National Diversity Research Articles

Conceptualisations of mental illness and stigma in Congolese, Arabic-speaking and Mandarin-speaking communities: a qualitative study

BackgroundAustralia is an ethnically diverse nation. Research has demonstrated an elevated risk of developing a mental illness in culturally and linguistically diverse (CaLD) communities yet uptake of mental health services is low. To improve mental health treatment seeking and outcomes for CaLD individuals in Australia there is an urgent need to deeply understand barriers to treatment such as stigma. Using an exploratory qualitative approach, the aim of the study was to explore how CaLD communities’ conceptualise and interpret mental illness and associated beliefs and experiences of stigma.MethodsThe study focused on three key CaLD groups: the Congolese, Arabic-speaking and Mandarin-speaking communities residing in Sydney, Australia. A series of eight focus group discussions (n = 51) and 26 key informant interviews were undertaken online using Zoom during the period of November to December 2021. Focus group discussions and key informant interviews were digitally recorded, transcribed, and analysed using NVivo software.ResultsThree major themes were identified. The first theme related to mental illness terminology used in the three communities. Despite variation in the terms used to refer to ‘mental illness’ all three communities generally distinguished between ‘mental illness’, a more severe condition and ‘mental health problems’, considered to arise due to stressors. The second theme centred on beliefs about mental illness; with all three communities identifying migration-related stressors as contributing to mental illness. Culturally related beliefs were noted for the Congolese participants with the perception of a link between mental illness and supernatural factors, whereas Mandarin-speaking participants highlighted lack of inter and intrapersonal harmony and failure to adhere to values such as filial piety as contributing to mental illness. The final theme related to mental illness related stigma and the various ways it manifested in the three communities including presence of collectivist public stigma felt across all three groups and affiliate (family) stigma reported by the Arabic and Mandarin-speaking groups.ConclusionsWe found rich diversity in how these communities view and respond to mental illness. Our findings provide some possible insights on both service provision and the mental health system with a view to building effective engagement and pathways to care.

Board diversity as strategic choice and why it should matter to SMEs

PurposeDiversity in boards has gained attention as a reflection of societal imbalances. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of diversity in terms of both gender and nationality in management boards of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) on firm performance from an upper echelons perspective. The authors also examine how board-specific characteristics influence the structural makeup of boards in gender and nationality diversity terms.Design/methodology/approachThe authors focus on the UK because of its individualistic society and flexible labour market and assess 309 SMEs in the manufacturing industry over 2009–2019. A 3-stage least squares (3SLS) estimator is used to analyse the data, the Shannon index to measure board diversity, return on assets as proxy for firm performance, and owner-manager presence, board member age and tenure are the board-specific characteristics of primary interest.FindingsBoth gender and nationality diversity contribute to firm performance and represent distinct upper echelon characteristics that change the cognitive and psychological dynamics of boards. Firms with larger boards do not perform better, but diverse boards reduce the narrowing view of CEOs. Yet the presence of owner-managers, despite their performance-enhancing contribution, holds firms back from benefitting from diversity as a strategic choice.Originality/valueThis study extends the upper echelons theory to include board diversity as an important aspect that should become more central in upper echelon thinking when understanding firm performance. The authors’ findings suggest that theoretical developments in search of understanding firm behaviour must proceed by accounting for diversity and not simply focusing on decision-making styles.

The US Department of Veterans Affairs Science and Health Initiative to Combat Infectious and Emerging Life-Threatening Diseases (VA SHIELD): A Biorepository Addressing National Health Threats.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has demonstrated the need to share data and biospecimens broadly to optimize clinical outcomes for US military Veterans. In response, the Veterans Health Administration established VA SHIELD (Science and Health Initiative to Combat Infectious and Emerging Life-threatening Diseases), a comprehensive biorepository of specimens and clinical data from affected Veterans to advance research and public health surveillance and to improve diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities. VA SHIELD now comprises 12 sites collecting de-identified biospecimens from US Veterans affected by SARS-CoV-2. In addition, 2 biorepository sites, a data processing center, and a coordinating center have been established under the direction of the Veterans Affairs Office of Research and Development. Phase 1 of VA SHIELD comprises 34 157 samples. Of these, 83.8% had positive tests for SARS-CoV-2, with the remainder serving as contemporaneous controls. The samples include nasopharyngeal swabs (57.9%), plasma (27.9%), and sera (12.5%). The associated clinical and demographic information available permits the evaluation of biological data in the context of patient demographics, clinical experience and management, vaccinations, and comorbidities. VA SHIELD is representative of US national diversity with a significant potential to impact national healthcare. VA SHIELD will support future projects designed to better understand SARS-CoV-2 and other emergent healthcare crises. To the extent possible, VA SHIELD will facilitate the discovery of diagnostics and therapeutics intended to diminish COVID-19 morbidity and mortality and to reduce the impact of new emerging threats to the health of US Veterans and populations worldwide.

