To improve oneself and grow professionally, career development has been found to be crucial, as it serves as a roadmap for the professional growth of employees. However, a barrier, known as the glass ceiling, hinders the progress of employees, especially those in the LGBTQIA+ community. This study explores the impact of the glass ceiling on the career development of selected LGBTQIA+ individuals, shedding light on the barriers faced by this community in the workplace. The researchers used a qualitative (...) multiple-case study and selected ten (10) LGBTQIA+ participants from large enterprises via the judgmental sampling technique. Through thematic analysis, psychological impact, workplace discomfort, lack of recognition, and career progress challenges emerged as the impacts of the glass ceiling on the participants. Strategies for overcoming glass ceiling barriers, such as resilience, self-reflection, and community support, are identified. Thus, the study found that glass ceilings are really evident in the context of businesses. With this, the proposed advocacy plan in the study suggests interventions like workplace inclusion training, mentorship networks, and seminars on employee rights. Furthermore, it emphasizes the call for ongoing research and advocacy efforts to dismantle barriers and cultivate workplaces that not only embrace diversity but also provide equitable opportunities for career growth. (shrink)

Why Very Few Filipinos Are Interested in a Political Career and the Debate on Political Dynasties -/- Politics in the Philippines is a critical force in shaping the nation’s future. However, few Filipinos actively pursue a political career due to political dynasties, corruption, financial barriers, security risks, and public distrust in government. Additionally, many Filipinos engage in passive criticism—they are quick to complain about bad governance but reluctant to participate in political change. -/- While political dynasties are often (...) blamed for limiting opportunities, some argue they bring stability and governance experience that newcomers lack. Given these challenges, meaningful reforms are necessary to make politics more inclusive, transparent, and accessible to competent and ethical leaders. -/- Reasons Why Few Filipinos Enter Politics -/- 1. Political Dynasties Limit Opportunities for New Leaders -/- Political families monopolize power, making it hard for new candidates to enter the political arena. With dynasties controlling campaign funding, voter influence, and government positions, independent candidates face unfair competition. -/- 2. Filipinos Are Trapped in a “Criticism Mentality” but Avoid Action -/- Many Filipinos frequently criticize politicians on social media but do not: -/- Vote wisely -/- Participate in governance initiatives -/- Consider running for office -/- This passive yet highly critical audience mentality discourages new leaders from emerging, leaving traditional political families unchallenged. -/- 3. Corruption and Patronage Politics Discourage Honest Candidates -/- Many competent individuals avoid politics because they fear they will be forced to engage in corrupt practices or become powerless against established political elites. -/- 4. High Cost of Running for Office -/- Elections in the Philippines require millions of pesos in campaign funds. Political dynasties have vast financial resources, while new candidates struggle to afford advertisements, rallies, and logistics. -/- 5. Work-Life Balance and Security Risks -/- Political careers demand long hours, constant public scrutiny, and expose candidates to political violence and assassination risks. This discourages potential leaders from entering politics. -/- 6. Lack of Trust in Government -/- Many Filipinos believe the system is rigged and that no real change can happen. This disillusionment prevents capable individuals from seeking public office. -/- 7. Bureaucracy and Slow Reforms -/- Even well-intentioned politicians struggle with red tape, partisan gridlock, and resistance from political elites. This slow pace of change discourages new leaders. -/- 8. Fear of Failure and Political Rivalries -/- Losing an election can be financially and socially devastating. Additionally, political rivalries often result in: -/- Character assassinations -/- Legal harassment -/- Physical threats or violence -/- This hostile environment discourages many Filipinos from pursuing politics. -/- The Debate on Political Dynasties: Should They Stay or Go? -/- Why Political Dynasties Should Stay -/- Some argue that political dynasties provide stability and experience, especially because: -/- 1. Governance Knowledge – Long-standing political families understand government operations better than inexperienced newcomers. -/- 2. Continuity in Leadership – Dynasties ensure long-term projects and reforms are completed rather than abandoned after elections. -/- 3. Strong Political Networks – Established families have the connections to efficiently implement policies. -/- 4. Newcomers Are a Risk – Some first-time politicians struggle with decision-making, leading to ineffective governance. -/- Why Political Dynasties Should Be Limited -/- Critics argue that dynasties create an unfair monopoly and prevent new leadership from emerging. -/- 1. Lack of Political Competition – Dynasties dominate elections, leaving little room for independent candidates. -/- 2. Corruption and Self-Interest – Many dynastic politicians prioritize family wealth and power over public service. -/- 3. Poor Performance Goes Unpunished – Many voters elect familiar names instead of choosing the most qualified leaders. -/- 4. Public Disillusionment – When the same families hold power for decades, people feel elections are meaningless. -/- Possible Reforms to Make Politics More Inclusive -/- To encourage competent and ethical leaders to enter politics, the following reforms can be implemented: -/- 1. Implement a Balanced Anti-Dynasty Law -/- Instead of banning dynasties outright, a reasonable anti-dynasty law can be implemented to: -/- Limit how many family members can hold office at the same time. -/- Prevent immediate re-election of relatives in the same position. -/- Ensure fair election funding to give independent candidates a fighting chance. -/- This would help promote merit-based governance while maintaining stability. -/- 2. Publicly Funded Campaigns for Independent Candidates -/- To level the playing field, the government should: -/- Subsidize campaign expenses for qualified independent candidates. -/- Limit private donations to reduce dynastic control over elections. -/- Enforce transparency in campaign financing to prevent corruption. -/- 3. Establish Political Education and Leadership Training -/- Many Filipinos lack political awareness. Schools and universities should: -/- Include political education in the curriculum. -/- Offer leadership training for aspiring politicians. -/- Provide internship programs in government offices. -/- This will help develop a new generation of well-educated and competent leaders. -/- 4. Strengthen Anti-Corruption Laws and Government Transparency -/- To restore public trust, reforms should: -/- Enforce real-time transparency in government spending. -/- Strengthen whistleblower protection to expose corruption. -/- Require full public disclosure of assets for all government officials. -/- 5. Improve Security for Political Candidates -/- To reduce election-related violence, the government should: -/- Provide police protection for independent candidates. -/- Enforce stricter penalties for political violence. -/- Monitor private armies linked to political families. -/- This would create a safer environment for new candidates. -/- 6. Encourage Youth Participation in Governance -/- The government should: -/- Lower the age requirement for some government positions. -/- Establish youth representation in decision-making councils. -/- Offer mentorship programs between experienced leaders and young aspirants. -/- By engaging the youth in governance early, we create future leaders who are prepared for public service. -/- 7. Promote Politics as Public Service, Not Power -/- To shift the perception of politics from a business empire to a duty to serve, the media and educational institutions should: -/- Highlight stories of ethical and effective politicians. -/- Emphasize leadership based on qualifications, not family names. -/- Encourage civic engagement through volunteerism and grassroots participation. -/- 8. Digital Voting and Electoral Reforms -/- To prevent vote-buying and election fraud, the government should: -/- Implement secure digital voting to make elections more accessible and transparent. -/- Strengthen voter education campaigns to promote informed decision-making. -/- Crack down on vote-buying syndicates through stricter penalties. -/- Conclusion -/- Few Filipinos enter politics due to political dynasties, corruption, financial barriers, security risks, and lack of trust in government. Many Filipinos also have a passive criticism mentality, where they complain about politicians but refuse to take action. -/- While some argue that political dynasties bring governance experience and stability, others believe they prevent competition and encourage corruption. The best approach is to introduce balanced reforms that limit dynasty control while allowing experienced politicians to serve effectively. -/- By implementing anti-dynasty laws, campaign finance reforms, political education, and anti-corruption measures, the Philippines can open its political system to fresh, capable, and ethical leaders. -/- If these reforms are enacted, more Filipinos will step up to lead, creating a government that truly represents the people. -/- . (shrink)

This study will answer the question, what do students expect to learn from philosophy teachers in the 21st century. by framing a response based on the following: The researcher’s teaching philosophy developed over 30 years, a survey conducted of UAEU students, and a discussion of the changing role and purpose of philosophy in the academy and current pedagogical philosophy in teaching. The study has focused on how philosophical questions have been changed over time, using new technology to teach philosophy, what (...) are the characteristics of philosophy teachers and students, the new direction for teaching philosophy, and career opportunities. The practical frame of this research will be analyzed students survey conducted on female students from United Arab Emirates University. I will use the method of content analysis to investigate and trace this phenomenon to determine its meaning, developing philosophical questions, and the new direction for teaching philosophy. Then I will examine the data taken from the theoretical and practical sources for the purpose of diagnosing and reaching conclusions a process which is called in philosophy synthesis, therefore the approach of the research would be analysis and synthesis. (shrink)

Creating a High-Quality Young Generation: A Holistic and Systematic Solution -/- The future of any society depends on the quality of its young generation. However, many nations struggle to develop young people who are intellectually competent, morally grounded, and socially responsible. The root causes of this failure lie in fragmented education systems, economic instability, broken family structures, technological distractions, and weak leadership. To solve this problem, a holistic, systematic approach is needed—one that integrates education, governance, economic policies, family values, and (...) ethical decision-making under a unified framework based on the universal law of balance in nature. -/- Understanding the Root Causes -/- Before formulating a solution, we must analyze the interconnected challenges preventing the development of a high-quality young generation: -/- 1. Deficient Education Systems – Traditional education prioritizes rote memorization over critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving. It also fails to teach free will, ethical decision-making, and the balance between knowledge and wisdom. -/- 2. Lack of Role Models – Corrupt leaders, unethical business figures, and poor parenting lead to misguided ambitions and values. -/- 3. Technological Distractions – Social media and digital entertainment promote instant gratification over deep thinking, reducing intellectual curiosity. -/- 4. Economic Pressures – A lack of high-quality jobs and economic instability force young people into survival mode, focusing on short-term gains rather than long-term progress. -/- 5. Weak Moral and Ethical Foundations – Consumerism, materialism, and moral relativism erode universal ethical principles, leading to selfish, shortsighted behavior. -/- 6. Broken Family Structures – Many children grow up in unstable environments due to absentee parents, divorce, or dysfunctional households. -/- 7. Political and Leadership Failures – Governments prioritize short-term political interests over long-term youth development, failing to create policies that empower the young generation. -/- 8. Health and Well-being Neglect – Mental health issues, poor nutrition, and unhealthy lifestyles affect young people’s cognitive and emotional development. -/- A Holistic, Systematic Solution -/- A successful solution must address these root causes through a comprehensive, multi-layered approach. The following framework provides a structured pathway toward developing a high-quality young generation: -/- 1. Transforming Education: The Foundation of Intellectual and Moral Growth -/- A holistic educational system should integrate four core pillars: -/- A. Critical Thinking and Free Will Education -/- Move beyond rote learning and instill problem-solving, analytical reasoning, and independent thinking. -/- Teach the universal law of balance in nature to help students understand how their decisions shape personal and societal well-being. -/- Promote scientific inquiry while allowing open discussion of philosophical and ethical perspectives. -/- B. Ethical Decision-Making and Moral Responsibility -/- Integrate ethics and morality into the curriculum, teaching the consequences of actions on both personal and societal levels. -/- Encourage community service and social responsibility projects. -/- Teach cause-and-effect systems thinking (i.e., how all decisions create ripple effects). -/- C. Practical Life Skills and Economic Awareness -/- Teach financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and career planning to prepare students for real-world challenges. -/- Encourage hands-on learning through apprenticeships, vocational training, and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) programs. -/- D. Digital Literacy and Responsible Technology Use -/- Educate young people on the impact of social media, misinformation, and digital distractions. -/- Promote constructive technology use for education, innovation, and personal growth. -/- 2. Strengthening Family Structures and Parental Guidance -/- A child’s first learning environment is the home. Thus, parental education programs should be implemented to: -/- Teach parents how to instill discipline, emotional intelligence, and ethical values. -/- Provide financial support or incentives for families that actively engage in child development programs. -/- Promote work-life balance policies so parents can spend more time with their children. -/- 3. Economic Policies That Empower Youth -/- Governments must create long-term economic strategies that: -/- Establish youth employment programs that provide internships, mentorship, and job training. -/- Promote sustainable entrepreneurship by funding youth-driven startups. -/- Ensure fair wages and stable career opportunities, reducing the pressure to seek unethical shortcuts to success. -/- 4. Leadership and Governance Reform -/- Political and business leaders must be held to higher ethical standards. This can be achieved through: -/- Ethical leadership training for government officials, CEOs, and policymakers. -/- Anti-corruption measures that enforce transparency and accountability. -/- Holistic governance policies that prioritize long-term youth development over short-term political gains. -/- 5. Health, Well-Being, and Mental Resilience -/- A strong young generation must be physically and mentally healthy. Societies must: -/- Promote mental health awareness in schools and workplaces. -/- Implement balanced nutrition and wellness programs in schools. -/- Encourage sports, physical fitness, and outdoor activities to counteract the sedentary lifestyle caused by excessive screen time. -/- 6. Harnessing Technology for Positive Development -/- Rather than being a distraction, technology should be a tool for empowerment: -/- Develop AI-driven personalized education to support individualized learning. -/- Promote tech-based problem-solving competitions to cultivate innovation. -/- Encourage online mentorship programs connecting young people with experts and successful professionals. -/- 7. Establishing a Global Ethical and Knowledge-Based Culture -/- To create a high-quality young generation worldwide, societies must collaborate in promoting: -/- International youth exchange programs to expose young minds to diverse ideas and experiences. -/- A universal ethical framework based on the balance of nature, ensuring that cultural and religious teachings align with scientific and moral principles. -/- Global scientific collaboration to address challenges such as climate change, poverty, and technological inequality. -/- Conclusion: The Future Depends on Systematic Change -/- The failure to produce a high-quality young generation is not due to lack of intelligence or potential but rather the absence of a holistic, systematic approach that integrates education, family, economy, leadership, technology, and well-being. By adopting a structured, science-based framework rooted in the universal law of balance, societies can cultivate young people who are intellectually capable, morally responsible, and prepared to lead humanity into a better future. -/- The key to success lies In balance—ensuring that knowledge is paired with wisdom, ambition with ethical responsibility, and personal success with social well-being. By implementing this systematic solution, we can create a generation that not only excels individually but also uplifts society as a whole. -/- . (shrink)

