Fatherhood and gender relations in the manosphere: Exploring an Italian non-resident fathers’ online forum

In the last few years, the informal network – called manosphere – of forums, websites and blogs, where commentators are mainly men and focus on issues relating to masculinity, has been gaining members and visibility. The article’s objective is to explore the politics of fatherhood and masculinity that an Italian non-resident fathers’ online forum engages in to assess whether the claims for fathers’ rights are a move towards a new form of involved fatherhood or if they are only useful to rebuild a solid traditional male identity. By conducting an explorative content analysis on their Facebook group and page, we found that fatherhood is an ‘empty box’ and that fathers’ rights are used in a strategic way to justify hegemonic masculinity, gender-based violence, as well as antifeminist and antifeminine ideas, and to promote political advocacy cooperating with right-wing parties. The article also reflects on the connections between hegemony and power using the concept of hybrid masculinities.

326 Student Perceptions of Neurosurgery: Evaluating the Role of Undergraduate Neuroscience Societies

Introduction Many institutions lack an organized system of informal network for medical students wishing to explore neurosurgery. We sought to evaluate the role of extracurricular neurosurgical events in influencing student perceptions of neurosurgery. Method Participants for this study were recruited from a neurosurgical careers seminar and practical workshop. Responses were collected prospectively using a multi-method strategy consisting of closed and open-ended questions. Additionally, semi-structured interviews were conducted to gain a deeper insight of students’ evaluation of these events and their perceptions of neurosurgery. Results A total of 124 students attended our extracurricular neurosurgery events. These events showed benefits in clinical knowledge and career planning. Students perceived the practical workshops to be useful in improving their basic surgical skills. Semi-structured interviews revealed that students felt their opportunities in exploring clinical neurosciences to be limited, which was seen as contributing towards the wider culture of neurophobia. Conclusions Undergraduate neuroscience societies provide useful educational platforms for students interested in neurosurgery, even in regions lacking institutional neuroscience networks. To help mitigate the wider culture of neurophobia, undergraduate neuroscience societies should focus on non-academic aspects of neurosurgery that are more personal and engaging, in an effort to spark interest in those who have had little exposure to the specialty.

Learning and innovation in youth-owned small businesses

Purpose The birth and survival rate of youth-owned businesses has been a major concern for policymakers, industry and academics alike. Learning and innovation play important roles and more critical is the mediating factors and how it impacts the enterprise competitiveness of youth-owned businesses and hence worth studying. Therefore, this study aims to examine the impact of mediating factors such as government support, informal network society and external knowledge infrastructure on learning and innovation in youth-owned small businesses in Lagos, Nigeria, from a cross-sectional perspective. Design/methodology/approach Leveraging the sectoral system of innovation theory, we use a primary research method and data obtained from a structured questionnaire administered among a sample of 1,000 registered youth-owned small businesses in Lagos, while 30 in-depth interviews were also conducted. The exploratory factor analysis was used for data examination. Findings The findings show that even though government support, informal network society and external knowledge all have a positive relationship with learning and innovation in youth-owned small businesses, government support has the most impactful impact. The informal network society via a trade association, professional network and social media are also critical in knowledge transfer in youth-owned businesses. Originality/value The significance of learning and innovation is more important as many small businesses do not have the privilege of standard human resource management (HRM) systems. This paper looks at the mediating factors affecting the introduction of innovative practices in youth-owned and managed small businesses and how productivity is enabled in a developing county context.

Arvo Pärt’s Tintinnabuli and the 1970s Soviet Underground

This chapter focuses on early, largely forgotten engagements between Pärt, tintinnabuli, and student culture in the 1970s Soviet Union. It documents the embrace of Pärt’s new style among students and young artists and depicts how an informal network of Soviet youth and young musicians played a crucial role in fostering and promoting his earliest tintinnabuli works between the time of the October 1976 premieres and the popular breakthrough of Tabula Rasa in the fall of 1977. While not denying the singularity of Pärt’s achievement with his new compositional language, the chapter rebuts the widespread image of Pärt as a solitary, isolated figure during the time of his greatest creative breakthrough

