The effect of entrepreneurship education programmes on the development of self-efficacy, entrepreneurial intention and predictions for entrepreneurial activity

ORIENTATION : South Africa is currently facing a youth unemployment crisis. Confirmation of the problem was situated in our review of the Quarterly Labour Force Survey, Quarter 3, 2015. We found that the 15–24 years age group was most affected where many were neither in employment, education or training. We asked whether the promotion of entrepreneurship among youth could be a potential solution. RESEARCH PURPOSE : Our research sought to investigate whether there existed a correlation between exposure to entrepreneurship education (EE) and the development of self-efficacy in high school South African youth in the age group of 15–18 years. We also investigated if the programme duration would influence the degree to which self-efficacy was developed, and the correlation of self-efficacy with entrepreneurial and entrepreneurial intention as a predictor of entrepreneurial activity. MOTIVATION FOR THE STUDY : Our motivation stemmed from the belief that the youth unemployment crisis will not be solved by formal employment; that entrepreneurship education needed to be promoted at the school level to address skills mismatches between education and employment creation. RESEARCH DESIGN, APPROACH AND METHOD : We collected our data through a questionnaire from two samples of students taking the Junior Achievement programme. The study adopted a quantitative approach and adopted the use of a Likert scale questionnaire. Of the 1 200 questionnaires distributed, 637 were usable for the short entrepreneurship education programme and 381 were usable for the long entrepreneurship education programme. The purposive sampling technique was adopted. We collected data around the participants’ perceptions of selfefficacy post-entrepreneurship education intervention. We used Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Model (SEM) to analyse our data. Our tests of reliability and validity by use of CFA and SEM confirmed that we were using a stable model. MAIN FINDINGS : The research found positive correlations between the items comprising selfefficacy that can be developed through EE. Also, EE of a longer duration had stronger positive correlations with such items. PRACTICAL/MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS : We make practical recommendations pertinent to the type of EE schools ought to introduce. CONTRIBUTION/VALUE-ADD : Our research contributed to existing theory about the influence of EE on the development of self-efficacy.This article is based on the PhD thesis of the first author at the University of Pretoria, 2017, titled ‘The effect of entrepreneurship education programmes on the mind-set of South African youth’ by Sara Bux, available at: http://hdl. handle.net/2263/60530.http://www.actacommercii.co.zaam2019Business Managemen

Assessing uncertainties in global cropland futures using a conditional probabilistic modelling framework

We present a modelling framework to simulate probabilistic futures of global cropland areas that are conditional on the SSP (shared socio-economic pathway) scenarios. Simulations are based on the Parsimonious Land Use Model (PLUM) linked with the global dynamic vegetation model LPJ-GUESS (Lund-Potsdam-Jena General Ecosystem Simulator) using socio-economic data from the SSPs and climate data from the RCPs (representative concentration pathways). The simulated range of global cropland is 893-2380 Mha in 2100 (± 1 standard deviation), with the main uncertainties arising from differences in the socio-economic conditions prescribed by the SSP scenarios and the assumptions that underpin the translation of qualitative SSP storylines into quantitative model input parameters. Uncertainties in the assumptions for population growth, technological change and cropland degradation were found to be the most important for global cropland, while uncertainty in food consumption had less influence on the results. The uncertainties arising from climate variability and the differences between climate change scenarios do not strongly affect the range of global cropland futures. Some overlap occurred across all of the conditional probabilistic futures, except for those based on SSP3. We conclude that completely different socio-economic and climate change futures, although sharing low to medium population development, can result in very similar cropland areas on the aggregated global scale

The Relative Impact of Climate Change on the Extinction Risk of Tree Species in the Montane Tropical Andes.

There are widespread concerns that anthropogenic climate change will become a major cause of global biodiversity loss. However, the potential impact of climate change on the extinction risk of species remains poorly understood, particularly in comparison to other current threats. The objective of this research was to examine the relative impact of climate change on extinction risk of upper montane tree species in the tropical Andes, an area of high biodiversity value that is particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts. The extinction risk of 129 tree species endemic to the region was evaluated according to the IUCN Red List criteria, both with and without the potential impacts of climate change. Evaluations were supported by development of species distribution models, using three methods (generalized additive models, recursive partitioning, and support vector machines), all of which produced similarly high AUC values when averaged across all species evaluated (0.82, 0.86, and 0.88, respectively). Inclusion of climate change increased the risk of extinction of 18-20% of the tree species evaluated, depending on the climate scenario. The relative impact of climate change was further illustrated by calculating the Red List Index, an indicator that shows changes in the overall extinction risk of sets of species over time. A 15% decline in the Red List Index was obtained when climate change was included in this evaluation. While these results suggest that climate change represents a significant threat to tree species in the tropical Andes, they contradict previous suggestions that climate change will become the most important cause of biodiversity loss in coming decades. Conservation strategies should therefore focus on addressing the multiple threatening processes currently affecting biodiversity, rather than focusing primarily on potential climate change impacts

Global patient outcomes after elective surgery: prospective cohort study in 27 low-, middle- and high-income countries.