The aim of the study was to explore the motives underpinning career mobility, and the impact of such mobility on changing the perceptions of senior teacher educators from Israel who have experienced cross-cultural professional transitions during the mid-career stage (hereafter referred to as ‘internationally oriented teacher educators’). A thematic analysis of five interviewees’ retrospective narratives highlighted three motives driving career mobility: the opportunity for professional development; the joy of adventure and challenge; and the need to bring about (...) a fundamental change in their careers. In addition, two categories of changes in perceptions that occurred following international mobility were mapped: (a) pluralistic perceptions in a multicultural higher education environment, and (b) culture of learning among the younger generation. The discussion raises similarities and differences between the findings and the literature on career mobility in higher education. (shrink)

Academia is a competitive environment. Early Career Researchers (ECRs) are limited in experience and resources and especially need achievements to secure and expand their careers. To help with these issues, this book offers a new approach for conducting research using the combination of mindsponge innovative thinking and Bayesian analytics. This is not just another analytics book. 1. A new perspective on psychological processes: Mindsponge is a novel approach for examining the human mind’s information processing mechanism. This conceptual framework is (...) used to construct models in studies. The framework is highly flexible and widely applicable for many different types of information processes. The mindsponge approach can help researchers discover interesting ideas or even formulate their very own theories when investigating psychosocial phenomena. This approach brings a fresh wind to the current landscape of social sciences and humanities (SSH). 2. Easy-to-follow analysis protocol: The Bayesian Mindsponge Framework (BMF analytics) is useful in terms of computing and visualizing power but also easy to learn and apply. Contrary to being intimidating, the Bayesian analytics section of this book is presented in a reader-friendly manner with a detailed yet clear step-by-step procedure. Examples are from published BMF articles, allowing readers to immediately practice the method and quickly create their own applications. With educational purposes in mind, the book is very suitable for ECRs who are looking to innovate their research methods. 3. Advocating for low-cost, high-quality research: Doing science can be very costly. Mindsponge innovative thinking and BMF analytics help produce impactful studies using openly available data on online repositories. This is based on the authors’ previous works and experiences. The book presents examples of employing the open R package bayesvl on secondary data from different sources. With less financial constraints, researchers can have more freedom of thought to pursue their curiosity and creativity. ECRs in low- and middle-income countries may find this aspect crucial in their careers. 4. Support and collaboration: The authors share their insights from experiences in the academic publishing system to help readers get through the processes of manuscript writing and peer-reviewing more easily. The authors are also ready to support other researchers with further inquiries and collaboration opportunities at the following website, mindsponge(dot)info. This book is for: a) ECRs whose only abundant resources are their innovation capacity and strength of will; b) Researchers in SSH who want to explore a novel approach to thinking and study conducting; c) Low- and middle-income countries’ researchers looking for a cost-effective research protocol; and, d) Innovative thinkers who want to turn their interesting thoughts into good publications. (shrink)

Professionalization, career development prospects, and social value are the three basic components of the status and prospects of community education workers, which influence their choice to continue their careers or not. In China, these problems are complex and lacking in systematic research, and the current situation does not meet the needs of community education. This study interviewed 24 community workers regarding their salaries, working conditions, and training and career advancement opportunities to evaluate this situation in Ningbo City. (...) The findings highlight challenges in the evaluation processes and work motivations of community education workers, including teams without professional knowledge, lack of training opportunities, unsupportive policies, and low salaries. These findings can be used by governments and community workers to find collaborative ways to facilitate community education processes, including the provision of adult education for community educators. New legal policies to raise the status of community educators are also suggested. (shrink)

The tracer study for the Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA) degree with Business Economics (BE), Financial Management (FM), Human Resource Management (HRM), and Marketing Management (MM) of the School of Business Administration (SBA) tracks and gathers information about the career outcomes and experiences of graduates of the degree program. This study focuses on determining the employment opportunities pursued by the graduates of 2018–2022, as well as exploring the influence their education from the SBA of San Isidro (...) College (SIC) has had on their careers. Through this tracer study, valuable insight has been gained into the effectiveness of the SBA's BSBA program offered by SIC and its graduates' overall success and impact in the job market. The lack of respondents in the BE major suggests a need to revisit and modify the curriculum and marketing efforts to generate more interest among potential students. The FM, HRM, and MM major should be capitalized and sustained to maintain the positive momentum. The study's findings show a mix of employment outcomes for graduates, with opportunities for both early career growth and long-term employment. The program equips graduates with a diverse skillset for various job levels and industries. Most graduates find employment within the province, implying effectiveness in equipping them with the necessary skills. However, the distribution of salaries suggests potential issues with the job market or degree value, requiring further investigation. The program has successfully developed graduates with communication, human relations, and entrepreneurial skills but may need improvement in marketing management, problem-solving, and critical thinking. The study concludes that graduates have higher communication skills but lower problem-solving and critical thinking skills, emphasizing the need for curriculum modifications and additional support to improve overall skills. (shrink)

Warren Zevon’s musical career, though brilliant throughout, is particularly notable for its ending: diagnosed with a terminal illness, Zevon refused a potentially debilitating medical treatment to put his remaining energy into recording another album. The resulting record –2003’s 'The Wind' – was in many ways the perfect farewell: songs of dirty, dark, uncompromising, country-tinged rock, blistering guitar solos, all mixed with intelligent, black-as-coal gallows humour. But it was also a moving farewell to his fans, a heartfelt, personal reflection on (...) his life and impending death: it begins with the words “sometimes I feel like my shadow’s casting me” and ends with “keep me in your heart for a while”. 'The Wind' ranks among Zevon’s very best and belongs in the same category as albums like David Bowie’s 'Blackstar' and Leonard Cohen’s 'You Want It Darker': works of great artists that knew the end was coming and made that knowledge musical. But though it had a particular force towards the end, death had always featured as a prominent theme in Zevon’s music. In fact, the albums that preceded his terminal diagnosis – especially 2000’s 'Life’ll Kill Ya' – have a marked preoccupation with death and dying, and many of his song’s characters (gunmen, gangsters, boxers, murderers of all stripes) either dealt death out, died, or both. -/- In this chapter, I argue that Zevon’s music and speech in his late public appearances personify an idea in Martin Heidegger’s philosophy called ‘authentic being-towards-death’. In his landmark text 'Being and Time', Heidegger undertakes a painstaking analysis of human existence. One of its conclusions is that to live a fully authentic life, we must reckon with our mortality, come to terms with it and allow this reckoning to have a transformative effect on how we live and how we think about our existence. This results, Heidegger argues, in a distinct way of being that he calls ‘being-towards-death’ and ‘anticipatory resoluteness’ in the face of death. Authentic being, which involves properly taking ownership of our lives and their meaning, cannot be adequately achieved without a serious confrontation with the fact that we will one day die. I claim that Warren Zevon’s music, with its continual engagement with death which culminates in 'The Wind', is one of the great musical manifestations of exactly this type of project. Heidegger’s writing is often notoriously abstract, but it pertains to the most fundamental issues about what it means to be human. Engaging with it alongside Zevon’s music provides a fruitful opportunity to make it concrete, better able to understand its most important aspects while providing an interesting conceptual toolkit to apply to the music of one of the great songwriters of death. (shrink)

Some philosophers argue that martial arts training is maladaptive, contributes to psychological illness, and provides a social harm, whereas others argue that martial arts training is adaptive, contributes to psychological wellness, and provides a social benefit. This debate is important to scholars and the general public since beliefs about martial arts training can have a real impact on how we evaluate martial artists for job opportunities and career advancement, and in general, how we treat martial artists from different (...) cultures in our communities. This debate is also important for children and adults that have considered enrolling in martial arts training programs but remain uncertain about potential outcomes of training due to the lack of research in this area. This article therefore contributes to the literature on martial arts by (1) outlining a framework that characterizes psychological well-being in terms of five elements, (2) discussing how results from empirical research support the hypothesis that Muay Thai training can contribute to psychological well-being by contributing to all five component elements, (3) discussing the psychological benefits of martial arts training from the perspective of an Everlast Master Instructor, and (4) discussing how martial arts training involves the cultivation of combat-relevant affordances. (shrink)

Throughout one’s career, a professional sports practitioner is confronted with various choices to make, ranging from coaching a fair match or offering opportunities for selected individuals to win; showing true sportsmanship or venturing for a better compensation; to even sticking to one’s home team or accepting a better offer. This is faced by all sports practitioners within the same industry: athletes, coaches, managers, and even team owners. In making these choices, individuals recognize essential ethical considerations. However, a primary (...) factor that influences them—albeit without them knowing—is their alienated state. The preferences of the sports practitioner mirror society’s response to the demands of the Culture Industry. He or she would opt to choose what the Industry is offering and uphold these standards. After all, sports is a social phenomenon that has undergone changes throughout the years, along with other aspects of society. It bears the impact of the Aufklärung, the true question of being enlightened and of being cultured. Thus, sports could be seen as constituting another level in the individual’s (and even society’s) alienated sphere. This paper seeks to shed light on the ethical considerations of the sports practitioner, in particular the heavy influence of the Culture Industry, the individual’s alienated state, and his or her response. I am interested in the play of power-relations among the sports practitioners and society, both dominated by the Industry. The paper does not present an exhaustive claim enlisting all considerations, but merely critiques the present setup. By presenting individuals’ (ultimately social) alienated state, I show that their choices are in fact social, even though they would seem to be solely individualistic in terms of their situated-ness in sporting events. Thus, this paper shows the heavy influence of the Industry in the continuous power relations between sports practitioners and society, as well as the alienated state of both. (shrink)

Working in academia is challenging, even more so for those with limited resources and opportunities. Researchers around the world do not have equal working conditions. The paper presents the structure, operation method, and conceptual framework of the SM3D Portal's community coaching method, which is built to help Early Career Researchers (ECRs) and researchers in low-resource settings overcome the obstacle of inequality and start their career progress. The community coaching method is envisioned by three science philosophies (cost-effectiveness, transparency (...) spirit, and proactive attitude) and established and operated based on the Serendipity-Mindsponge-3D knowledge (SM3D) management framework (i.e., mindsponge thinking and Bayesian Mindsponge Framework analytics serve as the coaching program's foundational theory and analytical tools). The coaching method also embraces Open Science's values for lowering the cost of doing science and encouraging the trainees to be transparent, which is expected to facilitate the self-correcting mechanism of science through open data, open review, and open dialogue. Throughout the training process, members are central beneficiaries by gaining research knowledge and skills, acquiring publication as the training's product, and shifting their mindsets from “I can't do it” to “I can do it,” and at the same time transforming a mentee to be ready for a future mentor's role. The coaching method is thus one of the members, for the member, by the members. -/- • The paper provides the structure, operation method, and conceptual framework of the SM3D Portal's community coaching method, which is built to help Early Career Researchers (ECRs) and researchers in low-resource settings overcome the obstacle of inequality and start their career progress. • The paper presents three major science philosophies envisioning the establishment and operation of scholarly community coaching. • The paper employs the mindsponge theory and BMF analytics to construct a conceptual framework explaining how an environment is created to help shift members’ mindsets from “I can't do it” to “I can do it.”. (shrink)

The study aimed at measuring the dominant pattern of leadership and its relation to the performance of the administrative staff in the Palestinian universities. The study community consists of all the administrative staff from Al-Azhar University and the Islamic University, and through the census of the study society it was found to consist of (655) administrative staff. In order to achieve the objectives of the study, the researchers used the method of random sample in the study, and the study was (...) conducted on a sample of (221) administrative staff of the surveyed universities and the response rate was (82.35%). The study found that there is a high degree of satisfaction with the Dominant Pattern of Leadership in the Palestinian universities in Gaza Strip from the point of view of the administrative staff, which reached (71.67%). There is a high level of performance from the point of view of administrative staff, with a percentage of (82.53%). There is a direct correlation between the dominant pattern of leadership and the functional Performance of Administrative Staff, the absence of differences between the sample according to the gender variable in their perception of the dominant pattern of leadership and the functional Performance of Administrative Staff, the absence of differences in the perception of employees of the dominant pattern of leadership and the functional Performance of Administrative Staff depending on the age variable. There are differences of statistical significance according to the variable of scientific qualification in the Dominant Pattern of Leadership, while there were no differences in performance, the differences in the dominant pattern of leadership according to the scientific qualification were in favor of those who obtained the diploma degree compared to other practical qualifications, the absence of differences in the perception of employees of the dominant pattern of leadership and the functional Performance of Administrative Staff depending on the variable years of service, the absence of differences in the perception of employees of the dominant pattern of leadership and the functional Performance of Administrative Staff depending on the variable level of career (Director, Head of Department, and Administrative Officer). There were differences in the perception of workers to the dominant pattern of leadership depending on the variable of the workplace, where there were differences in favor of workers in deanships and colleges compared with the workers in the technical departments. While there were no differences in job performance according to the workplace variable, the existence of differences in the perception of workers to the dominant pattern of leadership depending on the university in which they work in favor of the Islamic University and the absence of differences in performance between the Islamic University and Al-Azhar University. The study reached a number of recommendations, the most important of which is that the interest of the managements of the Palestinian universities in improving the dominant pattern of leadership, to give universities the opportunity to participate in decision-making, the continued administration of universities interest and continuous improvement of the performance of its employees, enhance the periodic evaluation of job performance and to inform employees and express their opinion, solving workers' problems and giving them the opportunity to contribute to solving their own problems, the use of the staff rotation method periodically and strengthening the democratic the dominant pattern of leadership and empowering university staff. -/- . (shrink)

