scholarly journals ‘Publish or perish’: Family life and academic research productivity

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris W. Callaghan
Keyword(s):  
Human Resources ◽  
South African ◽  
Family Life ◽  
Research Productivity ◽  
Journal Article ◽  
Scientific Information ◽  
Work Life ◽  
Research Publication ◽  
Dependent Children ◽  
Negatively Associated

Research purpose: The influence of work-to-family and family-to-work spillovers is well documented in the human resources literature. However, little is known of the relationships between the pressures faced by academics to publish and the potential family life consequences of being a highly productive academic.Research design, approach and method: This research sought to investigate these relationships within the context of a large South African university by testing associations between family life variables such as marriage and dependent children against measures of the following specific types of research publication: (1) South African Department of Higher Education and Training–accredited journal publications; (2) Thompson Reuters Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) and ProQuest’s International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (IBSS)– indexed journal article publications; (3) conference proceedings publications; (4) conference paper presentations; (5) book chapter publications; (6) book publications; and (7) gross research productivity, reflecting a volume or quantity measure of research publication.Main findings: ISI and/or IBSS journal article publication is found to be negatively associated with dependent children, but only for male academics, and to be negatively associated with female gender over and above the effect of family life variables in testing.Practical/managerial implications: Human resources managers in universities need to be cognisant of the specific pressures faced by staff that are required to produce ever more research publications, in order to help them achieve work–life balance.Contribution: In a global context of increasing pressures for research publication, and for higher and higher numbers of publications, it is necessary to identify the potential costs involved for high-volume–producing academics, particularly in terms of family versus work.Keywords: research productivity; family-work life balance

scholarly journals Using Narratives to Understand the Experience of Career Success amongst Self-initiated Expatriates in South Africa

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tinashe Harry ◽  
Nicole Dodd ◽  
Willie Tafadzwa Chinyamurindi
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Social Networks ◽  
Human Resources ◽  
South African ◽  
Developing Country ◽  
Career Success ◽  
Publication Output ◽  
Career Progression ◽  
Career Experiences ◽  
Research Publication

Calls have been made within the careers literature for studies focusing on the career experiences of sample groups often neglected in theorising. One could regard self-initiated expatriates (SIEs) as one of these sample groups, especially within the context of a developing country. An interpretivist paradigm, relying on interviews, was adopted for this study using a sample of 25 expatriates working at a South African university. Based on data generated, career success was framed through: 1) quest for career progression; 2) material possessions; and 3) research publication output. Participants deemed factors within the organisation as key to this framing of career success, particularly: 1) the value placed on social networks; 2) the quest for fair remuneration; and finally 3) the availability of opportunities within the organisation. In their endeavours to retain and attract foreign academics, human resources (HR) practitioners can use the findings of this study to inform strategies that assist in developing their staff.

Work Life Balance Of Female Crew In The Aviation Industry: A Case Study

GIS Business ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 206-212
Author(s):  
Dr. D. Shoba ◽  
Dr. G. Suganthi
Keyword(s):  
Family Life ◽  
Work Life ◽  
Work Life Balance ◽  
Aviation Industry ◽  
Life Balance ◽  
International Airport ◽  
Work Pressure ◽  
Women Employees ◽  
High Level

Employees and employers are facing issues in work life balance. It has become a difficult domain now, because the work needs have increased due to an increase in work pressure and complexities in handling the technology. As there are drastic changes in the rules and regulations in the work scenario of the aviation industry, it makes work life balance of employees difficult and set more hurdles. Hence there are many distractions and imbalances in the life of women employees in the aviation industry working across all levels. This work pressure is creating high level of hurdles in maintaining a harmonious job and family life, especially for female aviation employees. Data is collected from 50 female crew members working at Cochin International Airport. The objective of this study is to analyze the work life balance of working females of Cochin International Airport and its influence on their personal and specialized lives. The result of the study shows that the management should frame certain policies which will help employees to have the balance among their personal and expert lives.

