Work Roles Research Articles

Gendered cooperation in a post-NPM era: a comparative study of the perceptions of municipal technostructure experts and middle-line managers

ABSTRACT By exploring the perceptions of cooperation between technostructure experts and middle line managers of different departments in three Swedish municipalities in a qualitative study, this paper contributes to an understanding of how gendered norms inscribed in type of work influence expectations on cooperation. Theories of principal-agent, stewardship, and partnership, and a gender perspective are used. The comparative analysis shows that despite changes in work roles under the influence of NPM, traditional norms about gender appear to be reproduced in the expectations of cooperation. The results illustrate how cooperation is shaped in contexts associated with feminine respective masculine work.

How does paradoxical leadership affect employee adaptive performance? A moderated mediation model

PurposeDrawing on the paradox perspective and the Job Demands-Resources Model (JD-R), we investigate how paradoxical leadership behavior (PLB) affects employee adaptive performance.Design/methodology/approachConducted a multi-wave field study with a sample of 64 leaders and 224 subordinates (study 1), and a quasi-experiment involving 156 participants (study 2). The collected data were analyzed using ANOVA and HLM techniques.FindingsBoth studies reveal that (1) PLB exhibits a positive association with employee adaptive performance, (2) employee paradox mindset and role stress partly mediated the relationship between PLB and employee adaptive performance, (3) the indirect effects of PLB on employee adaptive performance through employee paradox mindset and role stress are moderated by employee gender-role identity (GRI).Originality/valueThis research developed a moderated mediation model to examine the potential impact of PLB on employee adaptive performance, which contributes to the literature by integrating the paradox perspective and emphasizing the effectiveness of combining “top-down” and “bottom-up” leadership approaches. Moreover, we elucidate the underlying mechanisms through which PLB facilitates employees in effectively managing work role tensions to enhance adaptive performance Finally, this study also extends the investigation of the contextual efficacy of PLB by incorporating GRI as a moderator.

Work and family interaction management: the case for zigzag working

The present study seeks to advance understanding of the interaction of work and family roles. Typically, while the intersection of these domains is established as either being detrimental (i.e. work-family conflict) or beneficial (i.e. work-family enrichment), we argue there is a fundamental issue with timing. Specifically, we offer zigzag working as an approach to understanding how work and family interact. We suggest, rather than roles operating separately (e.g. work to family or family to work), the reality of work is where employees have work and family roles intersecting simultaneously. We believe this provides unique insights for those with dependent responsibilities, representing potentially both a unique challenge and benefit. Our study has two samples (n = 318 employees and n = 373 managers) and we find support for zigzag working at the day-level and while it is positively related to work-family conflict dimensions it is also positively related to happiness. Overall, our paper offers a new lens on work-family border negotiation, providing empirical evidence showing that zigzag working does occur and that it appears to have unique properties. Importantly, zigging and zagging around work and dependents during a typical day represents both positive and negative effects, highlighting a unique occurrence within the literature.

Stronger Together: Group Self-Care Goal-Setting to Support Graduate Nursing Students' Resilience, Wellness, and Manage Burnout.

Graduate students are faced with many stressors, including school, work, and home roles. They may not have the self-care skills and support to manage the increased stress from school. Self-care goal setting check-ins were implemented in a graduate course to support students' stress management. Student resilience levels, wellness, and burnout were moderate. Students indicated the check-ins were helpful, yet still found challenges in completing self-care. They also stated less assignments and integrating more wellness into the curriculum would be helpful in supporting their self-care goals. Nursing educators can impact student wellness by providing skills and support in the curriculum.

Development of Group Guidance Manual Book Based on Experiential Learning Model to Enhance Career Adaptability of Vocational School Students

Career adaptability is the ability of individuals to prepare themselves to complete various predicted tasks and engage in work roles, as well as to handle unexpected problems that arise due to transitions in the workplace. This research and development aims to develop a guidance handbook using an experiential learning model to enhance the career adaptability of vocational school students. This research is a research and development using the ADDIE model (analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation). The results of the expert test assessment and prospective users applied inter-rater agreement data analysis. Furthermore, the product effectiveness test was analyzed using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test method. Based on the validation of material experts, media, and prospective users, as well as the effectiveness test for students, it can be concluded that the guide is very high in validity according to the aspect of acceptability. Thus, it can be concluded that the guidance handbook using an experiential learning model to enhance the career adaptability of vocational school students is suitable for use.

