Young people and social action: youth participation in the United Kingdom and United States

This chapter provides two case studies of projects in the United Kingdom and United States using a social action approach to encourage youth participation and civic engagement. The authors provide a snapshot of U.K. and U.S. policy related to inclusionary practice in youth development work, along with testimony from youth participating in the two community development initiatives. As part of the positive youth development approach, youth inclusion is seen as a key to policy, programs, planning, and practice with young people. Educators, researchers, and practitioners using participatory methodologies have continued to move the youth development field forward. Social action provides a theory and practice that enhances community building, social cohesion, and positive youth development.     

Intensified inequities: Young people's experiences of Covid-19 and school closures in Uganda

Uganda had the longest period of school closures worldwide as a response measure during the Covid-19 pandemic. Drawing on longitudinal qualitative data from the Contexts of Violence in Adolescence Cohort Study (CoVAC) (2018–2023), we examine how this has affected the lives of adolescents in Uganda. Our analysis showcases how intersecting inequities based on socioeconomic circumstances, gender and location have intensified, with detrimental effects on young people's educational paths and life circumstances. Strategies that take the intersections of these inequities into account are urgently needed to help the most disadvantaged and marginalized young people return to school.     

The Emergence of Artificial Intelligence as a Reference Discipline for Decision Support Systems Research

It is timely and appropriate to examine both philosophical and pragmatical issues associated with formalizing the adoption of artificial intelligence as a reference discipline for decision support systems research. This paper reflects on where we were when the first special issue of Decision Sciences on expert systems and decision support systems was published, addresses the dynamics of what has taken place subsequent to the publication of that first special issue, sets forth a proposition to stimulate ongoing dialog with respect to synergies between the decision support system research agenda and the research agenda of the artificial intelligence discipline, and demonstrates how the papers appearing in this follow-up special issue of Decision Sciences are representative of an emerging, challenging, and exciting new decision support systems era.     

Using a hybrid data collection tool: Analysis of youth labour market trajectories integrating quantitative,qualitative and social network data

This article explains the factors that led to the use of a hybrid data collection tool—i.e., a single questionnaire designed to collect both quantitative and qualitative data—in two different research projects that focused on the relation between the labour market trajectories of young people and the use and accumulation of network social capital in these trajectories. The article describes the characteristics of this tool and the methodological challenges posed by its use. The advantages and disadvantages of this specific type of data collection are also addressed. Among the main advantages, the improvement of data quality and the overarching picture obtained of the career path and use of personal networks are highlighted. The most important downside found is the amount of time needed in the interview, which shows the need to pay attention to the balance between quantitative and qualitative elements in the structure of the questionnaire.