Double-Minority: More on How Intersectional Identities Impact Health Care.

To the Editor: We thank Turpin and colleagues 1 for bringing attention to the influence of intersectional race/ethnic and sexual minority status on health care access and satisfaction. So often health care professionals focus on these social identities as isolated variables and miss the reality of the patient experience. Turpin and colleagues’ article expands on the traditional lens of diversity and focuses on the intersectional perspective. We would like the authors to expand on the article’s findings and discussion. Their article finds that patients who identify as both a racial and sexual minority face greater barriers to health care access compared with their non-Hispanic White heterosexual counterparts even after adjusting for sociodemographic factors. The authors suggest that while racial barriers to health care are primarily driven by socioeconomic factors, for sexual minorities, these barriers may have a different root cause. Turpin and colleagues’ overall findings in this study are significant to clinical practice as they highlight an area in which health care can take direct action in improving patient satisfaction and access. Although this article brings forward a novel understanding of how intersectionality is affecting our patients, it does not answer why barriers to health care access are greatest among those with overlapping identities as racial/ethnic and sexual minorities. Perhaps the authors can use their large dataset to deepen the understanding of specific causative factors for the barriers these patients face, thus allowing for more targeted meaningful interventions in health care. In their discussion, Turpin and colleagues recommend incorporating intersectional frameworks in training activities for health care professionals and placing a greater emphasis on understanding the context of minority experiences. Their discussion should also consider the importance of visibility, recruitment, and retention of sexual minorities within academic medicine as a primary means of fostering the culturally competent care the authors refer to in this article. Medical educators have used this recruitment model to increase racial/ethnic diversity throughout the medical training process. Further diversifying the workforce is considered a driving force for creating a medical community prepared to take care of an increasingly diverse nation. However, medicine often fails to consider the increasing sexual and gender diversity in the United States when implementing these diversity efforts.

Revisiting key debates in the study of nationalism

The purpose of this article is to lay out the debates and arguments around three key broader issues that dominate nationalism studies: (a) the meaning of a nation and nationalism and the relationship between political and cultural nationalism; (b) the origins and character of nations and nationalism; and (c) the civic-ethnic dichotomy and the relationship between nationalism and liberalism. It does not aim to provide definitive answers to the complex problems associated with nations and nationalism but rather to provide an overview of these debates by examining the existing literature on nations and nationalism. The final section discusses the position of new approaches to nations and nationalism and how they have problematised the key assumptions of the mainstream understanding of nationalism. The article, in light of an overview of the literature, draws four important conclusions. First, the academic journey of nationalism has reached a stage where the current consensus is that nations are socially constructed and historically contingent phenomena, and the current focus of the scholarship is on looking at the intersection between the cultural and political aspects of nationalism. Second, nations and nationalism possess a multifaceted character with particularity, subjectivity, and relativity as their defining features, representing that a single, universal explanation of nationalism is neither feasible nor morally desirable. Third, to understand the multiplicity and diversity of nations and nationalism and the ways in which elements of this multidimensionality intersect, it is necessary to treat them as open-ended, unstable, dispersed, protean, particular, and contingent phenomena. Finally, deep contestation constitutes a source of power and strength for nations and nationalism.

Learning through exploitative and exploratory overseas R&D: impacts on EMNEs' innovation performance

PurposeThis study aims to examine whether exploitative and exploratory overseas R&D have independent and significant effects on emerging economy multinational enterprises' (EMNEs’) innovation performance and whether top management team (TMT) nationality diversity and openness have a moderating effect on these relationships.Design/methodology/approachThis study analyzes data collected from Chinese-listed manufacturing enterprises for 2007 to 2018.FindingsEmpirical results show that both exploitative and exploratory overseas R&D can help improve EMNEs' innovation performance. The authors further find that TMT nationality diversity and TMT openness strengthen the aforementioned relationships.Originality/valueThis study presents the first empirical evidence showing whether and when exploitative and exploratory overseas R&D have independent and heterogeneous effects on EMNEs' innovation performance.