The book titled The Collaborative Economy in Action: European Perspectives is one of the important outcomes of the COST Action CA16121, From Sharing to Caring: Examining the Socio-Technical Aspects of the Collaborative Economy that was active between March 2017 and September 2021. The Action was funded by the European Cooperation in Science and Technology - COST. The main objective of the COST Action Sharing and Caring is the development of a European network of researchers and practitioners interested in investigating the (...) collaborative economy models, platforms, and their socio-technological implications. The network involves scholars, practitioners, communities, and policymakers. The COST Action Sharing and Caring helped to connect research initiatives across Europe and enabled scientists to develop their ideas by collaborating with peers. This collaboration opportunity represented a boost for the participants’ research, careers, and innovation potential. The main aim of this book is to provide a comprehensive overview of the collaborative economy in European countries with a variety of its aspects for a deeper understanding of the phenomenon as a whole. For this reason, in July 2017, an open call for country reports was distributed among the members of the COST Action Sharing and Caring. Representatives of the member countries were invited to produce short country reports covering: definition of the CE; types and models of the CE; key stakeholders involved; as well as legislation and technological tools relevant for the CE. Submitted reports varied in length and regarding the level of detail included, in accordance with how much information was available in each respective country at the time of writing. Editors of the book have compiled these early reports into a summary report, which was intended as a first step in mapping the state of the CE in Europe. The Member Countries Report on the Collaborative Economy, edited by Gaia Mosconi, Agnieszka Lukasiewicz, and Gabriela Avram that was published on the Sharing and Caring website, represented its first synergetic outcome and provided an overview of the CE phenomenon as interpreted and manifested in each of the countries part of the network. Additionally, Sergio Nassare-Aznar, Kosjenka Dumančić, and Giulia Priora compiled a Preliminary Legal Analysis of Country Reports on Cases of Collaborative Economy. In 2018, after undertaking an analysis of the previous reports’ strengths and weaknesses, the book editors issued a call for an updated version of these country reports. Prof. Ann Light advised the editorial team, proposing a new format for country reports and 4000 words limit. The template included: Introduction, Definition, Key Questions, Examples, Illustration, Context, Developments, Issues, Other Major Players, and Relevant Literature. The new template was approved by the Management Committee in October 2018. The task force that had supported the production of the first series of country reports acted as mentors for the team of authors in each country. The final reports arrived at the end of 2018, bringing the total number of submissions to 30. A call for book editors was issued, and a new editorial team was formed by volunteers from the participants of the COST Action: Andrzej Klimczuk, Vida Česnuityte, Cristina Miguel, Santa Mijalche, Gabriela Avram, Bori Simonovits, Bálint Balázs, Kostas Stefanidis, and Rafael Laurenti. The editorial team organized the double-blind reviews of reports and communicated to the authors the requirements for improving their texts. After reviews, the authors submitted updated versions of their country reports providing up-to-date interdisciplinary analysis on the state of the CE in 2019, when the reports were collected. During the final phase, the chapters were again reviewed by the lead editors together with all editorial team members. At the time, the intention was to update these reports again just before the end of the COST Action Sharing and Caring in 2021 and to produce a third edition. However, the COVID-19 pandemic changed these plans. Thus, this final volume was created by 82 scholars-editors and contributors-and consists of reports on 27 countries participating in the COST Action. M4 - Citavi. (shrink)

The aim of the study was to identify the organizational structure and its relation to the prevailing pattern of communication in the Palestinian universities. The researchers used the analytical descriptive method through a questionnaire randomly distributed among Palestinian university workers in the Gaza Strip. The study was conducted on a sample of (274) administrative staff from the three universities, and the response rate was (81.87%). The study found that there is a high satisfaction with the nature of the organizational structure (...) in the Palestinian universities from the point of view of the administrative staff, which reached 68.05%. And that there is a high level of communication pattern prevailing from the point of view of administrative staff, where the percentage (71.32%), there is a direct correlation between the nature of the organizational structure and the prevailing pattern of communication, the absence of differences between the sample according to the gender variable in their perception of the nature of the organizational structure and the prevailing pattern of communication, the absence of differences in the perception of employees of the nature of the organizational structure and the pattern of communication prevailing according to the variable age. There are differences of statistical significance in the perception of the nature of the organizational structure and the pattern of communication depending on the variable of scientific qualification in the organizational structure, and the pattern of communication. Differences were in favor of diploma holders compared to other practical qualifications. There is an absence of differences in the perception of employees of the nature of the organizational structure and the pattern of communication depending on the variable years of service. There is absence of differences in the perception of employees of the nature of the organizational structure and the pattern of communication depending on the variable level of career (Director, Head of Department, and Administrative Officer). There is absence of differences in the perception of employees of the nature of the organizational structure and the pattern of communication depending on the variable of the workplace. And the existence of differences in the perception of the employees of the nature of the organizational structure and pattern of communication depending on the university in which they work. And that there are statistically significant differences between the Islamic University and Al-Azhar University, the nature of the organizational structure and the pattern of communication in favor of the Islamic University. And that there are statistically significant differences between Al-Azhar University and Al-Aqsa University in the prevailing pattern of communication in favor of Al-Azhar University. The study reached a number of recommendations, the most important of which is that the departments of the Palestinian universities in the Gaza Strip in general, Al-Aqsa University and Al-Azhar Universities should be given greater attention to the prevailing organizational structure and the staff, the need to improve the pattern of communication prevalent in universities. Solving workers' problems and giving them the opportunity to contribute to solving their own problems. Strengthening the democratic leadership style and empowering university staff. (shrink)

Given the significance of Nicholas of Cusa’s ecclesiastical career, it is no surprise that a good deal of academic attention on Nicholas has focused on his role in the history of the church. Nevertheless, it would also be fair to say that a good deal of the attention that is focused on the life and thought of Nicholas of Cusa is the legacy of prior generations of scholars who saw in his theoretical work an opportunity to define the most (...) salient features of transformations in the habits of thinking leading from the Middle Ages into the epoch of modernity. Thus, although contemporary scholars have not been able to achieve any clear consensus on the question of whether Nicholas belongs to the Middle Ages or to modernity, the field of Cusanus studies has become much more attentive to the possibility that the uniqueness and significance of Nicholas’s vision is a function of his ability to synthesize and redeploy a variety of strands in the Catholic intellectual tradition—strands that are as apt to involve practical matters of canon law and church reform as they are to hinge on a unique and richly developed mystical theology. Given the flourishing of the attention devoted to Nicholas in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the choices about which texts to include in this article were difficult ones. The rationale for this article’s predominant focus on scholarship of the late 20th and early 21st centuries is that, insofar as the recent studies listed here enter into the debates that have been shaped by their predecessors, the sources mentioned here will point readers to the prior work in the field not acknowledged here. (shrink)

This paper argues that potential cases of oppression, such as sex trafficking, can sometimes comprise autonomous choices by the trafficked individuals. This issue still divides radical from liberal feminists, with the former wanting to ‘rescue’ the ‘victims’ and the latter insisting that there might be good reasons for ‘hiding from the rescuers.’ This article presents new arguments for the liberal approach and raises two demands: first, help organizations should be run by affected women and be open-minded about whether or not (...) the trafficked individuals should remain in the sex industry. Second, the career choices of trafficked individuals should be expanded by the introduction of an opportunity-extending right to asylum. (shrink)

The topic of disinterested love became fashionable in 1697 due to the famous amour pur dispute between Fénelon (1651-1715) and Bossuet (1627-1704). It soon attracted the attention of Electress Sophie of Hanover (1630-1714) and she asked for an opinion about the dispute from her trusted friend and correspondent, the Hanoverian councilor Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716). This gave Leibniz an opportunity to present his views on the matter, which he had developed earlier in his career (for example, in Elementa juris (...) naturalis of 1671 and Codex iuris gentium of 1693). In his 1697 letter to Sophie he did not explicitly take sides in the dispute, but formulated his own views on the topic in a theological manner, aiming to provide an account of disinterested love which would surpass the doctrines of both French theologians. In addition to presenting Leibniz’ early views on disinterested love and examining this alternative formulation of his views on love, I will show that after the letter Leibniz gave this alternative perspective up and returned to his earlier, more philosophical views on the topic, which suggests that he regarded them to be superior to the theological version, where the virtue of charity was related to the virtue of hope. (shrink)

Kampus Merdeka was part of the Merdeka Belajar policy released by the Indonesian Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology (Kemendikbudristek) at the end of January 2020. This study focuses on a university program that gave students opportunities to develop skills in accordance with their talents and interests by entering the workforce right away as training for future careers. Until the middle of September 2022, 12 programs had launched. To provide a reliable reference, a comprehensive analysis of the Merdeka (...) Curriculum program was carried out in this work. We took a qualitative approach, conducting observations and interviews with fellow actors as well as a thorough analysis of pertinent databases on the related subjects. We found that active student participation and support from the university are the keys to the success of Kampus Merdeka. Furthermore, serious commitment is needed from all parties to gain a company’s trust. This study is important to gain deep insights into the Kampus Merdeka policy so that the needs of Kurikulum Merdeka can be met effectively. (shrink)

The current debate concerning musical profundity was instigated, and set up by Peter Kivy in his book Music Alone (1990) as part of his comprehensive defense of enhanced formalism, a position he championed vigorously throughout his entire career. Kivy’s view of music led him to maintain utter skepticism regarding musical profundity. The scholarly debate that ensued centers on the question whether or not (at least some) music can be profound. In this study I would like to take the opportunity (...) to relate Wittgenstein’s ideas on music to this current debate, thereby achieving a twofold goal: not only to reintroduce Wittgenstein’s ideas into the current debate, but also to use the current debate as a foil to better appreciating Wittgenstein’s otherness as a philosopher of music. I argue that Wittgenstein’s unique philosophical response to the Romantic framing of the discourse concerning musical profundity —specifically, its threefold emphasis on the specificity, aboutness, and artistically exalted status of music— occasioned a view, which was bound to be glossed over by a philosophical tradition, whose origins had made it inimical to Wittgenstein’s original philosophical insights. I conclude that, in a sense, Wittgenstein occasions a paradigm shift by his philosophical thrust to undo the gravitational forces which form the current debate: the very idea of aboutness pertaining to music, and the very idea that a clear line could ever be drawn between music and language. (shrink)

Jean-François Lyotard's intellectual evolution in the late 1970s and 1980s is well known in continental philosophy. In 1979, with the publication of The Postmodern Condition, Lyotard became famous for his report on "the obsolescence of the metanarrative apparatus of legitimation". Later, in his magnum opus Le diférend he expanded on this, claiming that "a universal rule of judgment between heterogeneous genres is lacking in general". Yet, this creative moment in Lyotard's career, responsible for shaping the philosophical concept of the (...) postmodern condition, is rarely connected to his book La guerre des Algériens (1989). This work was supposed to implement his new postmodern concepts in relation to the war in Algeria. The present article looks at La guerre des Algériens, within its broader historical and philosophical context, as a unique opportunity to evaluate the validity of Lyotard's philosophical shift, especially his new concept of radical heterogeneity at work in history. (shrink)

The aim of the research is to shed light on the nature of the organizational structure prevailing in Palestinian governmental universities and to identify the most important differences in the perceptions of employees of the organizational structure in the Palestinian governmental universities according to the demographic and organizational variables. The researchers used the descriptive analytical method, through a questionnaire randomly distributed to the sample of the employees of Al-Aqsa University. The study was conducted on a sample of (80) administrative staff (...) from Al-Aqsa University. The study found that there is a moderate degree of satisfaction with the nature of the organizational structure prevailing in the Palestinian governmental universities from the point of view of the administrative staff, with a percentage of (63.11%). The absence of differences between the sample according to the gender variable in their perception of the nature of the organizational structure prevailing at Al-Aqsa University, the absence of differences in their perception of the nature of the organizational structure depending on the age variable. There are statistical significance differences in the perception of the elements of the organizational climate depending on the variable of scientific qualification in their perception of the nature of the organizational structure in favor of holders of a bachelor's degree, the absence of differences in their perception of the nature of the organizational structure depending on the variable years of service, and the absence of differences in their perception of the nature of the organizational structure depending on the variable level of career (Director, Head of Department, and Administrative Officer). The study reached a number of recommendations, the most important of which is that the management of the Palestinian governmental universities in general and Al-Aqsa University in particular should be given special attention to the organizational structure and modified in a way that achieves the goals of the university and the aspirations of the employees. The universities should have the opportunity to participate in the restructuring of the organizational structure, the importance of solving the problems of employees and giving them the opportunity to contribute to solving their own problems, and the need to use the method of rotation of employees and periodically. (shrink)

Problematic perceptions about race damage our society. These attitudes can seem impossible to overcome, but philosophers Dr Jennifer Mensch, at Western Sydney University in Australia, and Dr Michael Olson, at Marquette University in the US, beg to differ. They are compiling a collection of 18th-century philosophical and scientific texts that helped shape the way people saw race across the Western world, and were used to justify colonisation. They believe that by exposing these historical roots of racism, opportunities to improve (...) societal attitudes to race will become easier to identify. -/- This article was produced by Futurum Careers, a free online resource and magazine aimed at encouraging 14-19-year-olds worldwide to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine (STEM), and social sciences, humanities and the arts for people and the economy (SHAPE). (shrink)

