Dual career couples in academia, international mobility and dual career services in Europe

The number of dual career couples in academia is growing due to the increasing proportion of women with a doctoral degree and the greater propensity of women to choose another academic as their partner. At the same time, international mobility is required for career advancement in academia creating challenges for dual career couples where both partners pursue careers. This paper has two objectives: a) to raise the increasingly important issue of dual career couples in academia and the gendered effect that the pressure for mobility has on career advancement and work-life interference, and b) to present examples of recently established dual career services of higher education institutions in Germany, Denmark and Switzerland, responding to the needs of the growing population of dual career couples. Due to long established practices of dual career services in the US, the European examples will be compared with US practices. This paper raises the significance of considering dual career couples in institutional policies that aim for an internationally excellent and diversified academic workforce. It will appraise dual career services according to whether they reinforce or address gender inequalities and provide recommendations to HEIs interested in developing services and programmes for dual career couples

Public Health and Health Sector Crisis Leadership During Pandemics: A Review of the Medical and Business Literature

The global scale and unpredictable nature of the current COVID-19 pandemic have put a significant burden on health care and public health leaders, for whom preparedness plans and evidence-based guidelines have proven insufficient to guide actions. This article presents a review of empirical articles on the topics of “crisis leadership” and “pandemic” across medical and business databases between 2003 (since SARS) and—December 2020 and has identified 35 articles for detailed analyses. We use the articles’ evidence on leadership behaviors and skills that have been key to pandemic responses to characterize the types of leadership competencies commonly exhibited in a pandemic context. Task-oriented competencies, including preparing and planning, establishing collaborations, and conducting crisis communication, received the most attention. However, people-oriented and adaptive-oriented competencies were as fundamental in overcoming the structural, political, and cultural contexts unique to pandemics

THE IMPACT OF MENTORING ON RETENTION THROUGH KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER, AFFECTIVE COMMITMENT, AND TRUST

Organizations today face a dilemma regarding the retention of key knowledge workers. Knowledge transfer amongst employees is crucial for organizational productivity. Yet, this same knowledge transfer assists employees in improving their skill sets which increases their marketability and the potential for them to pursue career opportunities elsewhere. This study proposed that mentoring relationships can assist organizations in addressing this dilemma. Results of research conducted in a healthcare facility indicated that protégés reported higher levels of knowledge transfer and affective commitment. On average, protégés who reported higher levels of knowledge transfer were more likely to report higher turnover intentions. Supplemental analyses suggest that the affective commitment fostered in a mentoring relationship may attenuate the negative effect of knowledge transfer on retention. In addition, trust was demonstrated to be an important component of mentoring relationships. Using the Mayer, Davis, and Schoorman (1995) model of trust, significant relationships were demonstrated between receipt of mentoring, evaluations of a mentor’s trustworthiness, and a protégé’s willingness to be vulnerable to a mentor. We can conclude that the fostering of mentoring relationships may assist organizations in simultaneously promoting effective knowledge transfer and the affective commitment that assists in the retention of key knowledge workers. Since knowledge is a key resource in today’s economy, future research in this area is recommended to better understand how mentoring relationships may benefit organizations. Advisor: Professor Mary Uhl-Bie

How Do Mentors and Protégés Choose Each Other? The Influence of Benevolence, OCB, and POS on the Initiation of Mentoring Relationships

Mentoring relationships play a critical role in career and organizational success yet little research has explored how mentors and protégés choose each other before beginning a productive mentoring relationship. We integrate the selection and trust literatures to describe a mentor\u27s and a protégé\u27s evaluation of each other before initiating a mentoring relationship. Our conceptual framework distinguishes between a mentor and a protégé in their assessments of the other\u27s potential for organizational citizenship behaviors and perceived organizational support, respectively, and how those assessments are contingent upon perceptions of benevolence. We conclude by outlining the implications of this conceptual model for effective mentoring relationships in the workplace