How does enterprise & entrepreneurship education influence postgraduate students’ career intentions in the new era economy?

Purpose Enterprise & Entrepreneurship Education (EEE) is seen as a major contributor to economic growth and development in the post-2008 environment we term the ‘New Era’. The role of EEE in enabling graduates to develop entrepreneurial intentions and career plans is therefore of major importance. This paper explores how EEE can influence postgraduate entrepreneurship and career initiation in the context of the New Era economy at an international level. Methodology/Approach The paper explores the learning experiences of a group of 60 postgraduate international students who completed an Entrepreneurship programme at the University of Lincoln which included the development of personal learning narratives and career plans. The students were exposed to the Opportunity-centred entrepreneurship approach and the ‘Entrepreneurial Effectiveness’ model in the QAA guidelines (2012). Their narratives were analysed to assess: - Prior career intentions - Proposed career intentions resulting from the EEE programme - Application of learning arising from the EEE programme - A survey of students was used to validate the narratives Findings EEE has a wider influence on personal development and career planning than simply the intention to create new ventures. This paper builds on a prior study of international postgraduate students’ orientation to entrepreneurship education in their expectations of UK Higher Education, which confirmed that career development is a major motivator for international study in the UK (Rae & Woodier-Harris, 2012). The paper contributes new understanding of the relationships between EEE and graduate career intentions, especially at PG and international levels. The paper explores personal growth, confidence and identity development, formation of new career intentions and the application of learning. The international dimension is considerable and this is discussed. Implications The paper has implications for the marketing, design and delivery of EEE at international and HE institutional levels, as well as for the practices of educators in designing, validating and delivering programmes for entrepreneurial career development, at national and international levels. Originality/Value The paper contributes new understanding to the role of EEE in postgraduate career initiation at international level in a period of significant and complex economic transformation

Mix IT Up!: a blending of community informatics and youth services librarianship to further social justice in library and information science education

Mix IT Up! is a library and information science (LIS) education initiative blending theories and approaches in community informatics and youth services librarianship in order to further social justice agendas. It is based on collaboration with community partners who share similar interests and objectives. Prior to launching Mix IT Up!, community members identified a pressing need to engage with local youth more effectively. Mix IT Up! was developed to address this critical gap. From 2011 to 2015, Mix IT Up! enabled a broad array of community-based connections and projects related to youth advocacy and information technologies—the “IT” in the title—and provided robust opportunities for LIS students to gain experience in community engagement. Mix IT Up! serves as a model of effective practice in LIS education.published or submitted for publicatio

From corners to community:exploring medical students’ sense of belonging through co-creation in clinical learning

Background: Belonging is critical for the development and wellbeing of medical students. Belonging, particularly within a ‘relational being’ paradigm, presents a significant challenge for students, especially within clinical learning environments. Co-creation is a learning relationship in which students are actively involved in the education process. It is inherently relational and promotes belonging within higher education environments. Little is known about utilising co-creation in the curriculum, within medical education. The aim of this study was to explore medical students’ experience of co-creation of learning resources within the clinical learning environment. Methods: Following ethical approval, medical students were invited to become co-creators of a learning bulletin resource, within the paediatric acute receiving unit, at a paediatric teaching hospital. Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was used to enable an in-depth exploration of how medical students experienced co-creation within the clinical learning environment. Medical students participated in semi-structured interviews about their experience, which were transcribed verbatim and analysed using IPA. The analysis integrated individual lived experiences into an analytic summary. Results: Nine medical students participated. Three group experiential themes were identified: identity maturation; learning community and workplace integration. The support found within this co-created learning community, along with maturation of their identity, allowed the participants to experience a challenge to their existing worldview. This shift in perspective resulted in them responding and behaving in the workplace in new ways, which enabled them to belong as themselves in the clinical learning environment. These findings were situated within the developmental concept of self-authorship, as well as contributing to a new understanding of how co-creation promoted social integration. Conclusions: Co-creation enabled students to learn in a meaningful way. The relational power of co-creation, can be harnessed to deliver participatory learning experiences, within our increasingly complex healthcare environment, to support the learning, development and integration of doctors of the future.</p

