Unequal Participation Research Articles

Investigating diversity in European audiences for public engagement with research: Who attends European Researchers' Night in Ireland, the UK and Malta?

European Researchers' Night is an annual pan-European synchronized event devoted to public engagement with research. It was first held in 2005 and now occurs in over 400 cities across Europe, with the aim of bringing researchers closer to the general public. To investigate social inclusion in these events, we conducted survey research across three national contexts (Ireland, Malta and the UK) and events in seven cities between 2016 and 2019 (n = 1590). The results from this exploratory descriptive study confirmed one hypothesis, namely that event attendees had substantially higher levels of university qualification than the national publics. This is in line with wider patterns of unequal participation in public engagement with research activities based on socio-economic status. However, we also found mixed evidence on the prevalence of ethnic minority representation among event attendees compared to the general population, thus failing to uphold the second hypothesis that predicted an over-representation of white majority participants. This second finding diverges from existing research findings about ethnic diversity amongst science communication audiences, raising the possibility that some public engagement events are over-performing on this dimension of social inclusion. Overall, the findings demonstrate that European Researchers' Night has potential for addressing the critical goal of enhancing the diversity of audiences for public engagement with research, even as it falls short on the key metric of socio-economic diversity.

Social inequalities as an expression of disproportions in participation in linguistic resources. The meaning of metaphors

The text is devoted to the problem of social inequalities created by the fact of unequal participation in language resources. "Gutenberg Galaxy" created social inequalities by setting a caesura between the reader and the author. Scientism limits the ability of lay people to understand specialized scientific knowledge. The participation in the language of actors and spectator of social life also has a different character. Assuming that the human anthropological challenge is the striving for optimal adaptation (D. Hoffman), social communication and adaptation take place in the space of language. As components of language, metaphors enable such an individual meeting. Mid-range metaphors play a special role here.

Less complex language, more participation: how consultation documents shape participatory patterns

Consultations are thought to increase the legitimacy of policies. However, this reasoning only holds if stakeholders really participate in the consultations. Current scholarship offers three explanations for participation patterns: Institutional rules, policy characteristics, and interest group resources determine participation. This article argues that additionally the linguistic complexity of consultation documents influences participation. Complex language deters potential participants, because it raises the costs of participation. A quantitative analysis of the German consultation of electricity grids lends credibility to the argument: If the description of a power line is simplified between two consultation rounds, the number of contributions mentioning that power line increases. This result contributes to our understanding of unequal participation patterns, and the institutional design of participatory procedures. If we think that legitimacy is enhanced by broad participation, then language of the documents matters.

Gestión de los recursos humanos y estrategias de vacunación en atención primaria en Europa en la pandemia COVID-19

This article describes the management of human resource and the vaccination strategies in primary care in twelve European countries in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic. All the countries have found solutions to increase their workforce in primary care. Other healthcare professionals were incorporated to support family doctors assuming their tasks, under their supervision and coordination. The European Commission had a crucial role in the production, purchase and distribution of the vaccines. The engagement of primary care in the vaccination campaign has had an unequal participation in the different countries, although the greatest burden has been managed from the government's public health departments.

Culture: management and financing in the Russian digital reality

The state, by virtue of its nature, is capable of controlling and regulating all spheres of society. The main instrument of this regulation is the ability to redistribute resources between different spheres of life. Russia, in the era of new global challenges in the conditions of fierce information competition, needs to pay special attention to the cultural sphere of society. It is the preservation and transmission of cultural values, norms and experience to new generations that are able to ensure the unity of multinational people in turbulent circumstances. However, due to numerous factors, the cultural sector, receives insufficient state support and funding. In modern realities, in addition to economic problems, the sphere of culture is experiencing new difficulties associated with the digitalization of society. The article presents the results of the research, in the course of which the all-Russian expert survey was conducted. The experts gave their opinions on the most urgent problems in the sphere of culture, which were subsequently analysed. The most acute issue, according to the majority of experts, is the underfunding of the cultural sphere, which leads to significant consequences: unequal participation of citizens in cultural life, use of cultural institutions, limited access to cultural values; personnel stagnation in this sphere. In addition, the sphere of culture is subject to the processes of politicization and commercialization, which slows down its development and reduces the overall level, which has a negative impact on society. Experts state that cultural reforms aimed at modernization and the revision of cultural policy are necessary in the sphere of culture. Such changes are possible only with the adoption of a new law “on culture”, which would renew public administration in this sphere and ensure the progressive and systematic growth of the cultural level of the population.