Police officers are vital to maintaining security and the continuity of national functions. Thus, Police officers are more exposed to different kinds of psychological concerns. However, a female in this kind of profession, based on various studies, experienced higher levels of stress because of other factors. Further, the primary goal of this study is to investigate the psychological well-being, lived experiences, challenges, and coping mechanisms of female police officers. Employing the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, the findings of this study were: (1) (...) Female police officers had conceptualized themselves as brave, flexible, and adaptive. And they cope with stress with positive thinking that results in healthy psychological well-being. (2) Female police officers showed dedication and engagement to serve the people. They even used their resources for the public and sacrificed most of their time in the office. (3) Female police officers' primary motivation to continue their careers is their families, and serving the public brings joy to them. (4) However, female police officers experience disrespect while working in the field, and they always have fear in their life as police officers. Moreover, they need more time to spend with their families. Furthermore, it is highly suggested to provide opportunities for enhancing quality time with their family, specifically with their children. (shrink)

Studying student migration trends is a significant task in studying human capital development as one of the leading factors in sustainable socio-economic development. The migration potential of students impacts the opportunities and prospects for sustainable development. The study of factors influencing the migration behavior of students acquires special significance in this article. The interpersonal competencies of the population impact its migration potential. Migration processes impact the differentiation of regions in terms of human capital. This article is based on theoretical (...) and practical research on human capital, its formation, development, and migration as a factor in human capital development. The practical part of the study presents an analysis of data obtained from a sociological study of the factors that determine internal and international migration. An anonymous sociological survey of students in Ekaterinburg, Kursk, and Tomsk (Russia) was conducted in several stages. The first stage was implemented in October and December 2020 (N = 958). The second stage was implemented in October and November 2021 (N = 960). This study allows for tracing how the COVID-19 pandemic affects the migration potential of students and their desire for a satisfactory career path. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:130 Feminist Studies 46, no. 1. © 2020 by Feminist Studies, Inc. Laura Bisaillon, Alana Cattapan, Annelieke Driessen, Esther van Duin, Shannon Spruit, Lorena Anton, and Nancy S. Jecker Doing Academia Differently: “I Needed Self-Help Less Than I Needed a Fair Society” A great deal of harm is being done by belief in the virtuousness of work. — Bertrand Russell, “In Praise of Idleness” We are committed to doing (...) academia in particular ways, and not in others. — Brocher Foundation Feminist Collective I had decided that becoming a university professor might be a good fit; friends and colleagues had suggested that I would be valuable to a university, so I prepared for a restructuring of my family life.1 I read Tokarczyk and Fay’s Working-Class Women in the Academy and Babcock and Laschever’s Women Don’t Ask to gather understandings of the milieu I was entering. I now see that my preparations had not shined sufficient light on the social and structural factors that organize the contemporary university.... As it turns out, the restructuring of our lives within the working conditions, priorities, and rationalities of this professional milieu triggered unanticipated and painful effects.... Had Mountz published her article “Women on the Edge” before I decided on a career migration into the university system and, had I been fortunate enough to discover it, I would have made other career choices.2 1. The authors, who describe themselves as the Brocher Foundation Feminist Collective, indicate their personal narratives in this text using italics. 2. Michelle M. Tokarczyk and Elizabeth A. Fay, eds., Working-Class Women in the Academy: Laborers in the Knowledge Factory (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1993); Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever, Women Don’t Ask: Negotiation and the Gender Divide (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Bisaillon et al. 131 Introduction: Personal, Professional, and Political We are seven women who met at the Brocher Foundation in Hermance, Switzerland, in July 2017, where we had been selected to spend a few months as research fellows. This competitively awarded opportunity is open to persons fluent in English, from graduate students to senior scholars, with or without academic appointment, whose scholarship advances knowledge about the ethical, legal, and social implications of health and biotechnologies.3 When we found ourselves on the shores of Lake Leman with the gift of time, we began opening up to each other in unexpected, compelling ways. Whatever our vantage point in the hierarchy of the university system, we discovered that there was remarkable overlap in our experiences as women in academia. When we began writing, our authoring team was composed of two graduate students, four faculty members at the assistant professor rank, and one full professor, residing in Canada, the Netherlands, Romania, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Our plural subject position led us to underexplored and imaginative responses to broader social issues, which we share in this article as the “Brocher Foundation Feminist Collective.” We analyze our experiences from our standpoint as women health researchers laboring in the academy. Our similarities and differences were exciting entry points for discussion and analysis: we are all of eastern or western European descent. We have different countries of birth, mother tongues, ages, disciplinary training and career trajectories, relationships to chronic illness and disability, marital status, and experiences with parenthood. We bring the troubles and contradictions we experience as academics into conversation with each other. We seek to productively illustrate and emphasize that the tensions we see around us, and also feel within us, arise as a result of how the academic system is organized, produced, and sustained across time, place, and space. Press, 2003); Alison Mountz, “Women on the Edge: Workplace Stress at Universities in North America,” The Canadian Geographer 60, no. 2 (2016): 205–18. 3. We experienced this fellowship as a valuable opportunity. But we also recognized that our access to it was mediated by social, economic, or other obligations. As countries in the global north continue to tighten their national border regimes, marginalized academics, especially those from the global South, were less likely to succeed in getting a Swiss visa or securing relevant temporal and economic resources. 132 Bisaillon et al. The promise here, we posit... (shrink)

Scientometrics, as a rule, is considered in details – the more accurate and ex­pressive the detailing, the more effective is the accounting of scientific research: the measurement of quantitative parameters of the results of scientific activity is aimed at improving the quality of scientific communication and, ultimately, the progress of science. This led to the transition from usual bibliometrics to sciento­metrics, and later to other more sophisticated forms of accounting for scientific activity, which can be divided into infometrics and altmetrics. (...) Infometrics and its modifications take into account everything that could be formalized, while altmetrics seeks to include qualitative parameters in the realm of quantitative measurements. In this article, attention is focused precisely on the analysis of the relationship between quantitative methods and quantitative indicators of scien­tific activity with the progress of science thanks to a comparative assessment of bibliometrics, scientific metrics and infometrics from philosophical positions. A way out of the problematic situations in which attempts to provide a quantita­tive description of the quality of scientific activity inevitably fall, should be sought beyond the quantitative methods themselves – in the identification of their ulti­mate goal. Such a goal is the development of humanity through the progress of science. The UN program “Transforming Our World: Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development” offers a systematic vision of ways to accomplish this task, which, in particular, sets the goal of achieving equal development opportunities for every person. Bibliometrics, scientometrics and infometrics contribute to overcoming many types of social inequality – provided that people are actively involved in sci­entific activity: personal scientific achievements level out property, gender, reli­gious, ethnic and many other types of social inequality and give every participant of scientific research access to a public career and personal development. The development of each person on a rational basis is the ultimate goal of science, which is the basis of the philosophy of the strategy of global sustainable develop­ment of Mankind. (shrink)

Educational institutions strive to produce graduates who are competent and competitive both domestically and globally. This graduate tracer study investigated the employment outcomes of graduates from the College of Teacher Education (CTE) and Graduate School (GS) Programs from SY 2016-2022. Data collection methods included Google forms, surveys, and phone calls. Of the 2846 CTE graduates, 2491 (87.75%) were traced, and of the 659 GS graduates, 550 (83.45%) were traced. Findings revealed that CTE graduates were predominantly single females aged 24 or (...) younger, who typically began working as permanent teachers at the Department of Education (DepEd) 2-3 years post-graduation, earning a base salary of P15,000–25,000. They generally served in these roles for 4-6 years. Conversely, GS alumni were primarily married men in their 30s, employed in permanent supervisory or managerial roles at DepEd, with monthly earnings between P25,000 and P50,000. Graduates reported that their university degrees were economically relevant and provided significant financial advantages. CTE graduates indicated that job satisfaction was more influenced by workplace interactions and environment than salary. The study suggests enhancing the use of social media to encourage graduate participation in tracer studies and recommends ongoing professional development for faculty to improve educational programs and prepare graduates with highly employable skills. Addressing job satisfaction disparities may require targeted interventions to improve educational programs, expand career development opportunities, and foster supportive work cultures tailored to each graduating class's needs. (shrink)

I Was Born Not by My Decision, but by My Parents’ Decision -/- Life begins not as a result of our own choices, but as a consequence of the decisions made by our parents. From the moment of conception, the circumstances of our birth are determined by factors beyond our control—our parents’ choices, their social and economic status, and the country in which we are born. This reality shapes the foundation of our lives and presents us with both opportunities (...) and challenges that we must navigate as we grow. -/- The Decision of My Parents -/- Before I existed, my parents made the decision to bring a child into the world. Whether planned or unplanned, their choices set the stage for my existence. I had no say in being born, nor in selecting the family that would raise me. My parents’ values, beliefs, and resources directly influenced the environment in which I was raised. For example, a child born into a family of doctors may be encouraged to pursue a career in medicine, while a child raised in a family struggling with financial instability may be forced to take on responsibilities at a young age to help support the household. Some parents provide a nurturing and supportive home, while others may struggle with challenges such as addiction, mental illness, or financial stress that affect their ability to care for their children properly. -/- The Country of My Birth: Poor or Rich -/- Another aspect beyond my control is the country in which I was born. Some are born into wealthy nations with stable economies, advanced healthcare, and numerous opportunities for education and personal growth. For instance, a child born in Switzerland, which has one of the highest standards of living in the world, may have access to world-class education and healthcare. In contrast, a child born in a war-torn or impoverished nation, such as Afghanistan or the Democratic Republic of Congo, may face malnutrition, lack of access to education, and a higher risk of disease. The economic status of a country affects not only an individual’s quality of life but also their ability to pursue their aspirations. However, history has shown that determination and resilience can help individuals rise above their circumstances, such as Malala Yousafzai, who, despite being born in Pakistan where girls’ education was under threat, fought for her right to learn and became a global advocate for education. -/- Good or Bad Parents -/- Parents play a crucial role in shaping a child’s future. Some are loving, responsible, and dedicated to their children’s well-being, while others may be neglectful, abusive, or absent. A good parent provides guidance, love, and support, helping a child develop confidence and a sense of security. For example, Barack Obama was raised by a single mother who emphasized the importance of education and hard work, which greatly influenced his path to becoming the President of the United States. On the other hand, children who grow up in abusive households, such as those with alcoholic or violent parents, may struggle with emotional and psychological challenges that affect their future relationships and career paths. While a child’s upbringing has a significant impact on their life, it does not define their entire destiny. Many individuals have overcome difficult childhoods and gone on to achieve great things, proving that while parental influence is strong, personal determination can be stronger. A well-known example is Oprah Winfrey, who grew up in poverty and faced many hardships but persevered to become one of the most influential media personalities in the world. -/- The Role of Government in Solving the Street Children Crisis -/- While family and economic conditions influence a child’s future, the government plays a crucial role in addressing social issues like the crisis of street children. Many children end up homeless due to poverty, neglect, abuse, or lack of access to education and healthcare. Governments must implement policies and programs to ensure that all children have the opportunity to grow in a safe and nurturing environment. -/- For instance, countries like Finland and Norway have successfully reduced child homelessness through social welfare programs that provide housing, education, and healthcare for underprivileged children. Governments can establish shelters, provide free education, and create job opportunities for struggling families to prevent children from ending up on the streets. Additionally, strong child protection laws and social services can intervene in cases of abuse and neglect, offering children a chance at a better future. The success of these programs in various nations proves that when governments take proactive steps, they can make a significant impact in solving societal issues like street children. -/- The Importance of Free Public Basic Educational Institutions -/- Access to free public education is one of the most powerful tools in breaking the cycle of poverty and inequality. Basic education provides children with essential knowledge and skills that enable them to contribute productively to society. Without free public schools, many children, especially those from low-income families, would have no access to quality education, limiting their future opportunities. -/- Countries with strong public education systems, such as Finland and Germany, ensure that all children receive high-quality education regardless of their socioeconomic background. Education empowers individuals to make informed decisions, pursue higher education or vocational training, and secure stable jobs. Moreover, it promotes social mobility, allowing children from poor families to improve their circumstances through learning. Governments should prioritize investment in free and accessible education, as it is a long-term solution to reducing poverty and creating a more equitable society. -/- The Importance of Planned Birth -/- Family planning plays a vital role in ensuring that children are born into environments where they can receive proper care, love, and support. Planned births allow parents to prepare financially, emotionally, and mentally for raising a child, reducing the likelihood of neglect or hardship. When parents have control over the number of children they have, they can allocate more resources to each child, improving their quality of life. -/- Unplanned pregnancies often result in financial strain, emotional stress, and instability within families. In some cases, children born into such situations may suffer from malnutrition, lack of education, or even abandonment. Governments and organizations worldwide have recognized the importance of family planning and have implemented programs to educate and provide access to contraception and reproductive health services. Countries like Thailand and Bangladesh have successfully reduced poverty rates through strong family planning policies, ensuring that families can provide adequately for their children. -/- The Importance of an Educational System in Producing High-Quality Young Parents -/- A well-structured educational system not only prepares students for careers but also equips them with essential life skills, including responsible parenting. Comprehensive education in reproductive health, emotional intelligence, and financial literacy helps young people make informed decisions before starting a family. -/- For example, the Netherlands has one of the lowest teenage pregnancy rates in the world due to its comprehensive sex education curriculum, which emphasizes responsibility, contraception, and healthy relationships. In contrast, countries with limited reproductive education often struggle with high rates of unplanned pregnancies and economic instability among young parents. -/- Education also plays a crucial role in fostering responsible parenting by teaching young people how to provide a stable and nurturing environment for their future children. Programs like parenting workshops in Scandinavian countries have shown that educated parents are more likely to raise well-adjusted children who contribute positively to society. -/- The Importance of Regulated Population Growth Rate -/- One of the most critical factors in ensuring sustainable development is the regulation of population growth. Uncontrolled population growth can lead to resource depletion, environmental degradation, and increased poverty. Overpopulation puts pressure on public services, healthcare, education, and housing, often leading to inequality and scarcity. -/- Governments play a crucial role in regulating population growth through policies and initiatives that promote family planning and responsible reproduction. Countries that have successfully implemented population control measures, such as China’s one-child policy (which has now evolved), have witnessed significant improvements in resource allocation, economic stability, and quality of life for their citizens. Other nations, such as Japan and Germany, have also addressed population imbalances through pro-natalist policies and improved healthcare access. -/- Regulating population growth is not about limiting human rights but ensuring that resources are available to meet the needs of both current and future generations. As the global population continues to grow, governments must invest in sustainable practices and encourage responsible family planning to avoid overcrowding, strained resources, and widespread poverty. Countries like Singapore and Thailand, which have prioritized family planning and reproductive health services, show how such policies can lead to healthier, more prosperous societies. -/- Conclusion -/- The circumstances of my birth—my parents’ decision, the country I was born in, and the kind of parents I had—were all beyond my control. However, what truly matters is how I respond to these circumstances. Life is not just about where we start but about the choices we make as we grow. Regardless of whether we were born into privilege or hardship, we have the ability to shape our own future. -/- Education, government policies, and personal determination play a crucial role in improving individual and societal outcomes. By investing in education, family planning, regulated population growth, and social welfare, societies can create a better future for all children, regardless of the circumstances of their birth. -/- . (shrink)

