Professional Support Networks Research Articles

CTE Teacher Retention: Lessons Learned from Mid-Career Teachers

Schools across the country are facing a shortage of Career & Technical Education (CTE) teachers. Challenges regarding recruitment and retention of highly qualified teachers have far-reaching economic and educational implications. The literature notes multiple factors associated with CTE teacher attrition, such as low pay, absence of adequate teaching resources, and lack of administrative support. The current study aimed to identify factors associated with teacher retention via focus group interviews with mid-career (7-15 years) CTE teachers. The focus group included (N=4) CTE teachers from a Midwest state; the group was comprised of three agriculture teachers and one family & consumer sciences teacher. Qualitative analysis of the data revealed four themes related to the retention of mid-career CTE teachers: (1) setting boundaries, (2) shifting priorities/focus, (3) building a professional support network, and (4) innovating in the classroom. Recommendations for practice include induction programming focused on prioritizing programmatic opportunities and professional needs and involvement of preservice teachers in professional organizations early and often. Recommendations for research include exploring the level of involvement in professional organizations and its influence on career satisfaction and examining the benefits a mentor gains from a mentoring relationship.

The fractal structure of communities of practice: Implications for business organization.

Communities of practice (COP) are informal (sometimes formal) groupings of professionals with shared interests that form to facilitate the exchange of expertise and shared learning or to function as professional support networks. We analyse a dataset on the size of COPs and show that their distribution has a fractal structure similar to that found in huntergatherer social organisation and the structure of human personal social networks. Small communities up to about 40 in size can be managed democratically, but all larger communities require a leadership team structure. We show that frequency of interaction declines as size increases, as is the case in personal social networks. This suggests that professional work-oriented organisations may be subject to the same kinds of constraint imposed on human social organisation by the social brain. We discuss the implications for business management structure.

Evaluation of Contextual Performance of Managers of Science Art Center with Social Network Analysis Approach

Bu araştırmada Bilim Sanat Merkezleri’nin (BİLSEM) üst yöneticilerinin bağlamsal performansı, profesyonel destek ağı örüntüleri aracılığıyla açığa çıkarılarak analiz edilmiştir. Nitel ve sosyal ağ analizi yöntemlerinin birlikte kullanıldığı karma araştırma yöntemi ile yürütülen araştırmaya Türkiye genelindeki çeşitli il ve bölgelerde görevli 30 BİLSEM üst düzey yöneticisi destek vermiştir. Araştırmanın verileri 2018 yılında, yarı-yapılandırılmış görüşme formu ile çevrimiçi olarak toplanmıştır. Araştırmada yöneticilerin birbirlerinin işlerini kolaylaştırma ve kendilerini geliştirmek için hangi diğer meslektaşlarından hangi konularda destek aldıkları ve profesyonel destek ilişkilerinin geliştirilmesine yönelik önerileri sorulmuş ve profesyonel destek ağı örüntüleri ortaya çıkarılarak sosyal ağ analizine özgü olarak geliştirilen UCINET 6.0 yazılımı ile analiz edilmiştir. Araştırmanın bulgularına göre, yöneticilerden 30 katılımcının profesyonel destek ağı örüntüsü 68 aktörden ve 113 bağlantıdan oluşmuştur. Farklı coğrafi bölgelerde ve birbirinden uzak olmalarına rağmen aralarında profesyonel destek ilişkisi oluştuğu, eğitim değişkenine göre kıdem değişkeninin katılımcılar için profesyonel destek alma açısından daha değerli bulunduğu, üst yöneticilerin maksimum gerçekleştirilecek bağlantının %25’ini gerçekleştirdiği bulunmuştur.

Psychosocial support during displacement due to a natural disaster: relationships with distress in a lower-middle income country.