Structural biology and molecular pharmacology of voltage-gated ion channels.

Voltage-gated ion channels (VGICs), including those for Na+, Ca2+ and K+, selectively permeate ions across the cell membrane in response to changes in membrane potential, thus participating in physiological processes involving electrical signalling, such as neurotransmission, muscle contraction and hormone secretion. Aberrant function or dysregulation of VGICs is associated with a diversity of neurological, psychiatric, cardiovascular and muscular disorders, and approximately 10% of FDA-approved drugs directly target VGICs. Understanding the structure-function relationship of VGICs is crucial for our comprehension of their working mechanisms and role in diseases. In this Review, we discuss how advances in single-particle cryo-electron microscopy have afforded unprecedented structural insights into VGICs, especially on their interactions with clinical and investigational drugs. We present a comprehensive overview of the recent advances in the structural biology of VGICs, with a focus on how prototypical drugs and toxins modulate VGIC activities. We explore how these structures elucidate the molecular basis for drug actions, reveal novel pharmacological sites, and provide critical clues to future drug discovery.

Multidimensionality in merit attitudes: The role of hard work, skills, and social connections in Europe

Attitudinal scholarship on values related to merit often identifies three key dimensions that include: attitudes towards hard work, attitudes towards skill, and attitudes towards social connections. In this paper, we examine how individuals evaluate the importance of these three dimensions simultaneously and from a multidimensional framework. We apply Latent Class Analysis (LCAs) on data from round 9 of the European Social Survey (ESS). We find three distinct clusters with the largest, exhibiting multidimensionality in beliefs, specifically on the dimension related to the importance of social connections. Individuals in this cluster identify the importance of hard work and skill, but also the importance of social connections in employment. Moreover, cluster membership is also related to class status with individuals from higher class backgrounds more likely to be associated with clusters that adhere to standard meritocratic values on all three dimensions.

Changing placements: A punctuated equilibrium model of work-family role boundary reconstruction.

In the face of changes to the work-family environment, the ability to manage role boundaries may be threatened. Drawing on punctuated equilibrium models of system change and cognitive dissonance theory, we extend boundary theory through a conceptual model that explains how and when individuals may tear down and rebuild work and family role boundaries in the mind in order to maintain well-being. We argue that divergent events compel individuals to enact role boundaries inconsistent with those held internally in the mind, resulting in cognitive dissonance. We further argue that high levels of cognitive dissonance past a threshold may trigger a revolutionary change in the deep structure of one's internally drawn role boundaries, resulting in a significant change in the extent to which work and family roles are cognitively segmented or integrated. We also argue that change events that generate lower levels of cognitive dissonance can be mitigated with boundary management tactics that create only incremental changes to work and family role boundaries. Our model advances a dynamic perspective of boundary theory that returns focus to the boundary placement process, which is often overlooked in work-family research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Authentic leadership & PsyCap’s role in tackling, events that impact well-being and environmental sustainability

There is a growing level of awareness among organizational leaders, that stress-induced mental health challenges are on the rise globally. High stress levels are often attributed to a spectrum of causes, from natural and human-made crises to the rapid pace of technological advancements and societal shifts. The number of causes necessitates an examination of not just the cumulative effect of these event constellations, but also their complex interactions, which may amplify stress in ways that are not yet fully understood. These dynamics appear to be contributing to a worrying trend of increased mental illness, anxiety, and depression, notably among professionals on the front lines of these societal changes, like medical practitioners and first responders. For example, there were more fire fighters who committed suicide last year in the US versus those who lost their lives protecting others. Additionally, these professionals are directly exposed to the increasing cases of mental illness, anxiety, and depression among the public, an exposure that further amplifies their own stress levels. Some of the factors contributing to these high levels of stress include natural disasters and human-caused events, as well as some of the most transformative discoveries and innovations in human history. We begin this paper, by examining how a constellation of consequential events are shaping our global society’s well-being, e.g., the COVID 19 pandemic, AI innovation and Climate Change. Next, we examine evidence-based interventions that may offer potential avenues for addressing these high levels of stress. For instance, development interventions focused on authentic leadership that can enhance leader and follower’s psychological capital or PsyCap, resulting in lowering levels of stress, especially when operating in work roles that have higher level of daily stress. These positive forms of leadership help to address the numerous challenges that individudals, organizations and communities face today and well into the future. A clear emphasis in our work is also placed on examining how positive forms of leadership and organizational behavior, can impact two very different, but critically important outcomes, including the individual and collective mental health and well-being in organizations, communities and societies. Consequently, the overall goal here is to recognize the problems we face across a broad range of first responder professions, while offering specific solutions to address those problems.

