Like-minded Peers Research Articles

Building a virtual community of practice for medical students: The Global Emergency Medicine Student Leadership Program.

Virtual communities of practice (VCoPs) facilitate distance learning and mentorship by engaging members around shared knowledge and experiences related to a central interest. The American College of Emergency Physicians and Emergency Medicine Residents’ Association's Global Emergency Medicine Student Leadership Program (GEM‐SLP) provides a valuable model for building a VCoP for GEM and other niche areas of interest. This VCoP facilitates opportunities for experts and mentees affiliated with these national organizations to convene regularly despite barriers attributed to physical distance. The GEM‐SLP VCoP is built around multiple forms of mentorship, monthly mentee‐driven didactics, academic projects, and continued engagement of program graduates in VCoP leadership. GEM‐SLP fosters relationships through (1) themed mentoring calls (career paths, work/life balance, etc); (2) functional mentorship through didactics and academic projects; and (3) near‐peer mentoring, provided by mentors near the mentees’ stage of education and experience. Monthly mentee‐driven didactics focus on introducing essential GEM principles while (1) critically analyzing literature based on a journal article; (2) building a core knowledge base from a foundational textbook; (3) applying knowledge and research to a project proposal; and (4) gaining exposure to training and career opportunities via mentor career presentations. Group academic projects provide a true GEM apprenticeship as mentees and mentors work collaboratively. GEM‐SLP mentees found the VCoP beneficial in building fundamental GEM skills and knowledge and forming relationships with mentors and like‐minded peers. GEM‐SLP provides a framework for developing mentorship programs and VCoPs in emergency medicine, especially when niche interests or geographic distance necessitate a virtual format.

Impact of Professional and Scientific Societies’ Student Chapters on the Development of Underrepresented Undergraduate Students

Undergraduate students from historically underrepresented groups (URG) in institutions of higher education with a focus on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) careers often lack the support, resources, and community necessary to succeed in their desired fields. Through mentoring, webinars, seminars, and various research presentation opportunities, national societies and “locally-based” institutional student chapters provide atmospheres in which URG undergraduates can develop the skills required for academic and professional careers in STEM. In addition, national societies and student chapters contribute to outreach activities aimed towards the public in order to foster interest in STEM, as well as to primary and secondary school students to help them develop competency in skills and areas that lead to successful STEM careers. While many of these societies have operated for decades, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic proved to be an unexpected roadblock, creating difficulties in terms of maintaining community dynamics and overcoming limits on in-person meetings. Though the conditions were challenging, they allowed for new perspectives on problem-solving in the face of adversity. The pandemic promoted the development of creative ways by which institutions and national societies could continue to educate students virtually. In this review, we discuss the role of national societies and student chapters in providing URG students with resources and skills to succeed in STEM fields while incorporating them into a community of like-minded peers with similar experiences.

Ressentiment: A Complex Emotion or an Emotional Mechanism of Psychic Defences?

<em>Ressentiment </em>is central for understanding the psychological foundations of reactionary politics, right-wing populism, Islamic fundamentalism, and radicalism. In this article we theorise <em>ressentiment </em>as an emotional mechanism which, reinforcing a morally superior sense of victimhood, expedites two parallel transvaluation processes: What was once desired or valued, yet unattainable, is reassessed as something undesirable and rotten, and one’s own self from being inferior, a loser, is reassessed as being noble and superior. We establish negative emotions of envy, shame, and inefficacious anger as the main triggers of <em>ressentiment</em>, with their associated feelings of inferiority and impotence, which target the vulnerable self. We identify the outcomes of <em>ressentiment </em>as other-directed negative emotions of resentment, indignation, and hatred, reinforced and validated by social sharing. We map the psychological structure of <em>ressentiment </em>in four stages, each employing idiosyncratic defences that depend on the ego-strength of the individual to deliver the transvaluation of the self and its values, and finally detail how social sharing consolidates the outcome emotions, values, and identities in <em>ressentiment</em> through shallow twinship bonds with like-minded peers. Our interdisciplinary theoretical account integrates classic philosophical scholarship of <em>ressentiment</em> and its contemporary proponents in philosophy and sociology, which highlight envy as the prime driver of <em>ressentiment</em>; it also considers the sociological approaches that focus on the repression and transmutation of shame and its social consequences, as well as the psychoanalytic scholarship on psychic defences and political psychology models on the emotionality of decision-making. We conclude the article by elaborating the political implications of <em>ressentiment</em> as the emotional mechanism of grievance politics.