Past studies show relationships between disaster-related displacement and adverse psychosocial health outcomes. The development of psychosocial interventions following displacement is thus increasingly prioritized. However, data from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are lacking. In October 2017, the population of Ambae Island in Vanuatu, a lower-middle income country, was temporarily displaced due to volcanic activity. We analyzed distress among adults displaced due to the event and differences based on the psychosocial support they received. Data on experiences during displacement, distress and psychosocial support were collected from 443 adults 2-3 wk after repatriation to Ambae Island. Four support categories were identified: Healthcare professional, Traditional/community, Not available and Not wanted. We analyzed differences in distress by sex and group using one-way ANOVA and generalized linear models. Mean distress scores were higher among women (1.90, SD=0.97) than men (1.64, SD=0.98) (p<0.004). In multivariate models, psychosocial support group was associated with distress among women (p=0.033), with higher scores among women who reported no available support compared with every other group. Both healthcare professional and traditional support networks were widely used. Women might be particularly vulnerable to distress during disaster-related displacement in LMICs, and those who report a lack of support might be at greater risk. Both healthcare professional and traditional networks provide important sources of support that are widely used and might help to ameliorate symptoms.

Gender Diversity in STEM Disciplines: A Multiple Factor Problem.

Lack of diversity, and specifically, gender diversity, is one of the key problems that both technological companies and academia are facing these days. Moreover, recent studies show that the number of female students enrolled in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) related disciplines have been decreasing in the last twenty years, while the number of women resigning from technological job positions remains unacceptably high. As members of a higher education institution, we foresee that working towards increasing and retaining the number of female students enrolled in STEM disciplines can help to alleviate part of the challenges faced by women in STEM fields. In this paper, we first review the main barriers and challenges that women encounter in their professional STEM careers through different age stages. Next, we focus on the special case of the information theory field, discussing the potential of gendered innovation, and whether it can be applied in the Information Theory case. The working program developed by the School of Engineering at the University of Valencia (ETSE-UV), Spain, which aims at decreasing the gender diversity gap, is then presented and recommendations for practice are given. This program started in 2011 and it encompasses Bachelor, Master and PhD levels. Four main actions are implemented: Providing institutional encouragement and support, increasing the professional support network, promoting and supporting the leadership, and increasing the visibility of female role models. To assess the impact of these actions, a chi-square test of independence is included to evaluate whether there is a significant effect on the percentage of enrolled female students. The percentage of graduated female students in the information and Communications Technology Field is also positioned with respect to other universities and the Spanish reference value. This analysis establishes that, in part, this program has helped to achieve higher female graduation rates, especially among Bachelor students, as well as increasing the number of top-decision positions held by faculty women.

Teachers’ first year in the profession: the power of high-quality support

ABSTRACTIn research on teacher induction, scholars have pointed at the pivotal role of collegial support to overcome the challenges inherent to the first years of teaching. In this quantitative study, we extend current work by using a social network perspective to examine characteristics (i.e. network size, frequency and perceived usefulness) of professional, emotional, and social collegial support networks. Moreover, we explore the extent to which these characteristics explain key factors affecting teacher retention, namely job satisfaction, intrinsic motivation to teach, and self-efficacy. An online survey was completed by 292 beginning primary school teachers in Flanders (Belgium). Social network data showed that, on average, they receive professional, emotional and social support from six colleagues each week and found this mostly useful. Regression analyses demonstrated that network size and perceived usefulness of professional, emotional, and social collegial support networks were positively related to job satisfaction and intrinsic motivation to teach, thus confirming the importance of collegial support in teacher induction. Frequency of support was not significant. Finally, no substantial relationship was found between collegial support and teachers’ self-efficacy. Implications of these findings for practice and policy are discussed.

Challenges in supporting lay carers of patients at the end of life: results from focus group discussions with primary healthcare providers

BackgroundFamily caregivers (FCGs) of patients at the end of life (EoL) cared for at home receive support from professional and non-professional care providers. Healthcare providers in general practice play an important role as they coordinate care and establish contacts between the parties concerned. To identify potential intervention targets, this study deals with the challenges healthcare providers in general practice face in EoL care situations including patients, caregivers and networks.MethodsFocus group discussions with general practice teams in Germany were conducted to identify barriers to and enablers of an optimal support for family caregivers. Focus group discussions were analysed using content analysis.ResultsNineteen providers from 11 general practices took part in 4 focus group discussions. Participants identified challenges in communication with patients, caregivers and within the professional network. Communication with patients and caregivers focused on non-verbal messages, communicating at an appropriate time and perceiving patient and caregiver as a unit of care. Practice teams perceive themselves as an important part of the healthcare network, but also report difficulties in communication and cooperation with other healthcare providers.ConclusionHealthcare providers in general practice identified relational challenges in daily primary palliative care with potential implications for EoL care. Communication and collaboration with patients, caregivers and among healthcare providers give opportunities for improving palliative care with a focus on the patient-caregiver dyad. It is insufficient to demand a (professional) support network; existing structures need to be recognized and included into the care.

