structure and organization of society shape the nature of female participation in SE? c) What are the challenges involved in mobilizing female entrepreneurs to effectively engage in SE? d) How does SE maximise value creation and higher levels of satisfaction for all participants? Concepts from women-owned H&T enterprises, SE and women empowerment are drawn upon. We argue that women are embedded in male dominated traditions/customs, community associations and government bureaucracies that may either empowered or dis-empower them. Using the case of Cameroon, we examine how embeddedness enhances the capacity of women to engage in SE in the H&T industry, thereby contributing to local economic development. Empirically we adopt a mixed methods approach using multiple case studies: a survey questionnaire, five focus groups meetings (two women -only, one male-only, and two mix of male and female entrepreneurs) and twenty-five in-depth interviews with selected female entrepreneurs (18), (non)governmental organisations (03) and beneficiaries (04) of social enterprise ventures between May 2014 and February 2015. The findings clarify the role of women in SE in H&T and policy implications for maximising social value creation through the participation of women in SE

Engaging Secondary Math Teachers in Breaking Down Barriers for English Learners

This study used mixed methods to examine middle school mathematics teachers’ beliefs about English Learners’ ability to participate in rigorous, grade-level math instruction as well as beliefs about their own capacity for teaching English Learners. Additionally, the study investigated the influence of teachers’ beliefs on their instructional practices and identified the types of support teachers need to develop as culturally and linguistically responsive educators. Findings revealed some dissonance between teachers’ explicit beliefs about teaching English Learners and their implicit beliefs illustrated through instructional decisions made, as well as previously unrecognized gaps in teachers’ ability to identify and differentiate the needs of different types of English learners. Finally, the study identified teachers’ pressing needs for additional support at the school and district levels to continue to develop skills and knowledge to improve their teaching for English learners. The study concluded with an action plan for developing a robust professional learning system to develop teachers’ self-efficacy as culturally and linguistically responsive educators while also addressing implicit bias through reflection

The Influence of Literacy on the Lives of Twentieth Century Southern Female Minority Figures

The American South has long been a region associated with myth and fantasy; in popular culture especially, the region is consistently tied to skewed notions of the antebellum South that include images of large plantation homes, women in hoop skirts, and magnolia trees that manifest in television and film representations such as Gone With the Wind (1939). Juxtaposed with these idealized, mythic images is the hillbilly trope, reinforced by radio shows such as Lum and Abner, and films such as Scatterbrain (1940). Out of this idea comes the southern illiteracy stereotype, which suggests that southerners are collectively unconcerned with education and the pursuit of knowledge. In an effort to examine this idea in the context of literature, this thesis addresses the historical research done in this field that argues southerners were reading and writing. Further, this thesis analyzes three southern novels in which the protagonists use their literacy skills to manage issues in their lives. Maya Angelou\u27s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969) presents the author\u27s narrative of using literacy as an outlet for the trauma she experiences in her life, including racism and sexual abuse. Erna Brodber\u27s 1994 novel Louisiana provides an interesting look at a young woman\u27s attempts to enter unfamiliar multicultural southern communities. In the process, she must learn new literacies as she works to complete the oral history project she is assigned and embrace the Caribbean and southern cultures she encounters. Finally, Bitter in the Mouth (2010) by Monique Truong features a young Vietnamese woman coping with synesthesia and racial difference in North Carolina. These differences cause her to rely heavily on the written word, primarily letters, a form that is revealed to be incredibly significant to managing her entire life. Overall, the question that must be asked about the South is not Were they literate? but How did they use literacy? For the southerners discussed, literacy is a skill, a social practice, and a tool that helps overcome trauma, navigate culture, and communicate more effectively

Saving Time and Making Cents: A Blueprint for Building Transit Better

Cities, states, and metropolitan areas across the United States are looking to invest in a range of public transit projects in order to connect people to jobs and economic opportunity, reduce greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles, and shape development patterns.  According to one estimate, the United States invested about $50 billion in new transit projects in just the last decade.1 These include underground subways in Los Angeles, commuter rail lines along the Front Range near Denver, a streetcar in downtown Atlanta, light rail lines in suburban Phoenix, and bus rapid transit in Richmond, Virginia, among many others.While these projects are as diverse as the country itself, they all have one thing in common: increased scrutiny over their costs and timelines to build. A few very visible projects have reinforced the narrative that rail transit investments have systemic issues that are endemic to the United States.This all begs the questions: Is this true? If so, why? And what should we do about it?These are precisely the questions Eno set out to answer through this research, policy, and communications project to analyze current and historical trends in public transit project delivery. We convened a set of advisors and conducted in-depth interviews with key stakeholders to understand the drivers behind mass transit construction, cost, and delivery in the United States. A comprehensive database of rail transit projects was created and curated to compare costs and timelines among U.S. cities and peer metropolitan areas in Western Europe and Canada. Through this quantitative and qualitative approach, we developed actionable recommendations for policy changes at all levels of government as well as best practices for the public and private sectors

