Recruitment Issues Research Articles

Where have all the RE teachers gone? Recruitment and retention issues in schools in England

AbstractThis paper, which was originally a keynote address, offers an analysis of the crisis in retention, and recruitment of teachers of Religious Education (RE). A reflexive assessment is offered to the political lament ‘where have all the RE teachers gone?’ The author, drawing on over three decades of experience and involvement with religious education both in school and higher education, ponders on the complexity of responding to the attrition rates where skilled RE teachers leave the profession at a much faster rate than new entrants are trained. It concludes by calling for unity of purpose amongst the wider RE community in England.

Love’s Labor Lost: Evaluating Child Care Workers’ Motivations to Stay in the Field Using Content Analysis

This paper evaluates child care workers’ descriptions of their motivations for working in the field using content analysis. The results are drawn from a large data set of child care workers collected by Utah’s state workforce and child care agencies. Our findings demonstrate the primacy of intrinsic motivations over extrinsic motivations for child care workers. Worker-expressed intrinsic motivations, including making a contribution to society, having a sense of purpose, and feelings of love and joy, dominated the survey responses. In contrast, extrinsic motivations including earning a wage or accommodating scheduling concerns were relatively rare. The motivations of this workforce attracted the interest of policy makers following large losses in child care employment during the COVID-19 health crisis and have implications for child care labor supply decisions and child care labor market policies. We use this policy lens to contextualize our findings by reviewing issues of recruitment and retention in child care services and ultimately argue that a sustainable child care workforce depends on worker well-being supported by both intrinsic and extrinsic rewards.

Struggling with studying and earning – realities of the UK's cost-of-living crisis on students on social work programmes

ABSTRACT The UK has been experiencing an extended cost-of-living crisis since 2021 and students attending universities have struggled with the impacts of rising prices. This article reports on findings from a study to explore local recruitment and retention issues in adult social care from the perspective of different populations of interest in the South of England. A mixed methods approach was undertaken. One group of participants were students enrolled in social work undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. They completed an online questionnaire (n = 20), with a subsample (n = 11) being interviewed. Comments relating to the wide-ranging effects of cost-of-living issues discussed by the participants were themed together and are described. The findings offer suggestions to evaluate student support mechanisms and reduce the potential impacts of ongoing financial difficulties caused by the need to juggle course, placement and financial demands across this and other applicable undergraduate sectors and their programmes. They also reflect risks to future workforce recruitment alongside the potential of ‘earn and learn’ programmes, such as apprenticeship routes – which may offer a viable alternative to qualification for those at particular risk of financial hardship whilst studying.

Perceived stakeholder benefits of continuously training general practitioners in the same rural or remote practice: interviews exploring the Remote Vocational Training Scheme.

Explore stakeholder perspectives of the benefits of continuously training general practitioners in the same rural or remote practice in distributed locations via the Remote Vocational Training Scheme (RVTS). Online one-hour semi-structured interviews were conducted with 27 RVTS staff, participants and supervisors from all states and territories between 16 October and 24 November 2023. Data were deductively and inductively coded by stakeholder type and the range of benefits, and the findings were informed by insights from a project reference group and a stakeholder advisory group. Questions explored the benefits of the RVTS - a program which supports doctors already working in rural, remote and First Nations communities to train towards general practice or rural generalist fellowship while remaining in the same practice. Perspectives on the nature and spread of benefits. Broad benefits were perceived to flow to four system-level stakeholders: communities, health services, participants and policy makers. Perceived participant and community benefits were doctors staying longer in distributed locations with tailored place-based supports and training, doctors building relationships with patients, and doctors learning through longitudinal care. Health service benefits included reduced reliance on locums, improved continuity of accessible and appropriate services in areas otherwise facing major recruitment and retention issues, and the doctors having more time to contribute to improving service quality and upskilling local staff. Policy-maker benefits were sustaining safe and high quality services for distributed populations with high needs. The RVTS model was perceived to offer diverse benefits for different system stakeholders which could improve quality of learning, service delivery and community care. It also aligned with key policy directions for a distributed and sustainable generalist workforce under the goals of the National Medical Workforce Strategy 2021-2031 and the directions set by the independent review of overseas health practitioner regulatory settings led by Robyn Kruk. However, models like the RVTS largely rely on distribution levers to recruit more doctors to the locations it supports.