Divided They Tweet: The Network Structure of Political Microbloggers and Discussion Topics

In the context of a national election, this study explores more than 69,000 Twitter messages containing mentions of political parties and about 2,500 related user profiles to investigate the network structure of political microbloggers with respect to, first, their party preference and, second, the topics they discuss. We find that political microbloggers tend to follow like-minded peers. Microbloggers in a cohesive group tend to have the same political preferences. In addition, we conduct a content analysis of the political debate on Twitter to explore which topics and politicians are discussed and whether this debate reflects an ideological divide among participating users. While there are some discussion topics that are dominated by politically like-minded microbloggers, the majority of topics is discussed by a diverse group of microbloggers with various political preferences.

Transnational identification processes: An association of young business leaders

This article raises the question of how organisational identification emerges at distance and across cultural contexts. The question is explored in an empirical study of identification processes among Moroccan members of an international association that assemble young leaders and entrepreneurs in small- and medium sized companies. On the basis of a narrative analysis of interviews, observations, and documents, the article illustrates two mutually reinforcing identification processes: One is based on face-to-face social interaction with likeminded peers locally; another is imaginary in the sense that the Moroccan members envision members in other countries to be like themselves and what they aspire to become. This contributes to crosscultural management literature in three ways: first, the study adopts a transnational lens that shows the need to go beyond a national perspective and to explore identification at the intersection between the global and local; second, the study draws on concepts of imagined community (Anderson, 1983) and community of sentiments (Appadurai, 1996) to conceptualise the imaginary part of the identification processes, which transcends locality. Third, the study contributes methodologically by showing how the distinction between translocal and local narratives allows to analyse the interplay between an imagined transnational community and a local face-to-face community.

Are Australian rural clinical school students' career choices influenced by perceived opinions of primary care? Evidence from the national Federation of Rural Australian Medical Educators survey.

To investigate whether perceived opinions of primary care are associated with student career preferences after graduation among a rural clinical school cohort and whether the preferred location of practice moderates these relationships. Cross-sectional study using data from the national Federation of Rural Australian Medical Educators survey. Medical students across 18 Australian universities who completed a clinical year in a rural setting in 2019. Career preference in primary care after graduation. The survey was completed by 624 students (response rate=69.9%). A preference for primary care was reported by 35.5% (95% CI: 29.4-42.0) of students and was more likely among those age 30+years, with a rural background, or preferring to practise rurally after graduation. Students reported that primary care was more commonly respected by medical academics (66.8%) than peers (24.0%) or junior/hospital doctors (24.0%). In adjusted analysis, none of the perceived opinions were associated with student career preferences. However, among students aiming to work in small rural locations, a career in primary care was associated with more frequent reports that peers had poor opinions of primary care (P=.004). Rural clinical school students perceive negative opinions of primary care, particularly among peers and junior/hospital doctors. Students aiming to work in small towns after graduation are more likely to report negative opinions among their peers, suggesting they may be more attuned to negative attitudes. This points to the need for a community of practice of like-minded peers and clinicians to preserve the career interest of these students.

I skuggan av kulturellt kapital – om konsten att omforma habitus för skolframgång

This article focuses on how high-achieving Swedish upper secondary students from families with low educational capital manage to transform their cultural capital and habitus to embark on a successful educational career. The analytical framework of the study is based on Bourdieu’s understanding of cultural capital and habitus. The data analyzed are based on interviews with 23 upper secondary students. Their success is based on a combination of a caring home environment and seeing both trustfully teachers, and like-minded peers as resources for their educational success, together with an awareness that good grades equal desirable position on the labour market.

