Context Of Labor Research Articles

Importance of promoting soft skills in university teaching: an approach from the systemic approach

Currently, in the labor context, the topic of soft skills is recurrent and has taken on great relevance for universities. In this sense, educational institutions highlight the need to promote the development of these skills among students so that they have more preparation and can, in this way, face the needs of a globalized world. It is known that communication, critical-reflective thinking, the ability to solve problems, as well as self-confidence and other skills, are determinants for a person to have successful performance and be an integral entity that masters being, knowing and do. Therefore, this text presents a reflection that aims to explain, from a systemic approach, the relevance of raising these skills among students, applying various teaching strategies, with the understanding that teachers are the ones who guide the training processes, and can drive such development. To build this reflection, a mapping of literature dealing with the topic was carried out, references were selected that provided relevant information and that helped generate the systemic interpretive model under which it was conceived that said promotion can occur. It was identified that these skills are not only promoted through teaching and it is intended that the model generated serves as support to visualize that their development involves various factors, which go beyond educational practices, since it also depends on the availability of the students and the way in which this need is institutionally conceived.

A Precondition for Justice: Political Listening, Feminism and Sexual Violence

Questions of speech, silencing and injustice have long been central to feminist understandings of sexual violence, and to activism around it. Listening, and its relationship to justice, in contrast, remains under-explored by feminist scholars and activists. In this article, I argue for a feminist politics of listening as an essential precondition for justice around sexual violence. I argue that feminist engagements with listening have tended to be limited to questions of belief but that this is inadequate for a just practice of listening. Instead, I call for the development of a feminist listening public that engages in active practices of both attentive listening in for the details and nuances of survivor speech and listening out to unheard and marginalised voices. It is only within the context of collective political labour around listening, I suggest, that we can begin to develop a just politics around sexual violence.

Scores as Decisions? Article 22 GDPR and the Judgment of the CJEU in SCHUFA Holding (Scoring) in the Labour Context

Scores as Decisions? Article 22 GDPR and the Judgment of the CJEU in <i>SCHUFA Holding (Scoring)</i> in the Labour Context

PHOTOVOICE: A STRATEGY FOR IDENTIFY NURSE'S SELF-PERCEPTION OF OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURE OF MUSCULOSKELETAL RISKS

The People's self-concept contributes to their sense of identity, and if associated with methods that promote the involvement of participants, we develop knowledge that promotes causes and social change. Introduction: In recent decades, the scientific community has identified a high prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders in nurses, as a result of work processes, high physical demands, workspaces, and the emotional and sometimes stressful association of clinical contexts. Obstetric nurses, due to their specific work, have been a group that has been little studied and, above all, little involved in research processes. Research Objective: This study aims to identify the self-perception of Obstetric nurses regarding daily activities in the labour context, which are self-perceived as high risk for work-related musculoskeletal disorders. Methodology: A qualitative approach was used, utilising an empowering research method - Photovoice. Twenty who work full time in the delivery room took part. Photographic records were presented by the Obstetric nurses and their self-perceptions were shared through interviews. The interviews and photographs were then transcribed, analysed and categorised. Results: The average number of years as a Obstetric nurses was 14.4 years, but with 24.8 years working as a nurse. Twenty-two work activities with a potential risk to health were photographically recorded.

Comparison of psychopathology, purpose in life and moral courage between nursing home and hospital healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic deeply affected healthcare workers, although the impact may have differed according to different workplace contexts. The aim of this current research was to compare the psychopathology presented by hospital versus nursing home healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic and to analyse the predictive role of purpose in life and moral courage in the appearance of psychopathology. This was an observational, cross-sectional study carried out on a sample of 108 healthcare workers, 54 each from a hospital or nursing homes, who were recruited during the 5 and 6th waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain. Various self-reported scales were used to assess anxiety, depression, acute/post-traumatic stress disorder, drug and alcohol abuse, burnout, purpose in life, and moral courage. Compared to the hospital healthcare workers, nursing home healthcare workers had higher scores and a higher prevalence of anxiety (74.1% vs. 42%), depression (40.7% vs. 14.8%), and post-traumatic stress disorder (55.6% vs. 25.9). In the overall sample, purpose in life was a protective factor against psychopathology (OR = 0.54) and burnout (OR = 0.48); moral courage was a protective factor against depression (OR = 0.47) and acute stress (OR = 0.45); and exposure of family/friends to SARS-CoV-2 was a risk factor for acute stress (OR = 2.24), post-traumatic stress disorder (OR = 1.33), and higher burnout depersonalisation subscale scores (OR = 1.84). In conclusion, the increased presence of psychopathology in nursing home healthcare workers may be influenced by workplace and occupational contexts, personal factors such as exposure of family/friends to SARS-CoV-2, or internal dimensions such as purpose in life and moral courage. This knowledge could be useful for understanding how a future epidemic or pandemic might affect the mental health of healthcare workers in different labour contexts.