Advocacy in Practice: Who Advocates for the Advocates?

Advocacy has been defined as promoting social inclusion, equality and social justice to empower people - principles closely associated with social work’s professional values. However, in-depth literature on advocacy and the current challenges it faces is sparse. Little is known about the day-to-day realities faced by advocates and the pressures they currently experience. This raises the question of who might advocate for the advocates themselves? This article reports on findings from a larger study to explore local recruitment and retention issues in adult social care from the perspective of different populations of interest in the South of England. A mixed methods approach was undertaken. One group of participants were advocates drawn from LA contracted services (n = 7) who participated in a focus group. Comments relating to the challenges facing advocacy and knock-on impacts on advocates from the recruitment and retention issues currently being experienced in adult social care were themed together and are described. The findings highlight a number of challenges currently facing advocacy and advocates alongside an urgent need for more research to take place within this area. The authors also offer suggestions for consideration to help improve this picture.

Recruitment issues in a multicenter randomized controlled trial about the effect of the Cultural Formulation Interview on therapeutic working alliance

This short communication concerns recruitment issues in a multicenter randomized controlled trial. An overview of anticipated and unexpected recruitment issues at various organizational levels is discussed as encountered in this trial. These experiences are shared to assist researchers in avoiding similar experiences, prevent wasting valuable research resources, and justify the time and energy committed by enrolled participants.

The long road to becoming a judge: an empirical analysis of litigation around recruitment in India’s lower judiciary

ABSTRACT Judicial appointments in India are affected by, inter alia, low sanctioned strength and vacancies. The concern is especially exacerbated in the lower judiciary, where vacancies, estimated at 22%, could be due to procedural bottlenecks in recruitment. This article seeks to understand the issues in lower judiciary recruitment in India by mapping writ petitions on the issue. Of the 322 cases analysed from 2007 till 2017, Rajasthan and Kerala reported the most cases. Issues frequently litigated pertained to eligibility criteria, reservations, and qualifying marks. Most cases (39%) arose even before the first round of examinations was conducted. Nearly 73% cases were dismissed with no directions. We argue that an empirical study of litigation can help determine recruitment challenges, through identifying candidates’ concerns and ways to address such concerns, while serving as an authentic source of grievances related to recruitment.

Challenges in Conducting Exercise Recovery Studies in Older Adults and Considerations for Future Research: Findings from a Nutritional Intervention Study.

Maximising the potential benefit of resistance exercise (RE) programs by ensuring optimal recovery is an important aim of exercise prescription. Despite this, research surrounding recovery from RE in older adults is limited and inconsistent. The following randomised controlled trial was designed to investigate the efficacy of milk consumption for improving recovery from RE in older adults. However, the study encountered various challenges that may be applicable to similar studies. These include recruitment issues, a lack of measurable perturbations in muscle function following RE, and potential learning effects amongst participants. Various considerations for exercise research have arisen from the data which could inform the design of future studies in this area. These include (i) recruitment-consider ways in which the study design could be altered to aid recruitment or allow a longer recruitment period; (ii) learning effects and familiarisation-consider potential learning effects of outcome measures and adjust familiarisation accordingly; (iii) identify, validate and optimise protocols for outcome measures that are applicable for the specific population; (iv) adjust the exercise protocol according to the specific aims of the study (e.g., are you replicating a usual exercise bout or is the intent to cause large amounts of muscle damage?).

An out-of-court community-based programme to improve the health and well-being of young adult offenders: the Gateway RCT.

