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Highly educated ethnic minority entrants in Western countries need more time to find a job compared to their Western ethnic majority counterparts. The present study examined whether this differential job access is partly explained by the way ethnic minorities present themselves in their résumés. To this end, a comparison between 100 non-Western ethnic minority graduate résumés and 100 native Western ethnic majority graduate résumés was made. Non-Western ethnic minorities score significantly lower on reported organisational internships, leadership experiences, and extracurricular activities. Although most effects were small, these differences in résumé content resulted in lower job suitability ratings for non-Western ethnic minorities compared to Western ethnic majorities, as judged by professional recruiters/HR experts. Résumé presentation (e.g. layout and grammar) also was a significant predictor of job suitability ratings, but no ethnicity effects were found in these résumé characteristics. Because rater effects which may be related to hiring discrimination were controlled for, it can be concluded that the reported human capital in résumés can explain differential job access of ethnic minority compared to ethnic majority graduates. Theoretical and practical implications for assessing ethnic minorities upon organisational entry are discussed. © 2012 The Authors. © 2012 International Association of Applied Psychology.

QUESTION UNDER STUDY: Switzerland is facing a shortage of general practitioners (GPs). Knowledge of the factors influencing career choice is crucial for increasing the attractiveness of general practice. The aim of our study was to report the working conditions of recently certified GPs and the effect of vocational training in general practice on GP skills and knowledge, and economic skills. Furthermore, we recorded when GPs chose general practice as a career, as well as potential barriers to and facilitators of their decision. METHODS: Study design: Cross-sectional survey with an online-based questionnaire. Study group: 1,133 physicians certified in general practice between the years 2000 and 2010. RESULTS: The response rate was 40.6% (456); 426 (44.1% females) were included in further analysis. A total of 341 (80.0%) were currently working in general practice. Female GPs were significantly more often employed (rather than working independently), working part-time and in group practices. Fifty-two (12.2%) of the participants did not work in general practice although they had intended to earlier. The majority (54.3%) of the participants working as GPs decided to become a GP during their residency. Overall, 60.6% of all participants completed vocational training in a general practice, which significantly improved self-perceived general practice skills compared with their colleagues without such training. CONCLUSIONS: Residency is a more important time-period than medical school for career decisions to become a GP. Attractive residency programmes must be developed to engage physicians in this vulnerable phase. The workplace settings of female GPs were significantly different from those ofmale GPs. Vocational training in general practice had a positive effect on self-perceived GP skills.

The objective of this study was to examine undergraduate health science students' attitudes toward interprofessional learning using a web-based interprofessional education package. METHODS: A before and after study of student attitudes toward a web-based interprofessional education package was conducted using the 17-item Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS). Students completed the RIPLS before and after the educational package. RESULTS: Forty-six students commenced the study with 2 students failing to complete. The group contained mostly females with a mean age of 22.6 yrs. A statistically significant change was found for RIPLS subscale one, "shared learning," p=0.035. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated that a web-based interprofessional education package did appear to have an impact on undergraduate students' attitudes toward interprofessional learning. © 2013 Association of Schools of Allied Health Professions, Wash., DC.

Vocational Education and Training (VET) Institutions face serious challenges, like the implementation of competence-based education and upcoming teacher shortages, which urge them to implement human Resources Management policy and practices (HRM). The implementation of HRM, however, often stagnates. This paper describes a qualitative study - in which 30 policy-makers and executives (members of the board, of the HRM department and line management) from five Dutch VET institutions participated - which was aimed at gaining more insight into the implementation gap of HRM. We identified several impeding and fostering factors, related to the content of the policy, the context in which it had to be implemented and the implementation process itself. Examples of impeding factors were the fact that teachers often did not see the usefulness of HRM practices and managers' incompetence in fulfilling their HRM role. Examples of fostering factors were the linkage between HRM policy and educational policy and a clear communication about the goals and features of the policy. © 2013 Copyright The Vocational Aspect of Education Ltd.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine how the emerging new economy is impacting the future of human capital development and the future of work. Design/methodology/approach: A detailed review of the literature is used to profile the changing nature of work and work requirements in the emerging new economy. Recent trends and developments in human capital development and advancements in computer-enhanced performanceware are combined with components of the traditional apprenticeship model. The resulting silicon-based apprenticeship model is compared and contrasted with models of formal education, training, and apprenticeship. Findings: The fast-paced new economy is demanding greater performance from ever-greater percentages of the world's population. New forms of hypercompetition demand the elimination of the long lead-times that have traditionally existed between learning and doing. The proffered silicon-based apprenticeship model is advanced as a development that is projected to jump-start twenty-first century learner/performers into on-demand, world-class, performance. Research limitations/implications: Speculative literature directed at the future of new economy work and workers is not cohesively linked to the literature of electronic performance enhancement, learning theory, and advancements in technology. This paper advances an approach for accelerating work performance and human capital development that may instigate future research in this area. Practical implications: This paper identifies the value of greatly accelerating the performance of workers in the emerging new economy, while simultaneously decreasing the existing time lag between learning and performance. Social implications: The ability to involve more individuals in the emerging new economy promises to increase both quality of life and standard of living for greater percentages of the global population. Originality/value: The author asserts that silicon-based apprenticeships are a necessary next step toward engaging more of the world's population in the new economy. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