The genesis of the European Parliament and its transformation to supra statehood

The article examines the European Union as a unique association of European countries, which was created as an organizational form for political, economic and social cooperation between member countries, candidates for membership and partner countries that are not part of the union. The European Union symbolizes the diversity of nations and European cultures and aims to achieve peace and prosperity. Independent countries united for the sake of a common goal and sacrificed part of their sovereignty in order to become economically stronger, so it is not surprising that the official motto of the union is "unity in diversity".
 The article pays special attention to the nature of the European Union, because de facto it is an international entity, it combines such features as supra-statehood and inter-statehood, but de jure it is neither one nor the other. The structure of the European Union includes institutions whose tasks are to realize the goals of this union, to serve its interests and the interests of its citizens, as well as to ensure the consistency and effectiveness of its policies. At the beginning of its creation, the European Union consisted of six countries and had a completely different name, namely the European Coal and Steel Association. Gradually, the subjects of this entity are deepening economic integration and creating a single market, we can also see that successively, partial management functions are moving to the supranational level and the number of future participants of the union is increasing. The evolution of the union takes place for the sake of economic development, through the opening of markets, which leads to an increase in production and, as a result, new working cities are created. With an increase in imports, competition increases and prices decrease and the quality of goods increases [1, р. 1].
 This scientific work examines the formation of the legislative institution of the European Union, analyzes the cooperation of the European Parliament with other leading institutions, and also examines the regulatory and legal framework that influenced the transformation and reveals the nature of the European Parliament.

The Social Digital Twin:The Social Turn in the Field of Smart Cities

Complexity theory has become a conceptual framework and a source of inspiration for Smart City initiatives. In addition to many other conceptions, the Urban Digital Twin (UDT) became both a concept and a tool for generating the revolutionary act of data-driven 3D city modeling. Indeed, the UDT has increased the ability of planners to make decisions vis-à-vis data-driven city models; at the same time, however, it has attracted criticism because of its focus on the physical dimensions of cities. In facing these challenges, we seek to join the conceptual and practical efforts to generate a social turn in the field of Smart Cities and urban innovation. Creating a UDT with a social focus, we maintain, is not only a 1:1 translation of the built environment into the social realm, but also demands interdisciplinary knowledge from the fields of sociology, anthropology, planning, and ethics studies. This article makes theoretical and methodological contributions. Theoretically, it discusses the potential contribution of the Social Urban Digital Twin (SUDT) to the theory of urbanism, enabling us to represent the physical and the social environments as a single fabric. Methodologically, it enhances the know-how of the City Analytics research community by advancing a six-phase protocol for developing SUDTs, each phase of which integrates technological conceptions and social-theoretical content. The phases of the SUDT protocol are demonstrated using a specific case study: the experience of elderly residents of the Haifa neighborhood of Hadar—a low-income neighborhood in Israel characterized by ethnic and national diversity—during the Coronavirus pandemic. We conclude by discussing the contributions and limitations of the SUDT.

Walking in two worlds with type 2 diabetes: a scoping review of prevention and management practices incorporating traditional indigenous approaches

ABSTRACT Type 2 diabetes is a complex chronic disease rapidly increasing among young people and disproportionately impacting Indigenous youth. Treatment programs are often inadequate for this population as they lack cultural relevance. A scoping review was conducted to explore traditional Indigenous approaches for diabetes prevention and management, to inform a program aimed at supporting Indigenous youth and families with type 2 diabetes. We seek to answer the following question: “Which traditional medicines and practices have been incorporated into intervention or prevention strategies for Indigenous people living with diabetes?” Search was done June 2021 using Ovid Medline, ESBCO and ProQuest databases. Terms included wellbeing, intervention, diabetes, and traditional approaches. Of the 2138 titles screened, 34 met inclusion criteria. Three studies integrated traditional Indigenous approaches into Western-based intervention programming. Content included traditional food and nutrition programs, gardening programs, Elder knowledge sharing, story telling, talking circles, feasting, prayer, traditional dancing, hunting, and school-based wellness curricula. Many were wholistic, co-created with community, Indigenous-led and held in accessible community spaces. The heterogeneity in approaches reflects the diversity of Indigenous nations and communities. This review identifies important elements to include in culturally relevant programs to address diabetes-related wellness.

