Search Results for
"human"

The recruitment of culturally and linguistically diverse students to graduate programs is critical to the overall growth and development of school psychology as a field. Program websites serve as an effective recruitment tool for attracting prospective students, yet there is limited research on how school psychology programs use their websites to recruit diverse students. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether school psychology program websites include sufficient levels of diversity-related content critical for attracting diverse applicants. The website content of 250 professional psychology programs (165 school psychology training programs and 85 clinical and counseling psychology programs) were examined for the presence of themes of diversity and multiculturalism that prospective racially/ethnically and linguistically diverse students deem important for selecting a graduate program. Results indicated that school psychology programs had less diversity-related content on their program's website relative to clinical and counseling psychology programs.' Implications for improving recruitment of racially/ethnically and linguistically diverse students through websites are discussed. © 2016 American Psychological Association.

This paper provides an overview of the theoretical perspectives and key debates regarding the role and contribution of the vocational education and training system (VET) and vocationally-Trained workforce in technical innovation. It considers contributions to these debates from innovation studies, varieties of capitalism research, neoclassical human capital theory and the work organization discipline. Historically, the primary role assigned to the VET system in innovation has been in relation to technology diffusion, particularly the generation, adaptation and diffusion of technical and organizational change and incremental innovation. Differences between national VET systems have been linked to large disparities in the level of skills qualifications, which is in turn a major factor in determining differences in patterns of innovation and key aspects of economic performance between advanced economies. The article finished by considering barriers to maximizing the contribution of VET to innovation linked to future social and economic challenges. © Federación Española de Sociología.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge and attitudes about human papilloma virus and its vaccine levels in health care vocational high school students and healthy group of adolescents who admitted to pediatric outpatient clinics. Material and Methods: This study included 564 adolescents ages between 16-19 years. Health care vocational high school students were the study group; students in other high schools were the control group. A questionnaire was given by the investigators to the participants. Data were analyzed by using SPSS for Windows version 15.0 was used for all data analysis. Results: The study involved 304 health care school students and 260 healthy adolescents (As the control group). The question of “Do you know which disease is caused by HPV?” was answered as “I don’t know” by 74.3% of all adolescents. The 39.8% of the study group gave the right answer and 7.9% gave the wrong answer; all the participants in the control group gave the wrong answer. The question of “Is HPV infection a serious disease?” was answered as “Yes” by 59.9% of the health care school students, however all subjects in the control group stated that they had no information (p<0.001). The question of “Do you wish to be vaccinated against HPV?” was answered as “Yes” by 12.2% and as “No” or “I don’t know” by 87.8% of the control group. Conclusion: In our Country, health care school students have some knowledge about HPV because they are informed about this subject. However, the level of knowledge about HPV in adolescents in other high schools is low. We think that appropriate education programs in high schools about HPV and other sexually transmitted diseases are necessary to increase awareness. © 2016 by Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society.

The competency-based approach to vocational education is premised on narrow and dated conceptions of human functioning, performance and development. Its adoption is more driven by administrative concerns about measurable outcomes than educational processes and outcomes. Informed by educational science and earlier debates, this article discusses the goals for and approaches to realising the outcomes that governments and supra-governmental agencies want. It emphasises the centrality of (1) experiences promoting students’ learning, (2) understanding the goals to be achieved by vocational education, and (3) aligning these with educational processes. Common to individuals, their communities, workplaces, professional associations and government needs are the development of applicable and adaptable occupational capacities. Yet these cannot be secured or assessed through competency-based education. The capacities required for current and emerging occupational practice necessitate a focus upon processes, not measurable outcomes. Hence, there is need to focus on learners’ personal practices and educational processes. © 2017, © 2016 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

This paper documents evidence of a ‘normalisation’ of the risk of homelessness experienced by apprentices and trainees in Australia. It draws on a bespoke survey of past and current learners in its Southern state, group and one-to-one interviews with apprentices and trainees, and a review of a government support programme, conducted in 2012 and 2013. The research produced evidence of apprentices and trainees experiencing homelessness in the course of their studies, but also applying preventative strategies to avoid or lessen its impact. At the same time, the study encountered behaviours and judgements reflecting a generalised acceptance among learners and training providers of this risk, which has been reinforced by the marketisation of training provisions in Australia. © 2016 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

