461 research outputs found
Gender, foundation degrees and the knowledge economy
This article questions the concept of ‘education for employment’, which constructs a discourse of individual and societal benefit in a knowledge‐driven economy. Recent policy emphasis in the European Union promotes the expansion of higher education and short‐cycle vocational awards such as the intermediate two‐year Foundation Degree recently introduced into England and Wales. Studies of vocational education and training (VET) and the knowledge economy have focused largely on the governance of education and on the development and drift of policy. Many VET programmes have also been considered for their classed, raced and gendered take‐up and subsequent effect on employment. This article builds on both fields of study to engage with the finer cross‐analyses of gender, social class, poverty, race and citizenship. In its analysis of policy texts the article argues that in spite of a discourse of inclusivity, an expanded higher education system has generated new inequalities, deepening social stratification. Drawing on early analyses of national quantitative data sets, it identifies emerging gendered, classed and raced patterns and considers these in relation to occupationally and hierarchically stratified labour markets, both within and without the knowledge economy
Are Labour Markets Necessarily Local? Spatiality, Segmentation and Scale
This paper draws on recent debates about scale to approach the geography of labour markets from a dynamic perspective sensitive to the spatiality and scale of labour market
restructuring. Its exploration of labour market reconfigurations after the collapse of a major firm (Ansett Airlines) raises questions about geography’s faith in the inherently ‘local’ constitution of labour markets. Through an examination of the job reallocation process after redundancy, the paper suggests that multiple labour markets use and articulate scale in different ways. It argues that labour market rescaling processes are enacted at the critical moment of recruitment, where social networks, personal aspirations and employer preferences combine to shape workers’ destinations
From evidence to action: applying gender mainstreaming to pay gaps in the Welsh public sector
Progress on reducing gender disparities remains painfully slow, despite efforts to identify the determinants of gender pay gaps and specify size and shape. Recent studies highlight the need for a more nuanced account of the way that public policy shapes organizational responses and insights into the types of organizational practices that diminish pay disparities. In response, this research reports on an action research intervention in three large Welsh public organizations, subject to a unique statutory equality duty. Data demonstrate how an evidence‐based gender mainstreaming approach facilitated the development of a ‘no blame’ strategy, which legitimized organizational proactivity through collaborative and empowering change management processes. The research contributes to the study of gender pay gaps by demonstrating that gender mainstreaming, with facilitative local conditions and supportive public policy, shapes action on gender segregation, with particular success in women's low‐paid employment. Conclusions highlight theoretical and policy implications arising from the research
Quantitative predictions on auxin-induced polar distribution of PIN proteins during vein formation in leaves
The dynamic patterning of the plant hormone auxin and its efflux facilitator
the PIN protein are the key regulator for the spatial and temporal organization
of plant development. In particular auxin induces the polar localization of its
own efflux facilitator. Due to this positive feedback auxin flow is directed
and patterns of auxin and PIN arise. During the earliest stage of vein
initiation in leaves auxin accumulates in a single cell in a rim of epidermal
cells from which it flows into the ground meristem tissue of the leaf blade.
There the localized auxin supply yields the successive polarization of PIN
distribution along a strand of cells. We model the auxin and PIN dynamics
within cells with a minimal canalization model. Solving the model analytically
we uncover an excitable polarization front that triggers a polar distribution
of PIN proteins in cells. As polarization fronts may extend to opposing
directions from their initiation site we suggest a possible resolution to the
puzzling occurrence of bipolar cells, such we offer an explanation for the
development of closed, looped veins. Employing non-linear analysis we identify
the role of the contributing microscopic processes during polarization.
Furthermore, we deduce quantitative predictions on polarization fronts
establishing a route to determine the up to now largely unknown kinetic rates
of auxin and PIN dynamics.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, supplemental information included, accepted for
publication in Eur. Phys. J.