Aspiring india: The Politics of Mothering, Education Reforms, and English

This dissertation is an ethnography of aspirational mobilities emergent under contexts of profound material and social change. To explore the unprecedented expansion of educational aspirations in post market reform India, specifically surging parental desires for English-medium schooling, I conducted fieldwork at a low-fee private English-medium school and a neighboring state-funded Malayalam-medium school in the southern Indian state of Kerala. Further, to record state responses to non-elite educational aspirations, my fieldwork was distributed along diverse agencies that supported and regulated English learning in Kerala and across the country. This dissertation makes two key arguments. Firstly, transitions from a previously austere socialist economy to a consumption saturated society has radically altered gendered everyday lives and unsettled entrenched social hierarchies. Negotiating these changes, non-elite mothers are reimagining possible futures for their children. Since social recognition and economic security was and continues to be entangled with higher education and English proficiencies, this has intensified desires for English-medium schooling from the earliest grades. Secondly, intensifying non-elite desires for English learning reveals how educational systems in India are geared towards meeting the aspirations of privileged citizens. Analyzing the provision of English language learning in state-funded and private school systems, I argue that emergent emphases on conversational skills defines “knowing” English as predicated on the ability to socialize in English. While this shift benefits internationally mobile elite Indians, it marginalizes non-elite learning communities whose pedagogic resources are skewed towards literacy rather than orality skills. To conclude, aspirational mobilities in contemporary India are diverse and even oppositional, and dependent on aspirational locations as well as the resources that groups are able to mobilize

Unmet goals of tracking: within-track heterogeneity of students' expectations for

Educational systems are often characterized by some form(s) of ability grouping, like tracking. Although substantial variation in the implementation of these practices exists, it is always the aim to improve teaching efficiency by creating homogeneous groups of students in terms of capabilities and performances as well as expected pathways. If students’ expected pathways (university, graduate school, or working) are in line with the goals of tracking, one might presume that these expectations are rather homogeneous within tracks and heterogeneous between tracks. In Flanders (the northern region of Belgium), the educational system consists of four tracks. Many students start out in the most prestigious, academic track. If they fail to gain the necessary credentials, they move to the less esteemed technical and vocational tracks. Therefore, the educational system has been called a 'cascade system'. We presume that this cascade system creates homogeneous expectations in the academic track, though heterogeneous expectations in the technical and vocational tracks. We use data from the International Study of City Youth (ISCY), gathered during the 2013-2014 school year from 2354 pupils of the tenth grade across 30 secondary schools in the city of Ghent, Flanders. Preliminary results suggest that the technical and vocational tracks show more heterogeneity in student’s expectations than the academic track. If tracking does not fulfill the desired goals in some tracks, tracking practices should be questioned as tracking occurs along social and ethnic lines, causing social inequality

Research Developments in World Englishes

This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. It is funded by the University of Klagenfurt, Austria. Discussing key issues of current relevance and setting the tone for future research in world Englishes, this book provides new perspectives on the diverse realities of Englishes around the world. Written by an international team of established and renowned scholars, it is the inaugural volume in the new series Bloomsbury Advances in World Englishes, dedicated to advancing research in the field. Chapters discuss important topics in contemporary world Englishes research, including de-colonial approaches, emerging varieties in post-protectorates and international uses as communicative events to highlight the globalizing aspect of English as a semiotic code. The book also expands on cultural conceptualizations to investigate the connections between Englishes and localized cultural knowledge and ongoing changes and attitudes towards local forms in multilingual settings. Closing with an examination of how world Englishes and the use of English as a lingua franca could influence the future teaching of Englishes, Research Developments in World Englishes presents a detailed picture of contemporary research approaches and points the way towards exciting future directions

How to increase academic excellence focusing on the aspects of inclusion

The present paper assumes that mutual inclusion is equal to successful personal and collective progress, while continuous and targeted interventions serving it are collectively marked by the term inclusive. Inclusive model is understood in this paper as a complex system of interventions which is aimed in all its segments at a coexistence increasing individual success while it also supports planning and controlling efforts made for inclusion in different places, times and communities. The field of education is in a particularly favourable condition regarding inclusive model development as it is also highlighted by the historical examples brought in this paper. Within the field, the author focuses on higher education in which the idea of inclusion is being spread reinforced by the conception of Inclusive Excellence. According to the conception, Inclusive Excellence establishes a qualitatively new academic environment profitable for all participants by employing diversity to meet the challenges of the 21st century. Thus, an environment aiming to achieving academic excellence is able to undergo qualitative renewal if following an inclusive approach and becoming more and more inclusive. The paper creatively utilizes the author's oneand-a-half-decade research work related to inclusion, her practical experience and the general research model she based on her experience. These are completed by a system-based overview of the models of inclusion in higher education with which the author aims to support the work of the research and development team preparing the professional proposal titled "Inclusive University" in affiliation with the University of Pécs. The author hopes that there also are more and more Hungarian higher education institutions which adopt inclusiveness as a part of their academic mission in the spirit of recognized qualitative renewal.Made under the sponsorship of SPOR 4.1.2.B.2-13/1-2013-0014 Further Development Of Teacher Training Networks

Continuous Process Auditing (CPA): an Audit Rule Ontology Approach to Compliance and Operational Audits

Continuous Auditing (CA) has been investigated over time and it is, somewhat, in practice within nancial and transactional auditing as a part of continuous assurance and monitoring. Enterprise Information Systems (EIS) that run their activities in the form of processes require continuous auditing of a process that invokes the action(s) speci ed in the policies and rules in a continuous manner and/or sometimes in real-time. This leads to the question: How much could continuous auditing mimic the actual auditing procedures performed by auditing professionals? We investigate some of these questions through Continuous Process Auditing (CPA) relying on heterogeneous activities of processes in the EIS, as well as detecting exceptions and evidence in current and historic databases to provide audit assurance