Rural Job Research Articles

Rural physician recruitment program in Thailand: factors associated with medical student enrollment and post-graduation intentions

Objectives: Thailand’s Collaborative Project to Increase Production of Rural Doctor (CPIRD) recruits students with a rural background and provides clinical year training in provincial teaching hospitals. We studied the main reasons for students attending this rural recruitment project and their intention to work in rural areas. Methods: In 2018, 2,870 4th–6th year medical students from 34 teaching hospitals under the CPIRD were sent a questionnaire surveying the following factors: their gender; year of study; size of the teaching hospital in which they were training; a domicile of origin and the province where they attended a high school; parent’s occupation; family income and main reasons for choosing to attend the CPIRD rural medical schools, as well as their attitudes towards rural job placement. Factors associated with a student's intention to work in rural areas were also examined, using multiple logistic regression. Results: 1,349 (47%) students responded. 809 (60%) were female, 914 (68%) had adequate family income, 519 (38%) had a domicile of origin in rural areas, 247 (18%) had either a mother or father being health professionals. The top three main reasons for choosing to attend the rural medical schools were: intention to return to work in their hometown(32%); student recruitment being less competitive (18.5%); and pre-specified job placement in their home districts (15%). Medical students who had a domicile of origin in rural areas, CPIRD recruitment track, and trained in medium and small-sized teaching hospitals had higher intention to work in rural areas, with Odds ratio of 1.51 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.06-2.15), 4.39 (95%CI 3.02-6.39), 1.54 (95% CI 1.09-2.17) and1.74 (95% CI 1.14-2.65), respectively. 1,283 (95%) medical students had a favorable attitude towards rural placement after their graduation. Conclusion: Students´ rural background and training in provincial teaching hospitals may enhance their intention to start and remain working in rural healthcare services.

Re-evaluating the urban wage premium: The changing roles of geographical and job transitions for women and men

This paper investigates gender as a new source of heterogeneity in the urban wage premium, using a representative panel of 1.2 million worker observations in Great Britain over the period 1999–2019. Pre-2008, women's urban wage premium was more than twice as large as men's (2.8% versus 1.2%), but this difference disappears during the Financial Crisis as women's urban wage premium drastically and permanently drops. This drop is due to the disappearance of women's relative sharing advantages. Moreover, contrary to men, women's urban wage premium is now driven by a wage penalty incurred when changing occupation while transitioning from urban to rural jobs.

American Rural–Nonrural Differences in Motherhood Wage Penalties

A rich body of literature has studied variances in motherhood wage penalties. Yet studies have not explored American rural–nonrural differences in this phenomenon. The spatial differences in women's experiences deserve exploration. Based on prior studies, rural mothers may experience greater wage penalties than nonrural mothers because of their high marriage rates, low educational levels, and the traditional gender attitudes and norms in rural communities. However, they may experience smaller penalties because rural job structures lack diversity and jobs there tend to be low‐paid. This paper uses fixed‐effects models to examine the rural–nonrural differences in motherhood wage penalties, with data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79). The results show that although rural women reported lower education levels and higher marriage rates than nonrural women, they experienced smaller motherhood wage penalties than nonrural women partially because they were more likely to work in low‐paid occupations and industries.

Assessing the interconnected effects of policy interventions on shrimp farming expansion and mangrove ecosystems through system dynamics

Since the early 2000s, Ca Mau has experienced a rapid boom in shrimp farming, leading to the conversion of mangroves into shrimp ponds and impeding mangrove forest conservation. Despite its negative environmental impacts, shrimp aquaculture remains vital to Ca Mau’s economy by providing employment opportunities and contributing to the province’s gross domestic product. This study constructed a system dynamic model to analyze the complex system of shrimp aquaculture and mangrove forests under two development scenarios: the Business-as-Usual (BAU) scenario and the Policy scenario. In the BAU scenario, shrimp aquaculture will continue to expand, resulting in the conversion of more mangroves into ponds and a decrease in Ca Mau’s mangrove forest to 70,349 (± 888.801) hectares in 2050. However, this expansion will bolster rural employment and the province’s economy, generating 14,250 (± 0.336) billion VND (US$ 570 million) in 2050. Conversely, in the Policy scenario, stabilizing shrimp areas at 280,000 hectares as a policy target will regulate mangrove conversion, allowing mangroves to regenerate (77,016 (± 687.155) hectares in 2050) and enhancing carbon storage (65 × 106 (± 0.58 × 106) MgC in 2050). However, challenges arise in the Policy scenario concerning potential economic stagnation, conflicts with other development priorities, and rural job losses. Officials must consider more than just the area of shrimp ponds to achieve sustainable development. Effective land use strategies should be implemented to ensure equilibrium between shrimp aquaculture and mangroves. Diversifying economic activities and promoting alternative livelihoods can mitigate the dependence on shrimp farming and offset the effects of policy interventions.

