International Workforce Research Articles

Healthcare capacity strengthening in conflict settings through virtual emergency medical training and outreach: Ukraine and Sudan case studies

The use of digital learning in healthcare is expanding in a range of contexts including for settings of armed conflict. Humanitarian emergencies and war often lead to a surge of traumatic injuries, emotional distress, and disruption to health systems risking neglect and exacerbations of chronic illness, and acute infectious disease outbreaks, often requiring an international response. On the ground humanitarian response is often essential though logistical and security challenges can delay these responses, and the reliance on an international workforce unfamiliar with local cultures can create challenges in response efforts. In crises where local healthcare workers have limited training, or experience in emergency care, digital health care education can augment in-person response and training efforts. In recent years digital emergency care education programs have been deployed to both Ukraine and Sudan. A review of each of these programs demonstrates successes in and potential utility of remote healthcare capacity strengthening through digital education in settings of war. These programs provide important lessons in strengths of and challenges in developing and delivering just in time learning programs to settings of active armed conflict suggesting similar potential utility in a variety of humanitarian emergency contexts.

Expatriate’s protean career orientation and cross-cultural adjustment: the mediating role of career adaptability

PurposeIHRM identifies career adaptability and cross-cultural adjustment as the central tenants for expatriate career. The present study focuses on; (1) it employs the theoretical framework of career construction theory (CCT) to examine the relationship between adaptive readiness, resources and responses by examining the relationship between protean career orientation, career adaptability and cross-cultural adjustment of self-initiated expatriates (SIE) and (2) it explores the moderating role of frequency of interaction that SIEs possess with HCN.Design/methodology/approachA total of 278 Indian SIEs engaged in different occupational roles in different sectors, working in six different countries, i.e. United Arab Emirates, Canada, Germany, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the USA responded through primary survey.FindingsConsistent with CCT conceptualization, the study illustrates a positive partial mediating effect of career adaptability on the direct relationship between protean career orientation and cross-cultural adjustment. Furthermore, the findings of the moderation analysis suggest that frequent interaction of the SIE facilitates the enhancing of cross-cultural adjustment.Practical implicationsThe study suggests that lack of protean career orientation might result in lowering employee interest in the job or assignment, and affect effectiveness, satisfaction, productivity and cross-cultural adjustment. The study also recommends systematically increasing the interaction frequency with the HCNs to facilitate SIEs employees for facilitating cross-cultural adjustments (CCA).Originality/valueThe study theoretically and empirically contributes to protean career orientation and career adaptability in the context of expatriates, which is an enabling factor for CCA in job contexts. The relevance of interaction frequency is acknowledged for the adaptability and adjustments for the international workforce perspective.

Promoting multicultural and social justice counselling competency of international counselling students

AbstractThe enrolment of international students in US counselling programmes has been increasing steadily over the past decade. These international counselling students, as an emerging international workforce, can contribute to the decolonisation of counselling practice through the development of their multicultural and social justice counselling competency (MSJCC)—an essential counselling competency to improve counselling outcomes across culturally diverse clients. However, current US counsellor training programmes often fail to adequately address the unique challenges faced by international counselling students, which can impede their progress in enhancing MSJCC. This article explores specific challenges international counselling students encounter in developing MSJCC, underscoring the importance of culturally sensitive pedagogies. By focusing on the intersectional identities of international counselling students, this article proposes targeted pedagogical strategies that align US counsellor education with the lived experiences and challenges faced by these students. Case studies are provided to illustrate the application of these pedagogies. Promoting international counselling students' MSJCC can help prepare an international workforce capable of effectively working with a diverse global population and contribute to the decolonisation of counselling practices.