Protecting workers in the home care industry: workers’ experienced job demands, resource gaps, and benefits following a socially supportive intervention

ABSTRACTThe Community of Practice and Safety Support (COMPASS) program is a peer-led group intervention for home care workers. In a randomized controlled trial, COMPASS significantly improved workers’ professional support networks and safety and health behaviors. However, quantitative findings failed to capture workers’ complex emotional, physical, and social experiences with job demands, resource limitations, and the intervention itself. Therefore, we conducted qualitative follow-up interviews with a sample of participants (n = 28) in the program. Results provided examples of unique physical and psychological demands, revealed stressful resource limitations (e.g., safety equipment access), and elucidated COMPASS’s role as a valuable resource.

Networks in professional groups: a matter of connection or self-exile?

PurposeIntegrating predictions of social exchange theory and implicit social cognition, this paper aims to investigate mechanisms of co-evolution between professional and personal support networks in a professional, non-hierarchical setting.Design/methodology/approachThe study covers simultaneously people’s behaviours and their subjective interpretations of them in a cross-lagged network design in a group of 65 MBA students.FindingsResults show that people build on their professional support network to develop personal support relations. People who have a high status in the professional support network appear to be afraid to lose them by asking too many others for personal support and people with a low status in the professional support network seem also be reluctant to ask many others for personal support.Practical implicationsAlthough personal support is a key social mechanism facilitating individual well-being and organizational success, support in the workplace often remains limited to professional topics. This research shows why people hesitate to expand their networks in professional settings and to what extent their fears have a basis in reality.Originality/valueIt goes beyond predictions of social exchange theory which inform most network evolution studies and tap into implicit social cognition predictions to expand the explanatory power of the hypotheses. The study’s network analysis takes into account both behaviours and social perceptions. The sample is a non-hierarchical professional group which allows a more ecological observation of how hierarchies are born in social groups.

Evaluation of a cross-cultural training program for Pakistani educators: Lessons learned and implications for program planning

In this paper, we share the results of a summative evaluation of PEILI, a US-based adult professional development/training program for secondary school Pakistani teachers. The evaluation was guided by the theories of cultural competence (American Psychological Association, 2003; Bamberger, 1999; Wadsworth, 2001) and established frameworks for the evaluation of professional development/training and instructional design (Bennett, 1975; Guskey, 2002; King, 2014; Kirkpatrick, 1967). The explicit and implicit stakeholder assumptions about the connections between program resources, activities, outputs, and outcomes are described. Participant knowledge and skills were measured via scores on a pre/posttest of professional knowledge, and a standards-based performance assessment rubric. In addition to measuring short-term program outcomes, we also sought to incorporate theory-driven thinking into the evaluation design. Hence, we examined participant self-efficacy and access to social capital, two evidenced-based determinants or “levers” that theoretically explain the transformative space between an intervention and its outcomes (Chen, 2012). Data about program determinants were collected and analyzed through a pre/posttest of self-efficacy and social network analysis. Key evaluation findings include participant acquisition of new instructional skills, increased self-efficacy, and the formation of a nascent professional support network. Lessons learned and implications for the design and evaluation of cross-cultural teacher professional development programs are discussed.