A mandatory contribution-based collaborative gaming approach to enhancing students’ collaborative learning outcomes in Science museums

ABSTRACT In the past decades, collaborative game-based learning has been used to facilitate students’ learning in authentic learning contexts. Although several previous studies have reported the potential of this approach for students’ learning performance and motivation, unequal participation could negatively influence the learning effectiveness of collaborative learning. To this end, this study developed a mandatory contribution-based collaborative gaming approach (MCCG) to enhance the competencies for conducting practical solutions related to environmental issues during a cross-field learning activity between a school and a museum. MCCG and a conventional collaborative gaming approach (CCG) were implemented to investigate the effects of individual contributions on collaborative learning. Both individual learning achievements and collaborative learning outcomes were assessed. The results showed that game-based collaboration supports can support competency-based education to enhance students’ competencies, such as problem-solving and critical thinking competencies. Those students who learned with the mandatory contribution approach had better collaborative learning outcomes.

‘Fact’ as a Lexico-Syntactic Marker of the Character’s Linguistic Personality

The role of the attitude in the formation of the lexical-syntactic marker of the character’s linguistic personality is considered. An attempt is made to show how, due to the attitude, the same word (namely, the word ‘fact’) in different syntactic uses serves to create a lexical-syntactic marker used by word artists in order to identify and characterize different characters as linguistic personalities. The relevance of the study is to demonstrate that considering the pragmatic level of a linguistic personality makes it possible to differentiate different characters in whose speech the same lexical-syntactic marker prevails. The novelty of the research lies in the explanation of how the lexical-syntactic marking of the linguistic personality of different characters is carried out on the basis of the same verbal element. Based on the play by M. Gorky “Summer Residents” (Basov’s linguistic personality) and M. A. Sholokhov’s novel “Virgin Soil Upturned” (Davydov’s linguistic personality), it is shown that the speech individualization of different characters through the word ‘fact’ is due to the inclusion of this word in different dominant varieties of lexicon the syntactic marker is a ‘fact’, correlation with different attitudes both “from the author” and “from the character”, unequal participation in character speech cooperation.

Promoting regulation of equal participation in online collaboration by combining a group awareness tool and adaptive prompts. But does it even matter?

Unequal participation poses a challenge to collaborative learning because it reduces opportunities for fruitful collaboration among learners and affects learners’ satisfaction. Social group awareness tools can display information on the distribution of participation and thus encourage groups to regulate the distribution of participation. However, some groups might require additional explicit support to leverage the information from such a tool. Therefore, this study investigated the effect of combining a group awareness tool and adaptive collaboration prompts on the distribution of participation during web-based collaboration. In this field experiment, students in a university level online course collaborated twice for two-weeks (16 groups in the first task; 13 groups in the second task) and either received only a group awareness tool, a combination of a group awareness tool and adaptive collaboration prompts, or no additional support. Our results showed that students were more satisfied when the participation in their group was more evenly distributed. However, we only found tentative support that the collaboration support helped groups achieve equal participation. Students reported rarely using the support for shared regulation of participation. Sequence alignment and clustering of action sequences revealed that groups who initiated the collaboration early, coordinated before solving the problem and interacted continuously tended to achieve an equal distribution of participation and were more satisfied with the collaboration. Against the background of our results, we identify potential ways to improve group awareness tools for supporting groups in their regulation of participation, and discuss the premise of equal participation during collaborative learning.

Gender in Coed Team Sports: A Social Psychological Perspective

Coed team sports typically offer different experiences for women and men. Though scholars have documented gender imbalances in participation within such teams, the social psychological processes at play and the broader consequences of unequal participation have rarely been explored. In this paper, the authors revisit coed team sports through the lens of status construction theory and expectation states theory to suggest that coed teams reinforce gendered notions of worth, prestige, and competence in the field of sport. The authors draw on research showing that mixed-sex settings where people must cooperate to achieve a common goal are especially prone to the reproduction of gender stereotypes. This paper builds bridges between two subfields of sociology and illuminates gender dynamics in a coed sport that has not been previously studied (futsal).