Examining Regional Economic Expansion Through the Reduction and Absurdum Methodologies: A View of the Variations of Rural Construction in China and Internal Causes of Cultural Confidence

The correlation between regional economic development and the urbanization process has been the cause of the emergence of “village-in-the-city” or “urbanization villages.” To accurately detail the changes in “village-in-the-city”, the urbanization scheme persists in transforming the “village-in-the-city” into a threadiness of “urban-rural fringe” in this decade. This document uses these two terms. After the suggestions about the “Liang and Chen Plan” failed to be accepted, “village-in-city,” the geographical term has lasted for 70 years. Nowadays, China’s policy of collective ownership of rural residential land (which is not allowed to be listed for trading) but commercial development has led villagers to increase the floor area based on their own homes without authorization to increase rental income. The Government must demolish the illegal building to comply with land planning rules, sustain the city’s appearance and protection, and manage the transient population. The cycle caused cultural resources to be destroyed and traditional villages to disappear. From an anthropological perspective, this paper uses rural ecosystem services, involving artists, appreciating rural assets, and stimulating rural job opportunities through social responsibility, equity, and public welfare design. Advocating the Chinese Government encourage private investments in rural construction, raising villagers’ awareness of resources, providing multiple choices, empowering rural businesses, and increasing villagers’ income from their talent as part of rural progress to explore a path of innovation with Cultural Confidence for rural construction in contemporary China.

Nursing Students’ Intention to Work in Rural Areas after Graduation: A Mixed Approach Study

Introduction: A key issue of Human Resources for Health and constraint to Universal Health Coverage is a disparity between the number of healthcare providers in urban and rural areas. The accessibility to health services has been found difficult in rural areas due to shortage of health workers. As final-year nursing students are the prospective human resource for health, this study aimed to assess the intention of nursing students to work in rural areas and identify the motivating and discouraging factors associated with their intention. Methods: Cross-sectional research design with mixed methods was conducted among final-year bachelor-level nursing students of Pokhara, Nepal from December 2019 to July 2020. A census method using a self-administered questionnaire was used for the quantitative method and in-depth interviews were conducted for the qualitative method. For quantitative method, descriptive and inferential statistics were used while content analysis for the qualitative method was carried out. Results: About one-third (33.3%) participants intended to work in rural areas. The motivating factors were an opportunity for career advancement (AOR: 3.8; 95% CI: 1.35-10.77), locating near to family (AOR: 3.58, 95% CI: 1.36-9.45), high salary/incentives, and high healthcare needs in rural areas; whereas discouraging factors were separation from family and friends (AOR 4.10, 95% CI 1.34-12.52), less availability of recreational facilities (AOR 3.68, 95% CI 1.11-12.21), inadequate salary/incentives, lack of equipment and resources, low utilization of skills and knowledge and low self-perceived competency. Conclusions: Only one-third of the participants had the intention to have the job placement in rural areas. The participants preferred to work staying with or nearby their family. The enrollment of students of rural origin/residence or background in a nursing program should be ensured. Various motivating factors like training, attractive incentives, infrastructures, and facilities should be offered to make rural jobs more attractive.