BACKGROUND: As global initiatives increase patient access to surgical treatments, there remains a need to understand the adverse effects of surgery and define appropriate levels of perioperative care. METHODS: We designed a prospective international 7-day cohort study of outcomes following elective adult inpatient surgery in 27 countries. The primary outcome was in-hospital complications. Secondary outcomes were death following a complication (failure to rescue) and death in hospital. Process measures were admission to critical care immediately after surgery or to treat a complication and duration of hospital stay. A single definition of critical care was used for all countries. RESULTS: A total of 474 hospitals in 19 high-, 7 middle- and 1 low-income country were included in the primary analysis. Data included 44 814 patients with a median hospital stay of 4 (range 2-7) days. A total of 7508 patients (16.8%) developed one or more postoperative complication and 207 died (0.5%). The overall mortality among patients who developed complications was 2.8%. Mortality following complications ranged from 2.4% for pulmonary embolism to 43.9% for cardiac arrest. A total of 4360 (9.7%) patients were admitted to a critical care unit as routine immediately after surgery, of whom 2198 (50.4%) developed a complication, with 105 (2.4%) deaths. A total of 1233 patients (16.4%) were admitted to a critical care unit to treat complications, with 119 (9.7%) deaths. Despite lower baseline risk, outcomes were similar in low- and middle-income compared with high-income countries. CONCLUSIONS: Poor patient outcomes are common after inpatient surgery. Global initiatives to increase access to surgical treatments should also address the need for safe perioperative care. STUDY REGISTRATION: ISRCTN5181700

Impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular testing in the United States versus the rest of the world

Objectives: This study sought to quantify and compare the decline in volumes of cardiovascular procedures between the United States and non-US institutions during the early phase of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the care of many non-COVID-19 illnesses. Reductions in diagnostic cardiovascular testing around the world have led to concerns over the implications of reduced testing for cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Methods: Data were submitted to the INCAPS-COVID (International Atomic Energy Agency Non-Invasive Cardiology Protocols Study of COVID-19), a multinational registry comprising 909 institutions in 108 countries (including 155 facilities in 40 U.S. states), assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of diagnostic cardiovascular procedures. Data were obtained for April 2020 and compared with volumes of baseline procedures from March 2019. We compared laboratory characteristics, practices, and procedure volumes between U.S. and non-U.S. facilities and between U.S. geographic regions and identified factors associated with volume reduction in the United States. Results: Reductions in the volumes of procedures in the United States were similar to those in non-U.S. facilities (68% vs. 63%, respectively; p = 0.237), although U.S. facilities reported greater reductions in invasive coronary angiography (69% vs. 53%, respectively; p < 0.001). Significantly more U.S. facilities reported increased use of telehealth and patient screening measures than non-U.S. facilities, such as temperature checks, symptom screenings, and COVID-19 testing. Reductions in volumes of procedures differed between U.S. regions, with larger declines observed in the Northeast (76%) and Midwest (74%) than in the South (62%) and West (44%). Prevalence of COVID-19, staff redeployments, outpatient centers, and urban centers were associated with greater reductions in volume in U.S. facilities in a multivariable analysis. Conclusions: We observed marked reductions in U.S. cardiovascular testing in the early phase of the pandemic and significant variability between U.S. regions. The association between reductions of volumes and COVID-19 prevalence in the United States highlighted the need for proactive efforts to maintain access to cardiovascular testing in areas most affected by outbreaks of COVID-19 infection

A decision support tool for quantifying the risk profile of south Africa’s pharmaceutical supply distribution network