On the formation of the School of Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of Glasgow. -/- When the University of Glasgow’s new 'Crichton College' opened its doors in September 1999, its small staff had that rare opportunity in an academic’s career to launch a new curriculum based on clearly enunciated ideals. In the following six years under the direction of Professor Rex C. Taylor, those ideals remained firm even as numbers grew and external circumstances mutated. The theme of this book (...) concerns the ideas, activities and problems – intellectual, curricular and administrative – that shaped the University of Glasgow Crichton Campus during its first six years. Its dozen contributors provide varied perspectives on the problems of creation. (shrink)

-/- Globalization of Labor Supply: Impacts and Challenges -/- The globalization of labor supply is a significant feature of the modern global economy, profoundly shaping markets, industries, and the nature of work. This trend is driven by technological advances, the increasing mobility of workers, and the interconnectedness of economies. Labor supply globalization involves the integration of labor markets across borders, enabling businesses to access a diverse, global talent pool while workers can seek employment opportunities in new regions. While this (...) phenomenon offers economic advantages, it also brings about challenges and ethical considerations that must be addressed for a more equitable global workforce. -/- Drivers of Labor Supply Globalization -/- One of the primary drivers of labor supply globalization is offshoring and outsourcing. Companies, in their quest for reducing costs, often shift their production or services to countries with lower labor costs. This practice allows businesses in high-wage countries to remain competitive while capitalizing on cheaper labor in developing nations. For example, tech companies such as Apple and Microsoft outsource their customer support and tech support services to countries like India and the Philippines, where labor costs are significantly lower compared to the U.S. This shift has led to the rise of call centers and outsourcing hubs in these countries, where skilled workers provide services to global businesses. -/- Nike manufactures its products in Vietnam, China, and Indonesia, where labor costs are lower than in the U.S. This has allowed Nike to reduce production costs and offer more affordable products. Similarly, Apple’s assembly of iPhones occurs in China through its partnership with Foxconn, a major supplier based there. This practice is part of the company’s strategy to minimize labor expenses and maintain competitive pricing, which has sparked both criticism and admiration worldwide. -/- Another crucial factor in the globalization of labor is the increasing migration of workers. People are often motivated by the prospect of higher wages and better living conditions in economically developed countries. For instance, Mexican workers have migrated to the United States for decades, filling jobs in agriculture, construction, and hospitality industries. This migration has had a significant impact on both the economies of the U.S. and Mexico. Migrants from Central and Eastern Europe have similarly moved to Western European countries, particularly the UK, Germany, and France, to fill labor shortages in sectors like healthcare and manufacturing. The UK’s National Health Service (NHS), for example, relies heavily on healthcare professionals from countries like India, Philippines, and Poland. In fact, about 13% of NHS staff in the UK are foreign-born. -/- Additionally, migrants send remittances back home, which play a vital role in the economic development of their countries of origin. According to the World Bank, remittances from migrant workers in 2020 totaled over $540 billion globally, supporting families and contributing to poverty reduction. India and Mexico are among the top countries that receive remittances from migrants, with Indian workers abroad sending $83 billion back home in 2020 alone. -/- Technological advancements have further accelerated labor supply globalization. The rise of remote work and digital platforms has allowed workers to access job opportunities across the globe without needing to leave their countries. This trend is particularly prominent in knowledge-based industries such as information technology, finance, and marketing. For example, platforms like Upwork and Freelancer enable workers from countries like Pakistan, Ukraine, and Kenya to connect with clients in North America and Western Europe, offering services in areas such as software development, graphic design, and digital marketing. The COVID-19 pandemic acted as a catalyst for remote work, leading companies worldwide to embrace the flexibility of hiring international talent. Companies like Shopify, Twitter, and Facebook shifted to remote-first models, opening up opportunities for workers worldwide. -/- Impacts on the Global Economy -/- The globalization of labor supply has brought about both positive and negative impacts, especially in terms of economic growth and the redistribution of wealth. On the one hand, it has provided businesses with access to a larger pool of labor, which can increase efficiency, reduce production costs, and foster economic growth. Companies can outsource certain tasks to countries where labor is cheaper, allowing them to allocate resources toward higher-value work in their home countries. For instance, Nike manufactures its products in Vietnam, China, and Indonesia, where labor costs are significantly lower than In the U.S. This has allowed the company to reduce production costs and offer more affordable products, benefiting both the company and consumers. Similarly, Amazon has outsourced a significant portion of its customer support functions to regions such as India and Brazil, where labor costs are more affordable. -/- Moreover, the migration of workers and the subsequent remittances they send back home contribute to poverty alleviation in developing countries. Remittances are often a lifeline for families in low-income nations, improving their access to education, healthcare, and housing. For example, India and China are among the largest recipients of remittances, with millions of migrant workers in the Middle East and North America sending money back to their families. In 2020, India received approximately $83 billion in remittances, according to the World Bank. -/- However, the globalization of labor has also led to increased wage disparity and job insecurity in many industries. In developed countries, businesses that offshore jobs to countries with cheaper labor have led to significant job losses in sectors like manufacturing, customer service, and call centers. For example, in the U.S., the offshoring of manufacturing jobs to countries like China has been linked to the decline of the domestic manufacturing sector. In 2017, the Economic Policy Institute reported that U.S. workers had lost over 3 million manufacturing jobs due to trade with China alone. -/- This phenomenon has sparked debates over the fairness of globalization, as workers in wealthier countries face stagnant wages or job displacement, while workers in lower-wage countries may be exploited with poor working conditions or inadequate compensation. The Rana Plaza disaster in Bangladesh in 2013, which killed over 1,100 garment workers, is a stark reminder of the exploitation that can occur in global supply chains. Companies like Walmart and H&M had their products manufactured in the Rana Plaza factory, sparking global outrage and highlighting the risks faced by workers in low-cost production hubs. -/- Additionally, labor rights and standards vary significantly between countries. In developed economies, labor laws and worker protections tend to be stronger, while in developing nations, workers often face exploitation, unsafe working conditions, and lack of benefits. This discrepancy has raised ethical concerns about the treatment of workers in global supply chains, especially in industries like textiles, electronics, and agriculture. For instance, in Apple’s supply chain, there have been reports of workers facing harsh conditions and long hours at factories in China, leading to calls for reform and greater transparency. -/- Addressing the Challenges of Labor Supply Globalization -/- To mitigate the negative effects of labor supply globalization, it is essential to implement policies that promote fair wages, worker rights, and social protections. Governments and international organizations must work together to ensure that workers in all countries, regardless of their location or industry, are afforded basic labor rights and protections. For example, the International Labour Organization (ILO) has established global labor standards to improve working conditions and protect workers’ rights worldwide. These standards aim to ensure fair wages, safety, and decent working conditions for workers in all sectors. -/- One potential solution is the establishment of global labor standards that set minimum requirements for wages, working conditions, and benefits for workers in all countries. International agreements and treaties could help ensure that workers in lower-income countries are not subject to exploitation, and that companies that benefit from globalization are held accountable for the welfare of their employees. Additionally, businesses must embrace corporate social responsibility (CSR), ensuring that their supply chains adhere to ethical labor practices and contribute to local economic development. For example, companies like Patagonia and Fair Trade USA have committed to ethical sourcing practices, ensuring that workers in their supply chains are treated fairly and paid a living wage. -/- Another solution involves supporting workers who may face job displacement due to outsourcing or automation. Governments can invest in education and retraining programs, enabling workers to acquire new skills that are in demand in the global economy. For example, the European Union has invested in programs that retrain workers in sectors like manufacturing and coal mining, helping them transition to new jobs in renewable energy and technology. By providing access to lifelong learning and career development, workers can better adapt to changing job markets and enhance their employability. -/- Conclusion -/- Labor supply globalization is a defining feature of the modern world, reshaping how businesses operate and how workers engage with the global economy. It has brought about opportunities for economic growth, poverty reduction, and increased efficiency. However, it has also introduced significant challenges, including wage inequality, job insecurity, and labor exploitation. To ensure that the benefits of labor globalization are shared equitably, governments, businesses, and international organizations must take proactive steps to address these issues. By promoting fair labor practices, protecting workers’ rights, and investing in education and retraining, we can create a more inclusive and sustainable global labor market. -/- . (shrink)

Jamie is a young man who finds himself unemployed and living in poverty. He struggles to come out of this poverty the best way he knows how: by educating himself. Little did he know that his opportunity to educate himself would come in the form of the Priesthood. Jamie struggles to discern Gods will in his life, thus in following this opportunity for the priesthood, Jamie finds himself torn between actually becoming a priest or leaving and following his dream (...) class='Hi'>career. (shrink)