What are the job attribute preferences of physicians and nurses in Türkiye? Evidence from a discrete choice experiment

BackgroundIn Türkiye, as in other countries, the maldistribution of the health workforce is a serious concern. Although policymakers have developed various incentive packages, this problem has not been thoroughly addressed yet. Discrete choice experiment (DCE) is a valuable method to provide evidence-based information for these incentive packages to attract healthcare staff for rural jobs. The main aim of this study is to investigate the stated preferences of physicians and nurses when choosing a job region.MethodsA labelled DCE was conducted to assess job preferences of physicians and nurses from two hospitals one of which is urban, and the other is in a rural region in Türkiye Job attributes included wage, creche, infrastructure, workload, education opportunity, housing, and career opportunity. Mixed logit model was used to analyse the data.ResultsThe strongest attribute associated with job preferences was region (coefficient − 3.06, [SE 0.18]) for physicians (n = 126) and wages (coefficient 1.02, [SE 0.08]) for nurses (n = 218). According to the Willingness to Pay (WTP) calculations, while the physicians claimed 8627 TRY (1,813 $), the nurses claimed 1407 TRY (296 $) in addition to their monthly salaries to accept a rural job.ConclusionBoth financial and non-financial factors did affect the preferences of physicians and nurses. These DCE results provide information for policymakers about what characteristics might increase the motivation of physicians and nurses to work in rural areas in Türkiye.

The Future Dreams of Ireland’s Youth: Possibilities for Rural Regeneration and Generational Renewal

The renewal of younger generations in farming and rural areas is a key European policy concern and rural sustainability issue. European literature discusses what drives young people from rural areas while identifying diverse and often interlinked factors as responsible. This study uses a future foresight approach to understand what would facilitate young people to remain in or return to rural areas. Targeting youth aged 18 to 30 and examining their personal dream futures in 2035, this paper presents the ideal lifestyle and livelihoods young people envision for themselves in rural Ireland. However, future approaches to alleviate rural decline, support regeneration, and the wider issue of generational renewal must consider the wider impact on rural sustainability. Generational renewal is just one challenging part of rural decline, including wider social, environmental, economic, and cultural issues. Driven by this wider concern, this paper also explores the implications of the youth’s future dreams for rural regeneration and generational renewal from a broad rural resilience perspective. The results identify a range of issues. However, rural jobs emerge as a key issue, and the paper outlines how policy attention is particularly needed here for improved resilient rural regeneration and generational renewal.

Rural job preferences of graduate class medical students in Ethiopia—a discrete choice experiment (DCE)

BackgroundHuman resource is one of the health system’s building blocks, which ultimately leads to improved health status, equity, and efficiency. However, human resources in the health sector are characterized by high attrition, distributional imbalance, and geographic inequalities in urban and rural settings.MethodsAn discrete choice experiment (DCE) with 16 choice tasks with two blocks containing five attributes (salary, housing, drug and medical equipment, year of experience before study leave, management support, and workload) were conducted. A latent class and mixed logit model were fitted to estimate the rural job preferences and heterogeneity. Furthermore, the relative importance, willingness to accept and marginal choice probabilities were calculated. Finally, the interaction of preference with age and sex was tested.ResultsA total of 352 (5632 observations) final-year medical students completed the choice tasks. On average, respondents prefer to work with a higher salary with a superior housing allowance In addition, respondents prefer a health facility with a stock of drug and medical equipment which provide education opportunities after one year of service with supportive management with a normal workload. Young medical students prefer lower service years more than older students. Besides age and service year, we do not find an interaction between age/sex and rural job preference attributes.A three-class latent class model best fits the data. The salary was the most important attribute in classes 1 and 3. Contrary to the other classes, respondents in class 2 do not have a significant preference for salary. Respondents were willing to accept an additional 4271 ETB (104.2 USD), 1998 ETB (48.7 USD), 1896 ETB (46.2 USD), 1869 (45.6 USD), and 1175 ETB (28.7 USD) per month for the inadequate drug and medical supply, mandatory two years of service, heavy workload, unsupportive management, and basic housing, respectively.ConclusionRural job uptake by medical students was influenced by all the attributes, and there was individual and group-level heterogeneity in preference. Policymakers should account for the job preferences and heterogeneity to incentivize medical graduates to work in rural settings and minimize attrition.

