Performing a Thematic Analysis: An Exploratory Study about Managers’ Perceptions on Gender Equality

The purpose of this paper is to present results from an exploratory study that aims to investigate why gender role alterations in leadership positions is slow. The tourism managers’ perceptions of gender equality, within the workplace, were obtained resorting to focus groups. We chose thematic analysis to identify themes and patterns. This thematic analysis enables a methodological systematization of data. Data were coded using webQDA, a computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software that speeds up the team process of analysis. The systematization of information helped overcome the difficulties to synthesize the various interpretations; thus it was possible to generate more ideas and reduce researcher bias. The main outcome of the study was the development of an analytic framework where diverse components fit together by combining and cataloguing six main themes and their sub-themes. This framework is not only an analysis tool but also provides support to develop robust quantitative instruments and facilitate future meta-inference drawn from all data sources of a research project. We defend that mixed methods research is useful for finding credible answers to research questions on complex social phenomena. Discussion about qualitative vs quantitative dichotomy is sometimes irrelevant, because what matters is maximizing the process of research. Exploring the practicalities of using a qualitative methodology as a team of researchers, we contribute to theory development on human resources capitalization

A Hundred Key Questions for the Post-2015 Development Agenda

With a new development framework under way and an increasingly urgent need to address political, socioeconomic and environmental issues on a global scale, this is a critical moment for the international development agenda. Almost 15 years after the Millennium Declaration, a new phase for international development is about to begin and, with it, comes the opportunity to critically assess how new development goals and milestones are likely to be shaped and delivered. This paper assumes that a greater understanding of development needs and practices can better sustain a new agenda for change, and that a key step in this process is to identify priorities based on both new and long-standing knowledge gaps, to help orient decision-making processes and funding allocation in academia and beyond. This paper present the results of a consultative and participatory exercise that addresses the need to articulate and better align the research interests and priorities of academics and practitioners working on international development in a post-2015 international development framework. The exercise was organized around a two-stage consultation and shortlisting process. A four-months open consultation was conducted, offering development stakeholders and individuals the opportunity to submit their questions. People were invited to submit questions related to some of the thematic priorities that guided the “World We Want” campaign—a global stakeholder consultation conducted by the UN between 2010 and 2014 involving governments, civil society and lay citizens. In this first phase, 705 individuals from 109 organizations based in 34 countries were involved in the formulation of 704 questions. The questions were then discussed and shortlisted during a two-day workshop with academic and practitioners representing different world regions and areas of expertise, among whom are also the authors of this paper. After the final shortlisting, questions were regrouped into nine macro-thematic sections: governance, participation and rights; environmental sustainability; food security, land and agriculture; energy and natural resources; conflict, population dynamics and urbanization; economic growth, employment and the private sector; social and economic inequalities; health and education; development policies, practices and institutions. The final 100 questions address a varied combination of long-standing problems that have hindered the development agenda for decades as well as new challenges emerging from broader socioeconomic, political and environmental changes. Well-established concerns about the rights of women, and of vulnerable groups such as poor workers, small-scale farmers, people with disabilities, children and ethnic minorities feature alongside emerging issues, including the role of business in protecting human rights, and information and communication technologies as tools for empowerment and social integration. Similarly, traditional concerns linked to rural livelihoods, land tenure and agricultural production are presented together with environmental sustainability, natural resource extraction, urbanization, food security, and climate change adaptation and mitigation. While civil society and the empowerment of marginalized populations are recognized as key for development, questions on new actors including the private sector, emerging economic powers and new middle-income countries as development donors and partners feature heavily in the shortlist. The questions also reflect the mainstreaming of gender perspectives into a wide range of development areas, helping to cement the view that gender should be considered central to future development initiatives. A large number of the submitted questions (102) specifically addressed broader issues related to development politics, practices and institutions. This outcome, combined with the fact that a number of these were included in the final shortlist, highlights the fact that there is a critical need for a deeper collective reflection on the role and relationships of different actors in international development, and the impact that contemporary economic and political scenarios will have on the development agenda. We envision our list of 100 questions contributing to inform the post-2015 agenda and future development-related research priorities of international, governmental and non-governmental organizations. But, perhaps more centrally, we believe that these questions can act as starting points for debate, research and collaboration between academics, practitioners and policy makers. The value of research exercises such as this one rely on the ability of a variety of stakeholders to reach consensus around a set of research priorities put forward by anyone willing to engage in the process. We believe that the process of co-production we set out here, of debate and discussion between different stakeholders, is essential for successfully and effectively tackling the key challenges ahead for the international development agenda