Supporting Teachers’ Equity-Oriented Learning and Identities: A Resource-Centered Perspective

Background/ContextDespite calls for equity in education, the dominant mode of schooling reproduces hierarchies, positioning some students as bright, gifted, or fast learners and others as lazy, in need of remediation, or slow. A number of studies have shown that teachers’ professional communities and networks can address this problem and enhance outcomes for all students. However, more research is needed not only to show the structure of supportive networks but also to explain the mechanisms through which they foster teacher learning.Research QuestionsThis paper addresses three questions: (a) Where do teachers encounter resources that support their engagement with nondominant, equity-oriented teaching practice? (b) What kinds of resources support teachers’ engagement with nondominant teaching practice? and (c) How do different kinds of resources come together to support teachers’ patterns of engagement with communities of nondominant teaching practice?Research DesignA multisite case study was conducted over the course of an academic year. The study involved extensive observations in routine teacher meetings and professional development settings, as well as classroom observations and teacher interviews.ParticipantsParticipants included 18 mathematics teachers from two diverse urban high schools. The mathematics departments at both schools expressed commitments to professional learning and collaboration in order to better serve their diverse student bodies, in particular, to support students who had previously been unsuccessful. Six teachers were selected as focal teachers for more in-depth observation and interviewing. This paper describes the contrasting cases of four teachers.FindingsTwo of the focal teachers maintained close engagement with nondominant, equity-oriented practice throughout the period of the study, while two did not. A comparison of teachers’ professional support networks showed that their patterns of engagement were related to their connections to sources outside their school-based communities and the access that these connections provided to four distinct types of resources. The two teachers who maintained their engagement with reforms were found to have abundant and personally significant identity resources, which were critical for their ongoing learning. Although the other two teachers had technical resources for engaging with reforms, they did not have such identity resources.Conclusions/RecommendationsResearch and practice have tended to focus on technical aspects of teacher learning in service of reform. This paper suggests that teachers need not only more resources, but also more kinds of resources in order to sustain the learning that student-centered, equity-oriented reforms require.

Factors Influencing Recruitment and Retention of Healthcare Workers in Rural and Remote Areas in Developed and Developing Countries: An Overview.

Shortage of healthcare workers in rural and remote areas remains a growing concern both in developed and developing countries. This review aims to synthesize the significant factors impacting healthcare professionals’ recruitment and retention in rural and remote areas, and to identify those relevant for developing countries. This paper included the following steps: exploring scientific literature through predetermined criteria and extracting relevant information by two independents reviewers. The AMSTAR tool was used to assess the methodological quality. Of the 224 screened publications, 15 reviews were included. Four reviews focused on recruitment factors, and another four reviews focused on retention factors. The remaining focused both on recruitment and retention factors. The most important factors influencing recruitment were rural background and rural origin, followed by career development. Opportunities for professional advancement, professional support networks and financial incentives were factors impacting retention. While the main factors influencing recruitment and retention have been largely explored in the literature, the evidence on strategies to reduce the shortage of healthcare workers in rural area, particularly in developing countries, is low. Further research in this field is needed.

The Role of Research Strategies and Professional Networks in Management Scholars’ Productivity

We propose a model of knowledge creation, transfer, and adoption based on theories of creativity and social networks. We test our hypotheses using a sample of 119 full professors in management departments at U.S. universities. We examine the effects that two research strategies, coauthoring and working in multiple research fields, have on the number of publications in each of three journal quality tiers during an 8-year period. In addition, we examined the influence that having strong ties and a dense network of professional colleagues each has on the total number of citations garnered by those publications. Results showed a heterogeneous pattern of coauthoring (distributing coauthoring activity evenly across a greater number of coauthors) is positively related to the number of publications in the highest-quality journals for the focal researcher. The heterogeneity of research fields in which a researcher works is also positively related to greater productivity, albeit in second- and third-tier publication outlets. In addition, we found that the number of strong ties in the focal author’s professional support network positively related to his or her total citation count, independent of the number and quality of publications. Implications for the social network theory of creativity, organizational knowledge theory, and models of management scholars’ productivity are explored.