Why Capitalism Cannot Create More Successful Entrepreneurs to Balance Stable Job Creation Amid Increasing Population Growth -/- Introduction -/- Capitalism is often praised for fostering entrepreneurship, economic growth, and job creation. However, its inherent flaws—such as wealth concentration, monopolization, financial barriers, and wage suppression—prevent it from producing enough successful entrepreneurs to balance job creation with increasing population growth. As the global population expands, capitalism alone fails to generate sufficient employment opportunities, leading to economic instability, poverty, and inequality. -/- To (...) address these challenges, a balanced approach involving government intervention, socialist-inspired policies, population regulation, and a coordinated effort between private and public sector job creation is necessary. By ensuring economic stability, providing social safety nets, and aligning workforce growth with sustainable employment opportunities, societies can mitigate capitalism’s failures while maintaining its productive aspects. -/- 1. The Fundamental Flaws of Capitalism in Job Creation -/- While capitalism promotes competition and innovation, it also creates significant economic imbalances: -/- Wealth Concentration and Inequality: Over time, wealth accumulates among a few individuals and corporations, reducing opportunities for new entrepreneurs and limiting social mobility. -/- Monopolization: Large corporations dominate markets, pushing out small businesses and reducing job diversity. -/- Financial Barriers to Entrepreneurship: The cost of starting and sustaining a business is high, making it difficult for new entrepreneurs to compete. -/- Short-Term Profit Maximization: Companies prioritize short-term gains, often outsourcing jobs or automating processes to cut costs, rather than investing in long-term job creation. -/- Cyclical Economic Crises: Capitalist economies experience frequent recessions, leading to mass layoffs, business failures, and financial insecurity. -/- These issues make capitalism insufficient in creating enough businesses and stable jobs to match population growth. -/- 2. The Difficulty of Starting a Business and Its Impact on Job Creation -/- Despite the belief that anyone can succeed through hard work, starting a business remains a significant challenge due to: -/- High Initial Costs: Rent, inventory, equipment, and salaries require substantial capital. -/- Limited Access to Credit: Most banks and investors require collateral or proven profitability, which new entrepreneurs lack. -/- Complex Regulations: Navigating legal and tax systems is expensive and time-consuming. -/- Intense Market Competition: Large corporations benefit from economies of scale, making survival difficult for small businesses. -/- Due to these challenges, most aspiring entrepreneurs fail or remain in precarious financial positions, reducing their ability to contribute to long-term job creation. -/- 3. The Effect of Low Wages on Consumer Buying Power and Job Stability -/- One of capitalism’s biggest contradictions is its reliance on low wages to maximize corporate profits while simultaneously needing strong consumer demand to sustain business growth. -/- Reduced Consumer Demand: When workers earn low wages, they have less money to spend, weakening economic growth. -/- Increased Debt and Financial Instability: Many workers rely on credit for basic needs, making them financially vulnerable. -/- Job Insecurity and Precarious Work: Companies cut costs by hiring temporary workers or outsourcing jobs, leading to job instability. -/- By failing to pay workers a living wage, capitalism limits its own potential for sustainable economic growth, reinforcing inequality and restricting business expansion. -/- 4. Balancing Job Creation Between the Private and Public Sectors -/- To counteract capitalism’s job creation failures, a balanced approach that combines private sector entrepreneurship and government-led job creation is essential. -/- A. Private Sector Job Creation -/- The private sector should remain a driving force of economic innovation and employment, but it must be regulated to prevent exploitative practices. Governments can support private-sector job creation by: -/- Providing Financial Assistance to Startups: Low-interest loans and grants can help small businesses grow. -/- Ensuring Fair Competition: Antitrust laws prevent monopolies from dominating industries. -/- Raising Minimum Wages: Ensuring fair wages strengthens consumer spending and business stability. -/- Encouraging Ethical Business Models: Worker cooperatives and profit-sharing models can create sustainable, fair workplaces. -/- B. Government-Led Job Creation -/- Governments must step in where the private sector fails to provide sufficient employment opportunities. Public-sector job creation should focus on: -/- Infrastructure Development: Roads, bridges, schools, and renewable energy projects generate long-term employment. -/- Public Services Expansion: More jobs in healthcare, education, and social services create stable employment. -/- Green Economy Investments: Sustainable industries like clean energy and environmental conservation create new career paths. -/- Universal Job Guarantee Programs: Governments can offer public jobs in times of economic downturns to prevent mass unemployment. -/- By combining private-sector dynamism with public-sector stability, societies can ensure that job creation keeps pace with population growth. -/- 5. The Role of Population Regulation in Economic Stability -/- One of the critical yet often overlooked aspects of economic sustainability is aligning population growth with job availability. Unregulated population expansion can lead to: -/- Unemployment and Underemployment: More people entering the job market than available jobs create economic strain. -/- Increased Poverty and Social Unrest: Large unemployed populations lead to instability and higher crime rates. -/- Strain on Public Services: Overpopulation overwhelms healthcare, education, and infrastructure systems. -/- A. Family Planning and Education -/- Governments must implement policies that encourage responsible population growth through: -/- Access to Contraception and Family Planning Services: Ensuring reproductive health choices empower families to plan their future. -/- Educational Campaigns on Sustainable Population Growth: Teaching the economic impact of overpopulation helps societies make informed decisions. -/- Encouraging Gender Equality and Women’s Employment: Empowering women in the workforce naturally leads to lower birth rates and a more balanced economy. -/- B. Workforce and Immigration Planning -/- Instead of uncontrolled population growth, governments should focus on workforce planning to ensure that job creation aligns with demographic trends: -/- Targeted Immigration Policies: Encouraging skilled immigration in sectors with labor shortages helps maintain economic stability. -/- Retraining and Reskilling Programs: Adapting the workforce to emerging industries prevents large-scale unemployment. -/- Regional Job Distribution: Encouraging businesses to develop outside of major cities can balance employment opportunities across regions. -/- By coordinating population regulation with job market needs, economies can achieve sustainable development and avoid crisis-driven employment gaps. -/- 6. The Importance of Government and Central Bank Policies -/- To stabilize capitalism’s weaknesses, government and central bank intervention using socialist principles is essential. These policies include: -/- Progressive Taxation: Redistributing wealth to fund public services and entrepreneurship programs. -/- Public Investment in Education and Vocational Training: Preparing the workforce for new economic demands. -/- Job-Creation Programs: Investing in sectors that provide stable, long-term employment. -/- Monetary Policies that Promote Sustainable Growth: Controlling inflation, interest rates, and wage growth to prevent economic instability. -/- A coordinated economic strategy ensures that capitalism’s benefits are widely distributed, rather than concentrated among a wealthy elite. -/- 7. Conclusion: A Mixed Economic Model for Sustainable Job Growth -/- Capitalism, by itself, fails to create enough successful entrepreneurs and jobs to match population growth due to its systemic flaws. Wealth concentration, monopolization, financial barriers, and low wages prevent new businesses from thriving and workers from earning enough to sustain economic demand. -/- To correct these imbalances, a mixed economic model—combining capitalist entrepreneurship with government intervention, population regulation, and central bank policies—is necessary. By balancing private-sector innovation with public-sector job creation and aligning workforce growth with sustainable employment opportunities, societies can ensure economic stability, reduce inequality, and promote long-term prosperity. -/- Only through holistic economic planning can nations achieve stable job creation, entrepreneurship growth, and population balance, creating a future where economic progress benefits everyone, not just a privileged few. -/- . (shrink)

The Unspoken Truth: A Lifetime of Work for Survival in an Overpopulated and Depopulating World -/- Introduction -/- From childhood, we are taught that education is the key to success. We spend roughly the first 20 years of our lives in school, preparing for an uncertain future. We are encouraged to dream big, pursue careers, and find our passions. However, what no one explicitly tells us is that these 20 years are merely preparation for 50 or more years of working—primarily (...) to earn money and survive. -/- Even more concerning is that while billions of people are trapped in this cycle, the world is facing two opposing population crises: rapid overpopulation in some regions and depopulation in others. Some countries continue to grow unsustainably, straining resources and increasing poverty, while others are shrinking due to low birth rates, creating economic instability. This imbalance leads to serious consequences for individuals, societies, and global economic systems. -/- Why is this truth hidden, and what impact does it have on both individuals and the planet? More importantly, what can be done to create a more sustainable and balanced future? -/- The Hidden Structure of Life’s Journey -/- From an early age, children are encouraged to study hard, get good grades, and secure stable jobs. The education system is designed to instill discipline and knowledge, but it also conditions individuals to follow a structured path that ultimately leads to employment. Society promotes the idea that education provides limitless opportunities, but in reality, most people end up in a cycle of working just to meet basic needs rather than achieving personal fulfillment. -/- The modern economic system is built around productivity and labor. For societies to function, there must be a workforce that sustains industries, businesses, and governments. While work is necessary for survival, it is often framed as a personal achievement rather than a requirement for economic survival. -/- At the same time, the global population is shifting in extreme ways. Some regions, particularly in Africa and South Asia, are experiencing rapid overpopulation, leading to food shortages, high unemployment, and environmental destruction. Meanwhile, countries in East Asia and Europe are experiencing depopulation, where low birth rates and aging populations threaten economic stability. These opposite trends create an unbalanced world, where some struggle with too many people and not enough resources, while others suffer from too few young workers to sustain their economies. -/- Why No One Talks About It -/- These realities—lifelong work, overpopulation, and depopulation—are rarely discussed because they challenge the way society is structured. If young people understood these crises earlier, they might begin to question the fairness of the system too soon. -/- Additionally, governments and businesses benefit from an ever-growing workforce in some regions and technological advancements to replace missing workers in others. Countries with overpopulation encourage growth to sustain their economies, while depopulating nations struggle to balance immigration and automation to replace their shrinking workforce. The truth remains hidden because acknowledging these problems would require rethinking the economic and social structures that rely on population growth. -/- The Crisis of Depopulation: Examples of Countries in Decline -/- While overpopulation is a major concern, some of the world’s most developed countries are experiencing the opposite problem: a declining population. -/- 1. Japan: A Nation of the Elderly -/- Birth Rate: 1.3 births per woman -/- Projected Population Decline: From 125 million today to below 100 million by 2050 -/- Key Issue: Aging population and shrinking workforce -/- Japan has one of the lowest birth rates in the world, leading to a rapidly aging society. The workforce is shrinking, social welfare costs are rising, and economic stagnation is a major concern. Even with immigration and automation, Japan faces economic instability due to a lack of young workers. -/- 2. South Korea: The Lowest Birth Rate in the World -/- Birth Rate: 0.7 births per woman -/- Projected Crisis: Population could be cut in half by 2100 -/- Key Issue: Work culture and high costs of living discourage childbirth -/- South Korea now has the world’s lowest birth rate, mainly due to long working hours, expensive housing, and lack of government support for families. The government has spent billions on policies to encourage childbirth, but the decline continues. With fewer young workers, South Korea could face an economic collapse in the coming decades. -/- 3. Italy: A Dying Population -/- Birth Rate: 1.2 births per woman -/- Projected Population Decline: From 60 million today to 47 million by 2070 -/- Key Issue: Job insecurity and aging workforce -/- Italy has one of Europe’s lowest birth rates. Many young Italians face unstable jobs and financial struggles, making it difficult to start families. Meanwhile, the government faces increasing pressure to support an aging population. -/- 4. Russia: Shrinking Despite Incentives -/- Birth Rate: 1.5 births per woman -/- Projected Population Decline: Losing 500,000 people per year -/- Key Issue: High mortality rates and declining workforce -/- Russia’s population has been declining since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Despite government incentives like financial rewards for having children, the population decline continues. A shrinking workforce threatens long-term economic growth and stability. -/- 5. China: The Aftermath of the One-Child Policy -/- Birth Rate: 1.2 births per woman -/- Projected Population Decline: Expected to fall from 1.4 billion to 800 million by 2100 -/- Key Issue: Fewer young workers to support economic growth -/- China’s one-child policy created a severe gender imbalance and an aging population. Even after relaxing the policy, birth rates remain low due to high education costs, urbanization, and economic uncertainty. This decline threatens China’s future workforce and global economic position. -/- Potential Solutions: Balancing Population and Economy -/- Addressing both overpopulation and depopulation requires different strategies depending on the region. -/- 1. Sustainable Family Planning in Overpopulated Countries -/- Governments should promote education, access to contraception, and economic support for families to control rapid population growth. -/- Countries like India and Nigeria need policies that focus on quality of life rather than population size. -/- 2. Work-Life Balance and Child Support in Depopulating Countries -/- Nations like South Korea and Italy need better childcare support, affordable housing, and flexible work policies to encourage family growth. -/- Reducing job insecurity and providing long-term financial incentives for parents can help slow population decline. -/- 3. Immigration as a Solution for Shrinking Populations -/- Countries experiencing depopulation could welcome skilled immigrants to replenish their workforce. -/- Nations like Canada and Germany have successfully used immigration to sustain their economies. -/- 4. Advancing Automation and Technology -/- AI and robotics can help replace missing workers in depopulating nations. -/- Countries like Japan are investing in robotic caregiving and automated industries to support an aging society. -/- Conclusion -/- The reality that the first 20 years of life are just preparation for 50 or more years of work is a truth that few openly discuss. Even more concerning is that while some parts of the world are overpopulating without considering sustainability, others are depopulating without a clear plan for the future. These trends create serious economic, environmental, and social challenges. -/- The challenge remains: how can we ensure that life is about more than just working to survive in a world of extreme population shifts? While systemic change is a long-term goal, personal awareness, intentional decision-making, and global cooperation can help create a more balanced and sustainable future. -/- . (shrink)

Job portals centralize a variety of opportunities and pair qualified people with openings, revolutionizing the job search process. By providing resources for CV development, career counseling, and planned career growth, they enable job seekers. They optimize the employment process for organizations by providing insights about market trends and recruitment techniques. Job portals encourage diversity and inclusivity by giving people from different backgrounds equal access to possibilities. The authors of this work have presented an online recruiting system architecture (...) that enables companies to submit job adverts, which job seekers can access and use in their job search. The job criteria on this portal might be recorded according to the demands of the sector. (shrink)