Mutual recognition of qualifications, health workforce migration, and graduate outcomes: a comparative mapping study of undergraduate dental education in Europe

BackgroundThe resource needs of health services are served by the recognition of qualifications across borders which allows professionals to migrate between countries. The movement of dentists across the European Union (EU), especially into the United Kingdom (UK), has provided a valuable boost to workforce supply. Recent changes to policy recognising overseas qualifications have brought attention to the equivalence of qualifications awarded in EU countries. Professional regulators need to be confident that dentists who qualified elsewhere have the appropriate knowledge, skills and experience to practise safely and effectively. The aim of this study was to compare UK and EU dental curricula, identify any differences, and compare the extent of pre-qualification clinical experience.MethodsThis was a mixed methods study comprising a questionnaire and website searches to identify information about curricula, competences, and quality assurance arrangements in each country. The questionnaire was sent to organisations responsible for regulating dental education or dental practice in EU member states. This was supplemented with information obtained from website searches of stakeholder organisations for each country including regulators, professional associations, ministries, and providers of dental education. A map of dental training across the EU was created.ResultsNational learning outcomes for dental education were identified for seven countries. No national outcomes were identified 13 countries; therefore, learning outcomes were mapped at institution level only. No information about learning outcomes was available for six countries. In one country, there is no basic dental training. Clinical skills and communication were generally well represented. Management and leadership were less represented. Only eight countries referenced a need for graduates to be aware of their own limitations. In most countries, quality assurance of dental education is not undertaken by dental organisations, but by national quality assurance agencies for higher education. In many cases, it was not possible to ascertain the extent of graduates’ direct clinical experience with patients.ConclusionsThe findings demonstrate considerable variation in learning outcomes for dental education between countries and institutions in Europe. This presents a challenge to decision-makers responsible for national recognition and accreditation of diverse qualifications across Europe to maintain a safe, capable, international workforce; but one that this comparison of programmes helps to address.

A typology of internationally qualified dentists in the United Kingdom

IntroductionThe Global Strategy for Human Resources for Health 2030, requires member states to half their dependency on an international workforce by 2030. In order to design policies towards that goal, country-specific research on migration motivations of the health workforce is required. The United Kingdom (UK) is a net importer of health professionals and whilst there is a body of research on doctors’ and nurses’ migration, there is no research on the migration motivations of migrant dentists in the UK. This research explored the migration motivations of internationally qualified dentists (IQDs) in the UK and presents a typology to understand the global migration of dentists in the context of oral health workforce. MethodsThe paper presents qualitative data from semi-structured interviews conducted between August 2014 and October 2017, of IQDs working in the United Kingdom. The topic guide for interviews was informed by the literature, with new themes added inductively. A phenomenological approach involving an epistemological stance of interpretivism, was used with framework analysis. ResultsA total of 38 internationally qualified dentists (M = 18, F = 20), migrating from the five World Health Organization regions, and working in general practice, NHS hospitals and in community dental services across the four nations of the UK were interviewed. Seven types of internationally qualified dentists were identified working in the UK. They were livelihood migrants, career-orientated migrants, dependant migrants, backpacker migrants, commuter migrants, undocumented migrants, and education-tourist migrant. The categories were based on their migration motivations, which were complex, multifactorial, and included personal, professional, national, and international drivers. The typology, based on their migration motivations, offered a structured, comprehensive understanding of the migrant dental workforce. This typology involving dentists provides additional dimensions to commuter and undocumented migrants described in the context of other health professionals. The education-tourist migrant is a new category proposed as an extension to existing typology in health professional migration. ConclusionsThe typology of internationally qualified dentists has congruency with other health professionals’ typology in categories previously described and demonstrates that each of these categories are complex, fluid and change in response to policy changes. The new category of education-tourist migrant along with oral health dimensions of commuter and undocumented migrants adds to the existing typology in health professional migration.

Culture and context in Interprofessional education: Expectations in Australia and Japan.

The attributes of collaborative practice in health care vary across contexts, necessitating the adaptation of interprofessional education curricula to prepare students for the collaborative practice expected in their respective health care systems. Culture, when conceptualised through an organisational lens, allows an analysis of the shared assumptions, beliefs and values, without seeking to reduce to a uniform construct. This article explores the differences in interprofessional education competencies between Australia and Japan and considers the systems and patient expectations, which underpin each. While collaborative competence exhibits some similarities across contexts, competency frameworks differ in emphasis, language and key terminology, which highlight multiple points of difference in the expectations of interprofessional collaborative practice across contexts. There are education and practice consequences of these different perspectives of collaborative practice, in an increasingly mobile international workforce.

A Post-Fellowship Support Framework for Rural Doctors: the Queensland experience.