Public leadership

Purpose With increased globalization, technology advancements, and interconnectedness, greater alignment on values and leadership is needed. The purpose of this paper is to explore the role that personal values play in sustaining leadership during challenging times. The importance of values as a guidepost in an environment in constant change offers leaders a foundation for decision making. Design/methodology/approach Narrative inquiry and narrative interviews were used so leaders could share their stories of navigating challenging situations. One group interview was scheduled to share preliminary research findings with the research participants and receive their input. Both narrative analysis and thematic analysis were used. Findings Sustainable leadership included the ongoing pursuit of personal mastery, a values-based personal and professional support network, and expertise in leading self and other through the inevitable transitions that occur during change and challenge. Research limitations/implications The above recommendations allow for leaders to sustain themselves and others while working in service of the common good. Practical implications This research offers practical guidance to public sector leaders who wish to sustain themselves amidst the inevitable challenges that they experience as part of their public sector leadership. Social implications Leaders who adopt the above recommendations will be well positioned to support their leadership and to use values as guiding principles to release the hero in everyone around them. Originality/value This narrative study harvested the wisdom of the lived experience of leaders working in the public, health, and education sectors who have navigated challenges in their leadership. The findings offer valuable guidance to public sector leaders.

Becoming a mother: Supported decision-making in context.

Little is known about how women with intellectual disabilities make decisions in relation to pregnancy. Social support is important for mothers with intellectual disabilities in many areas. This study explored how the support network influenced the decision-making of women with intellectual disabilities in relation to pregnancy. The study extended previous research to include the multiple perspectives of mothers, personal and professional support network. A model of decision-making was constructed, with implications of how services approach working with mothers with intellectual disabilities. Using a grounded theory methodology, three mothers with intellectual disabilities, two of their family members and six professionals were interviewed about their experiences of decision-making in relation to pregnancy. The results suggested that the quality of a woman's relationships were key to facilitating decision-making. The results highlighted the need for services to focus on creating supportive working relationships with mothers and other services involved in the parenting assessment process.

Gender, Professional Networks, and Subjective Career Success Within Early Academic Science Careers

Abstract. The present study analyzed (a) gender differences in the gender composition (i.e., the proportion of male to female contacts) of professional support networks inside and outside an individual’s academic department and (b) how these differences in gender composition relate to subjective career success (i.e., perceived career success and perceived external marketability). Results showed that the networks’ gender composition is associated with subjective career success. Men’s networks consist of a higher proportion of male to female supporters, which, in turn, was positively related to subjective career success. Additional analyses revealed that the findings could not be accounted for by alternative factors, such as network size, networking behaviors, and career ambition.

Factors that influence the preventive care offered to adolescents accessing Public Oral Health Services, NSW, Australia.

BackgroundMany adolescents are at risk of dental caries and periodontal disease, which may be controlled through health education and clinical preventive interventions provided by oral health and dental therapists (therapists). Senior clinicians (SCs) can influence the focus of dental care in the New South Wales (NSW) Public Oral Health Services as their role is to provide clinical support and advice to therapists, advocate for their communities, and inform Local Health District (LHD) managers of areas for clinical quality improvement. The objective of this study was to record facilitating factors and strategies that are used by SCs to encourage therapists to provide preventive care and advice to adolescent patients.MethodsIn-depth, semistructured interviews were undertaken with 16 SCs from all of the 15 NSW LHDs (nine rural and six metropolitan). A framework matrix was used to systematically code data and enable key themes to be identified for analysis.ResultsAll SCs from the 15 NSW Health LHDs participated in the study. Factors influencing SCs’ ability to integrate preventive care into clinical practice were: 1) clinical leadership and administrative support, 2) professional support network, 3) clinical and educational resources, 4) the clinician’s patient management aptitude, and 5) clinical governance processes. Clinical quality improvement and continuing professional development strategies equipped clinicians to manage and enhance adolescents’ confidence toward self-care.ConclusionThis study shows that SCs have a clear understanding of strategies to enhance the therapist’s offer of scientific-based preventive care to adolescents. The problem they face is that currently, success is measured in terms of relief of pain activities, restorations placed, and extraction of teeth, which is an outdated concept. However, to improve clinical models of care will require the overarching administrative authority, NSW Health, to accept that the scientific evidence relating to dental care has changed and that management monitoring information should be incorporated into NSW Health reforms.