Moonshot: Redesigning NASA’s High School Aerospace Scholars Experience at Johnson Space Center for Online Delivery

Moonshot is the redesign of NASA’s High School Aerospace Scholars (HAS), which traditionally engaged Texas high school juniors in a 16-week online course for credit and an intense week-long onsite experience working in teams with experts at NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC). Due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), our challenge was to design, develop, and deliver an online virtual experience to replace the all-expenses-paid six-day residential summer experience at JSC where HAS participants traditionally work with like-minded peers and NASA experts on authentic design challenges.

The echo chamber effect on social media.

Social media may limit the exposure to diverse perspectives and favor the formation of groups of like-minded users framing and reinforcing a shared narrative, that is, echo chambers. However, the interaction paradigms among users and feed algorithms greatly vary across social media platforms. This paper explores the key differences between the main social media platforms and how they are likely to influence information spreading and echo chambers' formation. We perform a comparative analysis of more than 100 million pieces of content concerning several controversial topics (e.g., gun control, vaccination, abortion) from Gab, Facebook, Reddit, and Twitter. We quantify echo chambers over social media by two main ingredients: 1) homophily in the interaction networks and 2) bias in the information diffusion toward like-minded peers. Our results show that the aggregation of users in homophilic clusters dominate online interactions on Facebook and Twitter. We conclude the paper by directly comparing news consumption on Facebook and Reddit, finding higher segregation on Facebook.

No echo in the chambers of political interactions on Reddit

Echo chambers in online social networks, whereby users’ beliefs are reinforced by interactions with like-minded peers and insulation from others’ points of view, have been decried as a cause of political polarization. Here, we investigate their role in the debate around the 2016 US elections on Reddit, a fundamental platform for the success of Donald Trump. We identify Trump vs Clinton supporters and reconstruct their political interaction network. We observe a preference for cross-cutting political interactions between the two communities rather than within-group interactions, thus contradicting the echo chamber narrative. Furthermore, these interactions are asymmetrical: Clinton supporters are particularly eager to answer comments by Trump supporters. Beside asymmetric heterophily, users show assortative behavior for activity, and disassortative, asymmetric behavior for popularity. Our findings are tested against a null model of random interactions, by using two different approaches: a network rewiring which preserves the activity of nodes, and a logit regression which takes into account possible confounding factors. Finally, we explore possible socio-demographic implications. Users show a tendency for geographical homophily and a small positive correlation between cross-interactions and voter abstention. Our findings shed light on public opinion formation on social media, calling for a better understanding of the social dynamics at play in this context.

High-ability students in pull-out programs and regular classes: A longitudinal study on perceived social relationships in two settings

Although there is wide support for the academic benefits of pull-out programs aimed at high-ability students, it remains unclear how attending these programs is associated with social outcomes. This one-year, three-wave longitudinal study examined the perceived social relationships with teachers and peers of 245 high-ability students in both their pull-out programs and regular classes and included 429 regular students as a reference group. Results of latent growth curve analyses revealed that high-ability students perceived their relationships with regular peers and teachers as equally positive as regular students. Furthermore, high-ability students initially perceived their relationships in their regular class and pull-out program as equally positive, but as the school year progressed, perceived relationships with peers developed slightly more negatively in their regular class. Overall, the findings raise the question whether or not high-ability students actually have a commonly shared need for interaction with like-minded peers and specialized teachers in a special program to experience positive social relationships. Furthermore, the findings suggest that it is important to consider not only the academic benefits, but also the potential social effects in both the regular class and the pull-out program, when selecting students for pull-out programs.

Social media literacy in L2 environments: navigating anonymous user-generated content

Online participatory cultures (e.g. social media) present a number of opportunities and challenges for language learners. Learners can collaborate with like-minded peers in online affinity spaces or get crowd-sourced information from the locals of a target culture, but they also run the risk of getting lost in the overwhelming amount of noise and disruption in these ‘wild’ environments. This proliferation of user-generated content requires new forms of information literacy, so that everyone has equal access and ability to participate in modern social environments. English language learners (ELLs) may require extra training in using English-based social media effectively, but to date little research has examined this area. This study investigated the characteristics and trends of ELLs' use of social media, how language abilities and previous social media experience affect ELLs' perceptions of anonymous user-generated content in an online discussion website (Reddit), and the strategies learners use to overcome the challenges they encounter in these online environments. The results indicate the importance of adding a sociocultural pragmatics component into the framework of social media literacy and were used to inform recommendations for future social media training programs.