From corners to community:exploring medical students’ sense of belonging through co-creation in clinical learning

Background: Belonging is critical for the development and wellbeing of medical students. Belonging, particularly within a ‘relational being’ paradigm, presents a significant challenge for students, especially within clinical learning environments. Co-creation is a learning relationship in which students are actively involved in the education process. It is inherently relational and promotes belonging within higher education environments. Little is known about utilising co-creation in the curriculum, within medical education. The aim of this study was to explore medical students’ experience of co-creation of learning resources within the clinical learning environment. Methods: Following ethical approval, medical students were invited to become co-creators of a learning bulletin resource, within the paediatric acute receiving unit, at a paediatric teaching hospital. Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was used to enable an in-depth exploration of how medical students experienced co-creation within the clinical learning environment. Medical students participated in semi-structured interviews about their experience, which were transcribed verbatim and analysed using IPA. The analysis integrated individual lived experiences into an analytic summary. Results: Nine medical students participated. Three group experiential themes were identified: identity maturation; learning community and workplace integration. The support found within this co-created learning community, along with maturation of their identity, allowed the participants to experience a challenge to their existing worldview. This shift in perspective resulted in them responding and behaving in the workplace in new ways, which enabled them to belong as themselves in the clinical learning environment. These findings were situated within the developmental concept of self-authorship, as well as contributing to a new understanding of how co-creation promoted social integration. Conclusions: Co-creation enabled students to learn in a meaningful way. The relational power of co-creation, can be harnessed to deliver participatory learning experiences, within our increasingly complex healthcare environment, to support the learning, development and integration of doctors of the future.</p

The Australian Institute of Family Studies Evaluation of the 2006 Family Law Reforms: Key findings

The Australian Institute of Family Studies' Evaluation of the 2006 family law reforms was released in January 2010. It is based on an extensive amount of empirical research, unprecedented in Australia and arguably internationally, comprising 17 separate studies involving 28,000 people, 1724 court files, administrative data and legal analysis. This article presents some key findings of the Evaluation. Specifically, the Evaluation found that for the majority of families, the family law system is working satisfactorily. At the same time however, the Evaluation findings underline the existence of complex issues, including family violence and child abuse concerns, mental health problems and substance misuse which affect many families that rely on the federal family law system^ for assistance. While the introduction of family dispute resolution with exceptions+ has resulted in more disputes being resolved without court action, there is a need for refinement of processes and understandings with respect to cases that are unsuitable for such processes or cases that require additional support in order for disputes to be resolved safely and responsibly. Similarly, while children in shared care represent a minority overall, and while the majority of families with shared care appear to be doing well, there is evidence that these arrangements are sometimes being made even in circumstances where parents have safety concerns, with adverse consequences for the well-being of children

Too big to be local, too small to be strategic? Scotland's Councils and the question of local government boundary reform

Only a very brave politician would broach the subject of local government boundary reform. Like the Council Tax, it is one of those subjects that everyone agrees is important, but probably just too difficult to do anything about. For sure, we can tinker at the margins and tweak this and that, but it is not going to win many votes. But we are not politicians, and we believe there is value in looking at the question of whether the boundaries we use to govern Scotland are a good fit. Therefore, this paper looks at the question of whether Scotland’s current Councils are the right political geography for governing Scotland and how they compare to those in other countries. We also set out two alternative administrative geographies. One of these is based on economic interactions, and the other is based on existing wards. However, these are not concrete proposals but are instead intended to prompt further reflection on the shape of local democracy in Scotland: a subject which spans economics, history, geography, identity, belonging and topography

Queer Library Alliance: Global Reflections and Imaginings

Queer Library Alliance: Global Reflections and Imaginings Table of Contents, Acknowledgements, and IntroductionOpe

Overcoming deprivation and disconnection in UK cities

This report explores neighbourhood deprivation and disconnection at the neighbourhood level, focussing on the poorest neighbourhoods across the UK. It examines how and why these areas often remain disconnected from economic growth within their wider city regions