The need to improve communication about scope changes: frustration as an indicator of operational inefficiencies

Early and timely sharing of information can provide a sustainable competitive advantage. However, even if lean information management aims to improve this information flow, it has mainly been investigated in ‘operations-based’ companies. This paper fills this gap, drawing upon the experience of the authors working within a large project-based company engaged in the ‘engineer and manufacture to order’ of a complex piece of equipment costing millions of dollars, for its strategic long-term client, both working in the same industrial field, i.e. nuclear decommissioning. This research investigates the information flow regarding scope changes between the project-based company and the long-term client adapting and applying a five-step framework to highlight operational inefficiencies, reduce the corresponding transaction costs and increase the overall company’s competitiveness. This is exemplified through a particular case, but can be applied to other project-based companies dealing with strategic clients involved in long-term relationships.     

Leveraging Research on Informal Learning to Inform Policy on Promoting Early STEM

In recent decades, educators and policymakers in the United States have increased their focus on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) learning opportunities both in school and in informal learning environments outside of school. Informal STEM learning can take place in varied settings and involves a variety of STEM domains (e.g., engaging in engineering practices in a construction exhibit at a museum; talking about math during book reading at home). Here we provide a selective review of the literature on informal STEM learning to illustrate how these educational experiences are crucial for efforts to increase early STEM learning even before children reach school age. Leveraging cognitive and learning science research to inform policy, we make three recommendations to advance the impact of informal STEM learning: 1) integrate cognitive and learning science–based learning practices into informal learning contexts, 2) increase accessibility and diversity of informal STEM experiences, and 3) create explicit connections and coherence between formal and informal STEM learning opportunities in early childhood education.     

Outness and relationship satisfaction in same-gender couples

Self-disclosure of sexual orientation, or outness, is a fundamental feature of gay, lesbian, and bisexual (GLB) experience, yet little is known about how outness impacts same-gender relationship satisfaction. Through a qualitative analysis of interviews with 15 same-gender couples, the complexities of navigating a stigmatized identity in a homonegative society emerged, including (a) characteristics of outness, (b) the influence of coupling on an individual's outness, and (c) the impact of outness on same-gender relationship satisfaction. Findings suggest that for GLB persons, outness is a developmental skill, an expression of identity and values, as well as a resilience strategy for managing discrimination and gay-related stress that influences, though does not singularly determine, relationship satisfaction. Implications for clinical practice and future research suggestions are presented.     

What do women with learning disabilities say about their experiences of domestic abuse within the context of their intimate partner relationships?

In 2001 the UK Government launched its strategy ‘Valuing People’. The strategy, underpinned by the Human Rights Act 1998 (Ministry of Justice 1998 Ministry of Justice. 1998. The Human Rights Act, London: HMSO.  [Google Scholar]), the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (Home Office 1995 Home Office. 1995. Disability Discrimination Act, London: HMSO.  [Google Scholar]) and social inclusion claimed to outline ways for services to work, to meet the needs of individuals with learning disabilities . In this qualitative study, interviews were held with five women with learning disabilities, all of whom experienced domestic abuse from intimate partners. Although women sought help from services to leave their abusive partners, it was either denied or inappropriate to their needs. Women internalised the oppression of their partners and the dual abuse from services that failed them. Helpful service provision included advocacy, a domestic abuse therapy programme, and an empowerment group informed by feminist perspectives.     

A systematic review of the association between lower urinary tract symptoms and falls,injuries, and fractures in community-dwelling older men

Background: Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) have been associated with falls in studies either exclusively or predominantly of women. It is, therefore, less clear if LUTS are risk factors for falls in men.

Methods: We conducted a systematic review of the literature on the association between LUTS and falls, injuries, and fractures in community-dwelling older men. Medline, Embase, and Cinahl were searched for any type of observational study that has been published in a peer-reviewed journal in English language. Studies were excluded if they did not report male-specific data or targeted specific patient populations. Results were summarized qualitatively.

Results: Three prospective cohort studies and six cross-sectional studies were identified. Incontinence, urgency, nocturia, and frequency were consistently shown to have weak to moderate association with falls (the point estimates of odds ratio and relative risk ranged from 1.31 to 1.67) in studies with low risk of bias for confounding. Only frequency was shown to be associated with fractures.

Conclusions: Urinary incontinence and lower urinary tract storage symptoms are associated with falls in community-dwelling older men. The circumstances of falls in men with LUTS need to be investigated to generate hypotheses about what types of interventions may be effective in reducing falls.     

