Student\u27s perceptions of their skills and competencies in facing the realities of the job world

Directed by various studied which indicate the value of advanced skills and competencies in the world of work, this research aimed to find out to what extent students of business administration and management perceived themselves equipped with the necessary skills and competencies to succeed in the work place. The skills and competencies required to succeed were: planning, organizing, staffing, marketing, human relations, accounting, basic communication, business correspondence, listening along with analytic and computer skills. With the intention to find out if the student respondents perceived themselves as prepared to face the job world, they themselves assessed their readiness in putting theories into practice, to understand core business concepts, act ethically, think critically and creatively, and communicate effectively. Although the respondents perceived they were equipped with the different skills and competencies, the overall mean score only registered 3.17. To correct the weak points in the student’s skills and enhance an upgraded curriculum responsive to the fast changing times brought about by globalization, the researchers recommend conducting pre-testing and post-testing of students’ skills in accounting, a validation scheme to determine improvement in their skills and a course to help students in basic communication particularly in message organization and development

Characterizing Different Strategies for Resolving Approach-Avoidance Conflict

The ability of animals to maximize benefits and minimize costs during approach-avoidance conflicts is an important evolutionary tool, but little is known about the emergence of specific strategies for conflict resolution. Accordingly, we developed a simple approach-avoidance conflict task in rats that pits the motivation to press a lever for sucrose against the motivation to step onto a distant platform to avoid a footshock delivered at the end of a 30 s tone (sucrose is available only during the tone). Rats received conflict training for 16 days to give them a chance to optimize their strategy by learning to properly time the expression of both behaviors across the tone. Rats unexpectedly separated into three distinct subgroups: those pressing early in the tone and avoiding later (Timers, 49%); those avoiding throughout the tone (Avoidance-preferring, 32%); and those pressing throughout the tone (Approach-preferring, 19%). The immediate early gene cFos revealed that Timers showed increased activity in the ventral striatum and midline thalamus relative to the other two subgroups, Avoidance-preferring rats showed increased activity in the amygdala, and Approach-preferring rats showed decreased activity in the prefrontal cortex. This pattern is consistent with low fear and high behavioral flexibility in Timers, suggesting the potential of this task to reveal the neural mechanisms of conflict resolution.</jats:p