Young adults represent a third of the United Kingdom prison population and are at risk of poor health outcomes, including drug and alcohol misuse, self-harm and suicide. Court diversion interventions aim to reduce the negative consequences of criminal sanctions and address the root causes of offending. However, evidence of their effectiveness has not yet been established. The Gateway programme, issued as a conditional caution, aimed to improve the life chances of young adults committing low-level offences. Participants agreed not to reoffend during the 16-week caution and, following a needs assessment, received individual support from a Gateway navigator and attended two workshops encouraging analysis of own behaviour and its consequences. To evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of Gateway in relation to health and well-being of participants compared to usual process (court summons or a different conditional caution). Pragmatic, multisite, parallel-group, superiority randomised controlled trial with two 6-month internal pilots and a target sample size of 334. Randomisation between Gateway and usual process was on a 1 : 1 basis. Four Hampshire Constabulary sites recruited 18- to 24-year-old residents of Hampshire and Isle of Wight who were questioned for an eligible low-level offence. Semistructured interviews were also held with a sample of Gateway programme participants, staff and police study recruiters. Primary outcome was the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale score at 12 months. Secondary outcomes included health status, alcohol and drug use, recidivism and resource use. Recruitment commenced in October 2019 and the trial stopped in April 2021. A total of 191 participants were recruited, with 109 randomised to Gateway and 82 to usual process. Due to an initial overestimation of potentially eligible young people and low retention rates, recruitment targets were adjusted, and a range of mitigating measures introduced. Although recruitment broadly met study progression criteria [35/50 (70%) Pilot 1: 64/74 (86%) Pilot 2], retention was low throughout (overall: data collected at week 4 was 50%: at week 16 it was 50%: 1-year 37%). Low retention was multifactorial, with one of the main barriers being difficulties contacting participants. It was therefore not possible to complete the randomised controlled trial or the health economics analyses. Qualitative interviews held with 58 individuals yielded rare insights into the benefits and limitations of this type of intervention, as well as barriers and facilitators in relation to recruitment in this setting. Despite close collaboration with the police to address recruitment and consent issues, expansion of the inclusion criteria and recruitment area and introducing other measures, the researchers were unable to collect sufficient data within an acceptable timeframe. The Gateway study was a unique endeavour to gather evidence for a potentially life-changing intervention for an underserved population. The experience gained indicates that randomised controlled trials of interventions, with a health-related outcome, are possible in this setting but point towards the need for conservative recruitment and retention estimates in this target population. Other study designs should be considered. The qualitative evaluation provided a range of valuable lessons for those seeking to design similar interventions or conduct research in similar settings. This study is registered as ISRCTN11888938. This award was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Public Health Research programme (NIHR award ref: 16/122/20) and is published in full in Public Health Research; Vol. 12, No. 7. See the NIHR Funding and Awards website for further award information.

The Self-Perpetuating Turnover Cycle: Frontline Supervisors and Direct Support Professionals Reflect on Its Causes and Impacts

Abstract Direct support professionals (DSPs) and frontline supervisors (FLSs) have critical roles in home and community-based services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Recruitment and retention issues have plagued the workforce in long-term supports and services and were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Data from the fourth Direct Support Workforce COVID-19 Survey provided national DSP and FLS perspectives on factors contributing to turnover and retention challenges and their effects on the workforce and people supported. Participants identified obstacles with recruitment and retention, workplace outcomes related to turnover, and negative impacts on the supports and services people with IDD rely on to live and work in their communities. Policy and practice recommendations to address the workforce crisis are provided.

Supporting the Primary Care Workforce Through Training in Advanced Generalist Practice: An Evaluation of the Catalyst Program.

As a workforce crisis is causing recruitment and retention issues for new to practice GPs, we designed Catalyst, a one-year pilot career development program aiming to help new to practice GPs develop the skills of advanced generalist practice and build capacity for the complex work of primary care. In this paper, we report the findings of our evaluation of Catalyst. We used normalization process theory to investigate how Catalyst was contributing to the participants' understanding and implementation of generalist practice. We conducted 36 interviews and six focus groups investigating the participants' clinical practice and experience with the program and analyzed data using framework analysis. Establishing a shared language and reframing professional identity helped GPs develop an understanding of their role through generalist lenses. Generalist practice was legitimized by access to scientific evidence and facilitated interactive learning. Integration of scientific, applied knowledge and quality improvement work fostered the enactment of such practice. Structured reflection and research-informed quality improvement projects contributed to the participants' awareness of the primary care context. Knowledge creation activities observed through interactive learning and the integration of different types of knowledge facilitated the implementation of advanced generalist practice. The participants valued the community of practice gained through the program and would come to rely on programs designed to encourage networking and enable peer support. Finally, research-informed quality improvement projects built to analyze problems and monitor solutions are crucial for an early career physician to develop a sense of agency that shapes their primary care practice.

