Does an International Academic Environment Promote Study Abroad?

Although many studies on international student mobility have examined the impact of individual factors (e.g., gender, age, family background) on students’ decision to study abroad, much less attention has been devoted to the role played by the institutional climate and characteristics of one’s home university. Using data from an Italian survey containing information on a large number of university students, this research investigated the extent to which a more international academic environment incentivizes students to participate in study abroad programs. A logit model was developed to estimate the effect that the degree of internationalization of one’s home university has on the probability that its students will study abroad, while controlling for several student-level factors. The empirical estimates indicate that this effect is significant, suggesting that being part of an international academic environment, where domestic students can interact more frequently with international students, helps motivate them to undertake study abroad. This result stresses the importance of engaging domestic students in the internationalization process of their universities

Changes in socioeconomic inequality in access to study abroad programs: a cross-country analysis

The growing evidence about the benefits of studying abroad calls for increased public efforts to equalize study abroad opportunities among university students from different socioeconomic backgrounds. Using student-level data from the nationally representative surveys of three European countries (Italy, France and Germany) between the 2000s and mid-2010s, this paper investigates how the social gap in access to study abroad programs changed over time and what are the factors driving these changes. Logistic regressions are used in order to identify the determinants of study abroad program participation and a decomposition technique is employed in an attempt to both determine how much of the gap each factor explains and compare its relative contribution over time. The results indicate that, not only has disparity in study abroad participation rate between students from more and less advantaged backgrounds not decreased in any of the countries considered here, but there is consistent evidence showing that it has increased in Germany. Differences in earlier educational trajectories and performance between these two groups of students are important predictors of the gap. However, a large part of this gap remains unexplained, and this underscores the important role played by unobserved or difficult-to-measure factors in accounting for inequality

Degree classification and recent graduates’ ability: Is there any signalling effect?

Research across several countries has shown that degree classification (i.e. the final grade awarded to students successfully completing university) is an important determinant of graduates’ first destination outcome. Graduates leaving university with higher degree classifications have better employment opportunities and a higher likelihood of continuing education relative to those with lower degree classifications. This article investigates whether one of the reasons for this result is that employers and higher education institutions use degree classification as a signalling device for the ability that recent graduates may possess. Given the large number of applicants and the amount of time and resources typically required to assess their skills, employers and higher education institutions may decide to rely on this measure when forming beliefs about recent graduates’ abilities. Using data on two cohorts of recent graduates from a UK university, results suggest that an Upper Second degree classification may have a signalling role

University study abroad and graduates’ employability

In recent decades, the number of university students worldwide who have received some part of their education abroad has been rising rapidly. Despite the popularity of international student exchange programs, however, debate continues over what students gain from this experience. A major advantage claimed for study abroad programs is that they can enhance employability by providing graduates with the skills and experience employers look for. These programs also increase the probability that graduates will work abroad, and so may especially benefit students willing to pursue an international career. However, most of the evidence is qualitative and based on small samples

Do citizens hold mayors accountable for local conditions? Evidence from Italian municipalities

Using data on 75 big Italian municipalities between 2010 and 2015, this paper looks at the extent to which citizens' evaluations of mayors are responsive to changes in local performance indicators. While local economic and crime measures are found not be associated with mayoral approval ratings, there is a correlation between mayors’ popularity and indicators for local public transportation and air quality. Mayors of municipalities where more individuals use public transport and where there is less polluted air enjoy higher approval ratings. Additional analysis shows that this result is driven by very big municipalities (with a population over 500,000) that are more likely to be exposed to high levels of traffic congestion and pollution

Changes in the study abroad gender gap: A European cross-country analysis

Although it is well-established that female participation in study abroad programmes is higher than the male participation, less is known about how this gap has changed over time. Using student-level data from the nationally representative surveys of three European countries (France, Germany and Italy), this paper begins by examining changes in the relationship between gender and participation in study abroad programmes between the beginning of the 2000s and the mid-2010s. It then explores to what extent these changes can be explained by different characteristics of men and women. The results suggest that in none of the countries there is evidence of a systematic decline over time in women's over-representation in study abroad programmes. However, the size of the gap is consistently significantly reduced (or even the sign of the gap reversed) once gender differences in observable traits are accounted for. Field of study and academic performance are important factors contributing to the gender disparity in study abroad