International workforce shortages have prompted many initiatives to recruit, train and retain rural doctors, including Australia's emerging National Rural Generalist Pathway. This project explored an important component of retention, rural doctors' post-Fellowship support needs, to develop and validate a post-Fellowship support framework. There has been considerable international attention on social accountability in medical education and how medical schools and other institutions can address the needs of the communities they serve. The recognition that rural and remote communities globally are underserved has prompted numerous educational approaches including rurally focused recruitment, selection, and training. Less attention has been paid to the support needs of rural doctors and how they can be retained in rural practice once recruited. The project team reviewed international and Australian rural workforce and medical education literature and relevant policy documents to develop a set of guiding principles for a post-Fellowship support framework. This project utilised a mixed methods approach involving quantitative and qualitative methodologies. A range of rural doctors, administrators, and clinicians, working in primary and secondary care, across multiple rural locations in Queensland were invited to participate in interviews. Thematic analysis was undertaken. The interviews validated ten interconnected guiding principles which enabled development of a grounded, contextually relevant approach to post-Fellowship support. This framework provides a blueprint for a retention strategy aiming to build a strong, skilled, and sustainable medical workforce capable of meeting community needs. The ten principles were designed in the real-world context of a mature Queensland Rural Generalist Pathway. Four themes emerged from the inductive thematic analysis: connecting primary and secondary care; valuing a rural career; supporting training and education; and valuing rural general practice. These themes will be used as a basis for engagement and consultation with rural stakeholders to develop appropriate retention and support strategies.

Research on Factors that Influence the Employment of Foreigners in China

In the era of global economic integration and a rapidly changing international workforce, China has witnessed a significant increase in the number of foreign workers, especially since its accession to the WTO. This influx has disrupted China's labor market equilibrium and raised substantial challenges related to national sovereignty, security, social order, and public health. The Chinese legislative landscape grapples with various issues, such as delays in legislation, unclear regulatory boundaries, gaps in emerging sectors, lenient penalties for illegal employment, and inadequate coordination among law enforcement agencies. This paper holds both theoretical and practical importance as it aims to tackle these problems, proposing potential solutions to issues arising from the illicit employment of foreigners. Drawing insights from global legislative practices and emphasizing the safeguarding of domestic labor, this paper seeks to establish a comprehensive legislative framework for foreign employment in China, including provisions for exceptions to equal treatment. Additionally, it advocates for stricter employer accountability and penalties for illegal employment, highlighting the urgent need for improved cooperation and efficiency among law enforcement agencies. Beyond addressing domestic challenges, this paper also promotes international cooperation in foreign labor management, aligning with evolving global standards and continuously enhancing China's legal framework.

The response of European offshore wind power to national greenhouse gas emissions and the resulting environmental benefits

Renewable energy represents a pathway towards sustainable development and reducing dependence on fossil fuels for the international workforce. Following the Russo-Ukrainian conflict, the EU has been intensifying its transition towards clean energy, reaffirming its net-zero emissions goal. Under this goal, accelerating the development of renewable energy has become a necessity. Wind power holds a significant position among the EU's RES. Due to the high population density in the EU, offshore wind power, compared to onshore wind power, experiences faster wind speeds and more stable wind sources, making the boost of offshore wind energy a major development trend for the EU's new energy initiatives. The results indicate a significant positive correlation between offshore wind power generation and greenhouse gas emissions. On average, for every 100 million tons of GHG emissions, the EU should achieve an annual power generation of 3148.11 GWh through offshore wind power and increase the cumulative installed capacity of national offshore wind power to 768045 MW. In combination with the EU's carbon trading system and the carbon price and emission reduction effects of offshore wind power proposed by some scholars, an installed capacity of offshore wind power approximately accounts for 2.69% of the EU's emission reductions, potentially generating an economic benefit of 21825 billion euros.

HRM practices and academic research output: evidence from universities in Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT The Saudi Arabian higher education sector is unique because it depends on an international workforce comprising mostly non-Saudi academics. This study examined the relationship between HRM practices, trust, knowledge sharing and academic research output in Saudi Arabian universities. The study design supports the application of both exploratory and explanatory (mixed-method) approaches in examining the relationship between HRM practices and academic research output. Although the results suggest a positive relationship between HRM practices and academic research output, trust and knowledge sharing act as mediators. This study adds to the literature on higher education management, particularly from the Middle East Region – an under-researched area in education management research. Theoretically, this study contributes to understanding the relationship between HRM practices and academic research output in a higher education context. The findings have implications for advancing knowledge sharing and trust in Saudi Arabian universities.