Voice, equality and education: the role of higher education in defining the political participation of young Europeans

Much attention has been paid by academics and policy-makers in recent decades to declining levels of voter turnout and engagement with traditional political and social institutions in established democracies. These trends are particularly marked amongst young people. Drawing on data from the European Social Survey, this article examines the role of higher education (HE) both as a source of unequal participation and as a means of fostering civic and political engagement amongst young Europeans. It uncovers two significant new findings. First, that being in education matters more than an individual’s level of educational attainment for levels of civic and political participation, and second, that HE establishments play a key role as social levellers: being in education neutralises differences between young people from high-income and low-income backgrounds with regards to such participation. The article argues that this places added emphasis on the role of educational institutions in nurturing democratic engagement.

Research on the Influence of Collaborative Learning among Bachelor of Education (Management) Students in University of Cape Coast, Ghana

The study’s major goal was to evaluate the usage of collaborative learning among University of Cape Coast B. Ed. Management students. The investigation was conducted using a descriptive survey design. 245 student-teachers in levels 200 - 400 were sampled using a stratified simple random sampling technique. The data was collected using questionnaires created by the researchers. The replies to the research questions were determined using descriptive statistics, specifically frequencies and percentages, mean of means, and standard deviations. According to the findings, University of Cape Coast B. Ed Management students show a favorable attitude toward collaborative learning. Collaborative learning, according to the study, provides a more learner-centered environment, improves students’ academic skills, develops strong working relationships among students, and increases class participation. Group activities assist students acquire intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and management skills, among other things. Finding consensus, communicating with group members, coordination between group members, lack of leadership, lack of motivation, lack of time, procrastination, scheduling conflicts, and unequal participation are among the challenges students face when using collaborative learning, according to the study. The study concluded that the academic board of the University of Cape Coast’s Department of Business Education should evaluate B. Ed Management in order to make teacher-centered techniques such as collaborative learning a major pedagogy for B. Ed Management teaching and learning.

The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Education: Social Exclusion and Dropping out of School

The current study is aimed at investigating the problem of students’ social exclusion and dropping out of school as a consequence of COVID-19 pandemic, which abruptly disrupted school life and education in general. The closure of all educational institutions rendered distant learning an unavoidable, yet important, measure taken by education stakeholders around the globe, which, however, raised issues of unequal participation of all students. Benefits largely remain skewed towards those who are considered privileged in all aspects, thus leaving many poor, ethnic and racial minorities, and other marginal groups shortchanged, especially in Greece, which has been tortured by a severe financial crisis since 2011. Groups of Greek students that were already experiencing adverse educational and social conditions due to their families’ socio-economic status or due to specific individual and ethnic characteristics, find themselves unable to keep up with the requirements set by the mode of synchronous teaching and learning, ending up socially and educationally excluded and marginalized and ultimately being prematurely forced to abandon school, thus rising dropping-out rates tremendously. Thus, the various parameters of this multi-faceted problem are examined and social and practical recommendations are made accordingly.

Rigor restricted: Unequal participation in advanced placement

Although participation in Advanced Placement programs has been expanding rapidly across the United States, participation among marginalized students generally, and boys of color in particular, has remained lower than for other students. In his observations at an urban high school, Suneal Kolluri found that, if they were going to put in the work required in these classes, Black and Latino boys needed to feel connected to the teachers and the curriculum. Some signed up for AP classes because they liked the teachers, but when they got the impression that those teachers didn’t believe in them, they disengaged. In addition, they didn’t see the value of the content presented in AP classes. Although teachers and counselors tried to motivate them by explaining that it would prepare them for college, the students were unconvinced that they needed this help.

“How do I survive exclusion?” Voices of students with disabilities at China’s top universities

Abstract While researchers continue to work on experiences of exclusion among students with disabilities (SWD) in higher education, the dimensions of such experiences among SWD remain inconsistent across culturally diversified studies, and related research with a focus on China has been absent. Furthermore, little is known about the coping strategies of SWD facing exclusion. To address these research gaps, this study explores experiences of exclusion and coping strategies among SWD at China’s top universities, using a qualitative research approach. Individual online interviews were conducted with 13 SWD at China’s top universities. Our findings suggest that SWD in China experience not only some forms of intentional exclusion but also some forms of unintentional exclusion. Specifically, four dimensions of exclusion are identified: 1) reduction or deprivation of opportunities; 2) unequal participation; 3) limited or unequal access to resources; and 4) marginalization of interpersonal relationships. In terms of coping strategies, SWD tend to adopt more positive solution strategies (i.e., support seeking and problem solving) than negative avoidance strategies (i.e., distancing and internalizing) when facing exclusion, and some SWD apply self-adjustment strategies to change their negative strategies into positive ones. Implications for future research and practice in inclusive higher education are discussed.