Advancing Women in Local Government: The Case of Illinois

Public Voices ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 89
Author(s):  
Rachel Lange ◽  
Kimberly Nelson
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Positive Solution ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Family Life ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Work Life ◽  
Time Commitment ◽  
Survey Results ◽  
Local Government Management ◽  
Professional Fields

Despite gains by women in many professional fields, the top level of local government management ranks continues to be populated primarily by man. The percentage of females serving as local government chief administrators has not increased since the 1980s. Little empirical research exists that attempts to uncover the reason for the gender gap. The purpose of this research is to identify some of the obstacles and barriers that affect a woman’s decision to advance her career in local government. Utilizing an online survey, the authors surveyed female chief administrative officers (CAOs), assistant CAOs, assistant to the CAOs, and deputy CAOs in Illinois. The survey results show that barriers such as a male dominated culture and time commitment to work life and family life are preventing females from achieving higher authority. Mentoring proves to be a positive solution to many of the barriers facing women in local government.

scholarly journals ‘Living in parallel worlds’ – bereaved parents’ experience of family life when a parent with dependent children is at end of life from cancer: A qualitative study

2021 ◽  
pp. 026921632110017
Author(s):  
Cherith J Semple ◽  
Eilís McCaughan ◽  
Esther R Beck ◽  
Jeffrey R Hanna
Keyword(s):  
End Of Life ◽  
Psychosocial Adjustment ◽  
Family Life ◽  
Life Experience ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Support Service ◽  
Dependent Children ◽  
Bereaved Parents ◽  
Death Of A Parent

Background: When a parent of dependent children (<18 years old) is at end of life from cancer, this has a profound impact on the family. Children less prepared for the death of a parent are more susceptive to poorer psychosocial adjustment in later life. There is a lack of understanding from the literature surrounding what support parents require, and how they navigate this end of life experience. Aim: To explore bereaved parents’ experience and needs for families when a parent is at end of life from cancer with dependent children. Design: In-depth, semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with 21 bereaved mothers and fathers, identified from the general public, a family support service and hospice. Data were analysed thematically. Results: Parents often live in ‘parallel worlds’ throughout the end of life period. In one world, ‘living in the moment’, cherishing the ordinariness of family life, remaining hopeful treatment will prolong life, whilst adapting as the illness unfolds. The other world presents as ‘intermitted glimpses that death is approaching’, shadowed with painful emotional concerns surrounding their children and the future. At the end, death rapidly approaches, characterised as suddenly ‘falling off the cliff’; placing significant demands on the well-parent. Conclusions: Amidst challenges, clinicians should provide parents with clear information surrounding a poor prognosis, so families can plan and prepare for parental death. There is a need for healthcare professionals to engage, encourage and equip parents, as they prepare their children throughout the end of life experience for the inevitable death of a parent.

Teleconference focus groups with fathers: ‘You’re on the line with …’

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Burnett ◽  
Caroline Gatrell
Keyword(s):  
Focus Groups ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Work Life ◽  
Work Life Balance ◽  
Methodological Issues ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Life Balance ◽  
Dependent Children ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Entire Process

This chapter analyses methodological issues experienced in the employment of audio teleconference focus groups in fatherhood research. It cites a research project entitled ‘Work Life Balance: Working for Fathers?’, which explores how men with dependent children combine work and family commitments. As part of this research, when recruiting fathers for face-to-face interviews and focus groups proved difficult, scholars utilised the medium of recordable teleconferencing technology. In the context of research on fatherhood, the chapter evaluates the emergent complexities integral to the entire process of running ‘teleconference’ (telecon) focus groups. The first part of the chapter describes the technological and procedural challenges in the commissioning of telecon focus groups, while the second reflects on fathers' confession-like admissions.

scholarly journals Beyond ‘Juggling’ and ‘Flexibility’: Classed and Gendered Experiences of Combining Employment and Motherhood

2006 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 94-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jo Armstrong
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Family Life ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Work Life ◽  
Gender Inequalities ◽  
Illustrative Case ◽  
Life Balance ◽  
Interview Research ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Uk

This paper proposes that there is a need to push beyond the popular discourses of ‘flexibility’ and ‘work-life balance’. Developing a feminist-Bourdieuian approach and drawing on three illustrative case studies from my interview research with 27 mothers in the UK, I show the importance of maintaining a focus on class and gender inequalities. In the first part of the paper the concepts of capitals, dependencies and habitus which shaped, and were shaped by, this interview research are discussed. An analysis of three women's accounts of their experiences across work and family life is then used to illustrate that although these women all used terms such as ‘flexibility’ and ‘juggling’ in describing their work, the experience of that work was crucially influenced by their histories and current positioning. Tracing each of these women's trajectories from school, attention is focused on the influence of differential access to capitals and relations of dependency in the emergence of their dispositions toward work. Overall, the paper points to the significance of examining the classed and gendered dimensions of women's experiences of employment and motherhood.