The Moral Economies of Reflexive Migration Studies

Abstract Reflexive Migration Studies has emerged as a subfield of Migration Studies. Drawing on moral economy perspectives, we explore how the entanglement of, and tensions between, moral and economic rationalities shape the development of a field of knowledge production in which we ourselves partake. Clearly, Reflexive Migration Studies has not emerged in a vacuum but through socio-material practices and in a specific scientific context and community. Using the case of the Migration Studies landscape in Germany, we suggest that a moral economies perspective allows us to examine the production of knowledge infrastructures, scholarly identities, and research outputs that are key in creating a new academic field. By scrutinizing these infrastructures, identities, and outputs, we point to tensions between some of the morally charged claims and the material conditions and labour contexts of doing Reflexive Migration Studies. With our contribution, we want to raise questions regarding the direction that we, as scholars participating in the field, are taking. We see the risk that the critique brought forward in Reflexive Migration Studies falters in light of prevailing economies of scientific knowledge production and academic labour.

How has the COVID-19 pandemic shaped behavior in crowdsourcing? The role of online labor market training

AbstractThe outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated lockdown measures have been a shock to market systems worldwide, affecting both the supply and demand of labor. Intensified by this pandemic-driven recession, online labor markets are in many ways at the core of the economic and policy debates about their technological innovation, which could be used as a way of economic reform and recovery. In this work, we focus on crowdsourcing, which is a specific type of online labor. We apply a unique dataset of labor data to investigate the effects of online training, a policy that was provided to requesters by the platform during the COVID-19 period. Our findings suggest that workers indirectly finance on-the-job online training by accepting lower wages during the pandemic. By utilizing a difference-in-difference research design, we also provide causal evidence that online training results in lower job completion time and the probability of being discontinued. Our findings show that both employers and employees in our online labor context reacted to the pandemic by participating in online labor procedures with different risk strategies and labor approaches. Our findings provide key insights for several groups of crowdsourcing stakeholders, including policy-makers, platform owners, hiring managers, and workers. Managerial and practical implications in relation to how online labor markets react to external shocks are discussed.

Working Time Remedies Beyond Brexit: Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland and Another v Agnew and Others

Abstract On 4 October 2023, the ‘long-anticipated’ judgment in PCC v Agnew was handed down by the Supreme Court. This case concerned claims for holiday pay made by police officers and other civilian staff employed by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). The Supreme Court had to decide two main issues. The first was whether police officers could take advantage of the more generous remedy provisions in respect of holiday pay claims in the Employment Rights Order 1996 (ERO) (which largely corresponds to the UK Employment Rights Act 1996) as opposed to the Working Time Regulations. The second issue was the correct interpretation of the ERO provisions. As well as the important practical implications of the case, there are also interesting jurisprudential issues that arise. The case deals with the interpretation of European Union (EU) derived rights in the labour context. This is a sensitive area, given that access to EU interpretive mechanisms usually equates to a more progressive reading of rights, and this fans the flame of UK government scepticism to both the EU and working time rights. This article discusses the particular approach to statutory interpretation taken by the Supreme Court and the implications of this approach for the progressive interpretation of EU-derived employment rights going forward.

Driving a Driverless Train

The article examines automation and artificial intelligence through the prism of theatrical extras and supernumeraries. Theatrical extras are primarily valued for their aesthetic contributions, including their ability to enrich the mise-en-scène, manipulate lighting, or absorb sound within various visual and auditory landscapes. Drawing a parallel with the supernumeraries of 19th century spectacles, contemporary extras are, in essence, engaged in theatrical art labor. But in a contemporary context of automation, this labor undergoes notable transformation, shifting from the actual execution of tasks to a performative enactment of these tasks, akin to a driver who occupies the role of not driving in an automated vehicle. Automation often transforms work from actually “doing” a job, to performing, or “acting” to do a job, like a driver who is placed in the position of not driving an automated vehicle. At the core of this exploration resides the work of Samuel Beckett, whose oeuvre provides a ground for investigating the implications of posthumanism within the context of contemporary labor and performance. The inherent exhaustion associated with this seemingly labor-less labor arises from the notion that the non-driver within the so-called driverless train merely references labor that was once physically performed.