Dazed and Confused: The Impact of Multinational Firms on Local Labor Markets

In this high-speed globalization era, the opportunities for multinational companies (MNCs) have become vast. In such situation, these companies can obtain maximum profit only if they know how to use workforce properly. This paper aims at analyzing how these MNCs can use international workforce without violating ethics, universal labor rights, and human resource rules. For this purpose, two most favored countries i.e., China and Indonesia have been taken and compared throughout the paper. The first part of this paper deals with the introduction of the profile of above mentioned two countries and opportunities to the MNCs. The second part deals with the roles of institutions in dealing with labor workforce. The third part indicates divergent paths and the convergence of the globalization with its impact over host countries. The final part concludes the entire discussion in a few paragraphs. The entire paper has been developed keeping the scholarly work, journal articles and critical analysis factor under consideration.

COVID-19 Response Roles among CDC International Public Health Emergency Management Fellowship Graduates

Since 2013, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has offered the Public Health Emergency Management Fellowship to health professionals from around the world. The goal of this program is to build an international workforce to establish public health emergency management programs and operations centers in participating countries. In March 2021, all 141 graduates of the fellowship program were invited to complete a web survey designed to examine their job roles and functions, assess their contributions to their country's COVID-19 response, and identify needs for technical assistance to strengthen national preparedness and response systems. Of 141 fellows, 89 successfully completed the survey. Findings showed that fellowship graduates served key roles in COVID-19 response in many countries, used skills they gained from the fellowship, and desired continuing engagement between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and fellowship alumni to strengthen the community of practice for international public health emergency management.

Effectiveness of International Hospice and Palliative Care Training for Health Care Professionals in Countries of the Western Pacific Region.

As hospice and palliative care is a holistic service grounded in spirituality, training in spiritual care is essential. This study aimed to describe an international workforce training program for hospice and palliative care that emphasized spiritual care and evaluate the effectiveness of the training implementation. A quasi-experimental study was conducted with 28 health care professionals from 4 countries in the Western Pacific Region, who attended the international workforce trainings on hospice and palliative care. Data were collected before and after the trainings using a self-reported survey questionnaire. The participants' palliative care knowledge, spiritual well-being, perceived stress, and compassion competency were analyzed to evaluate the training program. Whereas the participants' knowledge of hospice and palliative care ( P < .001) and compassion competency increased ( P = .004), their perceived stress decreased post training ( P = .002). This study provided an extensive description of an international workforce training program of hospice and palliative care for potential replication of the training in other regions of the world. Because training in hospice and palliative care positively influenced health care professionals' spiritual care competency, future training and studies should consider spiritual care factors, along with intellectual aspects.

Building a Quantum Engineering Undergraduate Program

<italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Contribution:</i> A roadmap is provided for building a quantum engineering education program to satisfy U.S. national and international workforce needs. <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Background:</i> The rapidly growing quantum information science and engineering (QISE) industry will require both quantum-aware and quantum-proficient engineers at the bachelor’s level. <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Research Question:</i> What is the best way to provide a flexible framework that can be tailored for the full academic ecosystem? <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Methodology:</i> A workshop of 480 QISE researchers from across academia, government, industry, and national laboratories was convened to draw on best practices; representative authors developed this roadmap. <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Findings:</i> 1) For quantum-aware engineers, design of a first quantum engineering course, accessible to all STEM students, is described; 2) for the education and training of quantum-proficient engineers, both a quantum engineering minor accessible to all STEM majors, and a quantum track directly integrated into individual engineering majors are detailed, requiring only three to four newly developed courses complementing existing STEM classes; 3) a conceptual QISE course for implementation at any postsecondary institution, including community colleges and military schools, is delineated; 4) QISE presents extraordinary opportunities to work toward rectifying issues of inclusivity and equity that continue to be pervasive within engineering. A plan to do so is presented, as well as how quantum engineering education offers an excellent set of education research opportunities; and 5) a hands-on training plan on quantum hardware is outlined, a key component of any quantum engineering program, with a variety of technologies, including optics, atoms and ions, cryogenic and solid-state technologies, nanofabrication, and control and readout electronics.