Establishing a National Emergency Medical Team (EMT) in Papua New Guinea (PNG)

Background/Introduction:Papua New Guinea (PNG) is a Pacific nation of over nine million. It is one of the world’s most diverse nations, with over 800 languages and geographic diversity that includes both tropical islands and highland mountains. Located on the Pacific “ring of fire,” PNG is regularly struck by disasters and outbreaks. The COVID-19 pandemic triggered multiple deployments of international EMTs to PNG, which were coordinated through a national EMT Coordination Cell. To strengthen rapid, national response to future emergencies, the PNG Government through its National Department of Health is now developing the “PNG EMT.”Objectives:To describe the development of the PNG EMT.Method/Description:PNG’s national EMT development was inspired by multiple international EMT deployments, including the 2018 Highlands earthquake and multiple COVID-19 deployments. With support from WHO, PNG’s National Department of Health led EMT coordination efforts in those responses, and recognized the need for similar capabilities to be developed for national response.Results/Outcomes:To develop the PNG EMT, a focal point was appointed, a national technical working group was formed, and SOPs have been drafted with support from WHO and partners. In consultation with PNG and other Pacific EMTs, WHO is procuring a tailored Pacific EMT cache, including items specifically selected for PNG’s diverse geographic and climactic environments. PNG plans to train team members and be ready for self-sufficient national deployments by late 2022.Conclusion:PNG is strengthening readiness for future emergencies by developing a national EMT capable of rapid response to challenging and austere post-disaster environments.

Pendidikan Multikultural di Lembaga Pendidikan Islam

Indonesia is a diverse nation with various ethnicities, languages, traditions, and social classes, even in the religious aspect. The fact is that Indonesians have problems figuring out how to manage multikulturalism to minimize conflict caused by the term "difference". One of the strategic plans to instil multikultural values is to implement it through an educational process that teaches multikultural and human rights. The purpose of this research is to describe multikultural education in Islamic institutions. This research uses a descriptive qualitative method, which is located at Madrasah Ibtidaiyah Al-Ichsan Surabaya, collecting data through observation, interviews, and documentation. Data analysis in this research is from data collection and conclusions. The result of this research indicates that there is awareness of the existence of multikultural education, a curriculum with a multikultural perspective, and madrasa culture to appreciate differences. Multikultural education is implemented in the classroom and through outdoor education with various activities that emphasize teamwork. The impact of multikultural education on students is the realization of students' daily habits that show multikultural appreciation, live in harmony, and can minimize various conflicts between students. Keywords: Education, Multikultural, Islamic Educational Institutions

Organisational capabilities for successful digital transformation: a global analysis of national football associations in the digital age

PurposeThe aim of this study is to identify organisational capabilities (OC) for a successful digital transformation (DT) and associated structures of internal teams to orchestrate and support DT.Design/methodology/approachAn explorative, qualitative study, comprising semi-structured interviews with 82 executives from 43 diverse National Football Associations (NFA) spread across five continents was conducted.FindingsThe results show that organisational culture, strategic sensitivity, up-to-date ICT-infrastructure, a digitally skilled workforce, leadership support, knowledge management and internal DT-teams are important capabilities to enable successful DT.Research limitations/implicationsDue to the different levels of maturity of digitalisation and the financial constraints, not every NFA intends or is able to assign a full-time staff member exclusively to digital issues. Therefore, the most appropriate person was interviewed in each NFA.Practical implicationsAdapting an organisational culture to the requirements of the digital age is one of the most important steps in implementing DT. It is equally important for the leadership to form the strategic framework and enable the necessary training of employees to improve the results of the digitalisation processes.Originality/valueThis is the first study investigating NFA's DT from a worldwide perspective, identifying the most important factors for successful DT-processes.

Supervisors' social dominance orientation, nation-based exchange relationships, and team-level outcomes.

The prevalence of teams in contemporary organizations and the trend toward diversity in a workforce composed of members from multiple countries have drawn the attention of researchers on the consequences of diversity in workplaces. While there are potential benefits to diversity, relationship conflicts among team members may also result and affect team functioning. The aim of the present study was to explore how supervisors' social dominance orientation, a tendency to support the arbitrary dominance of specific social groups over others, may relate to relationship conflicts and reduced team commitment within teams. A two-wave study in a sample of 931 individuals from 108 workgroups was conducted to examine the relationship between supervisors' social dominance orientation and team functioning. Analyses indicated that supervisor social dominance orientation was associated with increased within-team differentiation of leader-member exchange (LMX) relationships based on team members' national origin. Such LMX differentiation (LMXD) was related to more within-team relationship conflict and in turn to reduced collective team commitment. The implications of these findings for research on supervisor social dominance orientation, within-team nationality diversity, and team functioning are discussed.

Friendship Patterns in Diverse Nigerian Unity Schools

While research on education and conflict has explored how schooling exacerbates or facilitates intergroup relations, fewer studies have examined the role of interpersonal relationships in schools in mitigating larger societal conflicts. This research explores friendship patterns within diverse schools through the case of Federal Unity Colleges (FUCs) in Nigeria, a diverse nation with prominent group categorizations that overlap across ethnic, religious, regional, and socioeconomic lines. This mixed-methods longitudinal research was based on extensive fieldwork in eight secondary schools (six FUCs, two state) over one academic year in Nigeria (2017–18). Through an analysis of social networks, I find that FUC students tend to divide close friendships by religion while state school students divide by ethnicity. Varying school practices shaping this outcome are explored using interview data. The findings contribute to literature and theory related to education in conflict, diverse schools, and school relationship to the nation.

