Between College and That First Job: Designing and Evaluating Policies for Hiring Diversity

Despite widespread caste disparities, compensatory hiring policies remain absent from the Indian private sector. This paper employs novel administrative data on the job search from an elite college and evaluates policies to promote hiring diversity. Application reading, written aptitude tests, large group debates, and job choices do not explain caste disparities. Disparities arise primarily between the final round, comprising non-technical personal interviews, and job offers; the emergence closely parallels caste revelation. For promoting diversity, hiring subsidies — similar in spirit to the government-proposed Diversity Index — are twice as cost-effective as improving pre-college achievement. Conversely, quotas mirror a hiring tax and reduce university recruitment by 7%.

Leadership for SDG 6.2: Is Diversity Missing?

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the global sanitation sector have not been the subject of extensive investigation or scrutiny. However, without diverse leadership, the sector will continue to experience failure, inefficient use of dwindling resources, and overall low sanitation coverage rates, with 2 billion people lacking sanitation access. This research presents the first quantitative study of sanitation leadership demographics. The results revealed that older, white males from High-Income Countries comprised over a third of all leadership positions. This research found that two-thirds of all sanitation leaders were white, with white leaders 8.7 times more likely to hold multiple positions across different organizations than Black, Indigenous, or other People of Color. Eighty-eight out of one hundred organizations were headquartered in a High-Income Country, and western institutions dominated education data. Black, Indigenous, and other Women of Color were the least represented group, highlighting the importance of an intersectional perspective when discussing gender and racial equality. These issues must be urgently addressed if the Sustainable Development Goal 6.2 targets are to be met effectively. Institutional reform, inclusive hiring policies, and transforming individual attitudes are starting points for change. More organizational data should be made available, and further research needs to be conducted on these topics if a change is to be seen in time for 2030.

Rethinking Privilege in Teaching English in Japanese Higher Education

This article addresses the issue of native-speakerism in teaching English in the context of Japanese higher education and the privilege arising from it. Previous research has shown that native speakers are often regarded as highly skilled and qualified teachers in teaching their mother tongue. This has often led to the marginalization of teachers who speak the language they teach as an additional language. In the case of Japan, however, there is doubt about the existence of such a privilege for native-speaker teachers and some studies have shown that native speakers of English do not receive preferential treatment in this context as they are often perceived as replaceable and temporary. The present study aimed to further explore this issue by focusing on the varieties of English Japanese universities expect their teachers to speak. In so doing, the study has investigated hiring policies of Japanese universities with reference to the job advertisements they post on a designated portal. The results of the qualitative thematic analysis indicated that the majority of the advertisements demanded prospective candidates to be native speakers of English, which also meant that this subgroup of teachers has a privilege in landing academic jobs by token of the variety of English they speak. The article suggests that the critical pedagogical approach of teaching English as an international language (TEIL) can mitigate such privilege by raising awareness towards the validity and appropriateness of different varieties of English spoken in the world.

E-government e capitale umano nella Pubblica Amministrazione italiana. Una prospettiva di medio periodo

Italy has recently progressed in the aggregate DESI rank of the EU Digital Agendas, but remains a laggard member state for e-government, because of its critical digital public services. Owing to the scarcity of micro and territorial data, this work examines the main stylised facts, and interprets them with a transdisciplinary theoretical framework. On the one hand, we find that the digital delay of the Italian Public Administration (PA) is rooted in a peculiar mix of institutional obstacles, such as the legalistic juridical culture, normative chaos, political instability and patronage: these factors dampen the clarification and simplification of processes and the back-office, required by e-government to be effective. On the other hand, we posit that hiring policies and those of austerity (block of the personnel turnover in the PA) have increasingly lowered the quantity and quality of the digital public services. These policies may have created an original case of technological adoption disconnected from the necessary investment in human capital and organization of the PA (inadequate e-government supply). Finally, this work, while calling for a further appraisal of this policy case, recalls the deficit of statistics and open Government data which harm the study of the Digital Agenda of Italy.

Foreign Female English Teachers in Japanese Higher Education: Narratives From Our Quarter.