Burden, professional support, and social network in families of children and young adults with muscular dystrophies.

ABSTRACT Introduction: This study explores burden and social and professional support in families of young patients with muscular dystrophies (MDs) in Italy. Methods: The study was carried out on 502 key relatives of 4‐ to 25‐year‐old patients suffering from Duchenne, Becker, or Limb‐Girdle MD who were living with at least 1 adult relative. Results: A total of 77.1% of relatives reported feelings of loss, 74.0% had feelings of sadness, and 59.1% had constraints in leisure activities. Burden was higher among relatives of patients with higher disability and who spent more daily hours in caregiving. Practical difficulties were higher among relatives who perceived lower help in patient emergencies and less practical support by their social network. Psychological burden was higher in those relatives who were unemployed, those with poorer support in emergencies, and those with lower social contacts. Conclusions: Caring for patients with MDs may be demanding for relatives even in the early stages of these disorders, especially when social support is poor and the patient's disability increases. Muscle Nerve 52: 13–21, 2015

Needs of family caregivers of stroke patients: a&amp;nbsp;longitudinal study of caregivers&amp;rsquo; perspectives

BackgroundAfter a stroke, patients often suffer from varying degrees of disability that require acute inpatient treatment and extended care at home. Therefore, the caregivers assume multiple responsibilities that can result in stress, particularly when their own needs are inadequately addressed during the patient’s recovery.ObjectivesThis study aimed to explore the changing needs of family caregivers of stroke patients and factors related to the needs in four stages, before the transfer from intensive care unit to neurological unit, before discharge, 2 weeks post-hospitalization, and 3 months post-hospitalization.MethodsThe design of this study was based on longitudinal research, and the participants were family caregivers of stroke patients. Sixty family caregivers were recruited in this study. Data were collected at four time points by questionnaire.ResultsWe found that the total number of needs of family caregivers decreased as the illness duration increased and that needs differed significantly between the four time points (P<0.01). Although the needs were different in each stage, health information, professional support, and community networks were the leading need domains in all four stages. The major factors affecting the care needs of family caregivers were the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale scores of patients on admission, length of hospital stay, and physical dependence of patients.ConclusionFamily caregivers expected to obtain assistance and related care information from professionals during the course of the disease. Assessing the needs of family caregivers is important for health care workers in understanding problems from the caregivers’ perspectives. Relevant information and counseling should be provided to family caregivers to help them access support when needed.

Dental practitioner rural work movements: a systematic review

There is a globally observed unequal distribution of dental and other health practitioners between urban and rural areas in OECD countries. Dental practitioners provide important primary healthcare services to rural populations. Workforce shortages and stability issues in underserved areas can have negative effects on rural communities. Strategies used to fix the dental practitioner workforce maldistribution need to be investigated. The study had primary focus on Australia and included relevant international literature. Databases used were PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Informit, Web of Science, Scopus and Summon. Search terms included dental practitioner, rural, remote, retention, recruitment and strategies. Sixteen articles met the inclusion criteria. The articles described a total of eight different positive factors and 12 negative factors towards rural practice. The positive factors related to the nature of the type of clinical work being a 'challenge', close social and professional support networks, enjoyment of rural lifestyle and successful integration into the rural community. The negative factors mentioned included social and professional isolation, workload and type of clinical work, access to further education opportunities, access to facilities, education for children and job opportunities for a partner, and inability to integrate into the rural community. The articles that analysed recruitment incentives described three strategies currently used to influence recruitment, all of which were financial or contractual in nature. Articles mentioning retention factors described seven long-term retention motivators; of these, six of them were personal reasons. The most commonly mentioned motivational factor for recruitment and retention of the rural dental practitioner workforce was the effect of prior rural exposure for dental practitioners. The results of this review indicate that the most important influences on rural dental practitioner workforce recruitment and retention were a combination of financial reimbursement and personal reasons. There was also a large influence of rural medical workforce research on untested assumptions and drivers of the rural dental practitioner workforce. The high recruitment rate compared with the low retention rate indicates that current strategies were not effective in addressing rural dental practitioner workforce shortages in the long term.