Effect of Job Stress and Empoyees Productivity of First Bank Branches in Makurdi Meteroplis Benue State Nigeria

The paper examined the effect of Job stress and employee’s productivity of First Bank Branches in Makurdi Metropolis of Benue State, Nigeria. Specifically, the study sought to: examine the extent of the effect of work overload on efficiency of First Bank Branches in Makurdi Metropolis and ascertain the effect of role conflict on services delivery of First Bank Branches in Makurdi Metropolis. This study adopted survey research design, made uses of 115 sample size from First Bank Branches in Makurdi Metropolis of Benue State, Nigeria as a small population, data were collected using a self-mixed questionnaire with response rate of 115 percent. The analysis of data was done using simple frequency distribution and percentages. Multiple regression analysis t-test was used alongside with Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) technique in estimation. The Findings revealed that that effect work overload has significant effect on employee’s productivity of First Bank Branches in Makurdi Metropolis and role conflict has significant effect on employee’s productivity of First Bank Branches in Makurdi Metropolis. The study revealed that job stress affected work overload has significant effect on employee’s productivity of First Bank Branches in Makurdi Metropolis. The study concludes that work overload and role conflict positively affected work overload has significant effect on employee’s productivity of First Bank Branches in Makurdi Metropolis. The study recommends among others that; management of First Bank Plc in Makurdi should concentrate on reducing work overload on staff to enhance their employee’s productivity and regularly monitor employee performance and provide constructive feedback. Recognizing and rewarding employees' efforts to boost morale and motivation.

Association between nurses' personal, professional and work characteristics, and engagement in hospital-based clinical research.

The purpose of this study was to assess the associations between demographic, professional and other personal nurse characteristics, social support factors and comfort in conducting research with nurses' level of active participation in clinical research. A prospective, cross-sectional, correlational design was used. Clinical nurses working in a multihospital healthcare system were recruited by email to complete an anonymous survey that used multiple valid and reliable scales to assess demographic and professional work characteristics, curiosity, grit, locus of control, perceived social support (for research activities), comfort in conducting research, and level of being research-active. Univariate and multivariable analyses were completed. Of 310 participants, 274 (88.4%) were female and mean (SD) age was 42.9 (13.1) years. After condensing 11 levels of research activity to four categories, 179 (57.7%) were not research-active, and 91 (29.4%), 26 (8.3%) and 14 (4.5%) were engaged at low, moderate, and high levels, respectively. Of 78 factors, 69 (88.5%) were associated with being research-active in univariate analyses. In multivariable analysis that adjusted for age, personal experience as a patient, years as a nurse and hours in direct patient care, professionalism characteristics, higher curiosity, internal locus of control, grit perseverance, support of a nurse scientist and nurse friends, and comfort in conducting research remained associated with higher levels of being research-active (all p < 0.01). Research-active nurses were more likely to be engaged professionally in hospital-based activities beyond their work roles and displayed higher levels of positive psychological characteristics and mentorship that supported research capacity. Research-active nurses were more likely to have internal factors and external resources that promoted higher levels of being research-active. A strong professional governance model may enhance clinical nurses research activities.

PENGARUH STRES KERJA DAN KONFLIK PERAN TENAGA MEDIS TERHADAP KINERJA PERAWAT WANITA PADA RUMAH SAKIT BHAYANGKARA KOTA BENGKULU

This study aims to determine the effect of work stress and role conflict of medical personnel on the performance of female nurses at Bhayangkara Hospital, Bengkulu City. This type of research is a survey research with a quantitative approach, the object of this research is female nurses at Bhayangkara Hospital. The sampling method is non-probability technique, namely the incidental sampling technique. The number of respondents in this study were 44 people. Methods of data collection using a questionnaire. By using analysis techniques using Multiple Linear Regression Analysis Test, and Hypothesis Testing namely t test and f test. The results of this study can be concluded that the variable Job Stress has a positive effect on nurse performance, Conflict of the Role of Medical Personnel has a positive effect on the Performance of Female Nurses at Bhayangkara Hospital, Bengkulu City. Keywords: Job Stress, Role Conflict, Nurse Performance

Association between work productivity and characteristics of adults with X-linked hypophosphatemia: an analysis of the XLH disease monitoring program.