Expanding the youth discourse: everyday precarity through a young South Korean woman’s autoethnography

ABSTRACT This study expands the youth discourse in South Korea through an autoethnographic account. The concept of precarity is explored through multifaceted attributes such as subjective feelings, subjectification, and daily practices. Through an examination of feminist critiques, which argue that gender is another primary aspect of precarity, this study reflects upon gender blindness in existing research and explains the youth’s anxiety based on modern gender relations. It employs the author’s first-person account to describe and analyse the mechanisms of everyday precarity in the labour context and coping strategies as a young woman. The analysis revealed that everyday precarity operates across generations and genders, beyond class struggles, manifesting in individualized coping strategies. This result asserts how female youth, thus far marginalized subjects, offer a new horizon in youth research.

Developing soft skills in the business classrooms of industrial engineering students in Brazil

PurposeIn today’s highly competitive global business environment, there is a growing demand for professionals who possess well-developed soft skills. Such abilities include flexibility, effective communication and other skills. Soft skills are personal attributes and qualities that are more closely related to the emotional side of human beings. Individuals must cultivate and hone soft skills during their undergraduate studies. These skills, also known as interpersonal or non-technical skills, are essential to complement hard skills and pave the way for a thriving career trajectory. Soft skills are developed over the course of one’s career and are indispensable in establishing a strong, professional presence in the corporate or academic realm. The field of engineering is no exception in this regard, and the business approach during the engineering course is of significant relevance. By acquiring soft skills, engineering graduates will become competitive and adaptable professionals capable of handling the current and future challenges of the job market. The purpose of this study is to investigate the soft skills that students perceive as being better developed during their business classrooms in the engineering course and identify areas for improvement in the business education process.Design/methodology/approachThe research method consisted in four different phases from variables identification to statistical analyses. Then, as part of this approach a structured questionnaire was administered at the end of the engineering course, where students rated their perception of the degree of development of each of the soft skills covered in the course on a scale of zero to ten. The collected data were analysed using multivariate analysis techniques, including factorial analysis.FindingsThe results of the study demonstrate that the set of skills acquired by individuals in business classrooms pursuing a degree in industrial engineering is in high demand by potential employers. Such skills are deemed essential for the successful operation of businesses in modern-day industries. The findings of this research validate the significant role that industrial engineering students play in fulfilling the requirements of the job market and pave the way to meaningful insights on how to approach this topic during the business education process in engineering courses.Practical implicationsThe findings bring about significant insights for national educational councils and ministries, universities and educational stakeholders in the process of updating, rethinking and implementing new curricula criteria in higher education, particularly in the Latin American context.Originality/valueThis paper enriches the literature by assessing the development of soft skills of engineering students in the Latin American context. The research reinforces the importance of developing soft skills aligned with those required for the context of current and future labour markets.

Anthropometric measurements of male and female workers in bipedestation in the Venezuelan industrial direct labor force

In the Venezuelan labor context, there is scarce information associated with anthropometric measurements, due to the existing gaps in the field of ergonomics in Latin America and the Caribbean, of which there are few professionals trained in ergonomics. In this sense, it has affected the proper achievement of anthropometric studies that allow an adequate follow-up in the population in general and more specifically in the labor world. General objective: to measure and determine the anthropometric variables in standing position of Venezuelan workers in order to obtain more results in the field of occupational health. Methods: A quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional, epidemiological and field study was carried out in a Venezuelan population of industrial direct labor workers in standing. The sample consisted of 185 workers (M:131, W:54) in the main industrial areas of the state of Aragua-Venezuela. The measuring instruments used in the investigation were: anthropometric tables for standing measurements, flexible tape measure for perimeter measurements and a wall height meter with a scale for weight measurements. The minitab-17 statistical package was used for the analysis and statistical study. Results: The study group consisted of 185 workers with an age range between 20-59 years; 131 men (70.8%) and 54 women (29.2%). The people evaluated had an average age of 43 years, their height x: 170.08 m, they are workers with 10 to 15 years of work experience, with wear and tear and possible pre-existing diseases, likewise, the female workers have an age x: 40.33 years and their height x: 156.27 cm, as well as the male worker have an average work experience between 10 and 15 years and possible pre-existing diseases. Conclusion: The study provides an approximation of anthropometric measurements in standing position of Venezuelan industrial direct labor workers (MODIV), which will allow the adaptation of workstations

