Elsevier science digital libraries symposium

Abstract

This article discusses the growing need for tools or systems that will provide more effective management of and improved user access for journal collections, especially for e-journals. The author briefly describes initial efforts at the local library level to develop management systems and mentions the rise of vendor-supplied solutions, which have become very popular. In spite of the current popularity of vendor-based solutions, the author argues that there is still a niche for locally developed journal management systems. One such system, developed at the author's home institution, Taylor University, is featured as a case study.     

Gender gaps in STEM in Japanese academia: The impact of research productivity,outside offers,and home life on pay

To understand differences in labor market outcomes between genders, economists must examine a complex array of potentially significant factors, such as institutional context, productivity differences, child-bearing and home production, and bargaining behavior. Many of these factors are not well captured by standard data sources. We use a new survey of academics in Japan to better understand the sources of gender pay differences. We find a 6% pay gap which persists when we control for research productivity, despite an institutional context shaped by explicit salary tables. We do not find a motherhood wage penalty, and the gender salary we document is not affected by differences in outside job offers.     

Job satisfaction and mental health of temporary agency workers in Europe: a systematic review and research agenda

ABSTRACT

The current systematic literature review aimed to analyse the associations between temporary agency work (TAW), job satisfaction, and mental health in Europe, as well as to outline a future research agenda. Twenty-eight scientific articles were identified by searching different data bases (i.e. PSYNDEX, PsycINFO, PubMed, and Web of Science) for the time span from January 2000 to December 2016. Our review reveals first that TAW is not consistently negatively related to job satisfaction. However, job insecurity and working conditions are important mediators in the relation of TAW and lowered job satisfaction. Second, TAW is not consistently related to all investigated types of mental health impairments. However, when focusing on specific outcomes and comparing temporary agency workers to permanent employees, we still find consistent evidence regarding higher levels of depression and fatigue among temporary agency workers. Inconsistent associations between TAW, job satisfaction and mental health can partly be attributed to unfavourable methodological aspects of the included primary studies. To address these aspects, future research should consider applying a standard measurement of TAW, including a minimum of meaningful confounding variables, improving the operationalisation of outcome variables and the study design.     

Call centres and job satisfaction in Italy: employment conditions and socio-biographical patterns

ABSTRACT

The article examines job satisfaction in 21 Italian call centres. The results of research carried out on 1715 handlers indicate how dissatisfaction prevails among call centre representatives (CCRs) and how it is influenced by aspects related to some organisational characteristics (service delivered, size and organisational typology), on one side, and to different aspects of working conditions (contract, wage and tenure) and participants’ biographical and working profiles of CCRs (gender, age, educational attainment), on the others. However, the most interesting finding emerges by distinguishing different dimensions of job satisfaction (extrinsic and intrinsic-relational). In particular, the relationship between type of contract and job satisfaction is rather interesting. For non-permanent workers, in fact, the probability of being dissatisfied is decidedly greater if we consider the extrinsic dimension of job satisfaction. Instead, when the intrinsic-relational dimension is taking into account, atypical workers are no more dissatisfied than the permanent ones. Job insecurity and limited perspectives in terms of work alternatives, safeguards and rewards, seem to be the source of greatest dissatisfaction for Italian CCRs. This certainly does not surprise considering the Italian development model and its dualistic labour market, highly segmented between insiders and outsiders.     

Non-government organization study awards: enhancing successful completion of social work qualification

ABSTRACT

The current study used a sequential, exploratory mixed-method design to explore how a social work study scholarship implemented in Aotearoa New Zealand impacted on recipients’ qualification completion and their professional and practice competence. Phase one involved 13 individual interviews with past award recipients which described how the study award impacted on their qualification completion. Thematic analysis was used to extract themes. These themes were examined in the second phase through a quantitative battery completed by 107 past recipients to examine their professional and practice competence. The findings from interviews showed the award enabled recipients to complete their studies and improve their social work practice without causing undue stress or financial pressure on the recipient and their family. Quantitative analysis corroborated and extended these findings to demonstrate that the award contributed to lifting the level of social work knowledge, competence, and skills in the recipients. Accompanying the successful qualification completion, these qualified social workers were equipped with essential skills, promoting social work values and competence to contribute and safeguard the benefit of children, families, and communities. The awards offered a ‘wrap around’ support and was not limited by age or ethnicity but provided a support system to achieve qualification completion.     

