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"human"

In economic geography, an aspect largely overlooked in the debate on globalising knowledge is the degree to which multinational manufacturing companies internationalise their technical vocational education and training in order to ensure common quality standards in world-market production. This paper argues that such strategies should be systematically included in current research. Drawing on publications from the field of International human Resource Management on company strategies of globalisation, as well as international comparative research on skill formation systems, this article adds a new perspective on the internationalisation of knowledge by focusing on multinational company strategies and local arrangements worldwide.

The relevance of the problem under study is based on the society's need for educating an integral person who is able to solve ecumenical project tasks. Currently this problem (as natural order from the society) is emerging in the educational system and social practices but has yet to obtain substantial scientific and theoretical justification. The purpose of the article is to initiate the theoretical-practical aspect of the educational activity towards educating a designer who is thinking and acting integrally at the early stages of professional development. The lead method for studying this problem is historical monitoring of a person’s project practice which provides the possibility to examine project processes within the context of their holistic dimension and to configure the hypothesis on the necessity of changes in the educational system. The article presents the prognostic idea, which is supported by the historical facts, that it would be necessary and effective for the educational system to depart from the practice of niche specialization in training of designers at the early stages of their professional development; it also contains the conceptual definition of and the proposal for a model of educating an universal (integral) designer within the instrumental (tool) framework of animation, computer, object and other modeling technologies which provides a practical effect for the educational system (of general, pre-vocational and vocational education). The article can be useful for innovation-thinking sponsor of educational processes, theoreticians of design and pedagogy, practitioners of design, teachers of design at higher, secondary and general educational institutions, as well as for philosophers, cultural studies scholars, sociologists, psychologists and other researchers. © 2016 Stepanov et al.

Above all, students of applied sciences need to be well prepared for their professional life and thus we ask ourselves at the Salzburg University of Applied Sciences (FHS): "How adequately can a programme course simulate the challenges faced by a graduate designer or product manager?" One mandatory master course, the Interdisciplinary Group Project (IGP), aims to address just this and links companies and design talents with challenging tasks in the fields of industrial design, service design and marketing. The project requires students to: (1.) complete four independent and commercial design projects under time pressure (2.) know all important functions of an interdisciplinary design team hands-on (3.) learn to take on responsibility for certain tasks by slipping into four different roles (4.) form teams and handle complex human relations (5.) gain insight into different internal processes and structures of companies, depending on their organization, purpose and size. To verify our assumption of the course's effectiveness for preparing the student for professional life, alumni and partner companies participated in a qualitative assessment. Both graduates and project partners responded positively to the course topics and its accuracy as mirror of work life. Afterwards, the results were summarised and displayed in a SWOT analysis for a consolidated view on the course's current status.

Objectives The aim of the present study was to provide qualitative insights from urban-based junior doctors (graduation to completion of speciality training) of the effect of rural placements and rotations on career aspirations for work in non-metropolitan practices. Methods A qualitative study was performed of junior doctors based in Adelaide, Brisbane and Melbourne. Individual face-to-face or telephone semistructured interviews were held between August and October 2014. Thematic analysis focusing on participants' experience of placements and subsequent attitudes to rural practice was undertaken. Results Most participants undertook rural placements in the first 2 years after graduation. Although experiences varied, positive perceptions of placements were consistently linked with the degree of supervision and professional support provided. These experiences were linked to attitudes about working outside metropolitan areas. Participants expressed concerns about being 'forced' to work in non-metropolitan hospitals in their first postgraduate year; many received little warning of the location or clinical expectations of the placement, causing anxiety and concern. Conclusions Adequate professional support and supervision in rural placements is essential to encourage junior doctors' interests in rural medicine. Having a degree of choice about placements and a positive and supported learning experience increases the likelihood of a positive experience. Doctors open to working outside a metropolitan area should be preferentially allocated an intern position in a non-metropolitan hospital and rotated to more rural locations. What is known about the topic? The maldistribution of the Australian medical workforce has led to the introduction of several initiatives to provide regional and rural experiences for medical students and junior doctors. Although there have been studies outlining the effects of rural background and rural exposure on rural career aspirations, little research has focused on what hinders urban-trained junior doctors from pursuing a rural career. What does this paper add? Exposure to medical practice in regional or rural areas modified and changed the longer-term career aspirations of some junior doctors. Positive experiences increased the openness to and the likelihood of regional or rural practice. However, junior doctors were unlikely to aspire to non-metropolitan practice if they felt they had little control over and were unprepared for a rural placement, had a negative experience or were poorly supported by other clinicians or health services. What are the implications for practitioners? Changes to the process of allocating junior doctors to rural placements so that the doctors felt they had some choice, and ensuring these placements are well supervised and supported, would have a positive impact on junior doctors' attitudes to non-metropolitan practice.