We study the effect of a job training program for low-income youth in Cordoba, Argentina. The program included life-skills and vocational training, as well as internships with private sector employers. Participants were allocated by means of a public lottery. We rely on administrative data on formal employment, employment spells, and earnings, to establish the effects of the program in the short term (18 months), but also—exceptionally for programs of this type in Latin America and in developing countries in general—in the medium term (33 months) and in the long term (48 months). The results indicate sizable gains of about 8 percentage points in formal employment in the short term (about 32% higher than the control group), although these effects dissipate in the medium and in the long term. Contrary to previous results for similar programs in the region, the effects are substantially larger for men, although they also seem to fade in the long run. Program participants also exhibit earnings about 40% higher than those in the control group, and an analysis of bounds indicates that these gains result from both higher employment levels and higher wages. The detailed administrative records also allow us to shed some light on the possible mechanisms underlying these effects. A dynamic analysis of employment transitions indicates that the program operated through an increase in the persistence of employment rather than from more frequent entries into employment. The earnings effect and the higher persistence of employment suggest that the program was successful in increasing the human capital of participants, although the transient nature of these results may also reflect better matches from a program-induced increase in informal contacts or formal intermediation. (JEL J08, J24, J68, O15). © 2016 Western Economic Association International

The dominant organizational form of vocational education and training in Switzerland is the dual-track system, in which trainees sign an apprenticeship contract with a training company. Notably, 10 % to 40 % of those contracts are terminated prematurely each year, depending on region and occupational category, which is an important topic of concern for politics, practice and research. Thus, premature contract terminations (PCTs) are associated with high costs for society, companies, and young people. This study of 335 companies involving cooks and painters from German-speaking Switzerland aims to investigate the relationship between training quality and PCT. Of these companies, 136 had been affected by a PCT, and 199 had not. The results indicate that training at the workplace is universally of rather high quality. In line with the previous literature, trainees evaluate quality significantly lower than trainers. Furthermore, there are considerable differences between the two occupations: cooks evaluate their training quality more positively than painters. Moreover, cluster analyses indicate that high quality training can help companies avoid PCTs. © 2016, Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.

The objective of this report was to show how the Center for Humanitarian Emergencies (the Center) at Emory University (Atlanta, Georgia USA) has trained graduate students to respond to complex humanitarian emergencies (CHEs) through innovative educational programs, with the goal of increasing the number of trained humanitarian workers. Natural disasters are on the rise with more than twice as many occurring from 2000-2009 as there were from 1980-1989. In 2012 alone, 144 million people were affected by a natural disaster or displaced by conflict worldwide. This has created an immense need for trained humanitarian workers to respond effectively to such disasters. The Center has developed a model for educational programming that targets learners along an educational continuum ranging from the undergraduate level through continuing professional education. These programs, based in the Rollins School of Public Health (RSPH) of Emory University, include: a competency-based graduate certificate program (the Certificate) in humanitarian emergencies; a fellowship program for mid-career professionals; and funded field practica. The competency-based Certificate program began in 2010 with a cohort of 14 students. Since then, 101 students have received the Certificate with 50 more due for completion in 2016 and 2017 combined. The fellowship program for mid-career professionals has hosted four fellows from conflict-affected or resource-poor countries, who have then gone on to assume leadership positions with humanitarian organizations. From 2009-2015, the field practicum program supported 34 students in international summer practicum experiences related to emergency response or preparedness. Students have participated in summer field experiences on every continent but Australia. Together the Certificate, funded field practicum opportunities, and the fellowship comprise current efforts in providing innovative education and training for graduate and post-graduate students of public health in humanitarian response. These modest efforts are just the beginning in terms of addressing the global shortage of skilled public health professionals that can coordinate humanitarian response. Evaluating existing programs will allow for refinement of current programs. Ultimately, these programs may influence the development of new programs and inform others interested in this area. © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2016.

In the Swiss vocational education system, which is often called a ‘Dual System’, trainees enter into an apprenticeship contract with a training company. On average, 25% of those contracts are terminated prematurely (PCT). This article examines the relationship between training companies’ selection methods and PCTs. The investigation is based on a quantitative study with a cross-sectional design and on qualitative interviews. Trainers and operations managers (N = 335) of Swiss training companies for cooks and painters were surveyed. Half of the companies have been affected by a PCT in the past and the other half have not. The findings indicate that a certain amount of the explained variance between companies with and without reported PCTs can be explained by the companies’ selection process. Companies that were affected by a PCT use a job interview and a company visit significantly less often in their selection process than companies without a PCT. © 2016 The Vocational Aspect of Education Ltd.

This article investigates contributions and limitations of empirical educational research at the interface between science and politics using the example of large scale assessment-studies (LSA). Within the meta-theoretical frame of the divergent rationalities of science and politics and with reference to Goldthorpe’s (2001) concept of causation as a generative process, it describes the contributions of LSA in three fields: the theoretical and empirical conceptualization of domain-specific achievement dispositions, the description and explanation of social and ethnic disparities, and the identification of adolescents at risk of social exclusion at the transition to vocational training and the labor market. With reference to these examples, the article discusses whether it is theoretically and empirically advisable in social sciences to distinguish different forms of scientific knowledge according to their relevance for political decision-making. The article addresses the problem of how long-term communication can be established between science and politics despite the differences in their functional rationality and draws attention to the risk of not taking into account these differences and making promises that the social sciences cannot fulfill. © 2016, The Author(s).