Reflections on the accreditation process: Advice for in-training practitioners

As professional and public interest in sport and exercise psychology continues to grow, so too the number of students enrolling on sport and exercise psychology courses is on the increase. As a result, the number of graduates looking to embark on a period of supervised experience within this domain is also expected to rise. The importance of practitioner training cannot be understated. It is intended to provide a standardised route to attaining accepted levels of competence in relation to knowledge, skills, and professional conduct. The accreditation process also doubles as a safeguard designed to ensure that the public can identify and are therefore protected from individuals practicing sport and exercise psychology who have not met accepted standards of professional competence. Given the necessity for such a process of training and accreditation, it is imperative that in-training practitioners are offered appropriate levels of information and support to ensure they are able to satisfy the specific criteria outlined by the relevant accreditation guidelines. Following the recent approval of the Society’s Stage 2 qualification in sport and exercise psychology, this article aims to provide current and aspiring in-training practitioners with helpful tips and advice regarding the accreditation process, outlining some of the key considerations that will help individuals successfully navigate the various obstacles they must overcome

Bursting onto the big stage: Presenting at an international conference for the first time

Attending a prestigious international conference and contributing to proceedings by delivering a poster or oral presentation is an excellent opportunity for sport and exercise psychology students to gain valuable experience and meet people from different parts of the world. In this article, we will focus on presenting at an international conference for the first time. An international conference presents different challenges compared to annual national and regional conferences. It will often be held in another country, and may be organised once every four years. There are likely to be a larger number of delegates, a broader variety of topics, and usually an array of established names amongst the list of attendees and presenters. Additionally, for presenters who are not native English speakers, the perceived language barrier may instil feelings of discomfort. In this article, we will discuss our experiences of presenting at the 2007 FEPSAC conference in Halkidiki, Greece, highlighting the lessons we have learned and how others can benefit from our reflections on the event

Sport as a privilege in Spain

The reduction of Physical Education hours in the Spanish curriculum originates from a false premise: families are already aware of the importance of physical activity, and attempt to compensate for the lack of it at school with an extra schedule. It seems then, that there is an assumption that classes that are available after school are only related to physical activity: this is not the case. Furthermore, only those families that are fully aware of the consequences of their children’s inactivity, and who can (and want to) invest in those extra classes and engage in some kind of physical activity after school. But the reality is that Physical activity only is important for some families

Contemporary challenges of nursing CPD: Time to change the model to meet citizens’ needs

The purpose of this paper is to present the evidence shared with a citizen consensus panel detailing key issues associated with how nursing CPD can best influence the quality of health and social care experienced by citizens and communities. It presents a summary of contemporary theory, research and evidence of the effectiveness of nursing CPD and outlines four key challenges: (i) how to strengthen the focus on patient experience as the starting point for CPD; (ii) the lack of evidence of CPD effectiveness and accountability in its transfer to practice; (iii) evaluation of CPD effectiveness; and (iv) involving citizens in targeting CPD where it is most needed. It briefly describes the methods used to facilitate public consultation through a citizen consensus panel as part of a collaborative project with the RCN Strategic Research Alliance in 2020 and outlines 7 themes identified as important by the public for future development. The main challenge for nursing is capitalizing on the workplace as a learning resource that can integrate learning with development, improvement, knowledge translation, inquiry and innovation. This requires skilled facilitators, particularly at meso- levels, and systems leaders with the full skillset to develop system-wide cultures of learning that enable everyone to flourish and create good places to work. The paper concludes that the development of CPD process measures would indicate how CPD investment contributes to person-centred, safe and effective care and system transformation and enable commissioners and education providers to optimize CPD’s full potential

The Relationships Between Entrepreneurs\u27 Gender, Attitudes Toward Seeking Assistance from Entrepreneurship Centers, Utilization of Centers, and Entrepreneurial Success