This article presents estimates of the level of participation of Russians in adult vocational training, as well as the educational efficiency in terms of employees' private returns on education in the light of the post-industrial modernization of the Russian education. Special attention is paid to changes which have occurred in this sphere under the influence of the financial crisis and the subsequent stagnation of the Russian economy (2008-2013), compared to the recovery period of economic growth in the 2000s. Our research is based on data from the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS). Our findings confirm that the earnings of those who participated in adult vocational training initially grew faster than the earnings of those who did not. The returns on adult education were moderately and negatively affected by the crisis and the stagnation of the Russian economy. This is also revealed in the prolonged decrease of participation in adult vocational training and the growing uncertainty of its outcomes. These findings are discussed in contrast to the results found in the literature. In discussing our findings we draw attention to the minor role played by the corporate sector in financing adult vocational training in modern Russia, compared with Russia's late Soviet period and with the situation in developed countries. To explain this phenomenon we employ theoretical models by Becker, and Acemoglu and Pischke who explain the distribution of investment in general and specific parts of human capital by specific labour market configurations (e.g. state regulation of employment and skill premiums, level of inter-firm mobility). We conclude that adult vocational training in Russia features both positive and negative trends, and emphasize the constraints which limit the successful post-industrial educational modernization in Russia.

Many countries now employ national evaluation systems to demonstrate publicly that universities provide a quality education. However, the current processes of quality evaluation are often detached from the practices of teaching and learning. In particular, those who teach and those who learn still have to be won over to such audit processes. This book argues that it is time for the higher education sector to concern itself with the human dimension so as to develop both academic professionalism and students' commitment to their learning. Based on five completed research projects, which explore academics' and students' experiences and their views of quality evaluation, the book argues that developing the intrinsic values of teaching and learning held by academics and students is key to achieving high quality education. In this book, the author critically reviews the four most frequently used terms related to current quality evaluation: 'fitness for purpose', 'value for money', 'student satisfaction' and 'students-as-customers', and argues for a motivationally intelligent quality approach, emphasising the moral dimension and the intrinsic values of academics and students. The author also outlines an improved quality evaluation system that encourages and increases academics' and students' commitment to teaching and learning. © 2016 Sense Publishers. All Rights Reserved.

Introduction: The New South Wales Rural Resident Medical Officer Cadetship Program began in 1988 as a strategy to increase the numbers of junior doctors in rural hospitals. This article outlines the results of an evaluation undertaken in 2014. Specifically, it will look at where former cadets who entered the program between 1989 and 2010 were working in 2014, what training programs they chose and their attitudes toward the program. Method: Data were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire sent to all the former cadets who entered the program from 1989 until 2010. This included self-administered questions relating to background (where the majority of the students' primary schooling was undertaken), vocational training, current role, current work location and attitudes towards the cadetship. Responses were received from 142 of the 211 cadets in the study (67%). Results: Of the 142 former cadets who responded to the questionnaire, 90 had completed a vocational training program and were working as fully qualified medical practitioners. A further 44 were trainees, six were non-specialist hospital doctors and two were no longer practising. Overall, the most popular vocational training programs among fully qualified doctors and trainees combined were general practice, anaesthetics/intensive care and emergency medicine. Over half of the cadets included in the analysis (n=74, 53%) were working in rural areas (Australian Standard Geographical Classification Remoteness Areas 2-5) in 2014 and practice location was significantly (p < 0.001) influenced by career choice. Of the cadets working in rural locations, the majority (58%) were working as general practitioners while 38% had chosen other specialties and 4% were working as hospital non-specialists. An equal proportion of cadets came from urban and rural backgrounds while a small proportion grew up overseas. The cadets with rural backgrounds were more likely to choose general practice than those from urban backgrounds. A similar analysis of cadets comparing geographic background and practice location showed cadets of rural background were more likely to be working in a rural location than cadets of urban background. Conclusions: The cadetship is an effective link between medical school and rural practice. The success of the program relies in part on the mentoring, networking and other educational opportunities available to cadets, which serve to foster their interest and provide a structured pathway to long-term rural practice. It has been demonstrated that targeted incentive based scholarship schemes with a return-of-service component can be beneficial, particularly where they include ongoing support and reinforcement throughout the transition from undergraduate to postgraduate training. © James Cook University 2016.

