Fourth Year Intellectual Disability Student Nurses’ Journey and Future Work Intention: A Qualitative Study.

BackgroundThe aim of this qualitative study is to explore the views and experiences of final year BSc intellectual disability nursing students’ journey, future work plans and examine factors influencing their migration intentions following graduation.MethodsA qualitative component of a mixed methods study where focus group interviews were conducted with final year BSc intellectual disability nursing students (n-=10). A topic guide was utilised, and participants were interviewed about their programme, future work plans and migration intentions. An inductive approach was utilised, and data were analysed using a pre-existing framework for initial coding and thematic development. Duffy’s conceptual model of identity transformation provided a structure to analyse the data and map themes onto the conceptual framework.ResultsThe findings were mapped onto the five stages of Duffy’s (2013) conceptual model of identity transformation: Pre-Entry; Reaffirming; Surmounting; Stabilising and Actualising. Findings indicate that further work is required to promote intellectual disability nursing and address professional esteem issues, support for education and professional development, such as providing career guidance opportunities prior to course completion, development of clinical skills within their education programme and support for the professional development of new graduates. Participants identified uncertainty about career opportunities and saw scope for future professional developments opportunities particularly in community-based work.ConclusionThis study has identified that final year intellectual disability nursing students are uncertain about career options and opportunities for intellectual disability nurses in other countries. There is an urgent need for the intellectual disability nursing profession to articulate their practice and advocate for their role and contribution to the care of people with intellectual disability. This study identified a clear need for direction and information regarding intellectual disability nursing roles and career opportunities.

Gender Differences in the Relationship between Work–Life Balance, Career Opportunities and General Health Perception

Although gender equality is increasingly promoted both in the workplace and in society, and women have now fully entered the workforce, the issue of gender differences in relation to career advancement still seems open. Although gender roles no longer clearly define who is responsible for home care and who is responsible for job duties, some research shows that the conflict between family and work life appears to be a greater problem for women than for men. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between career opportunities, work–life balance, and well-being perception separately in both female (n = 499) and male (n = 557) respondents in order to shed light on the role of gender. A multi-group analysis showed that the structural paths of the models differ by gender. For women, the relationships between career opportunities and work–life balance and between career opportunities and the perception of general health have significantly lower values compared to results from the group of men, while the perception of work–life balance affects well-being more significantly when compared to the male counterpart. Implications on the importance of the connection between career and the valorization of personal life duties are further discussed.

Collaboration Between Subtitling Academics and Practitioners

This article proposes the application of public translation studies put forward by Koskinen (2010) to the field of audiovisual translation (AVT). We argue that AVT scholars and practitioners would benefit from the implementation of a long-term, reciprocal collaboration. This would involve the formation of a community of academics and subtitlers, creating a space for regular dialogic communication that would be mutually beneficial. The article first explores the concept of public translation studies, examining how and why this framework might be useful in AVT. We then present the findings of a scoping questionnaire, in which subtitlers working in the UK and Ireland were surveyed about their interest in collaborating with academics. Respondents indicated an interest in opportunities for professional development, community-building and collaboration. In addition, based on the results we highlight a number of areas around which these activities could be centred, including, for example, opportunities for subtitlers to enhance their practical skill set, to improve their career opportunities and the collective standing of the profession, to discuss translation dilemmas and to inform academia. We end by proposing some concrete next steps for the development of a subtitling community, and the possible role of academics and subtitlers within such an initiative. Lay Summary Working as a subtitler can be challenging in many ways: technological developments such as machine translation are changing the work rapidly, working conditions are sometimes demanding, and the work can be lonely because it is often done on a freelance basis. Therefore, subtitlers could benefit from new ways to work together, share information and advocate for better working conditions. It could also be useful to build closer contacts with researchers who have an interest in subtitling. Contacts with academia would allow practitioners to learn how research might benefit them and to contribute to future projects. This article presents a proposal for forming a community of practitioners and academics. As a first step, we conducted a survey with subtitlers based in the UK and Ireland to find out what topics practitioners would like to discuss with academics. The responses indicate that many practitioners want to enhance their practical skills by learning about topics such as new technology, and they want to network and improve their working conditions. There is also some interest in learning about and contributing to research. Based on these responses, we will conclude the article by introducing a new community of subtitlers and practitioners we are launching: SubComm.

Międzynarodowa mobilność edukacyjna jako determinanta rozwoju osobistego i zawodowego studentów

The aim of the article is to analyze the extent, to which the participation of students in learning mobility projects on the example of the Erasmus+ programme influences the improvement of their individual skills desired from the perspective of the labour market. The text begins with an introduction that outlines the background to the considerations undertaken. Next, the historical context of learning mobility in Europe and the process of internationalization of universities are presented as one of the consequences of the globalizing labour market. In the following part of the article we characterized the best known European programme promoting academic mobility Erasmus+. The end of the article contains a review of the research on the competences of beneficiaries of learning mobility projects, supported by statistical data, and an attempt to draw a link between participation in student exchange and the chances of finding a satisfactory employment after graduation. The analysis shows that graduates with foreign mobility experience develop a number of characteristics and skills, that increase their employability and career opportunities.