“If I bring my whole self to school, I am opening myself up to hurt”: A case study and (re)humanizing counterstory of an early career, multiply-marginalized multiracial teacher with justice commitments

ABSTRACT This study conceptualizes the teaching profession as a dehumanizing institutional space for teachers of Color, embodying the oppressive ideologies that explain, justify, and normalize the perpetuation of white supremacy and racism. Although research on teachers of Color has examined issues of recruitment and retention, and impactful social conditions, less is known about their experiences through a humanizing lens that attends to their emotional health and well-being. Drawing on humanizing frameworks, this qualitative case study and counterstory illustrates the inner conflicts and tensions of an early-career, multiply marginalized multiracial teacher with justice commitments that emerge from her own humanizing efforts, commitments, and identities being frequently at odds with the external dehumanizing forces and racist ideologies that undergird the teaching profession. Findings revealed three major tensions, whether to: (1) be present as her authentic self, (2) take risks or make safer choices, and (3) act on personal or institutional values.

Problems and Countermeasures in the Open Recruitment of Public Institutions

As a vital channel for talent introduction in public institutions, open recruitment is an effective means to strengthen the construction of talent teams and promote the rapid development of these institutions. With its policy that evolves with the times, fair and unified organization, and standardized and orderly processes, open recruitment in public institutions ensures fairness, justice, and transparency in the talent recruitment process. However, as the era progresses, issues in the open recruitment of public institutions have gradually emerged, and there is an urgent need to improve various aspects such as recruitment conditions, examination formats, talent introduction channels, and post-appointment management. This paper deeply analyzes the characteristics and existing problems of open recruitment in public institutions and puts forward corresponding optimization strategies to improve the efficiency and quality of recruitment, aiming to help public institutions reach a new level of development.

O-280 Vaginal microbiota transplant (VMT) without antibiotic pretreatment reveals changes in vaginal microbiota and immune profile in women with asymptomatic dysbiosis – a randomized, placebo-controlled trial

Abstract Study question Investigate the safety of VMT and explore its effects on the vaginal microbiomes and local inflammation in healthy, asymptomatic volunteer women screened for vaginal dysbiosis Summary answer We demonstrate safety and engraftment of donor bacteria in 50% of recipients, and a distinct shift in local inflammatory markers following resolution of vaginal dysbiosis What is known already Dominance by a subset of vaginal Lactobacillus species is considered healthy. Dysbiosis characterized by high abundance of anaerobic species is observed in around one third of women, and affects fertility, pregnancy outcomes, risk of STIs and UTIs, and potentially cancer treatment. Current use of antibiotics is often insufficient with high recurrence rates and potentially antibiotic resistance. There is a clear need for alternatives and recently it was shown that VMT following antibiotic treatment resulted in long-lasting improvements in symptoms of bacterial vaginosis in four out of five patients, but RCTs without the use of antibiotics remain to be reported. Study design, size, duration We performed a randomized, placebo-controlled double-blinded trial in 34 recipients randomized in an active:placebo 3:1 ratio. Subjects in the active arm received VMTs from donor cervicovaginal secretions (CVS) while placebo participants received saline. All recipients were dosed on 3 consecutive days with active arm recipients receiving all 3 VMTs originating from the same donor. All recipients were followed for safety and efficacy assessments for 6 menstrual cycles after dosing. Participants/materials, setting, methods Donors: CVS was obtained from healthy subjects screened to be negative for a broad panel of infections and having lactobacilli-dominant vaginal microbiomes. RCT: Healthy, asymptomatic women aged 18 to 45 whose vaginal microbiome had combined lactobacilli relative abundance <10% and combined relative abundance of dysbiosis-associated bacteria >20% were included. VMTs were applied vaginally on three consecutive days. Follow-up visits were performed 1 week after the last VMT and then once every cycle for 6 cycles. Main results and the role of chance Here, we report the successful implementation of a donor program to obtain screened, frozen, and banked donor CVS to be used in the first VMT intervention RCT. In the ITT population, the primary efficacy analysis showed statistically significant increase from baseline in relative abundance of vaginal lactobacilli to follow-up timepoints 1 week and 3 cycles post intervention in the active arm, while no statistical significant change was observed in the placebo arm at any follow-up timepoint. Also, time-resolved metagenomic analysis showed that 50% of women treated with VMT displayed a shift of the vaginal microbiome toward the Lactobacillus-dominated donor CVS sample, confirmed with strain-level engraftment analysis. We observed no serious treatment-associated adverse events and the intervention was well tolerated. Further, the successful “twinning” of the recipient to match the donor microbiome post-VMT also led to a dramatic shift toward an anti-inflammatory environment based on transcriptomic analysis of CVS. Limitations, reasons for caution Recipients were asymptomatic and mainly Caucasian, which limits generalizability to other ethnicities and the symptomatic spectrum of vaginal dysbiosis. Due to COVID-19-related recruitment issues, the cohort size ended below the targeted number of n = 40. Future studies will aim to identify factors driving engraftment and its impact on clinical outcomes. Wider implications of the findings Vaginal microbial interventions including VMT have great potential as the first therapeutic intervention that provides effective and long-term vaginal microbiota restoration, positively impacting a wide variety of diseases and conditions affecting the female reproductive tract. Trial registration number NCT05114031