Instrumentalization in the Public Smart Bikeshare Sector

This thesis is concerned with understanding how smart technologies are conceived, created and implemented, and explores the ways these processes are shaped by historical, geo-political, economic and technical contexts. At its core the thesis is concerned with understanding how technical citizenship and democracy can be preserved within the design process against a backdrop of increasing neoliberalism and technocracy. This is investigated by means of a comparative study of smart public bikeshare schemes in Dublin, Ireland and Hamilton, Canada. These schemes are configured and systemized using a variety of technical and ideological rationales and express the imaginaries of place in significantly different ways. Utilising a conceptual framework derived from Andrew Feenberg’s critical theory of technology, the thesis unpacks and problematizes the innovation process in order to understand how the outcomes of these schemes support the way of life of one or another influential social group. The philosophical orientation of the study is critical constructivism which combines a form of constructivism with more systematic and socially critical views of technology. The axis of comparison between the schemes is democratization and the manner in which the rationalizations and embedded cultural assumptions characterizing particular places operate to support or resist more egalitarian forms of participation. Methodologically, Feenberg’s critical framework is supported both by theory-driven thematic coding and critical hermeneutics which is an interpretative process that compliments the theoretical framework and positions issues of power and ideology within a wider, macro-level context. Data sources supporting the research comprise interviews, a variety of documentary sources and the architectures and technical specifications of both smart bikeshare systems. The findings from the research illustrate that despite the pervasiveness of a neoliberal orthodoxy conditioning technology production, citizen-centric design is still possible within a climate of consensus building and cooperation. As such, the thesis adds to the body of knowledge on philosophy of technology, critical urbanism, smart city development, democratic engagement and collaborative infrastructuring. In addition, the conceptual framework, developed in response to the empirical cases, represents an elaboration of Feenberg’s work and so the thesis also makes an important contribution to the analytic and methodological potential of critical theory of technology

The multidimensional role of social entrepreneurship: A case study approach within an international project context

Social entrepreneurship creates social value and has a multidimensional impact (e.g. economic, environmental, cultural). This is related to the complexity and multidimensional approaches to current societal problems such as climatic changes and socioeconomic crises. The paper explores this multidimensionality by presenting three Portuguese case studies of social entrepreneurship operating in diverse domains. The study is based on primary and secondary data on the selected social enterprises. The analysis explores the motivations and constraints in forming a social enterprise and the impact of entrepreneurial activity. There is evidence of multiple roles played by these entrepreneurial agents, and, therefore, their critical role in the response to the problems that current societies face.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Advancing gender equality : promising practices: case studies from the Millennium development goals achievement fund

Resumen: Se presentan las lecciones y resultados de relevancia específica para dar forma al desarrollo más allá de 2015. Contiene lecciones para mejorar conocimiento de por qué los resultados para la igualdad de género y el empoderamiento de las mujeres son fundamentales para avanzar una agenda general de desarrollo, así como prácticas ejemplos de cómo hacer esto realidad

a qualitative research to review the experience of technical assistance providers from the global south in Latin America, the Caribbean, and Africa

Thesis(Master) -- KDI School: Master of Public Management, 2021Knowledge sharing has, throughout the past few decades, is widely recognized as an essential means through which Global South countries foster South-South Cooperation - SSC. This research explores the conceptual and contextual issues to the notion of knowledge sharing within bilateral projects implemented by Colombia with Bolivia, Dominican Republic, Curaçao and Cote D’Ivoire. How is knowledge-sharing included in the legal framework? How is it institutionalized by international cooperation agencies and bureaus? and how is it managed throughout the project cycle? In this sense, a comprehensive literature review reveals that knowledge-sharing incorporation into south-south cooperation has not been attained in Global South’s project management at its various stages (planning, implementation, and M&E). Therefore, a completely qualitative case study methodology was used to get relevant data from technical assistance providers and requesters at the coordination and technical levels about their understanding of knowledge-sharing applied to SSC projects. Given the primary data generated during the fieldwork (virtually conducted due to COVID-19 restrictions), this study concludes that despite there is no conceptual standardization of knowledge-sharing in the global south countries analyzed, it is implicit throughout all stages of the project management. In this scenario, it was found that the international cooperation agencies and bureaus are key actors whose function lies beyond the bilateral coordination, but given its position and performance, they are responsible for enabling the conditions that limit or expand the benefits of knowledge-sharing within a SSC project. This study recommends that there be a paradigmatic shift about the role of international cooperation agencies and bureaus beyond project coordination towards ensuring knowledge- based environments that contributes to a better incorporation of knowledge-sharing in SSC.CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY CHAPTER 4: DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS AND POLICY RECOMMENDATIONSmasterpublishedIvonne Andrea RAMOS HENDE