Despite the proliferation of entrepreneurship centers, little is known about the reasons entrepreneurs appear reluctant to utilize their services. Although women are more likely than men to seek help in most settings, some research appears to suggest that this tendency may not apply to entrepreneurs. This is interesting given the financial underperformance of female-owned firms and research showing that entrepreneurship centers are effective and thereby lead to economic development. To better understand these issues, I propose and test a new conceptual framework of entrepreneurial help seeking that considers how entrepreneurs vary in their attitudes towards seeking professional help. In addition, I explore the influence of entrepreneurs’ gender on attitudinal differences, help-seeking behaviors, and entrepreneurial success. This research integrates three theoretical frameworks: the psychology of help-seeking, gender role congruity, and the theory of guided preparation as an entrepreneurial resource. The findings demonstrate that entrepreneurs’ gender influences their attitudes toward seeking assistance from entrepreneurship centers as well as their entrepreneurial success. In addition, entrepreneurs’ attitudes toward seeking assistance influence their utilization of assistance, which influences their subsequent entrepreneurial success

Recycled CEOs and Managerial Ability: Do Venture Backed Companies Have a Comparative Advantage?

This dissertation examines the relationship between experienced chief executive officers (CEOs), venture capital support, and company performance. Much of the success of venture backed companies is attributed to the reputation, monitoring, and networking of venture capitalists (Hochberg, Ljungqvist, and Lu 2007; Katz 2009). One crucial task of venture capitalists, or any stakeholder, is to find talented executives to lead their companies. However, finding quality CEOs for young growth companies with a relatively short financial history can be a difficult endeavor. Venture capitalists may have a comparative advantage in this area because they network within the venture capital industry to “recycle” CEOs (De Carvalho, Calomiris, and de Matos 2008). In other words, venture capitalists network to hire CEOs who already have CEO experience at a different venture backed company. This provides venture capitalists with a unique opportunity to hire serial CEOs with venture capital industry specific experience. Therefore, this study considers the following research questions: RQ1: Are recycled CEOs of higher ability than other CEOs? RQ2: Do recycled CEOs have a positive relationship to future firm performance? To address this question, I use a hand collected sample of serial CEOs (CEOs with prior CEO experience), and recycled CEOs (serial CEOs of venture backed companies) to examine their relationship with managerial ability and future firm performance. Although there is literature to support the positive association between CEOs and firm performance (Demerjian et al. 2012; Demerjian, Lev, Lewis, and McVay 2013), little analysis of recycled CEOs is available. Using various univariate and multivariable tests, I find evidence that recycled CEOs have a positive association to future managerial ability and provide incremental explanatory power over venture backing with respect to future management quality and firm profitability. These findings provide evidence that venture capital success may be due in part to the ability of the CEOs set in place to lead the company and not just to venture capitalist oversigh

Decolouring bloodmeal: Consumption and potential recycling of peracetic acid

A method of deodorizing and decolouring bloodmeal using an equilibrium mixture of peracetic acid, hydrogen peroxide, acetic acid and water has been developed to improve its marketability as a source of protein for bioplastics. The objective of this study was to determine what quantity of peracetic acid is required to give reasonable bleaching of the bloodmeal and determine whether there is potential for the wastewater to be recycled. This was carried out by measuring the quantity of chemical species in the initial equilibrium mixture and the resulting wastewater upon bleaching using volumetric analysis. Bleaching efficacy was determined after exposing 100 g bloodmeal to 1.1, 2.5, 3.6, 4.5 and 5.6 wt% peracetic acid solutions as either 300 g total solution or a constant molar equivalent of 2.2 mmol peracetic acid/g bloodmeal and using a chromameter to measure colour change. Addition of 300 g 5.6 wt% peracetic acid solution resulted in effective bleaching. This represented a ratio of 2.20 mmol peracetic acid/g bloodmeal of which 1.4 mmol peracetic acid/g bloodmeal was consumed (63%). If 300 g 300 g of <2.5 wt% solution is added such that there is still 2.2 mmol peracetic acid/g bloodmeal, bleaching is still insufficient. These results suggest that an excess of peracetic is required for bleaching to occur, and that its concentration is paramount to bleaching efficacy. Due to the excess of peracetic acid used in the bleaching process, there is potential for wastewater recycling to be carried out provided that the wastewater is not diluted