Examining Web-Based Learning to Enhance Nurse Training and the Standardization of Clinical Practice Within Complex Global Nursing Systems: A Quality Improvement Case Study.

Nurses are the backbone of health assessments and key to safeguarding health services for people who are displaced and migrating. Training and dissemination of information among an international workforce requires innovative delivery methods that address the barriers of traditional in-person training. This quality improvement project endorsed web-based learning as a viable platform to disseminate information and support a standardized approach to professional development of nurses working in a complex and dynamic international healthcare setting.

What Is the Purpose of Playwork?

ABSTRACT Playwork is a recognised profession in the United Kingdom (UK) and is currently a growing area of interest internationally. However, debates about the nature and purpose of playwork have raged in the playwork field since the profession was invented in the early adventure playgrounds. This study is the first to capture data about what the now international playwork workforce understands to be the purpose of playwork. The International Playwork Census (IPC) was an online survey which asked participants from 19 different countries about their knowledge and experience of playwork. This paper reports on one question from the IPC: what is the purpose of playwork? A thematic analysis was undertaken from 193 responses on what was considered “the purpose of playwork” and three themes emerged: Facilitate and Provide for children’s play; Support and Advocate. This paper describes how these three themes reflect both the historical change in understandings of the purpose of playwork and how different understandings of playwork are developed through the experience of practitioners working in range of different contexts.

Capitalism and the Sea: The Maritime Factor in the Making of the Modern World, LiamCamplingAlejandroColásLondon &amp; New York: Verso. 2021. pp. xiv + 418. £20/$29.95 (hardcover). ISBN: 9781784785239

Capitalism and the Sea: The Maritime Factor in the Making of the Modern World, LiamCamplingAlejandroColásLondon &amp; New York: Verso. 2021. pp. xiv + 418. £20/$29.95 (hardcover). ISBN: 9781784785239

Migration, tourism and social sustainability

In practice, the distinctions between tourism and migration are blurred. Tourism often drives various forms of mobility, and an international workforce is central to maintaining functioning tourism economies. This piece sketches out some critical themes and issues concerning intersections of tourism and migration, considering their relationships with and impacts on social sustainability. It highlights the contradictory ways in which tourism and migration are approached as political, social and economic phenomena. Whereas tourism is often viewed more positively, migration is recurrently politicised, and seen to challenge social systems and cultural values, despite the reliance of tourism on migrant labour. The discussion outlines the relevance of social sustainability to studies of migration and tourism. These include the need to assess how tourism planning, development and governance of tourism impacts on the sustainability of communities, which consequently influences attitudes towards migrants and tourists. It also reflects on how migrant-local connections may evolve, creating opportunities for positive, symbiotic co-existence, alongside exploitative relationships. It concludes by inviting further studies examining new forms and interactions between migration and tourism, which considers how research can contribute to greater social sustainability.

The evolution of the international emergency care workforce: a thematic analysis

The evolution of the international emergency care workforce: a thematic analysis

The evolution of the international emergency care workforce: a thematic analysis

Acute care has historically been a relatively peripheral area on the global health agenda. Emergency care was first identified as a global priority at the WHO’s 60th World Health Assembly in 2007. The WHO first mandated international coordination over the global shortage of human resources in health (HRH) in 2006. Little research has focused on the intersection of these problems, regarding the international workforce working in acute care.MethodsA systematic search was conducted to retrieve articles evaluating components of secondary-level local, local, regional or national acute services published in academic journals from 2000 onwards. A thematic analysis of selected articles was completed with a focus on human resource capacities, utilising a framework-based synthesis approach. Results73 articles based in 44 countries were retrieved, of which 43 were cross-sectional studies and 22 were qualitative case reports. Articles largely reported inadequate competencies, training opportunities and insufficient physical resource within local emergency medical systems. Emergency departments worldwide are widely staffed by unspecialised personnel. Task-shifting within the acute care sector is frequently employed across the Subsaharan African region. Workforce issues were not restricted to low-income settings. However, a rigorous and stratified global dataset of workers in this category is not available and would be useful.ConclusionEmergency medical systems are undergoing a period of development worldwide. Inadequacies regarding supervision, infrastructure, and support services are not frequently addressed and should not be neglected in human resource policy. Identifying the successes and failures of systems on a global scale to date can prove useful for health systems planning and policy.