Analysis of the Housing–Jobs Separation Characteristics of Different Village Types in the Mountainous and Hilly Region of Southwest China

The economic and social transition toward modernization is characterized by a massive outflow of rural labor, which raises problems such as rural job–housing separation and rural decline. Few studies have used rural labor employment microdata to quantitatively analyze the degree of separation between housing and jobs in different types of villages, especially in ecologically fragile mountainous and hilly regions. This article is based on a 2021 survey of 6181 rural households in 158 villages of Chongqing, a mountainous and hilly region of China, and divides villages into city edge, suburban, and outer suburban villages. In this study, the separation degree of housing–jobs (SDHJ) measurement model was created in order to explore the degree of separation between rural jobs and housing in terms of space–time dimension separation in these areas, and the different job–housing separation characteristics under different village types were distinguished. The results show the following. (1) The county’s rural SDHJ has a clear regional differentiation law, and the degrees of separation between housing and jobs in all counties are in the following order: main urban area < northeast of Chongqing < southeast of Chongqing. The degree of separation between housing and jobs presents a spatial pattern of “medium–low perimeter high, local prominence” according to both the degree of temporal separation and the degree of spatial separation. (2) The degrees of separation between housing and jobs in various village types are in the following order: urban fringe villages < suburban villages < outer suburban villages. The distance effect was verified. The SDHJ is typically low in urban fringe villages and moderate in suburban villages, with distinct geographical disparities in labor distribution. The SDHJ is typically higher in the outer suburban villages, where laborers choose long-term long-distance employment. (3) This study proposes some countermeasures that could reduce the SDHJ for different types of villages. The findings have important policy implications for China’s mountainous rural development and serve as a model for other developing countries.

The Effects of Technological Progress in Innovative Regions on the Labor Markets of Lagging Regions: A Theoretical Perspective

The technological effects of innovative regions on lagging regions’ labor markets have not been yet well understood, especially in the urban–rural context. I introduce a theoretical model that yields insight into the interactions between high-technology and lagging regions. While, through knowledge spillovers, urban technology can increase rural jobs, it can also reduce rural employment by raising the competitive advantage of urban firms over rural firms in product market competition. Progress in urban technology also exerts an ambiguous effect of a brain drain on the rural labor market.

Response of youth participation in agricultural diversification as rural job creation work in rift valley for afar region in Ethiopia

Response of youth participation in agricultural diversification as rural job creation work in rift valley for afar region in Ethiopia

Factors influencing attraction and retention of frontline health workers in remote and rural areas in Nigeria: a discrete choice experiment.

The policy thrust in Nigeria is to ensure qualified, skilled, and adequate health workforce to achieve universal health coverage. We designed a discrete choice experiment to determine the combinations of incentives that may increase the attraction and retention of frontline health workers. We conducted the study in Bauchi State amongst 145 students and health workers. Health workers are 14.6 and 14.4 times more likely to take up a rural posting or continue to stay in their present rural posts if there was basic housing and improvement of the quality of the facilities respectively. The preference for rural job location increased 6.17 times when good schools for children's education were provided. Ensuring availability of basic housing, improving the quality of health facilities, and ensuring good schools for children's educations are essential factors that may support attraction and retention of health workers. These strategies will support health care services in rural areas and achieving universal health coverage.

Effect of Labour Scarcity on Rice Production and Yieldin Guma Local Government Area of Benue State

The study assesses the effects of labour scarcity on rice production and yield in Guma Local Government Area of Benue State. Survey research design was adopted; with a population of 5125 registered smallholder rice farmers, out of which 371 respondents were sampled using the multi-stage sampling strategy. The questionnaire was then used to collect data from the sample. Data collected was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPPS 20.0) from which simple frequencies and percentages were presented in tables and graphs to answer the research questions. Findings indicated that scarcity of labour for rice production is caused by Farmers/Herdsmen clashes, migration due to improved education; preference for other rural jobs, drudgery of farm activities as well as lack of basic social amenities in the rural areas. The findings also revealed that labour scarcity affects rice production and yield adversely in the study area as it leads to poor rice yields, smaller sizes of rice farms, poor income, preference for other crops as well increased poverty levels.