Recruitment and Retention Issues in a Technology-Based Intervention Among Korean American Midlife Women With Depressive Symptoms.

The number of health technology-based intervention studies has grown significantly. However, issues in the recruitment and retention for such studies, especially of Asian Americans, have rarely been discussed. The purpose of this paper was to discuss issues in the recruitment and retention of a specific group of Asian Americans-Korean American midlife women with depressive symptoms-into a technology-based intervention study using computers and mobile devices with a measurement device and to provide directions for future participant recruitment and retention in technology-based intervention studies. The written memos of research team members and the written records of research team meetings were analyzed using a content analysis. The issues in the recruitment and retention process included (1) low recruitment and retention rates; (2) the perceived long intervention period; (3) strict inclusion/exclusion criteria; (4) concerns related to the use of a measurement device; and (5) the perceived adequacy of monetary incentives. Based on the issues identified in the study, several suggestions are made for future recruitment and retention of racial/ethnic minorities in technology-based intervention studies (eg, appropriate intervention period, innovative and creative motivation strategies, acceptable measurement scales and devices, and adequate monetary reimbursement).

Navigating recruitment and retention issues with overseas-qualified dental professionals

Navigating recruitment and retention issues with overseas-qualified dental professionals

Policy Instruments to Improve Foreign Workforce’s Position and Social Sustainability of the Agriculture in Italy

Agricultural employment in advanced economies has been suggestively described as a “short and step” pyramid with only limited opportunities for workers to climb to higher positions, especially when they belong to the most vulnerable categories, such as migrants. The presence of poor jobs and living conditions for temporary agricultural workers reported by mass media, trade unions, NGOs, and international observers contrasts dramatically with the idea of a modern and thriving sector, as the Italian agricultural sector should be, and it represents a challenge for the social concerns that have been alongside environmental ones in the definition of sustainability since the Brundtland Report released in 1987 by the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED). Even mechanisation does not necessarily facilitate better working conditions. In fact, where the workforce is largely replaced by machineries, the remaining opportunities for paid workers are mainly for unskilled, physically demanding, and seasonal jobs. This has brought about the so-called “paradox of prosperity”, where the gap between farm and nonfarm workers in economically advanced countries has widened in terms of wages, benefits, and prospects for upward mobility. This in turn triggers a vicious circle with a structural lack of available workforce for the sector, which has been increasingly provided by migrants with very little bargaining power. On the other hand, the adoption of new technologies and digitalisation in agriculture is leading to an increasing demand for skilled workers, which often remains uncovered because of the low conditions offered. Against this background, the aim of our work is twofold. First, we characterise the role of the foreign workforce in relation to the structural changes in Italian agriculture and considering territorial differences. Second, we examine the main policy instruments to facilitate recruitment and tackle undeclared work and more specifically the Quality Agricultural Work Network (Rete del lavoro agricolo di qualità) launched in Italy in 2016 to tackle undeclared work and exploitative labour. We do so by conducting a literature review and semi-structured qualitative interviews with 16 farmers in Italy carried out in 2022 within the project Rural Social ACT funded by the Asylum, Migration, and Integration Fund (2021–2027). The results show that even though foreign workers are a key resource for agriculture in Italy, there remain severe recruitment issues and segregation in low-skilled and precarious jobs. Overall, it is necessary to improve the awareness of the key role of work in agriculture and to strengthen the effectiveness of tools to enhance the visibility of compliant farms. So far (January 2024), only 6600 farms have joined the Quality Agricultural Work Network, with an overall modest enthusiasm from the farmers interviewed about its current effectiveness. Other instruments are explored such as employee sharing contracts, and there clearly emerges a need for public support of professional training through the Common Agricultural Policy to improve both the bargaining power of foreign workers and the productivity of the sector.