Critical Black women educators: Resisting the racial and ideological marginality of K–12 teaching through critical professional development

ABSTRACT Black women educators are severely underrepresented and make up just 5% of US public school teachers. For critical Black women educators working in the hostile racial climates of schools, the ideological marginalization compounds the intersectional racial and gendered alienation they feel. In this article, we theorize the racialization critical Black women educators experience even working in schools that serve communities of Color as they work to disrupt the status quo, challenge racism, and serve students of Color. Through key cases of Black women educators, we describe how critical professional development spaces address these forms of isolation and support their personal and professional wellbeing. We specifically answer what they gain from having access to networks of like-minded peers as they navigate working within institutions fraught with racism. This paper ends with recommendations for developing, retaining, and supporting a teaching force inclusive of critical Black women.

Victimization of children with disabilities: coping strategies and protective factors

Students with disabilities are frequently victimized or marginalized at school. However, little is known from the perspective of youth with disabilities about their experiences of victimization, coping, and protection. The current study examined experiences of school victimization and identified factors that reduced victimization, created a welcoming environment, or improved coping. Based on ten in-depth interviews, five themes emerged: victimization specific to disability was common; some schools were the source of victimization; support from educators, family, and peers reduced victimization; blending with classmates and educating peers helped to overcome victimization; and some disability characteristics limited the strategies to cope with victimization. Both peers and schools were the source of victimization in some situations and the source of coping in others. Findings reinforce the importance of family, peers, and school support to prevent victimization, as aggression is less likely to occur in environments that embrace diversity and support children with disabilities. Points of Interest In this study, we heard from students in the United States living with a disability about how that disability shaped their friendships, relationships with family, and relationships with school personnel. Youth with disabilities experienced physical (e.g., hitting or punching), verbal (e.g., name-calling), and relational victimization (e.g., spreading rumors or leaving someone out of a group on purpose); much of it was specific to their disability. The support from family, peers, and school staff was important to protect youth with a disability from bullying and to help them cope with victimization. Youth experienced protection and support from participating in disability-specific summer camps, attending schools with like-minded peers (e.g., art school), and educating peers and school staff about their disability. Participants described significant difficulty getting the disability-related accommodations (e.g., wheelchair-accessible school bus, permission to carry blood glucose meter at school) they needed at school, which are required by law in the United States. This difficulty getting accommodations lead to feelings of victimization from school staff.

Tax evasion and tax morale: A social network analysis

We study the effects of tax morale and social norms on tax evasion when individuals interact in a network. We present a model that incorporates incentives for tax compliance in the form of punishment and fines, tax morale, and reputation for social behaviour. We assume that individuals adjust their tax morale by observing the neighbours' tax morale. We simulate the model for different values of the parameters and show that the steady-state share of taxpayers as opposed to tax-evaders is affected by the probability of finding like-minded peers in the reference group (network integration), the weight that individuals attribute to reputation, and the share of individuals who update their tax morale. Last, we consider the possibility of a fiscal authority using the knowledge of the network structure and targeting ‘central’ individuals. We show that by positively affecting the tax morale of individuals whose influence within the network is high, a fiscal authority can increase tax compliance.

Academic blogging

Academic blogs have become increasingly important as a means of disseminating research and attracting wider non-academic audiences or like-minded peers to new areas of scholarly activity. The heterogeneity and unfamiliarity of the audience means that writers need to present information in perhaps unfamiliar ways, creating interest and encouraging readers to engage with the topics. In this paper, we explore academics’ perceptions of this challenge and particularly how they go about establishing a relationship which will hook and then persuade these new readers. Based on semi-structured interviews with 22 UK academics from a variety of disciplines, we explore the perceptions and practices of writers and how these differ from when they are engaged in writing research papers. We also compare their perceptions with academics who routinely read blogs as part of their scholarly work. The results show key ways in which writers go about interacting with readers and how they seek to draw them into the text through a range of rhetorical devices. We also observe that these rhetorical practices exhibit features of both academic and disciplinary conventions, suggesting that academic blogs are very much an academic genre