Youth Participation in Agricultural Enterprises as Rural Job Creation Work and Its Determinants in Southern Ethiopia

Even though agriculture has ample potential to absorb a large number of people, youths tend to stand away from the subsector. As a result, rural job creation works were started in southern Ethiopia by participating youth in different agricultural enterprises in the form of groups and cooperatives. However, as compared to sector potential, youths are not participating in agricultural job creation works in Ethiopia. Therefore, this study was intended to assess factors affecting youth participation in agricultural enterprises in selected districts of Southern Ethiopia. A multistage sampling procedure was followed to select 160 sample youths. The collected data from sampled youths were analyzed by both descriptive statistics and a probit econometric model. Among the agricultural enterprises, the majority of the youths (63.3%) preferred livestock enterprises indicating livestock sector job creation capacity in Ethiopia. The seasonal nature of agricultural income, fear of agricultural risk, and lack of initial capital were the top three factors hindering youth participation in the agricultural enterprise as rural job creation works. The probit model result shows that, among the hypothesized variables, education level, credit getting bureaucracy, lack of initial capital, fear of the group, risk and uncertainty, and lack of working place determine significantly youth participation in agriculture enterprises. Hence, respective bodies must group youths based on their preferred interest and evaluate their business plan critical before credit disbursement, while solving credit providing terms problems on the microfinance side and the introduction of agricultural insurance through these youth agricultural enterprises for agricultural risk fear needs stakeholders’ interventions. Overall, initial savings, interest rate, and payback period of credit need special policy adjustments to increase youth participation in an agricultural enterprise.

Facilitators and barriers to employment for rural women cancer survivors.

Limited research exists on the employment experiences of rural women cancer survivors, yet this population may face unique barriers to employment following a cancer diagnosis. This study aims to identify facilitators and barriers to employment for rural women cancer survivors. We used a qualitative descriptive design to examine facilitators and barriers to employment for rural women cancer survivors. We conducted interviews with 33 rural women with cancer histories. Facilitators of employment included paid time off, flexible work arrangements, and supportive workplace social networks, while barriers to employment included compromised immunity, long-term treatment effects, stigma and discrimination, and limited rural job markets. Rural women with secure employment histories generally experienced facilitators of employment, while rural women with insecure (e.g., temporary, informal, non-standard) employment histories generally faced barriers to retaining jobs and finding employment. Formal and informal workplace support helped rural women retain their jobs during and following cancer treatment, especially those with secure employment. However, women with insecure employment histories generally faced multiple barriers to retaining and finding employment. More inclusive policies to support workers facing disabling illnesses, such as paid medical leave, are needed to ensure cancer survivors can maintain employment and/or financial security during and following their cancer treatment. Cancer survivors with secure employment may benefit from formal and informal workplace support in retaining their employment. Those with insecure employment histories may benefit from access to job placement services and inclusive policies protecting employment for all workers experiencing disabling illness.

Challenges and opportunities in producing high-quality edible mushrooms from lignocellulosic biomass in a small scale

Mushrooms are high-value products that can be produced from lignocellulosic biomass. Mushrooms are the fruiting body of fungi and are domestically cultivated using lignocellulosic biomass obtained from agricultural byproducts and woody biomass. A handful of edible mushroom species are commercially cultivated at small, medium, and large scales for culinary and medicinal use. Details about different lignocellulosic biomass and their composition that are commonly used to produce mushrooms are outlined in this review. In addition, discussions on four major processing steps (i) producing solid and liquid spawn, (ii) conventional and mechanized processing lignocellulosic biomass substrates to produce mushroom beds, (iii) maintaining growth conditions in climate-controlled rooms, and (iv) energy requirements and managements to produce mushrooms are also provided. The new processing methods and technology outlined in this review may allow mushrooms to be economically and sustainably produced at a small scale to satisfy the growing food needs and create rural jobs. KEY POINTS: • Some of the challenges faced by small-scale mushroom growers are presented. This review is expected to stimulate more research to address the challenges.