Intrapreneurship as a form of entrepreneurial behaviour has the potential to create substantial value for an enterprise. Intrapreneurs, as opposed to entrepreneurs, are usually active on a lower hierarchical level and confronted with the internal, rather than the external environment of an enterprise when engaging in entrepreneurial activities. Usually, intrapreneurs lack formal decision-making power and thus require special social competences to overcome challenges such as organisation-internal resistance. How can an enterprise train its employees to develop intrapreneurial behaviour? This paper analyses the apprenticeship training of three enterprises that are considered as good practice examples regarding innovativeness. The research results show that strict selection processes of apprentices, systematic vocational education and career planning, social integration, incentive systems, quality orientation and corporate social responsibility are conducive for the development of intrapreneurial behaviour. © Copyright 2016 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

Background: To measure higher-order outcomes of vocational education and training (VET) we developed a computer-based assessment of domain-specific problemsolving competence. In modeling problem-solving competence, we distinguish four components of competence: (1) knowledge application, (2) metacognition, (3) self-concept, and (4) interest as well as thirteen facets of competence, each of which is assigned to one of the four components. Methods: With regard to ecological and content validity, rather than apply highly structured items (e.g. multiple choice items), we developed three authentic problem scenarios and provided an open-ended problem space in terms of an authentic office simulation. The assessment was aimed at apprentice industrial clerks at the end of a 3-year apprenticeship program and focused on the domain of controlling (i.e., support of managerial decisions, cost planning, cost control, cost accounting, etc.). The computer-based office simulation provided typical tools (e.g., email client, spreadsheet software, file system, notebook, calculator, etc.). In order to assess the non-cognitive components in our competence model, we implemented an integrated measurement of self-concept and interest that we refer to as 'Embedded Experience Sampling' (EES). Test-takers are requested to spontaneously answer short prompts (EES items) during the test that are embedded in typical social interactions in the workplace. The empirical section is based on a study with 780 VET students from three commercial training occupations in Germany (industrial clerks and apprentices from two similar VET programs). The focus of the contribution is on testing a theoretically derived competence model based on item response theory, the implemented scoring methods and reliability of the instrument. Fine-grained response patterns from automated codings and human ratings were condensed into one partial credit item for each scenario and each of the facets in the cognitive component 'knowledge application'. Results: The multidimensional Rasch analysis revealed satisfactory EAP/PV reliabilities, which are between.78 and.84 for the 'knowledge application' facets and between.77 and.85 for the non-cognitive facets. Furthermore, the achievement differences between the industrial clerks and their comparison groups are as assumed. Conclusions: In our study, we introduced an innovative method to measure noncognitive facets of problem-solving competence in the course of complex problem scenarios. Furthermore, by using authentic problem scenarios and providing an openended and authentic problem space, our assessment of domain-specific problem-solving comeptence focuses on ecological validity but also ensures reliability. © 2016 The Author(s).

The transfer of vocational education and training (VET) systems is currently the subject of lively international debate, but there has so far been very little documentation of the process or analysis of how such transfers are achieved in practical terms. This paper therefore considers the potential for transferring Germany's dual vocational training system to German subsidiaries abroad, specifically in China, India, Japan and the USA. Using the EPRG typology as a theoretical framework, the paper systematises the range of training strategies deployed by German subsidiaries. It anal-yses the findings of interviews with training officers and Directors of human Resources in more than 40 German subsidiaries abroad. These interviews show clearly that local factors in the host country exert such a strong influence that it is not possible completely to transfer the German VET system to another country. What is more likely is that an accommodation is reached with local VET structures, local labour market conditions and other socio-cultural features. The findings suggest that policy borrowing in the area of VET is likely to be only partial and will be strongly influenced by the national characteristics of the host country. © 2016 European Research Network Vocational Education and Training. All rights reserved.