LEADERSHIP CHALLENGES IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: A CASE STUDY OF PAKISTANI HIGHER SECONDARY SCHOOLS

The main objective of the research was to explore public school principals’ leadership problems and the techniques they used to overcome those problems. A qualitative research case study was conducted involving 10 public school principals (5 male and 5 female) from district Mardan of Pakistan. The data were gathered through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using the thematic analysis process. The results show that public school principals in Pakistan face multiple problems, including lack of authority, insufficient assistance from higher authorities, lack of resources, and teacher recruitment and retention issues. Additionally, the research also found that public school principals in Pakistan combat their problems with a variety of techniques, including creating a friendly rapport with teachers, engaging the community in the educational process, seeking help from higher authorities, and effectively leveraging resources. Moreover, this research has also examined Pakistani female public school principals’ problems and tactics. The results show that female public-school principals in Pakistan experience typical male principals’ problems, including lack of autonomy, insufficient resources, and support from higher authorities, as well as gender inequity. The results of the study have significant implications for policy and practice as the results of the study can inform specific policies and practices that can help in enlightening public schools’ leadership in Pakistan to improve the quality of education for students.

A deaf researcher in an Indian and Norwegian context – an autoethnographic journey

By taking an autoethnographic approach I intend to explore my epistemological and ontological experiences as a deaf Norwegian PhD candidate on a data collection journey in an Indian context. The aim of this article is to delve into challenges in a research process with a complex and multilinguistic environment, with barriers occurring, and how they could be understood and met. I identify and discuss barriers and possibilities in my research journey, describe how I faced challenges with gaining access to the field, and with recruitment issues, and share my process of finding solutions regarding communication. The autoethnographic analysis reveals a complex research situation with dynamic relationships and displays intersectionality in action. This analysis illuminates how knowledge production is linked to epistemological and ontological concerns. The reflexivity of the researcher is crucial, but the power of definition is also of interest and points to my shifting positionality as a deaf researcher.

Attracting Female Engineers: A Qualitative Analysis in Mechanical Engineering in Germany

The number of women working as engineers in the mechanical and plant engineering sector in Germany has risen to eleven percent in 2023 – remaining at humble levels. In higher positions, the share is even lower. While around 20 % of engineering students at German universities are female, these women do not seem to be entering the sector or they are leaving it again. The question arises as to what companies in the mechanical and plant engineering sector can do to attract female engineers after graduation. This study was conducted in cooperation with the German Engineering Association. The aim was to qualitatively explore the reasons why women enter, stay or leave the engineering sector and to include the industry’s perspective to obtain a holistic view of the situation. Therefore, on the one hand the perspective of female engineers was investigated and, on the other hand, combined with the perspective of companies. We provide insights from focus groups and interviews with 49 female engineers across all career levels, from an analysis of 90 online company websites and social media pages as well as from three on-site visits at exemplary companies. The findings point to unresolved issues in recruitment and beyond: highlighting role models of successful women in engineering, the need for companies to actively attract and support women in engineering, e. g. through recruiting strategies focusing on women, insights into the working culture, and transparency regarding career options. Overall, the study suggests that companies should embed gender diversity and group specific recruitment as important issues in their organizations. Consequently, the study provides recommendations for action for companies seeking to become a more inclusive and diverse industry. Limitations are discussed and further implications are presented.