Equal employment opportunity and diversity in restaurant labor: perspectives of restaurant employees and managers in the USA

PurposeThis study was designed to contribute to the extant literature by discovering the perceptions of restaurant employees and managers toward equal opportunities in restaurant labor and working in a diversity-rich restaurant work environment.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative research approach was utilized. Through in-depth interviews, data were collected purposefully from restaurant workers in different positions (e.g. managers, servers, chefs and cooks) in the USA.FindingsAs a result of content analysis, different perspectives emerged on equal employment opportunity and diversity in restaurant labor. While some employees and managers believe that restaurant labor has equal employment opportunities, others think there is a lack of equal employment opportunity and partial equal employment opportunity in the industry. Most participants perceive working in a diversity-rich restaurant work environment as beneficial (an opportunity to learn about different cultures and an opportunity to learn different experiences and approaches).Originality/valueTo the best of our knowledge, this is the first paper to explore employees' and managers' perceptions of equal employment opportunity and diversity in the hospitality labor context, specifically restaurant labor. Therefore, the research findings will create value for scholars to understand the view on equal employment opportunity and diversity in restaurant labor. Further, it will assist practitioners in designing their labor structure regarding equal employment opportunity and diversity management for the future.

Impact of Gender Discrimination on Women's Skill Development in the Workplace in a Northern Region of Peru – 2023

Decades, but with notable advances in access to education and labor participation, challenges remain. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of gender discrimination practices on the development of women's competencies in the labor context in a region of northern Peru in 2023. An online survey was administered to 450 women selected in a nonprobabilistic manner. Results: Six research hypotheses were proposed, three of which were empirically corroborated: Workplace-&gt;Skills (?= -0.019), Skills-&gt; Career (?=0.701), and Employment Level (?= -0.128). Conclusions: Gender discrimination practices at work, on the one hand, have a negative impact on skills development but, in turn, do not affect women's career progression in the workplace; these findings also highlight the importance of fostering skills development in organizations to increase women's career progression in the work context. Finally, this study provides a general framework for the design of policies and strategies that promote equity, reduce discriminatory practices in the workplace, and maximize the potential of the female workforce.&#x0D; &#x0D; Received: 16 December 2023 / Accepted: 16 February 2024 / Published: 5 March 2024

External aspects that stand out in the self-perceived employability of engineering students and recent graduates

The purpose of this study is to analyse the relationship between the self-perceived employability of engineering students and graduates and their employment situation. Methodology: A total of 505 individuals participated in this study, including recent graduates and senior students from five engineering programs at a public higher education institution in Colombia. This research adopted a quantitative methodology with a non-experimental cross-sectional design and a correlational scope. The data were analysed using inferential statistics. Findings: Based on the results, perceived employability considerably depends on four factors: the level of job performance, the number of promotions, work experience, and the education–job relationship. Originality: In the current labour context, employability is an important tool for graduates who are entering the labour market and must face a variety of challenges, such as the decline in work opportunities, the rapid development of technology, and the need for lifelong learning. According to the literature in the field, employability is significantly influenced by these kinds of external factors.

Countering fragmentation, cultivating solidarity: Arizona teacher organizing during the COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT Exploring the interplay between teacher solidarity and fragmentation in Arizona, this paper uses a critical bifocality lens to examine the experiences of six teacher organisers during the pandemic. This qualitative research centres teacher organisers’ experience in an iterative analysis of policy and pandemic context, labour action, and teachers’ discursive sense making. Situating teacher organisers’ experiences in a socio-political history of Arizona's labour context, the paper contends that (1) teacher fragmentation intensified in summer 2020 as a result of the state's uneven response to the pandemic, which undermined certain possibilities for interdistrict action; (2) an embodied sense of mutuality and power that developed through participation in the 2018 Red for Ed movement carried over to teachers’ pandemic organizing; and (3) this embodied sense of power prompted rank and file teachers to engage in militant labour action, some of which compelled reluctant union leaders to embrace a more oppositional approach. The paper considers how teacher movements shape their political and labour landscapes just as they are shaped by them.