“First Train Out”: Marriage and Cohabitation in the Context of Poverty,Deprivation, and Trauma

There has been a steep rise in the proportion of children born to and living with unmarried parents. Unmarried parents are increasingly likely to cohabitate, especially low-income couples, placing their children at elevated psychosocial risk. This life history study of poor, White single mothers suggests that the current focus on differences between married and cohabiting poor women may overstate underlying similarities in factors associated with their partner formation and dissolution and that poor women's decisions about marriage and cohabitation must be understood in a developmental context that reflects the stacking, over time, of multiple forms of vulnerability to unstable partnerships, single motherhood, and continuing poverty into adulthood.     

‘You are not born being racist,are you?’ Discussing racism with primary aged-children

Ethnic-racial socialisation is broadly described as processes by which both minority and majority children and young people learn about and negotiate racial, ethnic and cultural diversity. This article extends the existing ethnic-racial socialisation literature in three significant ways: (1) it explores ways children make sense of their experiences of racial and ethnic diversity and racism; (2) it considers ways children identify racism and make distinctions between racism and racialisation; and (3) it examines teacher and parent ethnic-racial socialisation messages about race, ethnicity and racism with children. This research is based on classroom observations, semi-structured interviews and focus groups with teachers, parents and students aged 8–12?years attending four Australian metropolitan primary schools. The findings reveal that both teachers and parents tended to discuss racism reactively rather than proactively. The extent to which racism was discussed in classroom settings depended on: teachers’ personal and professional capability; awareness of racism and its perceived relevance based on student and community experiences; and whether they felt supported in the broader school and community context. For parents, key drivers for talking about racism were their children’s experiences and racial issues reported in the media. For both parents and teachers, a key issue in these discussions was determining whether something constituted either racism or racialisation. Strategies on how ethnic-racial socialisation within the school system can be improved are discussed.     

Service learning with First Peoples: a framework to support respectful and reciprocal learning

This article outlines a framework for working with First Peoples. The framework supports respectful and mutually beneficial learning partnerships and culminates from 6 years of practice and research in arts-based service learning with Aboriginal communities in Australia. We begin by looking at synergies between global service learning and service learning with First Peoples. We then position this work within an international context, focusing on Indigenous frameworks for practice identified in service learning with First Nations communities in North America. We next describe the Australian context and touch on the multilayered intercultural processes and outcomes associated with the programmes across three universities. Finally, we introduce the framework and elaborate on its dimensions.     

Overcoming Future Professionals’ Fear of Digital Storytelling

ABSTRACT

Digital storytelling assessments at university can develop emerging human service and social workers’ skills in contemporary social media production and related advocacy. Despite growing interest in digital storytelling in these disciplines, there is little support for developing the technical sides of the practice. This article shares key learnings from an Australian teaching and learning project used to develop a digital storytelling module for social work and human services students at university who are not filmmakers. Students across a range of courses undertook digital storytelling assessments using the module. A key finding was that students still experienced considerable fear but were able to turn that into significant personal and professional development. This article explores these and other key learnings from the project and offers tips for others wishing to implement digital storytelling.

IMPLICATIONS

• Emerging social work and human services professionals studying at university often exhibit fear and resistance to new tasks such as digital storytelling. Such students need to be supported to navigate that discomfort to achieve learning.

• Students can be supported using online modules that support the technical and creative sides of digital storytelling.

• This project found that students were able to develop confidence and skills in digital storytelling after completing this module and assignment.

     

Race,Language, or Length of Residency? Explaining Unequal Uptake of Government Pensions in Canada

Canada’s old age security (OAS), a flat-benefit public pension, is internationally lauded as an accessible and effective safety net for seniors. This paper explores discrepancies in OAS uptake using Canadian Census data from 1996 to 2011. Our findings demonstrate disparities in OAS uptake based on immigration status, language proficiency, and visible minority status, disputing claims of “universal” OAS provision. Multivariate analyses confirm a strong “immigrant effect,” with being in Canada for 20 years or less leading to lower rates of OAS utilization. They also confirm that those not proficient in Canada’s official languages are less likely to receive OAS benefits. However, the influence of racialized minority status is found to be spurious; after controlling for immigration status and official language proficiency, many racialized minority senior groups have higher odds of receiving OAS than White Canadians. We conclude with a brief discussion of the tradeoffs involved in considering a potential removal of OAS eligibility barriers for immigrants in Canada.