The Importance of Standardizing a Holistic Educational System in All Private and Public Schools -/- Education is the foundation of every society, shaping the future of individuals and nations alike. However, for it to be truly effective, it must be based on fundamental universal principles that guide human decision-making and societal development. To ensure fairness and comprehensive development, it is crucial to standardize a holistic educational system across all schools, both private and public. A holistic education goes beyond traditional academics, (...) focusing on intellectual, emotional, ethical, social, and practical life skills. -/- A key element of this standardization should be the integration of Angelito Malicse’s three universal laws of nature, which provide an exact and scientific foundation for understanding decision-making, social systems, and natural balance. By implementing this system uniformly, societies can create well-rounded individuals who are not only knowledgeable but also responsible, innovative, and compassionate. -/- Bridging the Gap Between Private and Public Schools -/- One of the biggest challenges in education is the gap between private and public schools. Private schools generally have better resources, experienced teachers, and a more advanced curriculum, while public schools often struggle with outdated teaching methods and insufficient funding. As a result, students in private schools receive better education and opportunities compared to their counterparts in public schools. -/- By standardizing a holistic educational system, this gap can be significantly reduced. Every student, regardless of their economic background, will have access to the same quality of education. This ensures equal opportunities for personal growth, career development, and social mobility, helping to create a fairer society. -/- Furthermore, integrating the universal law of balance into the curriculum will ensure that economic and educational inequalities are minimized. This law teaches that all systems, including society and governance, must be balanced to function properly. If every student learns this principle, they will understand the importance of equity in education and policymaking, leading to a more just society. -/- Developing Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving Skills -/- A traditional educational system often emphasizes memorization and test-based learning, leaving little room for critical thinking and creativity. In contrast, a holistic approach encourages students to question, analyze, and solve real-world problems. If this system is standardized across all schools, students will develop essential skills in logical reasoning, innovation, and adaptability, which are crucial for success in a rapidly changing world. -/- A key principle that supports critical thinking is the law of karma, which is not just about morality but also about systems and the law of cause and effect. This law states that any system—whether natural or human-made—must be free of defects or errors to function properly. Applying this law in education will help students develop systemic thinking, allowing them to: -/- Analyze problems in science, economics, and governance with a logical and structured approach. -/- Understand that flawed decisions lead to failure, whether in personal choices, leadership, or technological development. -/- Develop a mindset that prioritizes precision, accountability, and problem-solving, ensuring that they become future leaders and innovators. -/- Ensuring Moral and Ethical Education -/- In today’s world, corruption, misinformation, and moral dilemmas are widespread. Many education systems focus on academics while neglecting moral and ethical reasoning. A holistic educational system integrates values-based education, teaching students about honesty, integrity, social responsibility, and ethical decision-making. -/- The feedback mechanism of conscious minds, the third universal law, explains that individual decision-making is influenced by interactions with others. This law is essential in teaching students about ethical leadership and governance. When students understand how leaders’ decisions influence society and how public perception shapes governance, they will develop a strong sense of responsibility and accountability in leadership roles. -/- By integrating this law into education, students will become better decision-makers, capable of understanding how information spreads, how social structures evolve, and how leadership should be approached with responsibility. -/- Promoting Emotional Intelligence and Social Skills -/- Success in life is not just about academic intelligence (IQ) but also about emotional intelligence (EQ)—the ability to understand, manage, and express emotions effectively. Standardizing a holistic education ensures that all students develop essential life skills such as self-awareness, empathy, conflict resolution, and teamwork. -/- Since the law of balance applies not just to external systems but also to personal well-being, students will be trained to balance mental, emotional, and social aspects of their lives. This will reduce issues like stress, anxiety, and social alienation, creating emotionally stable and compassionate individuals. -/- Preparing Students for Real-World Challenges -/- Most traditional education systems focus only on academic subjects, neglecting practical life skills such as financial literacy, entrepreneurship, environmental awareness, and digital literacy. A standardized holistic educational system would ensure that all students, regardless of the school they attend, gain these essential skills. -/- For example, students would learn how to manage personal finances, understand investments, and navigate digital technology responsibly. This practical knowledge is crucial for helping individuals become independent and responsible adults who can contribute meaningfully to society. -/- The law of karma can be particularly useful in helping students understand how economic and business systems function. If students are taught that defects in economic policies, financial decisions, or business models lead to collapse, they will be better prepared to create sustainable and efficient economic systems. -/- Encouraging Creativity and Innovation -/- A well-balanced education must nurture creativity and innovation, which are key drivers of economic and technological progress. Many traditional schools focus mainly on mathematics, science, and language while neglecting arts, music, sports, and hands-on learning experiences. A standardized holistic system would ensure that all students have the opportunity to explore various forms of creative expression. -/- The feedback mechanism of conscious minds teaches that innovation and creativity evolve through continuous interaction and shared ideas. By integrating this principle, students will be encouraged to collaborate, adapt, and develop groundbreaking ideas, leading to scientific and technological advancements. -/- Creating a More Balanced and Just Society -/- When all students receive a standardized holistic education that includes the three universal laws, it reduces social inequality and fosters a more balanced society. Education should be a tool for empowerment, not a privilege for the few. By ensuring that every child, regardless of background, receives a well-rounded education, societies can create a fairer, more inclusive world where opportunities are based on merit rather than social class. -/- By understanding the law of balance, future policymakers will make rational and sustainable decisions, ensuring that economic, environmental, and social systems remain in harmony. This will prevent economic instability, environmental destruction, and social conflicts. -/- Conclusion -/- Standardizing a holistic educational system across all private and public schools is essential for ensuring equal opportunities, developing critical thinking, promoting ethical values, and preparing students for real-life challenges. However, for education to be truly effective, it must be rooted in universal laws that govern decision-making and social balance. -/- By integrating Angelito Malicse’s three universal laws—the Law of Karma, the Universal Law of Balance, and the Feedback Mechanism of Conscious Minds—education can provide students with a scientific, ethical, and systemic approach to understanding life, society, and governance. -/- If all schools adopt a holistic approach to education based on these universal laws, future generations will be more prepared to solve complex problems, uphold ethical values, embrace cultural diversity, and contribute to a more just and progressive society. Standardizing holistic education is not just a necessity—it is the key to a brighter, more balanced future for all. -/- . (shrink)

Comprehensive Reform for the Philippines: A Path to Balance, Progress, and Genuine Spirituality -/- The Philippines faces numerous challenges that hinder its development, with overpopulation, economic struggles, an outdated educational system, and inefficiencies in various sectors. These issues require a comprehensive reform that aligns with sustainable and balanced progress. A strong foundation in education, economic stability, government restructuring, urban planning, increased productivity, and genuine spirituality is essential to achieving long-term national growth. -/- Family, Self-Reliance, and Economic Balance -/- One of (...) the strongest aspects of Filipino culture is its close-knit family ties. While this fosters deep social connections and mutual support, it also highlights the need for self-reliance, especially in financial matters. No family member can provide permanent financial aid, making economic independence crucial. This balance between support and self-sufficiency should be emphasized in education to help individuals develop resilience and long-term financial planning skills. -/- Overpopulation remains a major issue in the country, straining resources, employment opportunities, and infrastructure. Without proper regulation, it creates an Imbalance that affects the economy and the overall well-being of citizens. Addressing this issue requires a world-class or holistic educational system that equips people with critical thinking skills and an understanding of sustainable living. -/- The Role of a Holistic Educational System -/- A key solution to many of the Philippines’ problems lies in education. The major goal of a holistic educational system is to produce a high-quality young generation of Filipinos—individuals who are not only academically competent but also morally upright, socially responsible, and innovative. This kind of education must go beyond memorization and standardized testing. It should focus on developing problem-solving skills, ethical reasoning, leadership, and an awareness of social and environmental responsibilities. -/- A well-educated population is more likely to make informed decisions about family planning, career paths, and financial management. It would also cultivate a workforce that is highly skilled and adaptable to a rapidly changing global economy. If properly implemented, this education system would empower Filipinos to become self-reliant, contribute to national progress, and break the cycle of poverty. -/- Economic Growth, Job Creation, and Increased Productivity -/- At the same time, job creation is crucial. A strong economy relies on a balance between government-driven employment programs, private sector growth, and foreign direct investments (FDI). Encouraging businesses, both local and international, to invest in the Philippines would provide job opportunities, boost the economy, and reduce poverty. However, this requires a government system that is transparent, efficient, and capable of managing these economic initiatives effectively. -/- To maximize economic potential, productivity across all sectors—including agriculture, manufacturing, and services—must be significantly improved. Strategies to increase productivity include: -/- 1. Agricultural Modernization – Investing in better farming techniques, irrigation systems, and post-harvest facilities can improve efficiency in food production and reduce waste. Government support in mechanization and research can increase yields and help farmers transition to more profitable and sustainable practices. -/- 2. Technology Integration in Industry – Encouraging automation, artificial intelligence, and digital tools in various industries will enhance efficiency and competitiveness. Training workers to adapt to these technologies is crucial for long-term success. -/- 3. Skills Development and Workforce Training – Continuous upskilling programs in technical and vocational fields will ensure that workers are equipped with the latest industry knowledge, increasing productivity and innovation. -/- 4. Support for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) – Providing financial assistance, mentorship programs, and access to international markets will help SMEs grow, create jobs, and contribute to the economy. -/- 5. Streamlining Government Processes – Reducing bureaucratic red tape and implementing digital governance solutions will improve efficiency in business registration, taxation, and service delivery, fostering a more productive environment. -/- The Importance of Urban Planning and Infrastructure Development -/- Another critical factor in national progress is urban planning and government investment in high-quality infrastructure projects. Many of the country’s problems, including traffic congestion, flooding, and housing shortages, stem from poor urban planning and outdated infrastructure. To address this, the government must invest in well-planned cities, efficient transportation systems, and sustainable housing projects. -/- Proper urban planning ensures that growing populations are managed effectively, preventing overcrowded informal settlements and ensuring that resources are distributed efficiently. High-quality infrastructure projects, such as modern highways, bridges, airports, and public transport systems, would not only improve the quality of life for Filipinos but also attract more foreign investments, further strengthening the economy. A well-structured and balanced urban environment leads to better economic opportunities, improved public services, and a higher standard of living for all citizens. -/- Comprehensive Government Reform -/- A comprehensive government reform is necessary to address these interconnected problems. Corruption, inefficiency, and short-term political agendas must be replaced with policies that focus on long-term sustainability and national progress. This can be achieved through a structured and merit-based political system, ensuring that competent and visionary leaders are in charge. If decision-makers follow the principles of balance in governance—ensuring fairness, stability, and sustainability—then the country can move toward real progress. -/- The Role of Genuine Spirituality -/- An essential yet often overlooked aspect of national development is genuine spirituality. While religion is deeply ingrained in Filipino culture, it must evolve beyond rituals and dogma to serve as a guiding force for ethical governance, responsible citizenship, and moral leadership. True spirituality is not about blind faith but about inner transformation, self-discipline, and wisdom in decision-making. Leaders and citizens alike must cultivate values such as integrity, compassion, and accountability—principles that align with the universal law of balance in nature. When people are spiritually grounded, they are more likely to act justly, prioritize the common good, and resist corruption and greed. -/- A Vision for the Future -/- Implementing a holistic approach that integrates education reform, economic stability, government restructuring, urban planning, productivity enhancement, infrastructure development, and genuine spirituality is key to fixing the Philippines’ systemic problems. By understanding and applying the universal law of balance in nature, the country can create policies that align with long-term development, benefiting not just the present generation but also the future. A nation guided by wisdom, moral responsibility, and a balanced perspective on life will be able to achieve real and lasting progress. -/- . (shrink)

Elected Positions vs. Government Jobs: Understanding the Difference and the Role of Absolute Term Limits -/- Government institutions consist of individuals serving in various roles, either as elected officials or career civil servants. However, there is often confusion about whether political positions, such as the presidency, should be considered jobs in the same way as private-sector employment. Additionally, many individuals are drawn to politics rather than private-sector careers due to its influence, benefits, and long-term security. This essay explores the (...) differences between elected positions and traditional government jobs, the reasons politicians receive salaries despite not having traditional employment, the importance of absolute term limits in preventing lifetime political careers, and why many people prefer politics over private-sector jobs. -/- The Nature of the Presidency: Public Service, Not a Job -/- A presidency, or any other elected position, is not a job in the traditional sense. In private companies, jobs involve applying, being hired based on qualifications, and working under an employer for a salary. In contrast, a president is chosen through an election, not a hiring process. The position has a fixed term (e.g., four or six years), and re-election is required to continue in office. Unlike a private job, which can be long-term or even lifelong, an absolute term limit ensures that a president cannot serve indefinitely. -/- One of the most common questions is why presidents receive a salary if their role is not considered a job. The answer lies in the nature of public service. Presidents are given a salary to compensate for full-time responsibilities, prevent corruption, and ensure that the position is accessible to individuals from all backgrounds. However, this salary does not make the role a job—it remains an elected duty to serve the country rather than a career path. -/- Elected vs. Hired Positions in Government -/- Beyond the presidency, various government positions exist, which can generally be divided into elected positions and hired government jobs. -/- 1. Elected Positions (Public Office) -/- Includes roles like President, Vice President, Senators, Congressmen, Governors, and Mayors. -/- Individuals in these positions are not hired but instead chosen through elections by the people. -/- Their tenure is limited by law, and they must either be re-elected or step down after their term. -/- Their primary duty is to create and implement policies, pass laws, and lead government functions. -/- Absolute term limits prevent them from staying in power for extended periods, ensuring leadership rotation. -/- 2. Hired Government Jobs (Civil Service) -/- Includes teachers, police officers, clerks, engineers, government doctors, and other public servants. -/- Individuals in these roles are hired through a formal process based on qualifications, exams, and experience. -/- They work under civil service rules and are subject to government employment laws. -/- They have job security, benefits, and the possibility of career advancement. -/- Unlike elected officials, these government employees can stay in their positions long-term as long as they meet performance standards. -/- The key difference is that elected officials serve for a limited time and must leave office, while hired government employees can build lifelong careers in public service. -/- The Importance of Absolute Term Limits in Political Positions -/- A crucial factor that differentiates political positions from private-sector jobs is absolute term limits, which completely prevent politicians from holding the same position indefinitely. This contrasts sharply with private jobs, where employees can remain in a company for decades or even a lifetime. The importance of absolute term limits includes: -/- 1. Eliminating Lifetime Political Careers – In the private sector, individuals can build long-term careers and continue working as long as they are productive. However, in politics, absolute term limits prevent individuals from staying in power for extended periods, ensuring leadership change. -/- 2. Preventing the Accumulation of Too Much Power – When politicians remain in office for too long, they gain excessive control, leading to authoritarianism. Absolute term limits ensure that no single leader or party dominates indefinitely. -/- 3. Encouraging New Leadership and Innovation – Unlike private companies that allow employees to grow within the organization, political leadership must constantly evolve. Absolute term limits ensure that fresh leaders with new ideas and perspectives regularly take over. -/- 4. Reducing Corruption and Political Entitlement – In private companies, performance determines job security. In politics, however, long-serving officials often manipulate power structures to stay in office. Absolute term limits reduce this risk by ensuring they cannot stay beyond their term. -/- 5. Ensuring Fair Political Competition – In the private sector, individuals can work their way up over time. In contrast, politics must remain open to new candidates. Absolute term limits prevent one person from monopolizing opportunities, allowing others to compete fairly. -/- 6. Aligning with Democratic Principles – Democracy is based on fair elections and leadership change. While private companies focus on stability and expertise, politics thrives on rotation of leaders to reflect the will of the people. -/- Absolute term limits prevent politics from functioning like private companies, where employees can build lifelong careers. Instead, they ensure that political power remains temporary, maintaining accountability and preventing individuals from treating political office as permanent employment. -/- Why Many People Choose Politics Over Private Jobs -/- Despite term limits, many individuals still prefer politics over private jobs due to the influence, prestige, and financial benefits it offers. Some key reasons include: -/- 1. Power and Influence – Politics provides decision-making authority over national and international matters, unlike private jobs, where influence is limited to business operations. -/- 2. Financial and Social Benefits – While private-sector jobs offer salaries, political positions often come with privileges, retirement benefits, and lifelong recognition. -/- 3. Networking and Connections – Politics grants access to high-level business, political, and international connections, leading to long-term opportunities even after leaving office. -/- 4. Opportunity for Leadership and Legacy – Unlike corporate jobs, where employees work under executives, politicians have a chance to become national leaders and leave a lasting impact. -/- 5. Less Performance-Based Pressure – In private companies, employees must meet performance targets. In politics, public image and alliances often matter more than measurable results. -/- 6. Access to Power Without Special Skills – Unlike private-sector jobs that require technical skills and expertise, political success depends more on charisma, public appeal, and strategic alliances. -/- Why the Distinction Matters -/- Understanding the difference between elected positions and traditional employment is essential for maintaining democratic systems. In private companies, long-term careers are encouraged to build expertise and stability. However, in politics, absolute term limits ensure that no one stays in power indefinitely, preventing dictatorship and keeping leadership accountable. -/- Conclusion -/- While all government positions contribute to the functioning of a country, elected officials and government employees belong to different categories. Elected officials serve temporarily with absolute term limits, preventing them from staying in office indefinitely, unlike private-sector employees who can build lifelong careers in a company. -/- Despite these term limits, many people are drawn to politics because of power, influence, financial benefits, and leadership opportunities. However, absolute term limits remain crucial in preventing politics from becoming a permanent career path. They protect democracy, ensure leadership rotation, and prevent the concentration of power, ensuring that political service remains a temporary duty rather than a lifetime position. -/- . (shrink)