Board Diversity, Sustainability Report Disclosure and Firm Value

Based on inconsistent with previous research, this study aims to prove the effect of the board of directors’ diversity factors on the firm value through the sustainability report disclosure as the mediating variables empirically, this study aims to prove the effect of the board of director’s diversity factors on the firm value through the sustainability report disclosure as the mediating variables empirically. The multiple linear regression is performed on the financial data of 256 non-financial firms on the Indonesia Stock Exchange. The sample was determined using the purposive sampling method. This study found that sustainability report disclosure can mediate the board of directors’ effect on tenure and nationality diversity’s effect on the firm value. This study combines several boards of directors’ diversity factors into one, consisting of gender, age, tenure, educational level, and nationality, and empirically proves the theories used in this study.

Drum Rhythms and Golden Scriptures: Reasons for Mormon Conversion Within Haiti's Culture of Vodou

Drum Rhythms and Golden Scriptures: Reasons for Mormon Conversion Within Haiti's Culture of Vodou

EU regulation between uniformity, differentiation, and experimentalism: Electricity and banking compared

How far and under what conditions may experimentalist governance be an efficient and legitimate means of responding to diversity among EU member states, in comparison to both conventional uniform regulation and differentiated integration? By comparing two major domains where the challenge of integrating national diversity has arisen prominently, electricity and banking, we find that under conditions of high interdependence and high uncertainty, diachronic experimentalism may be a necessary condition for synchronic uniformity. Uniform rules can be accepted as efficient and legitimate by member states, provided that they are regularly revised based on implementation experience through deliberative review processes in which national officials themselves participate. Our findings on EU banking regulation further suggest that experimentalist governance and differentiated integration may also be complementary, but asymmetrically so, in that the latter depends on the former to accommodate diversity within and across member states, but not vice versa.

Konstantin Leontiev’s Concept of Byzantism as a Social Ideal and Modern Russia

The article discusses the concept of byzantism developed by the prominent Russian notionalist Konstantin Leontiev and its signifi cance for modern Russia. A counterintuitive conclusion can be drawn on how much relevance Leontiev’s ideas still hopelessly retain for understanding the peculiarities of modern Russia, its cultural and historical type and uniqueness. The beginning states the obvious reason to turn to Leontiev’s ideas today: a number of his predictions or prophecies have come true in the history of the twentieth century. In terms of, so to speak, predictive eff ectiveness, he had no match among Russian notionalists. Then follows the consideration of Leontiev’s concept of byzantism. Leontiev deepened the generally accepted idea of Russia being Byzantium’s religious successor and comprehensively rethought it from the coherent cultural-historical and religious-political perspective. In a nutshell, one could say that the basic theses in his concept of byzantism contained three all-embracing points: the Orthodoxy and the Tsar, or the Eastern Christianity and the autocracy, and their religious and political union. This social ideal possesses distinct external (despotism, various social constraints and inequality) and internal (intense inner spiritual life) sides. Though they come as the two sides forming an integral unit, the second, internal side is more important and fundamental than the fi rst, external one. The necessary condition of byzantism as a cultural and historical type at the personal level is also noted. The author argues the existence of a kind of unspoken and hybrid byzantism that even today continues to preserve and defi ne the uniqueness of Russia. It is represented by, fi rst of all, an unspoken alliance of quasi-monarchical presidential power, when the president comes to power by formal and democratic way, but cannot be democratically evicted out of his post. A strong authoritarian government is impossible without the internal willingness of the people to obey the “party in power” as long as it maintains its authority. Among other things, this kind of power is necessary to keep together diff erent peoples, ethnic groups and regions of Russia with their diff erent cultures and traditions. While this national diversity threatens Russia with disintegration, it is, on the other hand, the key to its vitality and its complex fl owering. Secondly, it is represented by an important social role of religions being traditional for Russia — mainly Orthodoxy and the Russian Orthodox Church, and, accordingly, traditional moral values in the life of the society.

Freedom As and Against Democracy

Freedom As and Against Democracy

Accommodating National Diversity Within States: Territorial and Non-Territorial Approaches Since the Late 19th Century

Accommodating National Diversity Within States: Territorial and Non-Territorial Approaches Since the Late 19th Century