Network Thinking — A Novel Strategic View for Success in Organisational Networks

Recently, organisations are viewed as a network of connected individuals embedded within a larger network. This research aims to introduce a Network Thinking framework that applies the proven efficiencies of computer networking concepts on human networks to address the issues faced by organisations at different levels. Organisational Network Analysis (ONA) methods have been used to analyse the informal network of interactions between members of the system delivery department within a financial institution. The ONA tools were used to simulate the risks faced by the organisation as a result of the current network of interactions between individuals and the impact of Network Thinking approaches on addressing these issues. This research shows that Network Thinking concepts can be applied on human networks but cannot completely control the behaviour of its nodes. The performance is influenced by how nodes interact with each other and the degree of their accessibility to network resources.

Persistent barriers and facilitators to seeking help for a dementia diagnosis: a systematic review of 30 years of the perspectives of carers and people with dementia

ABSTRACTObjective:To identify barriers and facilitators to help seeking for a dementia diagnosis from the perspective of carers and people with dementia.Design:A systematic review of the literature was conducted according to the PRISMA guidelines (PROSPERO protocol registration CRD42018092524). Nine electronic databases were searched for qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods primary research studies. Two independent reviewers screened titles and abstracts, full texts of eligible studies, and conducted quality appraisal of included articles. A convergent qualitative synthesis approach was used.Results:From 7496 articles, 35 papers representing 32 studies from 1986 to 2017 were included. Studies originated from 13 countries across 4 continents. Barriers and facilitators were reported predominantly by carers. A small number of studies included people with dementia. Barriers included denial, stigma and fear, lack of knowledge, normalization of symptoms, preserving autonomy, lack of perceived need, unaware of changes, lack of informal network support, carer difficulties, and problems accessing help. Facilitators included recognition of symptoms as a problem, prior knowledge and contacts, and support from informal network.Conclusions:Studies from a 30-year period demonstrated that barriers to help seeking persist globally, despite increasing numbers of national dementia policies. Barriers and facilitators rarely existed independently demonstrating the complexity of help seeking for a diagnosis of dementia. Multiple barriers compounded the decision-making process and more than one facilitator was often required to overcome them. Multi-faceted interventions to reduce barriers are needed, one approach would be a focus on the development of dementia friendly communities to reduce stigma and empower people with dementia and carers.

Does training location matter? Evidence from a randomized field experiment in Rural Indonesia

Informal network helps disseminate agricultural knowledge in the rural area where formal extension is lacking. However, how the interplay between formal training and informal network promotes technology adoption is still under-studied. This paper aims to examine the effects of training locations upon knowledge and adoption of agricultural techniques via strengthened informal and formal social networks. We administer agricultural training of identical contents in farmers’ hometown and in more remote but advanced locations and arrange farmers to travel to the respective locations. Then, we examine locational heterogeneity effects upon conservation and plant-rehabilitation techniques, and social network variables with formal extension services, informal network, and between participants and non-participants. Only farmers trained in the most remote location increase the size and depth of social network with their peers, extension expert, and non-participants upon returning from training. These changes in social networks may encourage them to adopt the technology. While formal training is important for knowledge diffusion, informal network is the key for successful adoption, and these networks are strengthened via training held in the most remote location.

Determining the University’s Position in a Multi-stakeholder Collaborative Network

Complex problems are being approached through collaborations that cross sectors including businesses, nonprofits, public institutions, and academia. Social Network Analysis (SNA) methods have been adopted to help manage these large collaborations, and it is useful not only for exploring the network dynamics of the collaboration as a whole, but also for exploring where an individual organization lies within the network. Universities can benefit from understanding their position and ties within a network and utilize that information to strengthen their position within these collaborations while fostering collaborations within the network. This study applied SNA to determine the influential position of an urban university within a multi-stakeholder collaborative network (MSCN). The university in this study holds more formal intra-sector relationships and more informal inter-sector relationships with the organization types in the MSCN. The findings also show that the university does hold a prominent position within the informal network of the MSCN; however, it does not hold a position of prominence within the formal network of the MSCN. Fostering these formal and informal relationships would allow the university to strategically promote beneficial collaborations for the university and the network as a whole.