One year outcomes of a mentoring scheme for female academics: a pilot study at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The professional development of under-represented faculty may be enhanced by mentorship, but we understand very little about the mechanisms by which mentoring brings about change. Our study posed the research question, what are the mechanisms by which mentoring may support professional development in under-represented groups?</p> <p>The study aims to: (i) to pilot a mentoring scheme for female academics; (ii) to compare various health-related and attitudinal measures in mentees at baseline, 6 months, and 1 year into the mentoring relationship and, (iii) to compare pre-mentoring expectations to outcomes at 6 months and 1 year follow-up for mentees and mentors.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Female academic mentees were matched 1:1 or 2:1 with more senior academic mentors. Online surveys were conducted to compare health-related and attitudinal measures and expectations of mentoring at baseline with outcomes at 6 months and 1 year using paired t-tests and McNemar's test for matched cohort data.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>N = 46 mentoring pairs, 44 (96%) mentees completed the pre-mentoring survey, 37 (80%) at 6 months and 30 (65%) at 1 year. Job-related well-being (anxiety-contentment), self-esteem and self-efficacy all improved significantly and work-family conflict diminished at 1 year. Highest expectations were career progression (39; 89%), increased confidence (38; 87%), development of networking skills (33; 75%), better time-management (29; 66%) and better work-life balance (28; 64%). For mentees, expectations at baseline were higher than perceived achievements at 6 months or 1 year follow-up.</p> <p>For mentors (N = 39), 36 (92%) completed the pre-mentoring survey, 32 (82%) at 6 months and 28 (72%) at 1 year. Mentors' highest expectations were of satisfaction in seeing people progress (26; 69%), seeing junior staff develop and grow (19; 53%), helping solve problems (18; 50%), helping women advance their careers (18; 50%) and helping remove career obstacles (13; 36%). Overall, gains at 6 months and 1 year exceeded pre-mentoring expectations.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This uncontrolled pilot study suggests that mentoring can improve aspects of job-related well-being, self-esteem and self-efficacy over 6 months, with further improvements seen after 1 year for female academics. Work-family conflict can also diminish. Despite these gains, mentees' prior expectations were shown to be unrealistically high, but mentors' expectations were exceeded.</p

Systemic versus localized coagulation activation contributing to organ failure in critically ill patients

In the pathogenesis of sepsis, inflammation and coagulation play a pivotal role. Increasing evidence points to an extensive cross-talk between these two systems, whereby inflammation not only leads to activation of coagulation but coagulation also considerably affects inflammatory activity. The intricate relationship between inflammation and coagulation may not only be relevant for vascular atherothrombotic disease in general but has in certain clinical settings considerable consequences, for example in the pathogenesis of microvascular failure and subsequent multiple organ failure, as a result of severe infection and the associated systemic inflammatory response. Molecular pathways that contribute to inflammation-induced activation of coagulation have been precisely identified. Pro-inflammatory cytokines and other mediators are capable of activating the coagulation system and downregulating important physiological anticoagulant pathways. Activation of the coagulation system and ensuing thrombin generation is dependent on an interleukin-6-induced expression of tissue factor on activated mononuclear cells and endothelial cells and is insufficiently counteracted by physiological anticoagulant mechanisms and endogenous fibrinolysis. Interestingly, apart from the overall systemic responses, a differential local response in various vascular beds related to specific organs may occur

A framework for the assessment of multi-skilling in work units.

Multi-skilling, an organisational strategy aimed at increasing the skill repertoire of the worker with the intent of facilitating the role and task flexibility among organisational members, is investigated.A literature review on the subject identified a number of factors contributing towards the development of a multi-skilled workforce. These ranged from the abolition of demarcation restrictions between jobs and skill-based pay systems, to the modification of the supervisory role. However, the literature fails to consider the role of technology in such developments. It was suggested that this was central to the development of skills.A framework was proposed that hypothesized a relationship between technological uncertainty the extent to which task activities are varied and difficult and skill requirements. It was further hypothesized that technology influences the structuring of activities within organisational subsystems. It was suggested that these would act either to facilitate or inhibit multi-skilling development.The structuring of activities within a unit consist of specialisation (the number of different tasks assigned to the unit); standardisation (the degree to which policies, rules, and procedures are formalised and used to guide action); interchangeability (the extent to which A can perform Bs job at short notice, and vice versa); locus of authority (the source of decision-making authority within the unit, for example, the supervisor rather than the worker); and skill heterogeneity (the variability in skill composition among unit members).A preliminary evaluation of the framework was carried out in an organisation engaged in the processing of mineral ore, with a largely semi-skilled workforce (N=165), where a multi-skilling programme was in progress.Evidence was presented that suggested a relationship between the level of technological uncertainty and skill development. However, the results failed to confirm the pervasive influence of technology with regard to the structuring of activities within subsystems. Instead, technological uncertainty was significantly related to the design of jobs, and specifically to the degree of the standardisation of jobs of organisational members. Also, contrary to the anticipated direction, there was an association between perceived standardisation of activities within subsystems and job satisfaction

Job-related affective well-being and its relation to intrinsic job satisfaction.