Working time flexibility components and working time regimes in Europe: using company-level data across 21 countries
Working time ?exibility comprises a wide variety of arrangements, from part-time,
overtime, to long-term leaves. Theoretical approaches to grouping these arrangements
have been developed, but empirical underpinnings are rare. This article investigates
the bundles that can be found for various ?exible working time arrangements, using the
Establishment Survey on Working Time and Work–Life Balance, 2004/2005, covering 21
EU member states and 13 industries. The results from the factor analyses con?rmed that
working time arrangements can be grouped into two bundles, one for the employee-centred
arrangements and second for the employer-centred arrangements, and that these two
bundles are separate dimensions.Wealso tested the stability of the factor analysisoutcome,
showing that although we ?nd some deviations from the pan-Europe and pan-industry
outcome, the naming of the components as ?exibility for employees and ?exibility for
employers can be considered rather stable. Lastly, we ?nd three country clusters for the 21
European countries using the bundle approach. The ?rst group includes the Northern
European countries along side Poland and Czech Republic, the second group the
continental European countries with UK and Ireland, and lastly, the southern European
countries with Hungary and Slovenia
Comparing inequalities in the labour market from a segmentation perspective
Production of INCASI Project H2020-MSCA-RISE-2015 GA 691004The purpose of this chapter is to carry out a comparative analysis of labour markets in Europe and Latin America from the perspective of segmentation in order to explain the processes of social inequality that arise in the workplace, in light of recent trends in global socio-economic changes. The chapter proposes two main objectives. The first is to perform a comparative descriptive analysis of the main features of labour markets among 60 European and Latin American countries. The second objective is to propose a model of comparative analysis of labour inequality from the theoretical perspective of the segmentation of the labour market and structural heterogeneity. We will focus our analysis by selecting two countries, Spain and Argentina, which both underwent a late development of capitalism. The following general hypothesis is formulated: Spain and Argentina, having clearly differentiated features in economic structure, level of development, institutional frameworks and socio-historical processes, show common dynamics in the structuring of the capitalist labour market between a primary and secondary segment. Using equivalent databases on the workforce a typology of segmentation of employment is constructed that show, in addition to the specificities of each country, the similarities in the structuring of the labour market
Alignment between PIN1 Polarity and Microtubule Orientation in the Shoot Apical Meristem Reveals a Tight Coupling between Morphogenesis and Auxin Transport
Morphogenesis during multicellular development is regulated by intercellular signaling molecules as well as by the mechanical properties of individual cells. In particular, normal patterns of organogenesis in plants require coordination between growth direction and growth magnitude. How this is achieved remains unclear. Here we show that in Arabidopsis thaliana, auxin patterning and cellular growth are linked through a correlated pattern of auxin efflux carrier localization and cortical microtubule orientation. Our experiments reveal that both PIN1 localization and microtubule array orientation are likely to respond to a shared upstream regulator that appears to be biomechanical in nature. Lastly, through mathematical modeling we show that such a biophysical coupling could mediate the feedback loop between auxin and its transport that underlies plant phyllotaxis
Measurements of dense fuel hydrodynamics in the NIF burning plasma experiments using backscattered neutron spectroscopy
The hydrodynamics of the dense confining fuel shell is of great importance in
defining the behaviour of the burning plasma and burn propagation regimes of
inertial confinement fusion experiments. However, it is difficult to probe due
to its low emissivity in comparison to the central fusion core. In this work,
we utilise the backscattered neutron spectroscopy technique to directly measure
the hydrodynamic conditions of the dense fuel during fusion burn. Experimental
data is fit to obtain dense fuel velocities and apparent ion temperatures.
Trends of these inferred parameters with yield and velocity of the burning
plasma are used to investigate their dependence on alpha heating and low mode
drive asymmetry. It is shown that the dense fuel layer has an increased outward
radial velocity as yield increases showing burn has continued into
re-expansion, a key signature of hotspot ignition. Comparison with analytic and
simulation models show that the observed dense fuel parameters are displaying
signatures of burn propagation into the dense fuel layer, including a rapid
increase in dense fuel apparent ion temperature with neutron yield
Gender segregation, underemployment and subjective well-being in the UK labour market
This article argues that gender segregation influences patterns of underemployment and
the relationships that underemployment has with the subjective well-being of men and
women. Previous studies have paid little attention to how gender segregation shapes
underemployment, an increasingly prominent feature of the UK and European labour
markets since the economic crisis of 2008. Using data from the UK Annual Population
Surveys, this article examines time-related underemployment: people working part time
because they cannot find a full-time job. The article asks whether there are gender
differences in underemployment trends and in the links between underemployment and
subjective well-being. The results suggest that the probability of underemployment is
growing at a faster rate among women rather than men and that underemployment is
most common in the jobs that women are more likely to perform, namely in femaledominated
occupations, the public sector and small organizations. Underemployment is
least common in male-dominated occupations and industries and in the private sector.
Moreover, for employees with longer tenures, underemployment has more negative
relationships with the subjective well-being of women than with that of men. These
findings imply that gender segregation in labour markets is a crucial factor to consider
when researching underemployment and its consequences
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