Biomedical and health research: an analysis of country participation and research fields in the EU's Horizon 2020.

We analysed the Horizon 2020 project database, currently the European Union’s (EU) largest framework programme for research and innovation—nearly 80 billion euros available over 7 years (2014–2020), to estimate the amount and type of EU-supported biomedical and health research and funding distribution among EU member states and non-European countries. Out of 20,877 projects as of 14th January 2019, a total of 4865 projects were classified as human health related. Ninety-four countries/territories worldwide participated in at least one biomedical project. The EU-15 original member states showed the highest participation as project leaders/partners and for acquired funding. Strong unequal funding distribution and participation between EU-15 and the 13 newest members—with EU-15 receiving about 87% of funding and EU-13 only 3%—have been evidenced. For both EU-15 and EU-13 we detected about 20% of projects involving the public and private sectors, according to Horizon 2020 guidelines. The largest percentage of projects was in the areas of biotechnological research (28.28%) and “basic research” (26.95%); these two sectors together accounted for 46.99% of the total funding assigned (7.9 billion euros). Research in neurosciences and neurological diseases appeared to be an increasing study area. Neurological and mental diseases covered about 21% of projects. Epidemiological studies accounted for about 5% of the total projects and for 14% of funding. Strong correlations were shown by indicators of financial and scientific capacity to identify success rates in obtaining EU funding, making the gap between countries with strong and weak research infrastructures difficult to overcome.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s10654-020-00690-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Using learning analytics to understand collective attention in language MOOCs

Learning analytics (LA) has the potential to generate new insights into the complexities of learning behaviours in language massive open online courses (LMOOCs). In LA, the collective attention model takes an ecological system view of the dynamic process of unequal participation patterns in online and flexible learning environments. In this study, the ‘Oral Communication for EFL Learners (spring)’ on XuetangX was selected as an example with which to examine the allocation of learner attention in the context of LMOOCs. The open-flow network of collective attention was used to model the dynamics of learning behaviours to understand how different cohorts of second language (L2) learners allocated their attention at the collective level. The results showed that what distinguished high-performing L2 learners was related less to where they started with LMOOC resources or how much attention they allocated to certain learning units and more to the extent to which their attention could be maintained and circulated into other learning units. In addition, learners’ attention typically followed the pre-designed course structure each time they entered the online space. No learning resources offered in the selected LMOOC were found to dominate the collective attention flow, which suggested that L2 learners’ online engagement followed classroom learning patterns. The use of LA to understand the allocation of L2 attention at the collective level provides new perspectives on digital behaviour in LMOOCs, which may facilitate the design of cost-effective L2 resources that prevent learner overload in the information-rich age.

How do the Characteristics of Voting Advice Application Users Change Over Time? Evidence from the German Election Studies

Unequal and declining electoral turnout has spurred numerous initiatives to reverse the trend. Voting advice applications (VAAs) are one prominent attempt. VAAs match the opinions of voters with those of candidates or parties. As the popularity of VAAs increases and research corroborates their effect on turnout and political preferences, it matters at lot who uses VAAs and, thus, experiences these effects. The early VAA literature found that VAA users tend to be young, well-educated, politically interested men. For the first time, this article assesses whether this pattern changes over time. Using German election data, it measures whether age, gender, education, and political interest still explains VAA use. Age remains important, while gender is no longer significant. Those with the highest levels of education remain significantly more likely to use VAAs, but this is no longer true for those with moderate levels of education. Political interest remains an important predictor of VAA usage. Overall, we have thus seen a development in which users become more similar to the population as a whole. A development which corresponds to Rogers’ diffusion thesis. This is important in light of the continued interest in unequal political participation as it suggests that VAAs may, in the long term, be able to reach groups in society currently not engaged in the political process.