X-linked hypophosphatemia (XLH) is a rare, genetic, progressive, phosphate-wasting disorder that causes skeletal morbidities, stiffness, pain, and impaired physical function. This study used baseline data from the XLH Disease Monitoring Program to evaluate relationships between work productivity and patient characteristics (demographics, medical history, patient-reported, and functional outcomes) in adults with XLH. Bivariate analysis guided the selection of variables for multivariate analysis after adjustment for multicollinearity and conceptual overlap. The analysis comprised 281 subjects (75.4% female; 80.8% from USA; median age 39.2yr); 53.4% were employed full-time and 31.3% were not employed; 15.3% were receiving disability payments; 47.0% were taking burosumab at study entry. Most employed subjects were working full-time outside the home (69.9%) and in light or sedentary roles (59.6%). In multivariate analyses, patients with fewer orthopedic surgeries (odds ratio [OR] 0.88; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.81-0.96; p=.002) and better Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System Physical Function scores (OR 1.08; 95% CI, 1.02-1.15; p=.013) were more likely to be in full-time employment than not employed. Younger patients (OR 0.97; 95% CI, 0.94-0.99; p=.014) and those with fewer orthopedic surgeries (OR 0.83; 95% CI, 0.73-0.95; p=.008) were more likely to be in medium than light or sedentary work. Those with worse WOMAC Pain scores were more likely to be doing heavy/very heavy than light or sedentary activity (OR 1.04; 95% CI, 1.01-1.07; p=.006). Full-time employment levels are low in adults of working age with XLH, and unemployment and disability payment rates are high, suggesting that XLH has a substantial impact on work productivity. Worse physical function and a greater number of orthopedic surgeries are associated with lower work productivity. Worse pain, higher number of orthopedic surgeries, and younger age are associated with heavier work roles; however, causality was not specifically investigated.

An Introduction to the Important Role of Ideological and Political Work in State-Owned Enterprises in Guiding Mass Work Practice

An Introduction to the Important Role of Ideological and Political Work in State-Owned Enterprises in Guiding Mass Work Practice

Adverse Associations of Long-Term Exposure to PM2.5 and Its Components with Platelet Traits among Subway Shift-Workers without Air Purifier Use.

Air purifier use, shift work, and long-term exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) are linked to platelet abnormality. However, the role of air purifier use and shift work in the individual or joint associations of PM2.5 and its components with platelet indices are largely unknown. A total of 8772 participants were recruited from a population of subway workers in China. PM2.5 and its component data were obtained from the Tracking Air Pollution in China dataset. The role of air purifier use and shift work in the association between PM2.5 and its components and platelet indices were analyzed. Among shift workers without air purifier use, positive associations of PM2.5 and each component in PM2.5 with the mean platelet volume (MPV) or platelet counts (PLT) were observed, whereas negative associations of PM2.5 and each component in PM2.5 with the platelet distribution width (PDW) were observed. Furthermore, estimated changes (95%CIs) in PLT, MPV, and PDW in response to each 10th percentile increment in the mixture of PM2.5 and its components were 0.8657 (0.2496, 1.4819), 0.0192 (0.0054, 0.0329), and -0.0648 (-0.0945, -0.0351), respectively, and sulfate in PM2.5 was the major contributor to those associations. Long-term exposure to PM2.5 and its components was related to increased platelet disorders among shift workers without air purifier use, and those associations were mainly attributed to sulfate in PM2.5.