The goal of this book is to provide information, inspiration, and mentorship to teachers (namely foreign women, but not restricted to such) as they navigate the gendered waters of teaching English in Japanese higher education. Such a book is timely because foreign female university teachers are outnumbered by their foreign male colleagues by nearly three to one. This imbalance, however, is likely to change as reforms in hiring policies (which have until recently generally favored male applicants) have been widely implemented to encourage more female teachers and researchers. The narratives by the contributors to this book offer a kaleidoscope of experiences that transverse several loosely connected and overlapping themes. This book is, in a sense, a “girlfriend’s guide to teaching in a Japanese university” in that it provides much practical information from those who are already in the field. It covers areas such as gaining entry into Japanese higher education teaching, searching for and obtaining tenure, managing a long-term professorial career, and taking on leadership responsibilities. The personal side of teaching is examined, with authors describing how individual interests have shaped their teaching practices. Family matters, such as negotiating maternity leave, reentering the workforce, and difficulties in balancing family and work are discussed by those who have “been there and done that”. The darker issues of the job, such as harassment, racism, and native-speakerism are introduced, and several chapters with practical and legal information about how to combat them are included, as well as a list of valuable resources. The contributors to this volume have drawn upon their own unique experiences and have situated their stories in areas that are of great personal importance. The individual narratives, when taken together, highlight not only the complexity of the professional identity of EFL teachers but also the myriad of issues that shape the careers of women in Japanese higher education. These issues will resonate with all female EFL faculty, regardless of their geographical location.

The Colonial Office

This chapter examines W. Arthur Lewis's frequent contacts with the British Colonial Office from the late 1930s until 1953, first as a member of West Indian delegations seeking to alter the hiring policies of the British government and after that as an adviser and consultant on projects designed to promote colonial economic development. His work at the Colonial Office had been pivotal for his career as a development economist. During this decade and a half, he often found himself battling with the Colonial Office over development priorities. Despite the strained personal and intellectual relations with officials at the Colonial Office, Lewis's experiences with the Colonial Office provided privileged access to information on colonial economies and spurred his thinking and writing about development economics. Lewis first elaborated many of his most influential concepts in the field of economic development and staked out his reputation as the founder of development economics through the countless reports and memorandums that he wrote for the Colonial Office.

Relevant and current issues faced by American institutions of higher education as they attempt to design and implement affirmative action plans vis-à-vis admissions and faculty/staff hiring policies and practices

This article provides an overview of opposing perspectives on affirmative action and makes a case for affirmative action on the grounds of diversity and from the perspective of a necessity to remedy past discrimination (Hasnas, 2018; Wright & Garces, 2018; Kaplin & Lee, 2013). My argument employs Hurtado, Milem, Clayton-Pedersen, and Allen’s (2010) four (4) dimensions of educational programs and practices needed in assessing diversity in the institution: historical legacy of inclusion/exclusion of racial/ethnic groups; structural diversity regarding numerical representation ; the psychological climate of perceptions and attitudes ; and the behavioral climate dimension. Additionally, because the expressed consideration of race and gender in admissions and hiring processes have legal implications, I provide legal guidelines and precedents to mitigate litigation.

Insights from a survey-based analysis of the academic job market

Applying for a faculty position is a critical phase of many postdoctoral careers, but most postdoctoral researchers in STEM fields enter the academic job market with little knowledge of the process and expectations. A lack of data has made it difficult for applicants to assess their qualifications relative to the general applicant pool and for institutions to develop effective hiring policies. We analyzed responses to a survey of faculty job applicants between May 2018 and May 2019. We establish various background scholarly metrics for a typical faculty applicant and present an analysis of the interplay between those metrics and hiring outcomes. Traditional benchmarks of a positive research track record above a certain threshold of qualifications were unable to completely differentiate applicants with and without offers. Our findings suggest that there is no single clear path to a faculty job offer and that metrics such as career transition awards and publications in high impact factor journals were neither necessary nor sufficient for landing a faculty position. The applicants perceived the process as unnecessarily stressful, time-consuming, and largely lacking in feedback, irrespective of a successful outcome. Our findings emphasize the need to improve the transparency of the faculty job application process. In addition, we hope these and future data will help empower trainees to enter the academic job market with clearer expectations and improved confidence.

Evaluation of labor hiring policies in construction projects performance using system dynamics

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess different labor hiring policies for construction projects using system dynamics (SD) which have a considerable impact on project performance. Time intervals and work crew composition are two such policies. Through the implementation of a variety of policies, a managerial opportunity presents itself for the effective allocation of human resources and improvement in project performance. Design/methodology/approach The study developed a dynamic model to assess different labor hiring policies using SD based on literature. To further distinguish between findings, the effects of the applied policies on performance were considered using earned value management. Based on a real case for validating the model, the paper discusses the potential benefits of the model, including: having a systematic and holistic view, considering dynamic the labor need and allocation, identifying alternative strategies for performance improvement and simulating the reality of the projects in a virtual model. Findings The achieved simulation results show how different hiring policies affect project performance. This research model can aid decision makers to assess labor hiring policies in various time intervals with different compositions and assist them in selecting the best policies for effective implementation of project. Originality/value The proposed model would be a major attempt using SD to model labor hiring policies more accurate in construction projects performance. In fact, an accurate estimate of labor needed, along with the proper planning and implementing of various labor hiring policies, presents a managerial opportunity whereby the effective allocation of workforces can be optimized leading to drastic improvement in project performance.