Anxiety Gremlins: mixed methods sequential explanatory evaluation of a CBT group intervention for children

Abstract Although research evidence supports the efficacy of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for anxiety in children, it is important to examine practice-based evidence of effectiveness in typical clinical contexts. This study evaluated a CBT group intervention – ‘Anxiety Gremlins’ – for childhood anxiety. Participants were 36 children (19 boys, 17 girls) aged 8–13, referred for anxiety symptoms at a UK NHS service. The 8-session intervention included six child sessions (2 h) and two parent sessions (1 h). Self-report outcome measures of anxiety symptoms, life functioning and therapeutic relationships were used to measure change pre- and post-intervention. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with group facilitators and analysed through deductive content analysis to identify barriers and facilitators to change. No substantive differences were found between aggregated scores on pre- versus post-intervention outcome measures. Reliable change in anxiety symptoms was identified in 10 children (31%), with five improvers and five deteriorators. Interviews with facilitators identified disruption in group flow, lack of facilitator time to prepare and reflect, and the complexity of clients as hindering factors. Children meeting like-minded peers to share their stories and high engagement in the therapeutic process were helpful factors. Anxiety Gremlins did not demonstrate effectiveness on outcome measures, and this contrasted with clinical opinion. Recommendations were made for the service to revisit the intervention content and the method for recruiting children to the group – as complexity/co-morbidity was linked to poorer outcomes. Future research could explore fidelity to an adapted intervention and include interviews with children and their parents. Key learning aims After reading this paper the reader should be able to: (1) Understand how instances of CBT practice can be robustly evaluated using a mixed-methods approach, including analyses of change at both group and individual levels. (2) Understand critical considerations when adapting ‘evidence-based’ CBT interventions for routine practice. (3) Appreciate that aggregative group-level analyses can mask clinically important differences in individual CBT outcomes.

‘It’s So Hard Not to be Funny in This Situation’: Memes and Humor in U.S. Youth Online Political Expression

In light of the promise of humorous political memes as popular routes to citizen empowerment as well as concerns over their potential dangers, it is necessary to examine how everyday citizens make sense of their role in political expression and how they engage with them—or not—in their everyday social media activities. This focus group study explores these questions by focusing on the digital practices of U.S. young adults. The findings suggest a range of benefits of posting political memes and humor online, including building solidarity with likeminded peers and reinforcing communal identity, as well as advancing accessible and influential political critiques. However, these positive assessments are complicated by concerns over the relationship between political meme humor and threats of trivialization and hyper-polarization, which limit some users from participating in its circulation and lead them to seek alternative modes of online engagement that are perceived as more civically valuable.

HFE in Diversity, Inclusion and Social Justice: A Practical Primer

The HFES Diversity Committee is entering its third year following many years existing as a task force. We have built a series of annual meeting content over the past years, with panels introducing the task force and then the committee; last year, we shifted focus to highlight examples of HFE research advancing diversity, inclusion and social justice. We continue to build off of previous years’ sessions – last year concluded with several questions seeking practical, concrete advice and suggestions to advance DISJ through HFE research and within the society. Therefore, this year we present an alternative format session that will function as a group of mini-workshops: two focused on research, one on broadening participation in HFE and one of inclusive excellence within HFE training and education. Session participants will develop “how to” knowledge and leave with a network of likeminded peers, colleagues and potential collaborators.

Hit in the Heart of Life: How Meeting Like-Minded Peers May Contribute to Psychosocial Recovery of Adolescents and Young Adults With Acquired Brain Injury.

Adolescents and young adults are often in a particularly vulnerable position following acquired brain injury (ABI). In addition to neurological and cognitive impairment, they are faced with issues concerning education, job, family, and social life. Moreover, they may be limited in meeting peers and may be left alone with psychosocial issues. This paper investigates how this patient group may benefit from meeting like-minded peers. From information gathered through a questionnaire and interviews with participants in a peer support group, the study aimed to investigate the social and psychological advances such a group can offer, and how this may contribute to psychosocial recovery following ABI. Also, the paper indicates how peer support groups may possibly have an impact on the everyday lives of adolescents and young adults with ABI.