PurposeThe paper aims to test whether a firm's provision of training depends on the intake quality of trainees. While a firm may just treat each trainee equally, independent of his or her intake quality, firms may alternatively also provide more training to less able individuals or focus on the most able ones. The authors develop a theoretical framework that illustrates under what circumstances a firm chooses a particular training strategy. Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses representative administrative survey data for more than 1,400 Swiss establishments. To test their theoretical predictions about a firm's training strategy, the authors apply multivariate and instrumental variable (IV) regression models. In addition, they use case study evidence from a large Swiss retailer, allowing them to analyze how different instructors in a specific firm react when confronted with apprentices of different intake qualities. FindingsThe authors find that a firm's training strategy depends on a trainee's intake quality and the expected net costs of a particular training occupation. Although firms generally provide less training to less qualified trainees, the authors find that a firm is willing to compensate low-ability trainees with additional training when training is on average profitable in the short run. Practical implicationsWhen training regulations force firms to follow an investment-oriented training strategy (net costs in the short run), then low-ability trainees will not receive additional instruction time and the dropout risk increases. Social implicationsGenerating a regulatory framework that allows firms to achieve a net benefit from work-based training is crucial for low-ability trainees to have the opportunity to receive additional training investments that compensate for a lack of competences when training commences. Originality/valueThis paper provides novel and direct empirical evidence on how firms adjust their training provision when faced with heterogeneity in the ability of their trainees. © 2013, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Background: As the treatment of chronic or life-threatening diseased children has dramatically over recent decades, more and more paediatric patients reach adulthood. Some of these patients are successfully integrating into adult life; leaving home, developing psychosocially, and defining a role for themselves in the community through employment. However, despite careful guidance and support, many others do not succeed. A growing number of adolescents and young adults who have had a somatic disease or disability since childhood apply for disability benefits. The purpose of this study was to assess the health-related quality of life (HRQoL), anxiety and depression of young adults receiving disability benefits because of somatic conditions compared to reference groups from the general Dutch population and to explore factors related to their HRQoL, anxiety and depression.Methods: Young adults (N = 377, 22-31 yrs, 64.3% female) claiming disability benefits completed the RAND-36 and an online version of the HADS. Differences between respondents and both reference groups were tested using analysis of variance and logistic regression analysis by group and age (and gender). Regression analyses were conducted to predict HRQoL (Mental and Physical Component Scale; RAND-36) and Anxiety and Depression (HADS) by demographic and disease-related variables.Results: The respondents reported worse HRQoL than the reference group (-1.76 Physical Component Scale; -0.48 Mental Component Scale), and a higher percentage were at risk for an anxiety (29.7%) and depressive (17.0%) disorder. Better HRQoL and lower levels of anxiety and depression were associated with a positive course of the illness and the use of medical devices.Conclusions: This study has found worse HRQoL and feelings of anxiety and depression experienced by young adults claiming disability benefits. Healthcare providers, including paediatric healthcare providers, should pay systematic attention to the emotional functioning of patients growing up with a somatic condition in order to optimise their emotional well-being and adaptation to society during their transition to adulthood. Future research should focus on emotional functioning in more detail in order to identify those patients that are most likely to develop difficulties in emotional functioning and who would benefit from specific psychosocial support aimed at workforce participation. © 2013 Verhoof et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

Drawing on the human service professions, Mary Issitt applies a feminist critique to developing professional capability in work settings. While there are parallels between feminist and reflective practice approaches to professionalism, particularly through their rejection of positivist models of practice and development, there has been limited dialogue between them. A feminist reflective practice model is proposed, which highlights the need to be aware of power relationships and political dimensions in professional practice. Although reflective practitioner and feminist approaches are intrinsically concerned with competent practice, the current preoccupation in the UK with a model of competence purporting to reflect 'objective' task performance is a cause for concern: as well as being oversimplistic, it serves as a measure of social control that reinforces existing power relations and gender inequalities. The chapter concludes by proposing that an integrated model of learning is needed, which goes beyond individualized, atomistic conceptions of competence and enables practitioners to develop the criticality and creativity central to feminist reflective practice. © Individual authors 1999.

As many other European countries, Switzerland is facing a shortage of young general practitioners (GPs). This review summarizes and compares the different characteristics of vocational training programs in Switzerland and other Eu ropean countries concerning their duration, learning objectives and setting. Countries with a GP-centered healthcare system offer highly structured training programs tailored to the everyday work in general practice, whereas vocational training programs in countries where patients have unlimited access to specialized care are less differentiated. Today, the vocational training of Swiss GPs lacks topically focused learning objectives and seems to be rather underdeveloped when compared to foreign programs. Particularly with regard to the duration and funding of practice-based training periods spent in GP surgeries, Switzerland still has a great development potential. © 2013 Verlag Hans Huber, Hogrefe AG, Bern.