Revisiting the impact of macroeconomic conditions on health behaviours

This paper estimates the average population effect of macroeconomic conditions on health behaviours accounting for the heterogeneous impact of the business cycle on individuals. While previous studies use models relying on area-specific unemployment rates to estimate this average effect, this paper employs a model based on area-specific unemployment rates by gender and age group. The rationale for breaking down unemployment rates is that the severity of cyclical upturns and downturns does not only significantly vary across geographical areas, but also across gender and age. The empirical analysis uses microdata from the Italian Multipurpose Household Survey on Everyday Life Issues. The estimates suggest that models employing aggregated and disaggregated unemployment rate measures as a proxy for the business cycle produce similar findings for some health behaviours (such as smoking), whereas different results are obtained for others. While using unemployment rates by gender and age group, fruits and/or vegetables consumption turn out to be procyclical (a 1pp increase in this unemployment rate decreases the probability of consuming at least five daily fruit and/or vegetable servings by 0.0016pp), the opposite effect, though statistically insignificant, is observed once general unemployment rates are used. While both models conclude that physical activity declines during economic downturns, the size of the procyclical effect is much smaller when employing disaggregated rather than aggregated unemployment rates (a 1pp increase in the unemployment rate by gender and age group decreases the probability of doing any physical activity by 0.0017pp)

Computers and students’ achievement: An analysis of the One Laptop per Child program in Catalonia

We analyse the impact of a One Laptop per Child program introduced by the Catalan government on student achievement. Using longitudinal population data for students in secondary education during the period 2009–2016, our identification strategy exploits variations across cohorts within schools. Although participation into the program was not random, we control for a number of school characteristics that influenced school participation. The empirical results consistently indicate that this program had a negative impact on student performance in Catalan, Spanish, English and mathematics. Test scores fell by 0.20–0.22 standardised points, which represent 3.8–6.2% of the average test score. This negative effect was stronger among boys than it was among girls (differences ranging from 10% to 42%)

A new mesophilous turkey oak woodland association from Laga Mts. (Central Italy).

The present paper aims at describing the Quercus cerris-dominated woodlands of the Laga mountains (central Apennines) in both the synecological and syntaxonomical way. Species composition and abundance, together with structural and abiotic parameters were recorded in 33 relevés distributed throughout the Laga massif. A new association of Quercus cerris woodlands, named Listero ovatae-Quercetum cerridis, is here proposed. The ecology and syn-chorology of this association are outlined. In syntaxonomical terms Listero-Quercetum cerridis behaves as an intermediate between Fagetalia sylvaticae and Quercetalia pubescenti-petraeae, being the dominant layer closer to Quercetalia communities and the herb layer to Fagetalia. For comparison a survey is provided of the most important Quercus cerris community types described throughout the whole Apennine chain using all published relevés (synoptic table)

The regions of the sequence most exposed to the solvent within the amyloidogenic state of a protein initiate the aggregation process.

Formation of misfolded aggregates is an essential part of what proteins can do. The process of protein aggregation is central to many human diseases and any aggregating event needs to be prevented within a cell and in protein design. In order to aggregate, a protein needs to unfold its native state, at least partially. The conformational state that is prone to aggregate is difficult to study, due to its aggregating potential and heterogeneous nature. Here, we use a systematic approach of limited proteolysis, in combination with electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry, to investigate the regions that are most flexible and solvent-exposed within the native, ligand-bound and amyloidogenic states of muscle acylphosphatase (AcP), a protein previously shown to form amyloid fibrils in the presence of trifluoroethanol. Seven proteases with different degrees of specificity have been used for this purpose. Following exposure to the aggregating conditions, a number of sites along the sequence of AcP become susceptible to proteolytic digestion. The pattern of proteolytic cleavages obtained under these conditions is considerably different from that of the native and ligand-bound conformations and includes a portion within the N-terminal tail of the protein (residues 6-7), the region of the sequence 18-23 and the position 94 near the C terminus. There is a significant overlap between the regions of the sequence found to be solvent-exposed from the present study and those previously identified to be critical in the rate-determining steps of aggregation from protein engineering approaches. This indicates that a considerable degree of solvent exposure is a feature of the portions of a protein that initiate the process of aggregation