The race towards the universal health coverage and factors influencing radiographers' career choice in rural settlements in North-Eastern Nigeria

Background: There is a human resource crisis in the healthcare sector in Nigeria. This is because of the existing inequitable distribution of the available meagre workforce which is itself not helped by the increasing and currently trending brain drain.Purpose: This study aimed at assessing the factors that influence radiographers' choice of career in rural settlements in Northeastern Nigeria.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among Radiographers in Northeastern Nigeria. A 21-item, self-administered semi-structured questionnaire was distributed over a six (6) month period, where 130 questionnaires were distributed. The questionnaire consisted of two sections; a: on demography; b: on factors (attractors and detractors) for career choice in rural areas. Content analysis was used to analyze qualitative data; descriptive statistics were used to analyze quantitative data. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21.0 was used.Results: A total of 91 questionnaires were retrieved, giving a response rate of 70%. There were 56 (61.5%) males and 35 (38.5%) females. About 82 (90.1 %) had B.Sc and 9 (9.9 %) had M.Sc as their highest qualification. The major attractors for accepting rural jobs were improved remuneration 97 (86.8%) and opportunity for continuous professional development 72 (79.1%). While major detractors were, the cultural and traditional beliefs of the people in rural areas 23 (25.3%) and the lack of social amenities/poor infrastructure 22 (24.2%).Conclusion: The attractors for radiographers to rural areas in this study were; improved remuneration, availability of equipment, professional development, availability of social amenities and security among others. To recruit and retain radiographers in the rural areas, government, recruitment agencies and employers should in addition to good remuneration motivate the radiographers by providing adequate power, security, rural posting allowances, good functional equipment and working and learning environment.

Responsive policies needed to secure rural supply from increasing female doctors: A perspective.

Around the world, the supply of rural health services to address population health needs continues to be a wicked problem. Adding to this, an increasing proportion of female doctors is graduating from medical courses but gender is not accounted for within rural workforce policy and planning. This threatens the future capacity of rural medical services. This perspective draws together the latest evidence, to make the case for industry and government action on responsive policy and planning to attract females to rural medicine. We find that the factors that attract female doctors to rural practice are not the same as males. We identify female‐tailored policies require a re‐visioning of rural recruitment, use of employment arrangements that attract females and re‐thinking issues of rural training and specialty choice. We conceptualise a roadmap that includes co‐designing rural jobs within supportive teams, allowing for capped hours which align with childcare along with boosting of female peer support and mentorship. There is also a need to enhance flexible rural postgraduate training options in a range of specialties (at a time when many women are establishing families) and to consider viable partner employment (including for female doctors with university trained partners) and advertising specific rural attractors to women, including the chance to connect with communities and make a difference.

Factors affecting job choice among physician anesthesia providers in Uganda: a survey of income composition, discrete choice experiment, and implications for the decision to work rurally

BackgroundOne of the biggest barriers to accessing safe surgical and anesthetic care is lack of trained providers. Uganda has one of the largest deficits in anesthesia providers in the world, and though they are increasing in number, they remain concentrated in the capital city. Salary is an oft-cited barrier to rural job choice, yet the size and sources of anesthesia provider incomes are unclear, and so the potential income loss from taking a rural job is unknown. Additionally, while salary augmentation is a common policy proposal to increase rural job uptake, the relative importance of non-monetary job factors in job choice is also unknown.MethodsA survey on income sources and magnitude, and a Discrete Choice Experiment examining the relative importance of monetary and non-monetary factors in job choice, was administered to 37 and 47 physician anesthesiologists in Uganda, between May–June 2019.ResultsNo providers worked only at government jobs. Providers earned most of their total income from a non-government job (50% of income, 23% of working hours), but worked more hours at their government job (36% of income, and 44% of working hours). Providers felt the most important job attributes were the quality of the facility and scope of practice they could provide, and the presence of a colleague (33% and 32% overall relative importance). These were more important than salary and living conditions (14% and 12% importance).ConclusionsNo providers accepted the salary from a government job alone, which was always augmented by other work. However, few providers worked only nongovernment jobs. Non-monetary incentives are powerful influencers of job preference, and may be leveraged as policy options to attract providers. Salary continues to be an important driver of job choice, and jobs with fewer income generating opportunities (e.g. private work in rural areas) are likely to need salary augmentation to attract providers.