CITATION: Nolting, C. W., Grobbelaar, S. S. & Van Vuuren, J. H. 2018. A decision support tool for quantifying the risk profile of south Africa’s pharmaceutical supply distribution network. In SAIIE29 Proceedings, 24-26 October 2018, Spier, Stellenbosch, South Africa.The original publication is available at https://conferences.sun.ac.za/index.php/saiie29/saiie29/schedConf/presentationsENGLISH ABSTRACT: South Africa is facing a serious burden of disease, which is exacerbated by a dysfunctional public health care system. Blind, general estimates are often made in respect of crucial pharmaceutical inventory variables. This results in slow-moving pharmaceutical drugs being overstocked and fast-moving drugs being understocked at outlets and distribution centres. Consequently, large wastages are incurred in terms of drugs being discarded in bulk after passing their expiration date. As a result, patients are deprived of essential medicines due to enduring stock-outs. This paper aims to present the conceptual design of a decision support tool, which aids decision makers in determining pharmaceutical inventory variables that align with key objectives and keep the best interest of patients in mind.https://conferences.sun.ac.za/index.php/saiie29/saiie29/paper/view/3675Publisher's versio

Exploring the implications of lifestyle change in 2°C mitigation scenarios using the IMAGE integrated assessment model

Most model studies focus on technical solutions in order to meet the 2°C climate target, such as renewable, carbon capture and energy efficiency technologies. Such studies show that it becomes increasingly more difficult to attain the 2°C target with carbon price driven technical solutions alone. This indicates the need to focus more on non-economic and non-technological drivers of energy system transformations, which are generally not explicitly included in long-term scenario studies. This study implements a set of lifestyle change measures for residential energy use, mobility and waste management in the integrated assessment model IMAGE. We analyze the implications of these lifestyle changes in a business-as-usual and 2°C climate mitigation reference case. We find that lifestyle change measures included in this study mostly affect the end-use sectors. By 2050, the measures reduce CO2 emissions in the residential sector by about 13% and in the transport sector by about 35% compared to baseline emissions. The indirect implications in the industry and energy supply sectors were found to be negligible. In mitigation scenarios the contribution of lifestyle measures is dampened in end-use sectors as they overlap with more technical measures. Yet, as they may create opportunities to mitigate in sectors without more radical changes in (1) the energy infrastructure and (2) on the short term, it leads to a more cost-efficient mitigation strategy. Further research in how behavior can be internalized into integrated assessment studies is recommendable

Exploring the implications of lifestyle change in 2°C mitigation scenarios using the IMAGE integrated assessment model

Most model studies focus on technical solutions in order to meet the 2°C climate target, such as renewable, carbon capture and energy efficiency technologies. Such studies show that it becomes increasingly more difficult to attain the 2°C target with carbon price driven technical solutions alone. This indicates the need to focus more on non-economic and non-technological drivers of energy system transformations, which are generally not explicitly included in long-term scenario studies. This study implements a set of lifestyle change measures for residential energy use, mobility and waste management in the integrated assessment model IMAGE. We analyze the implications of these lifestyle changes in a business-as-usual and 2°C climate mitigation reference case. We find that lifestyle change measures included in this study mostly affect the end-use sectors. By 2050, the measures reduce CO2 emissions in the residential sector by about 13% and in the transport sector by about 35% compared to baseline emissions. The indirect implications in the industry and energy supply sectors were found to be negligible. In mitigation scenarios the contribution of lifestyle measures is dampened in end-use sectors as they overlap with more technical measures. Yet, as they may create opportunities to mitigate in sectors without more radical changes in (1) the energy infrastructure and (2) on the short term, it leads to a more cost-efficient mitigation strategy. Further research in how behavior can be internalized into integrated assessment studies is recommendable

Do parallel career tracks harm professionals more than single career tracks?

Parallel career tracks have become more prevalent today, especially in Brazil, where more than a quarter of all postgrads have one. Despite its growing popularity, little research has tapped into this new career phenomenon. This study examines whether having a parallel career track leads to negative work outcomes related to sustainable careers, such as higher absenteeism and lower engagement, in comparison to a single career track. Cross-sectional and longitudinal data were gathered from 380 and 102 Brazilian professionals respectively, who filled out an online survey. A normal and a repeated-measures multivariate analysis of variance were used to examine whether work outcomes differed between those with parallel career tracks versus single career tracks. The findings indicate that parallel career tracks do not have different effects on individual sustainable employability outcomes when compared to single career tracks, including employability, engagement, absenteeism, presenteeism, and burnout. Therefore, organizations can face this new career trend without reluctance as it does not harm individual work outcomes related to sustainable careers. This study contributes significantly to improving the understanding of this new career format by examining the impact of parallel career tracks on individual work outcomes through a longitudinal design