It’s Not Where You Start or Where You Finish - It’s How You Get There

A career in librarianship may start in a library science master’s program, but the path to and/or between career opportunities builds and shifts with time. This commentary discusses the career paths followed by two librarians who each attended the same master’s program and are currently both health science librarians at the same institution. While these similarities exist, the unique journeys each followed have helped to shape their approaches to their current jobs, roles within their careers, and their approaches to librarianship. From library school and first jobs, to current positions, this piece discusses how every step along the way has had a lasting impact on the authors’ careers.

What Do Introduction to Psychology Textbooks Have to Say About Older Adults?

Introduction to Psychology is one of the most popular undergraduate courses, an entry course for psychology majors and also popular with students from other disciplines. Consequently, the content in introductory psychology textbooks has the potential to influence undergraduates’ knowledge, attitudes, and interests, including those related to aging. The purpose of this study was to analyze aging-related content in introductory psychology textbooks to understand the topics to which students are exposed in this important course. We analyzed the indices of 21 best-selling Introduction to Psychology textbooks for both advanced and intermediate audiences, published between 2018 and 2020. We extracted and aggregated 275 unique, aging-specific index terms from the textbooks and analyzed their relative frequency. We identified 61 superordinate index terms corresponding to general terms (e.g., “aging,” “death”). The indices also included 214 unique subordinate terms that were more specific (e.g., “aging, and cognition”). Across textbooks, the most frequent topics reflected negative consequences of aging (e.g., “Alzheimer disease” = appeared in 100% of textbooks, “death” in 52%). In contrast, positive aspects of aging appeared less often (e.g., “generativity” in 47%, “longevity” in 10%). Terms describing career opportunities were rare (e.g., “gerontology” in 5%, “geropsychology” in 5%), as were modern theories (e.g., “socioemotional selectivity theory” in 28%). Advocacy for comprehensive and balanced representation of aging in introductory psychology textbooks is critical for educating students and promoting interest in the field.

The perceived impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on medical students’ future careers

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted medical education on multiple levels, and medical students have been forced to adjust to distance learning, altered clinical opportunities, and standardized testing inconsistencies. We sought to identify the effects of these dramatic deviations on medical students’ career plans. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional online survey of medical students between July 13, 2020, and September 9, 2020 in order to assess the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on students’ career decisions. Descriptive statistics were calculated for all variables. Results: Of the 585 eligible medical students, we had a final sample of 76 responses (n=76) (13% response rate). Students felt neutral regarding having more time to explore research projects (Mean ± SD; 3.06 ± 1.18) and hobbies (3.43 ± 1.28). Most survey respondents somewhat disagreed that they considered quitting medical school during the pandemic (1.55 ± 1.10). Students somewhat agreed that they view the field of medicine more positively since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic (3.60 ± 1.09). Respondents somewhat agreed that they would be unable to explore other specialties and find their best fit (3.55 ± 1.32). We found that the minority (4/66, 6%) of students had considered changing their specialty. Students felt neutral in terms of their Step 1 (3.25 ± 1.05) or Step 2 (2.81 ± 1.02) score deterring them from future career opportunities. Conclusions: Most medical students have experienced barriers in their career pathway as a direct cause of COVID-19 restrictions on medical education, including the ability to explore different specialties to discover their best fit or find a chance to network with mentors. However, despite these obstacles, most students remain committed to medicine.

DOSE INDIVIDUAL ATTRIBUTES MATTERS ON THE EMPLOYABILITY READINESS AMONG ENGINEERING GRADUATES IN THE HIGH EDUCATION INSTITUTES IN OMAN

The aim of this study is to examine the effects individual attributes on the Employability Readiness among engineering graduates of the High Education Institutes in Oman. The study adopted self-directed structured questionnaire which was distributed to a sample of engineering students and graduates from a number of colleges and universities. The study used the structural equation modelling (SEM) for analysing the collected data. The findings of the statistical analysis of the study showed the most influential individual attributes on graduates’ readiness for employability are workshop attendance that affect the attainment of the technical skills of the graduates, family motivations, and graduates’ career orientations that help graduates to identify future career requirements and future career opportunities, and graduates’ personal learning targets. Also, class attendance, academic excellence, financial sources, and parents’ career position showed high important effects as well. The findings of this attribute which consist of the individual attributes of personnel’s’ values, attitudes, abilities, and work-life balance enhance the graduates attainment of the adaptability and flexibility attributes for their future readiness for employability. Therefore, study findings showed Individual attributes factor has high influence on the Readiness for Employability of the graduates in Oman. Finally, the study’s implementations and recommendations could be transferred to the Gulf and Arab or other countries’ contexts having similar settings of HE systems and similar issues of skills gap and employability concern of their graduates.