Structural Change Shapes Career Mobility Opportunities: An Analysis of Cohorts, Gender and Parental Class

Research suggests that structural change drives occupational mobility in high-income countries over time, but two partially competing theories explain how such change occurs. One suggests that younger cohorts replace older ones through higher education, and the second suggests that individuals adapt to structural change by switching from declining to new or growing occupations during their careers. A proposed occupational scheme aligns with the two dimensions of structural change – skill upgrading on the vertical axis of occupational differentiation, increasing demand for data comprehension (i.e. high skill) and primary tasks concerning either people or things on the horizontal axis. Applied to career trajectories in the Swedish labour market, sequence analyses of the scheme suggest stability in attainment of career mobility types over time between consecutive birth cohorts, and considerable evidence for within-career manoeuvring. Analyses address heterogeneity along parental class and gender.

To Keep Close or to Let Loose: Recipe for Sustainable Quality Dyad

This study’s objective was to determine factors that that sustain a quality dyad. Leaders are known to consciously and sub consciously form two groups; in-group and outgroup members. Studies have revealed that in-group members work overtime and perform extra duties and in turn, get favours from the leaders including career mobility and access to information, among other favours. Literature is unclear on how these groups are formed and this paper embarked on finding out the recipe of the formation and sustainability of a quality dyad. It was hypothesised that being a male member, trust and competence are not recipes of a high-quality relationship. Descriptive survey was employed; a population of 19 leaders were responding to questions about their 169 employees who report to them directly. Primary data was collected using semi-structured questionnaires.122 pairs of leaders and their direct reports was the response rate (72.2%). Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data. The hypothesis was tested using logistical regression technique. The results showed that competence and trust are the recipe for an inclusion into the in-group of a leader. Gender, on the other hand, was not a recipe for a sustainable quality dyadic relationship. It is recommended that employees should ensure high level trustworthiness and competence for them to be kept close by the leader. The paper suggests that more variables can be considered as recipes for the quality dyadic relationship. These findings add significant value on both theory, policy and practice.

Diversity and inclusion in radiology: a necessity for improving the field

Women and minorities are systematically under-represented in medicine, and this effect is pronounced in the field of radiology, across education, workforce and leadership. The proportion of women and minorities represented in radiology diminishes as their rank or job title elevates. Much of this are likely due to implicit biases, generational attitudes, and workplace cultures that can be discriminatory towards women and minorities. Steps that can be taken include closing the gender pay-gap, providing more opportunities for mentorship, addressing biases, and supporting the upward career mobility of women and minorities. Ultimately, increasing diversity will benefit all stakeholders in medicine, as collaboration among diverse individuals fosters innovation, greater financial efficiency, and better patient outcomes.

Survive, Revive, Thrive: Chapter 5: Steering by the Stars

The purpose of life is to discover your gift. The work of life is to develop it. The meaning of life is to give your gift away. - David S. Viscott, American psychiatrist Steering by the Stars History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. History is who we are and why we are the way we are. - David McCullough, American historian I recently read a “thought piece” in a major magazine that was a fictional account of how a new CEO would address his or her company’s employees while simultaneously restructuring the company’s units to deal with the pandemic. The fictitious CEO focused on prioritizing two things: treating the employees with respect while rewarding their loyalty and contributions and taking the necessary actions to maintain and improve engagement and sales for the company’s customers. This story is a reminder of the effect the pandemic has on businesses - all businesses. When the need to hire, utilize, and retain the very best talent is absolutely essential, do talented people really need to be micromanaged and endlessly evaluated? Or should we have the confidence to let them do their jobs? As I have mentioned in past columns, we (the big we - the oil and gas industry) will emerge leaner and a lot meaner when this storm finally passes. Employment, promotions, career mobility, and access to capital will become much more competitive. Our next generation, the students, need to understand and accept this. Young professionals need to realize that being a best-in-class performer may not be an option, and yes, layers of management will disappear as we rely on people to self-motivate and self-optimize their performance. We must also focus on what our customers want, namely energy security, diversity of access to energy, a lower-carbon future, and assurances that we are “walking the walk” on ESG issues. ESG stands for environmental, social, and corporate governance, in case you forgot. Each of these is both desirable and achievable - and need I restate that this is what our customers want? So how do we “steer by the stars?” Start with the obvious: If you can’t see the stars, you may want to wait until you do. Most importantly, this method works - crudely perhaps, and certainly not with the precision or reliability of GPS, but we aren’t trying to thread a needle. We are trying to ensure the significance of our industry and the livelihoods of our people. Understanding how to get where we need to be is the most essential element to getting there. We have the talent, technology, and infrastructure to provide a vital energy component. We need to make sure that we are “steering” toward our customers and toward a future where we continue to make a significant social and economic impact on the global economy.

Publishing is evolving, but are we? Developing talent for the future

At the APE 2020 Pre-Conference in Berlin, a group of talent development and HR experts from across the scientific research and publishing community came together to discuss the future of talent development in the scholarly publishing industry. We heard from an excellent group of speakers who shared with us a rich and diverse range of expertise and experience. We set ourselves the challenge of imagining what the world of scholarly academic publishing would look like in 2030, and asked ourselves the question: how can we work together to develop the talent we will need now, and for the future, in a rapidly changing world? Are we keeping pace, and are we prepared for the challenge ahead? Based on our discussion, three key themes emerged: the importance of supporting increased diversity & inclusion within scholarly publishing, interorganizational leadership development initiatives for leaders across the publishing ecosystem to exchange experiences and ideas, and greater research and publishing career mobility to encourage more fluid movement between research and publishing jobs. We believe these things are all very achievable if we commit to investing in the kind of culture change and new ways of thinking that will lead us to success in 2030.