Perceived Effectiveness and Applicability of Think-Pair-Share Including Storytelling (TPS-S) to Enhance Clinical Learning

Problem: Think-pair-share (TPS) is a teaching strategy that promotes active and collaborative learning; however, the effectiveness and applicability of this strategy in its original or altered form remain to be established, especially in health professions education. As a first step in this direction, the objective of our study was to examine the perceived effectiveness and applicability of TPS including storytelling (TPS-S) in an oral pathology seminar from the perspectives of students, seminar instructors, and peer instructors (experienced instructors who observed the seminar). Intervention: Prompts for individual thinking (T), pair discussion (P), and class sharing (S) included clinical case-based questions related to diagnosis and management and wildcards with additional information about the cases. In addition to the traditional TPS phases, the experiences of the leading instructor in dealing with the cases discussed in the seminar were shared through storytelling to model good practices in clinical diagnosis and management. Context: Our study was conducted in the School of Dentistry at the University of Alberta. Participants in this mixed-method study included third (Y3) and fourth (Y4) year dental students (n = 55) in their clinical training, seminar instructors (n = 2), and peer instructors (n = 3). Data from students, seminar instructors, and peer instructors were obtained through the Student Evaluation of Educational Quality (SEEQ) questionnaire, journaling, and interview, respectively. Descriptive statistics were performed to analyze SEEQ dimensions and statements (factors). MANOVA was used to determine significant differences between Y3 and Y4 students for SEEQ dimensions and ANOVA to identify the factors that accounted for significant differences. Qualitative data were analyzed using inductive content analysis. Impact: Participants positively valued the TPS-S seminar. Students rated all SEEQ dimensions between good and very good and regarded the seminar as superior to traditional lectures. Perceived conditions that facilitated the implementation of TPS-S included the use of real-life clinical cases, instructor facilitation skills, and the scaffolded structure of the seminar. Perceived conditions that hindered the implementation of TPS-S included unequal participation of Y3 and Y4 students, time constraints, and issues related to student pairing. Lessons learned: TPS-S was perceived as effective to improve clinical learning and applicable to dental clinical education as long as its implementation matches the characteristics of the learning context. Further evidence is needed to empirically demonstrate the effectiveness and applicability of TPS-S.

Inclusive participation, self-governance, and sustainability: Current challenges and opportunities for women in leadership of communal irrigation systems

Genuine inclusive participation in the self-governance of communal irrigation systems remains a challenge. This article analyses the mechanisms of participation in irrigation water users’ associations (WUAs) with focus on women as leaders of those organizations by drawing on cases from a comparative, multicase mixed-method study in Ethiopia and Argentina. After having being a topic for decades in gender and development debates, in many irrigated areas of the world, WUAs continue to be male dominated at all levels, especially in influential positions. Findings in this article suggest that despite large socio-economic and cultural differences, the current water management systems in both research locations reinforce problems of unequal gender participation; women have more obstacles and constraints in establishing equal access in membership, participation, and decision making in irrigation management. The lack of inclusive participation and the low representation of women in leadership roles lead to WUAs being poorly rooted in their community of users. Incomplete social rootedness of WUAs jeopardizes their effectiveness and equality in water management and, as a result, affects long-term sustainability. Through analysis of empirical data of communal small-scale irrigation systems in both countries, the article discusses who participates, how and why they participate, and the reasons for low numbers of women in leadership roles within the WUAs. Finally, the article reflects on possible enabling conditions that could foster inclusive participation, increase the quantity and capacity of women in management and leadership roles, and the benefits this may bring to sustainable irrigation systems.

Access as Pedagogy: A Case for Embracing Feminist Pedagogy in Open and Distance Learning

While the mainstream discourse around Open and Distance Learning (ODL) center around standardization, scalability, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness, I return to a much more contextual and humane understanding of teaching and learning in ODL through feminist pedagogy. I begin my inquiry by discussing women students’ experiences through the notion of access as pedagogy, which challenges disembodied views of online learners and learning, and a view of access to resources as an opportunity for equity. Issues with gender are the focal point in my discussions; however, I view feminist pedagogy as an ethical position as well as a pedagogical position that calls attentive ways of looking into structuring educational services, methods, policies, and legislations that create an inclusive learning space not just for women, but for all students who are disadvantaged in their education. Within this context, student participation can be framed as a means for transformation, contributing to one’s well-being, agency and sense of power. I highlight the need for an intersectional gender analysis in ODL, as well as openness and transparency in pedagogical processes in order to tackle human and non-human bias, misrecognition, misrepresentation and unequal participation. Education with an explicit goal for transformation leads to the use of technology for reflective, imaginative, and critical ends.