The dominant ethnic moment: towards the abolition of 'whiteness'?

International audienc

The influence of online resources on student–lecturer relationship in higher education: a comparison study

The internet has become a key resource for students’ higher education studies due to both its availability and currency. Previously within higher education, lectures, books and course materials were the only sources of information. This change, to more open access to information and more online materials being accessed outside of those provided by lecturers, and indeed institutions, is likely to accelerate and change the way students are learning. This study aims to help institutions understand better the impact of these changes on the student–lecturer relationship by exploring students’ perceptions of their studies in terms of power and students’ academic engagement in the classroom. The importance of the internet (online learning resources) to students’ achievements, the importance of lecturers and the student–lecturer relationship have all been widely investigated. However, limited research has been undertaken examining the impact of students’ use of the internet on the student–lecturer relationship, or comparing this across different countries and cultures. To address this, data were collected via semi- structured questionnaires distributed to undergraduate students from three countries: United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia and Kenya. Quantitative data were analysed using a simple statistical analysis approach and qualitative data were analysed using a thematic analysis approach. The results showed that students’ use of the internet has improved students’ academic self-confidence, academic self-reliance and student– lecturer connectedness, but students’ use of the internet has increased the gap in the student–lecturer expert relationship and referent relationship. The impact and rea- sons for this differed between the countries involved in this study

Complexity Theory for a New Managerial Paradigm: A Research Framework

In this work, we supply a theoretical framework of how organizations can embed complexity management and sustainable development into their policies and actions. The proposed framework may lead to a new management paradigm, attempting to link the main concepts of complexity theory, change management, knowledge management, sustainable development, and cybernetics. We highlight how the processes of organizational change have occurred as a result of the move to adapt to the changes in the various global and international business environments and how this transformation has led to the shift toward the present innovation economy. We also point how organizational change needs to deal with sustainability, so that the change may be consistent with present needs, without compromising the future

The impact of societal cultural values and individual social beliefs on the perceived effectiveness of managerial influence strategies: a meso approach

This paper reports the findings of a 12-nation study designed to test empirically the relationships between societal cultural values, individual social beliefs, and the perceived effectiveness of different influence strategies. The relationships between three types of broad influence strategy (persuasive, assertive, and relationship based) and four dimensions of individual beliefs (cynicism, fate control, reward for application, and religiosity) were examined. Three of Project GLOBE's cultural values (in-group collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, and future orientation) were selected to investigate their direct effects on the rated effectiveness of influence strategies, and their possible interaction with dimensions of individual beliefs. Results showed that different dimensions of individual social beliefs predict the perceived effectiveness of the three types of influence strategy, and that cultural values can moderate the strength of the relationship between these dimensions of individual social beliefs and the perceived effectiveness of influence strategies

Examining the role of genetic risk and longitudinal transmission processes underlying maternal parenting and psychopathology and children’s ADHD symptoms and aggression: utilizing the advantages of a prospective adoption design

Although genetic factors may contribute to initial liability for ADHD onset, there is growing evidence of the potential importance of the rearing environment on the developmental course of ADHD symptomatology. However, associations between family-level variables (maternal hostility, maternal depressive symptoms) and child behaviors (developmental course of ADHD and aggression) may be explained by genes that are shared by biologically related parents and children. Furthermore, ADHD symptoms and aggression commonly co-occur: it is important to consider both simultaneously to have a better understanding of processes underlying the developmental course of ADHD and aggression. To addresses these issues, we employed a longitudinal genetically sensitive parent–offspring adoption design. Analyses were conducted using Cohort I (n = 340) of the Early Growth and Development Study with cross-validation analyses conducted with Cohort II (n = 178). Adoptive mother hostility, but not depression, was associated with later child ADHD symptoms and aggression. Mothers and their adopted children were genetically unrelated, removing passive rGE as a possible explanation. Early child impulsivity/activation was associated with later ADHD symptoms and aggression. Child impulsivity/activation was also associated with maternal hostility, with some evidence for evocative gene-environment correlation processes on adoptive mother depressive symptoms. This study provides novel insights into family-based environmental influences on child ADHD and aggression symptoms, independent of shared parental genetic factors, implications of which are further explicated in the discussion