Uncovering the Transformative Labor in Black Women's Community Work

Despite efforts by scholars to visibilize Black women's community work, we still lack a framework that captures the nuances in the work arrangements of Black women serving and advocating for their communities. Our paper introduces a new conceptual framework, the Continuum of Transformative and Reproductive Labor (CTRL), to recognize this hidden multiform labor of racialized women. The CTRL places community work that reproduces oppressive social structures on a spectrum opposite what we call transformative labor—labor that disrupts systems of oppression. The CTRL framework distinguishes social reproductive and transformative community work along four dimensions, (1) the type of power each produces, (2) workers’ autonomy and leadership, (3) workers’ motivation, and (4) how the work is valued. We explore the utility of the CTRL framework for analyzing multiple types of community work Black women perform by highlighting historical and contemporary cases in two different labor contexts. Ultimately, we make a key contribution to feminist social work; Recognizing the community as a site of social reproductive labor, we create a new framework to acknowledge Black women's labor in the community as distinct in its capacity to transform social systems by resisting the reproduction of racial and gender inequality.

Becoming Concrete: Materiality and Water Infrastructure in Colonial South Asia

Since the mid-19th century, engineers in colonial South Asia experimented with concrete in building and infrastructural projects as the production of new infrastructures was leading to the genesis of the modern construction industry. In this paper, we analyse the use of concrete in water infrastructures amidst challenges posed by introducing any structure in and under water. For example, piers on the beds of fast flowing rivers altered the behaviour of both the water flow and water beds, which in turn affected the structure itself. In dealing with these uncertainties, the use of concrete vastly varied, unlike the relatively standardized practice today. Through a granular analysis of the construction of infrastructural projects like breakwaters and bridge foundations, from the late 19th to the turn of the 20th century, we analyse how concrete was locally improvized within the constraints of unfamiliar material, hydrological, topographical, and labour contexts in each site. We argue that the basic attributes of concrete technology, from chemical processes to construction processes and structural behaviour, themselves emerged as constraints and the builders resorted to alternative strategies and courses of action in each circumstance. The constant improvisations complicate the narrative of colonial technological circulation between the colonies and the West. We conclude that the material particularities of concrete made its translation across South Asian building projects improvisational, diverse, and localized.

Work Identity and Career Perspectives in Flexible Labour Contexts

"Work inclusion is among the main targets of any sustainable long-term strategy, implemented at European level through three main directions: a better inclusion of young people on the labour market, reintegration of the chronic ill persons and retention for longer periods of the elder ones by increasing the retirement age. The Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, as other previous crisis also did, brought interruptions regarding the labour market and accelerated some already existing trends, sometimes increasing gaps. Both the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the European Union drew attention on the increasing risks the new generation is facing when struggling to enter the labour market in an insecure context. Considering this given framework, the present paper aims to shed light on the integration of the young people into work, resorting to concepts such as work identity, career construction, job insecurity and flexibility. Furthermore, the theoretical approach is enriched with the analysis of data issued by the statistical bureau of the European Union (Eurostat) regarding the participation of young people in education and on the labour market."

Surviving Violence, Ambiguity and Oneself: The Experience of Child Protection Workers in Chile

Abstract The challenges of contemporary child welfare practice are well documented in many countries worldwide. The current study enhances this work by reporting the lived experiences of child welfare workers in Chile, who negotiate their practice in a strained political and organisational context. A qualitative methodology was used to understand the complexities of the survival strategies of these workers. Data were collected via multiple individual interviews and group workshop sessions with six workers of different Chilean National Service for Minors’ collaborating organisations. Through a constructivist grounded theory analysis, we identify three major complexities that shape and construct the strategies of survival that the Chilean child welfare workers deploy in a neo-liberalised labour context: (1) Surviving a violent labour context (precariousness and dehumanisation); (2) surviving labour ambiguities (fractures and resistance) and (3) surviving oneself (pain-filled and violence executors’ bodies). We discuss these findings in the context of the scholarly literature and offer implications for policy and macro practice to alter the work conditions of this professional field.