This study examines the correlation between job descriptions and salaries at Immaculate Conception College of Balayan Inc. (ICCBI), a private Catholic institution devoted to faith-based education. Using qualitative research, a single-case study was conducted with ten (10) participants selected through purposive sampling based on specific criteria. Through face-to-face interviews, data was collected and analyzed using a narrative approach. Thus, it was found out that job descriptions at ICCBI are established through methods like job analysis, role and responsibility approaches, qualifications, and (...) the school manual-based method. Salary determination involves factors such as tenure, educational attainment, performance, teaching loads, experience, and collegial care. Key factors influencing job descriptions include salary differentiation, aligned job descriptions, career development opportunities, and increased duties and responsibilities. Variations in the salary structure are affected by teaching loads, department designations, and educational qualifications. The findings indicate that job descriptions impact employee salaries at the institution, and future research is encouraged to explore identified factors for insights into developing more efficient roles and contributing to organizational effectiveness. With this, the study proposed a strategic plan for future use and implementation. (shrink)

Contemporary social science research is often concerned to engage with and promote particular forms of postmodern and innovative data production, such as photo-elicitation, autoethnography or free association interviews. This fascination with the latest and greatest techniques has been accompanied by an ever more fragmented range of research methods training for students where the week-by-week shift between approaches engenders a disjointed view of becoming the researcher. This individualisation of techniques has set up rival camps and critiques where the common ground of (...) being embedded in traditional ethnography is often forgotten. For researchers, who began their academic careers in the ethnographic tradition, there is an appreciation of the holistic base of enquiry from which a family of methods can be effectively employed. However, more recently qualitative researchers have been distracted by ‘the technique’; a distraction that can blind them to the occupation of ethnography. Concurrently, there have been shifts in the social and economic expectations placed on qualitative inquiry that have acted to close down spaces of ethnographic teaching and practice. In response, this article focuses on the importance of the ‘waiting field’; an opportunity to explore the times where real lives carry on before they make room for the intrusion of the data production of ‘the technique’ and remind us that much qualitative research is, in fact, an ethnographic undertaking: one that encompasses the researcher within and beyond the field. (shrink)

This study explores the complex landscape of inclusive education for learners with Specific Learning Needs (SLNs), examining critical factors that facilitate successful post-school transitions. The study employed a qualitative interpretive case study design. Conducted in Bulawayo Central District's two secondary schools with Resource Units, the research uses an innovative conceptual framework integrating Neurodiversity theory and Schlossberg's career transition theory. Through a comprehensive investigation involving ten learners with SLNs, two teachers, one school administrator, and the District Remedial Resource Tutor (DRRT), (...) the study uncovers key strategies for supporting educational and vocational adaptation. The study adhered to ethical protocols; obtained university clearance, provincial and district permissions, and acquired informed consent from participants and parents of minors. The research reveals a multifaceted approach to enhancing educational and transitional support for the learners, highlighting critical areas for intervention: redesigning the curriculum to accommodate the diverse abilities and needs of the learners; developing a transition policy that is specifically designed to support individuals with special conditions in post-school settings; introducing corporate tax incentives for companies that create employment opportunities for individuals with special conditions and societal attitude transformation. By prioritizing stakeholder perspectives, the study develops a nuanced transitional model that offers practical guidance for more effective inclusive educational practices. The findings underscore the importance of holistic support in empowering learners with SLNs to achieve academic, social, and economic success. (shrink)

This research explores the effects of globalization to the Malaysian architectural practice in the current situation. The research explores three issues, firstly what are the reasons local architects are taking projects locally (localization) only, and, secondly, what are the factors which motivate local architects to venture into international projects (termed as globalization). It also explores, thirdly, what are the factors which influence foreign architects coming to Malaysia to practice. Research was qualitative in nature using semi-structured interviews. The interviews were transcribed (...) and a thematic analysis was carried out. An online survey was conducted towards the end to a different group from the architecture fraternity to supplement the research and findings. Overall, the reasons uncovered for the first issue are the total lack of opportunities and insufficient capacity due to small practices. Reasons for the second issue are due to the more lucrative fees and the experience and technology transfer which are advancements to their practices. For the third issue, the factors were found to more personal reasons based rather than solely applying to practice. In summary, to go global or stay local is actually up to the individual preference of the architect and also the capacity of their practices. The findings can be used as a resource for architects and architectural students who are still deciding whether to globalize or localize their careers. As it currently the case, many architects are practicing in other countries to replicate architectural styles which may be more conducive to sustainable tourism, for example, hotel designs. (shrink)

Prof. (Dr.) Balwant Singh Dhillon, a much-acclaimed Sikh-historian, a dedicated researcher, a prolific writer, and a profound scholar of religion, was born in 1950, at Village Ran Singh Wala, District Faridkot, Punjab, India. With his keen interest in learning, he received a B.A. degree from SGGS College, Chandigarh, in 1972, and an M.A. (History) degree from the University of Rajasthan, Jaipur in 1974. During his younger days, he nurtured a keen interest in sports. On attaining the National Level Athlete ranking, (...) he was enthusiastic about pursuing a career in sports. Thereby, he joined Master Course for Coaching in athletics at the National Institute of Sports, Patiala, in 1974. Herein, he came in contact with Prof. Labh Singh of the Institute of Sikh Studies (IOSS, now Gurmat College), who inspired him to take up Sikh studies. This interaction brought a sea change in his life motive, and he committed himself to pursue a career in Sikh studies. After receiving M.A. (Religious Studies) degree from the IOSS in July 1976, he joined M. Lit. (Religious Studies) course at Punjabi University, Patiala. Here he had the opportunity to learn from several eminent scholars, e.g., Prof. Harbans Singh, Prof. Gurbachan Singh Talib, Prof. L.M. Joshi, and Dr. A.N. Sinha, etc., which made his resolve steadfast. In January 1977, he joined the Department of Guru Nanak Studies at Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU), Amritsar, to pursue his research activities for a Ph.D. degree. In March 1985, he was awarded a Ph. D. degree by GNDU, for his outstanding research work on "The Sikh Gurus and the Mughal State." Starting, in April 1979, as a Research Assistant at the Department of Guru Nanak Studies, he rose to the position of Professor and Head of the department. He retired in June 2010. During his tenure at the university, he had also served as Dean, Faculty of Humanities and Religious Studies, Senator and Syndic of the University. As Head of the Department of Guru Nanak Studies, he played a vital role in starting the teaching of M.A. (Religious Studies and Philosophy)at GNDU, Amritsar. Under his stewardship, the research projects on "Sikh Religion and Philosophy," "Sikh History," and "Sikh Literature" were taken up, which led to a research and development grant of Rs. 3.2 Million from U.G.C., New Delhi, during 2006-2011. Dr. Dhillon was instrumental in establishing the Centre on Studies in Sri Guru Granth Sahib at the university, in April 2011, and served as its founding Director till February 2015. He has also served as the Editor-in-Chief for reputed Sikh research journals, "Journal of Sikh Studies" and "Perspectives on Guru Granth Sahib," published by the GNDU. In his forty years long professional career, he has been credited with authoring/publishing about a dozen books and over 100 articles in various research journals, books, and encyclopedias. Besides chairing several international seminars/conferences, he played a vital role in organizing many such events at the Department of Guru Nanak Studies and Centre on Studies in Guru Granth Sahib. He has the honour of representing India at many conferences/ seminars within Canada, America, England, Germany, and Australia. With his continuous dedication to religious studies, he has established himself as an exponent of interfaith dialogue and an eminent writer in the field of Sikh history. Through his well-researched and analytic writings, he has created an indelible mark of scholarship on his readers' minds. For his outstanding contributions in the fields of Sikh history and literature, he has been honoured by several literary and social organizations. Despite his great love and commitment to Sikh History and Religion, Dr. Dhillon subscribes to the idea that Sikh Gurus' Philosophy is perennial and universal in its approach to understand cosmology, Nature, life, and human behaviour in the present era. Furthermore, He asserts that the Sikh Gurus' ideology, its beliefs and practices, social order, worldview, and devotional pattern, as propounded in Sri Guru Granth Sahib, address the basics befitting the 21st century. His views on various aspects of Sikh history and philosophy are presented here for the benefit of readers. (shrink)

This article is the introductory chapter to a festschrift in honour of Geoff Hodgson. In work spanning four decades, Geoff Hodgson has made many path-breaking contributions to institutional economics, evolutionary economics, economic methodology, the history of economic thought and social theory more broadly. Hodgson’s reputation as a prolific and important writer, whose work transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries, is matched by his credentials as an academic entrepreneur, whose involvement in the formation of two international scholarly societies and the foundation of the (...) Journal of Institutional Economics has expanded the opportunities for constructive dialogue among social scientists. To celebrate Hodgon’s fantastic career, this volume brings together 19 original contributions by world-leading scholars in specific areas that have played a significant role in influencing Hodgson’s thinking or represent key debates to which he has contributed. The chapter introduces these contributions, and summarizes a conversation with Hodgson that is also included in the volume. (shrink)

A short summary paper of my Orbital Space Domain Ontology project (purl.org/space-ontology), originally conceived in 2011. Since then I've sought (without success) opportunities to realize it (either as a PhD or other degree thesis; or in an employment position) toward my original passion of entering the space sector and gaining further space education. Since then persons in the relevant space disciplines have seen the potential in it, and unfortunately some have taken advantage of my ideas yet excluded me from (...) work. I continue to struggle to fight for my own ideas as I see others professionally and financially benefit at my expense. References and documentation are available upon request to confirm my early ideation and origination on this topic. Please contact me if you have opportunities. Thank you. (shrink)

Supporting young researchers to peer-review and edit journal submissions will also accelerate their training, says Quan-Hoang Vuong. -/- *Citation: -/- Quan-Hoang Vuong. (2022, Sept. 11). Early career researchers can help fix peer review delays. Times Higher Education.

This paper argues that luck egalitarianism, especially in the guise of equality of opportunity for welfare, is in tension with the ideal of fair equality of opportunity in three ways. First, equal opportunity for welfare is compatible with a caste system in employment that is inconsistent with open competition for positions. Second, luck egalitarianism does not support hiring on the basis of qualifications. Third, amending luck egalitarianism to repair this problem requires abandoning fair access to qualifications. Insofar as luck egalitarianism (...) cannot support fair equality of opportunity, it cannot do justice to the claims of the disabled. Indeed, in the absence of fair equality of opportunity, disabled people are likely to be marginalized. (shrink)

This study was designed to explore career-related strategies for strengthening poverty reduction programmes in Nigerian communities. Using a phenomenological framework and interpretive paradigm, the study used a qualitative research design. The participants of this study consisted of five key officers working in the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation (FMHAPA) in Nigeria and five counsellors working in Nigerian secondary schools. The participants were selected through a purposeful sampling process. Data collection measures include interviews, focus group discussion, and (...) document analysis. All participants were interviewed to collect data, which was analyzed using thematic analysis. To identify themes and patterns in the responses provided by the participants, the interviews were recorded and transcribed. In accordance with the findings of this study, career-related strategies for strengthening poverty reduction programmes in Nigerian communities include employability skills development, access to quality education, job creation and entrepreneurship, supportive networks, social justice and corporate responsibilities, and appropriate work policy. A major contribution of this study is the identification of career-related strategies to help strengthen poverty reduction programmes in Nigerian communities. Another contribution is the implications that can be drawn for career counselling. (shrink)

Choices of jobs and careers are among the ethically significant choices individuals make. This article argues against the 'maximalist' view that we are ethically required to choose those jobs and careers (among those that are not intrinsically wrong) that are best overall in terms of benfitting others or addressing injustice. Because such choices are often identity-based, the maximalist view is overly demanding, in the way that requiring individuals to marry on the basis of a maximalist demand is too demanding. Job (...) and career choices are instead subject to a stringent, but less demanding, fair share standard, according to which they must enable individuals to do their fair individual share to benefit others or address injustice. (shrink)

The thesis of this essay is that equal opportunity (EO) "strictly dominates" (in the game-theoretic sense) reparations. That is, (1) all the ways reparations would make our world more just would also be achieved under EO; (2) EO would make our world more just in ways reparations cannot; and (3) reparations would create injustices which EO would avoid. Further, (4) EO has important practical advantages over reparations. These include economic efficiency, feasibility, and long-term impact. Supporters of reparations should abandon that (...) ideal to support equal opportunity instead. (shrink)