Doing good while doing business: Using financial viability to enhance employability for the disadvantaged

The employment social enterprise (ESE) model can provide an opportunity to create a financially viable business that helps individuals with employment barriers become integrated into the labor force. This research studied eight ESEs. Findings suggest that by applying private‐sector business principles to a workforce development programs, social enterprises can provide participants with meaningful and valuable work experience, while offsetting program costs. Analysis identified four promising practices that social entrepreneurs should adopt when setting up a new enterprise. Enterprises should (a) provide soft‐skill training and social services to participants; (b) operate at a size that allows for economies of scale in production and the provision of support services; (c) have few occupational skill requirements; and (d) hire supervisors with both industry knowledge and the capacity to support individuals with employment barriers.     

基层公务员职业认同特征及其对工作绩效与离职倾向的影响研究

基层公务员的职业认同对公务员队伍建设和推进国家治理能力现代化有着重要的意义。本文通过对760名基层公务员的问卷调查发现：基层公务员职业认同包括职业行为投入、职业发展认同和职业价值认同三个维度，呈现出以价值认同为核心、行为投入为外层、发展认同居中的圈层结构；基层公务员职业认同接近较高水平，但职业发展认同较低；不同类型基层公务员职业认同呈现出一定差异，其中青年公务员的职业认同显著低于中老年公务员，低职级公务员较高职级公务员职业认同更低。进一步分析发现，基层公务员职业认同能正向预测工作绩效，职业认同能负向预测离职倾向。在此基础上，本研究提出提升基层公务员职业认同的相关对策建议。     

Finding your way into employment against all odds? Successful job search of refugees in Austria

Labour market entry poses enormous challenges for recently arrived refugees, ranging from language barriers, devaluation of human capital, unfamiliarity with customs of the job search process to outright discrimination. How can refugees overcome these challenges and quickly enter gainful employment? In this paper, we draw on interviews with 26 male and female refugees from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran, conducted in 2017 and 2018, who came to Austria in 2015 and 2014 and who have successfully entered employment. We depict refugees’ own perspectives on and strategies for fast job entry and integration. Personal agency and a proactive approach of seeking and seizing opportunities are key for overcoming initial barriers and entering upon positive integration pathways. At the same time, refugees’ personal agency is essential for establishing social ties to the host society, which also play a crucial role in early labour market integration. Finally, institutions of the Austrian labour market (the ‘apprenticeship’-system) interact with refugees’ agency in most intricate ways, both setting up nearly insurmountable barriers but also providing specific opportunities for refugees.     

Quality management as a tool for job satisfaction improvement in low-level technology organizations: the case of Ethiopia

Human resources are an important determinant of operational performances as it is crucial for quality improvement. Research suggests that issues related to quality of work life of employees are often overlooked in low technology level organizations in the developing countries. This article aims to investigate the relationship between quality management (QM) practices and job satisfaction (JS) in relation with the Ethiopian manufacturing organizations. Data were collected using a structured survey questionnaire and face-to-face interviews of shop-floor workers. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis was used to validate the survey instrument and structural equation modelling was used for the analysis. The findings provide evidence that top management commitment, participation of employees and continuous improvement are significantly and positively associated with JS. However, customer focus has insignificant relationship and surprisingly, teamwork showed unexpected negative relationship with JS. The study provides important insights into the true worth of QM implementation in which it enforces the belief that its practices are the decisive factor in enhancing workplace satisfaction of employees.     

高校教师未充分就业感的成因分析与对策建议

未充分就业是指相对某些标准而言质量更低的就业。在文献研究和理论推理的基础上，厘清了未充分就业的概念，归纳出我国高校教师未充分就业的7种表现形式，并对高校教师未充分就业感的产生机理进行了探索，提出了降低高校教师未充分就业感的管理对策。