This thesis investigates the structure of job-related well-being; the identification of variables that contribute to either psychological well-being or distress; and the causal connections among elements of job-related well-being and intrinsic job satisfaction.Two large samples (n=3,044 and 3,709) from a white-collar public sector organisation were used to test a four monopolar model of affective well-being, and the two bipolar model (enthusiasm-depression and anxiety-contentment) proposed by Warr (1990). Structural equation modelling (LISREL) was used to test both models, and results strongly supported a monopolar structure of affective well-being (enthusiasm, depression, anxiety and relaxation). Following the testing of the models, canonical correlation analyses related the set of the four affective variables and intrinsic job satisfaction to a set of predictors. The predictors were drawn from Wan's (1994) sub-categories of nine features of jobs that purport to enhance psychological well-being at work. Two dimensions were extracted from this analysis. The first dimension was mainly defined by intrinsic job satisfaction (from the dependent variable set) and supervisory support and skill utilisation (from the independent variable set). The second dimension was defined mainly by anxiety (dependent variable set) and job demands (independent variable set). From these results a model was developed based on the additive influences of the independent variables on the outcome variables (i.e., affective well-being and intrinsic job satisfaction) that helped explain psychological well-being and distress at work. Finally, a model was also developed that assumed a causal direction from intrinsic job satisfaction to affective well-being. Using a longitudinal sample (n=220) these causal relations were tested with USREL. Results supported the hypothesis that intrinsic job satisfaction leads to affective well-being, rather than the alternative model that had the causal connections in the opposite direction. It was also possible to demonstrate with the same data set that one objective organisational variable, namely tenure, affects intrinsic job satisfaction over time, thus arguing against the proposition that intrinsic job satisfaction is dispositional

Managers: Working smarter and faster or harder and longer?

Hosie, PJ ORCiD: 0000-0003-2585-024XIn the new millennium, happiness in the workplace is well and truly back in vogue. There has been an explosion of research into happiness, optimism and positive character traits. What is driving this renewed interest into employees' and managers' job happiness and performance

Happy high-performing managers

Hosie, PJ ORCiD: 0000-0003-2585-024XThere has long been an adherence to the intuitively appealing notion that happy employees perform better. But decades of research have been unable to establish a strong link between job satisfaction and performance. In large part, this has resulted from researchers erroneously conceiving and operationalising job satisfaction as being identical to affective wellbeing. Belief in the ‘happy productive worker’ thesis has its roots in the human behaviour school of the 1950s. Similarly, the 1970s human relations movement had a significant influence on job redesign and quality-of-life initiatives and was credited with specifying the original satisfaction–performance relationship (Strauss, 1968). Despite mixed empirical evidence, there is support in the literature to suggest that a relationship exists between managers’ affective wellbeing, intrinsic job satisfaction and their performance. This study investigated the relationship between managers’ job-related affective wellbeing (‘affective wellbeing’), intrinsic job satisfaction and their contextual and task job performance (‘managers’ performance’). Specifically, the main goal was to establish which indicators of managers’ affective wellbeing and intrinsic job satisfaction might predict dimensions of their’ contextual and task performance

Does the "happy-productive worker" thesis apply to managers?

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to emanate from an enduring stream of research into individual performance and organisational productivity where happy employees are believed to perform better. Decades of research have been unable to establish a strong link between workplace happiness and performance. A variation on the enduring employee happiness-productivity debate is evolving the "happy-performing managers" proposition. Design/methodology/ approach - An empirical investigation reports on the impact of two important aspects of job happiness - self-rated affective wellbeing and intrinsic job satisfaction - on superiors' ratings of managers' contextual and task performance. An ancillary methodological objective of the study is to establish the structure of managers' performance. Findings - A partial model of managers' affective wellbeing, intrinsic job satisfaction and performance contributed an understanding to how specific indicators of affective wellbeing and intrinsic job satisfaction predict certain dimensions of managers' performance. Practical implications - Changes in the workplace emphasises are needed to ensure managers can retain and improve their positive affective wellbeing by working smarter and faster, rather than harder and longer. Originality/value - A contribution of this paper is to provide qualified support for the "happy-performing managers" proposition by linking the conceptual bases relating to managers' affective wellbeing, intrinsic job satisfaction and to their performance. These findings progress the debate as to how work might be structured to improve managers' affective wellbeing and consequently their performance. Perhaps, it is timely to consider moving away from the negative forms of psychology and affirm managers' future by embracing the "happy-performing managers" proposition. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Managers: Working smarter and faster or harder and longer?

In the new millennium, happiness in the workplace is well and truly back in vogue. There has been an explosion of research into happiness, optimism and positive character traits. What is driving this renewed interest into employees' and managers' job happiness and performance