Exploring factors affecting the utilisation of flexible working arrangements amongst men

Background - As the UK workforce faces turbulent conditions – pandemic, cost of living crisis – the need for HR policy that enables and encourages productivity whilst being well-being conscious is needed now more than ever before. Understanding how to better engage men in flexible working arrangements (FWA) is crucial to align policy and people better. However, there is a deft absence of literature on the male experience, particularly about their utilisation of FWA. As FWA are at the heart of ‘good work’, it is vital that all employees have equal access and success in being able to benefit from FWA. This is where the study aims to provide key contributions to this previously under researched area. The study aims to explore factors affecting male utilisation and make recommendations for ways organisations can better engage men in their FWA policies. Method - The method was semi-structured interviews, recorded using video conferencing software – Microsoft Teams. This enabled in-depth qualitative data capture. A phenomenological approach was taken, and a thematic analysis was conducted to allow participants to explain their experiences from their perspective, which is important as how people subjectively engage with policy is essential. This approach meets the research aim of exploring the utilisation of FWA amongst men whilst also allowing the participants to maintain their authentic voices. This adds value to the recommendations they offer. 15 interviews were carried out. Findings - The data analysis was based on the work of Smith et al. (1999). There were 19 minor themes recognised through first phase coding and six major themes identified through second phase coding. The overarching theme found through the analysis of these major themes is that the realities of FWA are challenging for men, so whilst the idea for many is something they thought they might enjoy – the reality of using FWA was far more complex. There are five major themes exploring these ‘reality’ factors, and one exploring the participant's recommendations for how organisations can adapt how they engage men with FWA. Theme one – identity factors. Theme two – personal factors. Theme three – social factors. Theme four – organisational factors. Theme five – unique phenomenon factor. Theme six – participant recommendations. Conclusion - The purpose of the study was to explore the factors affecting male utilisation of FWA. This thesis brings together 15 male perspectives of FWA and the factors affecting their decisions about how they engage with this crucial HR policy. It concludes with the idea that there is not one factor that stands above the rest when considering FWA, rather the ‘realities’ of multiple factors mean that FWA for these men was a challenge. These conclusions are not only a base for further study but also provides recommendations for how these men feel organisations could better engage them with FWA policy. It begins to fill the deft absence of a male perspective in the current field of research. This is where the contribution to the field lies – in beginning to discuss the factors affecting the male utilisation of FWA, in a context of more FWA options than at any time previous. To conclude this thesis, there is an exploration of the strengths but also limitations of the study and how it could be improved and further expanded on in the future

Interleukin (IL)-1 regulates ozone-induced nerve growth factor (NGF) and substance P (SP) release in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) in mice

Previous studies show that both IL-1 and NGF increase synthesis of SP in airway neurons after either direct application or ozone exposure. We hypothesize that NGF mediates ozone-induced IL-1 effects on SP, similar to the pathway described for sympathetic neurons in culture. The current study specifically focuses on the effect of ozone on IL-1, NGF, and SP levels in mice BALF and if these mediators can be linked in an inflammatory-neuronal cascade in vivo. The experiments demonstrate in vivo ozone exposure induces an increase of all three proteins in mouse BALF and that both ozone-induced increases in NGF and SP are mediated by the inflammatory cytokine IL-1. Even though these findings did not definitely link NGF as the mediator of IL-1 effects on SP, it did not conclusively eliminate this possibility. These data did indicate that IL-1 is an early mediator of ozone-induced increase in NGF and SP release in mice in vivo

A4_8 Don't Aim at Him!

 This paper investigates the horizontal deviation due to gravity that would be experienced by a bullet fired from a rifle. The paper looks at the recent setting of a new sharpshooting distance record as a case study for the investigation. While the deviation quoted by the soldier involved significantly differed from that calculated we show that a significant deviation is measured

A4_2 A Bright Night

The gas giant planet Jupiter is often referred to asa ‘failed star’. This paper investigates whether a change in brightness levels would be experienced by the Earth if Jupiter was in fact undergoing fusion and radiating. It is found that the luminosity generated by nuclear fusion within Jupiter would be a very small percentage of that produced by the Sun, even in the case where the mass of Jupiter is increased

A4_18 Your Guests Are Thirsty

In RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 it is possible to build stalls and set the prices for drinks and other consumables. This paper runs a simulation in one scenario to set multiple prices for drinks and then examine what the effect that this has on profits is over a four month period. It is found that the optimum price for drinks lies between £2.10 and £2.40

A4_13 Academic armour

This article considers the use of the first year physics textbook, Physics For Scientists and Engineersby Paul A. Tipler and Gene Mosca (Hereafter referred to as “Tiplerâ€) as body armour. The scenario isimagined in which the book is struck by a bullet and it is considered as to whether the bullet would orwould not penetrate through the book. It is found that the bullet would penetrate and hence the textwould not be of much use as body armour

A4_16 Set Phasers to stun

This article considers the possibility of creating a ’stun ray’ style weapon similar in concept to the phaserused in Star Trek when on a setting to stun its target. It is found that in order to create such an energybased stun weapon which was effective over a similar range to that of the phaser which did not simplykill the target should be technologically possible

A4_6 The Penny Drops

A British 1p coin is dropped from a great height. Its terminal velocity is calculated, alongside the force (and subsequently pressure) it would exert upon a surface on landing. The value is compared to the tensile strength of normal human skin in order to examine the effects it might have if it landed on a person, and is found not to be high enough to break the skin