Social work with Irish Travellers: Findings from a national evaluation

Summary This article reports on the findings from a national evaluation of a specialist, Irish, social work service for Traveller families and communities. It begins with an historical overview of the service which was established in the 1960s but which has evolved and developed over the past few decades at a time of changing patterns of Traveller lives and social and economic conditions. It was also a period when the role of social work was changing, most notably with the introduction of state regulation of the profession. The article then critically analyses national and international literature on the role of social workers with Travellers. It then describes the mixed research method used to evaluate the service. Findings The findings highlight various, sometimes competing perspectives on the social work role, drawn from administrative data, a survey of social workers interviews with social workers and Traveller representatives. These include views about how the social work role was viewed by social workers and Traveller representatives, informed by theories on anti-oppressive practice, systems approaches and forms of advocacy. Applications The article concludes with a discussion of ways in which the lessons learned from the evaluation can be used to further develop the social work service in ways that can enhance the lives of Travellers, through forms of continuous professional development and the created of a national policy and practice framework.

Ionograms Trace Extraction Method Based on Multiscale Transformer Network

The echo traces in the ionograms contain key information about the ionosphere. Therefore, the accurate extraction of these traces is crucial for the subsequent work. This paper transforms the original signal processing problem into a semantic segmentation task, combines it with the currently popular deep learning techniques, and proposes a multiscale Transformer network to achieve pixel-level trace extraction. To train the proposed model, we built a dataset by discretizing the original echo data, labeling, and other preprocessing work. A series of advanced semantic segmentation networks are utilized for comparative experiments. The analysis of the results indicates that the proposed network excels in performance, achieving the highest scores on key semantic segmentation evaluation metrics, including mIoU, Kappa, Dice, and AUC-ROC. In addition, this paper also designs a series of ablation experiments to observe the changes in network performance and to evaluate the rationality of the network design. The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the network in the trace extraction task, which plays a positive role in the subsequent electron density reversal work.

Dual-Earner Couples

In Western societies, most married working employees are now part of a dual-earner couple, meaning both people are engaged in the paid workforce to some extent. Such arrangements introduce benefits as well as challenges in managing two unique work roles and the shared family domain. In this review, we first summarize research about how dual-earner couples manage work and family, including the division of labor, decision-making processes, and specific behavioral strategies. Next, we discuss research on dual-earner couples’ well-being and quality of life, making explicit comparisons to single-earner couples where possible. We close our review with a discussion of research on the macroenvironment, including how cultural norms and state policies relate to dual-earner couples’ functioning. Lastly, we offer numerous recommendations for future researchers to explore the contexts and conditions that facilitate the blending of dual-earner couples’ work and family roles.

Crystal clear: How leaders and coworkers together shape role clarity and well‐being for employees in social care

AbstractWorking in social care is fraught with challenges fueled by changing policies, funding structures, societal expectations, and high relational demands, leaving employees in this sector particularly vulnerable to poor well‐being. In this study, we focus on the importance of a supportive work context—specifically coworker instrumental support and leaders' role clarity—in enabling employee role clarity, and how this can foster better mental health and reduce fatigue from ongoing changes in the sector. We ran a multilevel moderated mediation model on a sample of 270 social care employees matched with 47 leaders across two disability care organizations in Australia. Results showed that coworker instrumental support promotes role clarity, which in turn is associated with lower psychological distress and change fatigue, and higher job satisfaction. The positive relationship between coworker instrumental support and role clarity, and the subsequent relationships with well‐being, were stronger when employees had leaders who themselves had role clarity. Our findings highlight the importance of a supportive work context and role clarity as malleable levers in enabling a sustainable social care workforce and provide new theoretical and practical insights for human resource management in the social care sector.

The Evolving Workplace: The Possible Impacts of Hybrid Working and Hotdesking on Retention of Social Workers

Abstract Challenges with the retention of social workers have increased over the past ten years with links made to higher caseloads, increased stress, shrinking office space and hybridisation of work roles driven by both austerity and changes resulting from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This article reports on findings from a study developed with two local authorities exploring retention in adult social care from the perspective of practitioners working in the South of England. A mixed methods approach was taken. A group of (n = 57) social workers at two local authorities completed an online survey and (n = 13) were interviewed in depth. A semi-structured interview schedule was constructed to collect expanded reflections on issues affecting retention. Several themes emerged concerning the differential impacts of the changing workplace post-COVID-19. These include increased stress and high caseloads and the potential negative impact of hotdesking and hybrid working on supervision and well-being. We discuss areas where changes might address some of the current concerns highlighted by participants, which may in turn exert a positive impact on retention.