Gender moderation of intrinsic research productivity antecedents in South African academia

2017 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 572-592
Author(s):  
Chris Callaghan
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Job Performance ◽  
South African ◽  
Developing Country ◽  
Gender Inequality ◽  
Research Productivity ◽  
Research Output ◽  
Test Theory ◽  
Critical Ratio ◽  
Content Type

Purpose Ascription theory together with human capital theory both predict that, over time, the scarcity of knowledge and skills in increasingly complex working contexts will “crowd out” the influence of arbitrary characteristics such as gender. The purpose of this paper is to test the extent to which job performance determinants of research productivity differ by gender in their contributions to research productivity, in the developing country (South Africa) context, in which gender and other forms of historical discrimination were previously endemic. Design/methodology/approach Research output was measured as published journal articles indexed by Thomson Reuters Institute for Scientific Information, ProQuest’s International Bibliography of the Social Sciences and the South African Department of Higher Education and Training, as well as conference proceedings publications, conference papers presented and published books and book chapters. Structural equation modelling, with critical ratio and χ2 tests of path moderation were used to test theory predicting gender (sex) differences moderate the potential influence of certain intrinsic determinants of job performance on research productivity, as a form of academic job performance. Findings Gender is found to moderate the relationship between experience and research productivity, with this relationship stronger for men, who are also found to have higher research output. This is considered a paradox of sorts, as English and African home languages, which proxy racial differences in societal and economic disadvantages and unequal opportunities, are not significantly associated with research output differences. Findings further suggest none of the tested intrinsic effects are moderated by gender, contesting theory from general work contexts. Research limitations/implications This research applied a cross-sectional design, and did not apply causal methods, instrumental variables or controls for endogeneity. Nevertheless, these are limitations shared with most research in the human resources field, which is constrained by the type of data available in organisational contexts. Further research might do well to investigate non-intrinsic influences on research productivity which may be vulnerable to differences in societal gender roles. Originality/value This research offers a novel perspective of research productivity and gender inequality in a developing country context of increasing diversity, which might offer useful insights into other contexts facing increasing diversity in higher education. The problem of gender-based inequality in research productivity is empirically identified, and little evidence is found to support the notion that intrinsic effects, including core self-evaluations, are at the heart of this problem. Arguably, these findings reduce the problem space around gender inequality in research productivity, in a context in which other forms of disadvantage might no longer manifest in research productivity inequality.

scholarly journals Mixing journal, article, and author citations, and other pitfalls in the bibliographic impact factor

2003 ◽  
Vol 19 (6) ◽  
pp. 1847-1862 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miquel Porta ◽  
José L. Copete ◽  
Esteve Fernandez ◽  
Joan Alguacil ◽  
Janeth Murillo
Keyword(s):  
Impact Factor ◽  
Journal Article ◽  
Scientific Information ◽  
Scientific Journals ◽  
Biomedical Journals ◽  
Health Studies ◽  
Individual Article ◽  
Author Citations ◽  
Number Of Citations ◽  
Specific Number

News of the death of biomedical journals seem premature. Revamped traditional scientific journals remain highly valued sources and vehicles of information, critical debate, and knowledge. Some analyses seem to place a disproportionate emphasis on technological and formal issues, as compared to the importance ascribed to matters of power. Not all journals must necessarily have a large circulation. There are many examples of efficient, high-quality journals with a great impact on relatively small audiences for whom the journal is thought-provoking, useful, and pleasant to read. How can we achieve a better understanding of an article’s spectrum of impacts? A certain mixing of three distinct entities (journals, articles, and authors) has often pervaded judgments. Data used by the Institute for Scientific Information present weaknesses in their accuracy. The two-year limit for citations to count towards the bibliographic impact factor favors "fast-moving", "basic" biomedical disciplines and is less appropriate for public health studies. Increasing attention is given to the specific number of citations received by each individual article. It is possible to make progress towards more valid, accurate, fair, and relevant assessments.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document