Paradoxical leadership and well-being in turbulent times: a time-lagged study

IntroductionParadoxical leadership has recently been put forward as an approach to leadership that may transcend the inherent contradictions in contemporary organizational and personnel management. Empirical research on its potential role for bolstering employee well-being remains scarce. This study investigated whether paradoxical leadership positively impacts employee well-being, which is operationalized as employees’ job, career and life satisfaction. We rely on sense-making theory to investigate whether such effects are mediated by the mitigation of employee job insecurity perceptions.MethodsConvenience sampling techniques were used to collect longitudinal survey data between March and September 2021. In total 287 workers provided usable data. Their ages ranged from 18 to 67 years and were active in various organizations in the Netherlands. Validated measures were used to assess paradoxical leadership, job insecurity, job, career, and life satisfaction. A time-lagged path analysis in Mplus 7.0 was conducted to investigate relationships.ResultsThe results suggest that paradoxical leadership is positively related to job, career and life satisfaction over time. The relationships between paradoxical leadership and job and career satisfaction are partially mediated by the mitigation of perceived job insecurity.DiscussionParadoxical leadership plays a role in fostering worker well-being in these turbulent times. Paradoxical leaders may also help their followers to reframe and better deal with challenging working conditions. Despite the longitudinal data design, an additional data-wave would allow for more stringent testing of the proposed mediation effect, and due to convenience sampling generalization of findings is limited

The role of education in selection and allocation on the labour market; An empirical study in the medical field

In this study, we explore the role of education in explaining the labour market outcomes for graduates in medicine. More specifically, we focus on the question: To what extent are labour market outcomes of physicians explained by the skills acquired in education, as argued in the theory of Human Capital, by competences already present at the start of education, as suggested by the Screening theory literature, or by having attained the medical degree as such, as suggested by the literature on Credentialism? The study uses separate measurements of competence at the start and at the end of academic education. These are grade point averages (GPA’s) of secondary school, available at the start of the first year of study, versus the final (medical) Skills test at the end of the study. Moreover, we use a direct measurement of competence development during medical education in the form of Progress Test results; the first Progress Test result in the first year, versus the final Progress Test result in the fourth year of study. This enables us to disentangle the effects of the three suggested mechanisms. The results suggest that after graduation the human capital factors available do not explain subsequent differences in labour market outcomes. The data therefore suggest evidence for Credentialism. However, selection processes during education and in the response to the labour market survey, take place on human capital acquired before and during education.labour market entry and occupational careers;

Competence indicators in academic education and early labour market success of graduates in health sciences

In this study, the effects of several educational and non-educational indicators of (aspects of) competence on short-term labour market outcomes for university graduates are estimated. The research question we address is: To what extent do indications of specific and generic competence during the educational program predict labour market outcomes? Labour market outcomes in this study pertain to employment chances and quality of the job (having a job, academic level, matching occupational domain and wages). We use data on specific and generic aspects of competence, all of which were assessed during the academic study course, i.e. test scores on the attainment of domain specific knowledge, scores on group functioning, and the Masters’ thesis result. In addition, some other indicators of human capital acquired outside education are used, i.e. relevant work experience and managerial experience. The results indicate a rather differentiated pattern for the value of specific and generic competence acquired during education for the labour market.labour market entry and occupational careers;

What makes adults choose to learn:Factors that stimulate or prevent adults from learning

Adult learning policies need to be based on an understanding of the inequalities in the uptake and benefits of learning and why adults might not participate. This needs to go beyond a mere insight in barriers that, once removed, do no longer provide a reason for adults not to participate. This article aims to delph deeper in understanding what makes adults choose to learn. It starts by applying a capability approach perspective to adult learning to evaluate whether adults have freedom to value learning and, whether they can effectively turn this freedom into learning. This conceptual framing puts certain concepts in the spotlight, namely, ‘agency’, ‘conversion factors’ and ‘benefits of learning’, which were further explored through a narrative literature review analysing 109 articles. Thisresulted in an exploration of these concepts and their interplay feeding into a conceptual model, opening new perspectives for evaluating whether adults have equal opportunities to value adult learning and turn their willingness into actual learning. This model supports future empirical studies aimed to understand participation and non-participation of adults in learning that can in turn feed policy makers with better insights and tools to develop interventions actually provide the right encouragements for adults to learn