Predictors of academic performance among Indian students

There are two dominant strains in the literature on academic performance, the attribution studies and the self-efficacy studies. The present study attempted to incorporate these two strains while examining the academic performance of engineering undergraduate students in India. Time management and perceived stress were included in the model to predict grade goals and academic performance. Two age groups were compared to assess the impact of developmental change on the predictors of academic performance. Two studies were conducted with 372 first year students and 232 third, fourth and fifth year students from the same engineering institute. Different predictors emerged for the two groups, reflective of developmental change. Self-efficacy emerged as an important predictor for the older students.     

Staffing Services Quality and Innovativeness in Pharmaceutical Companies

This paper examines whether the main dimensions of staffing services quality have any effect on innovativeness. A resource‐based view of human resource management is used as theoretical approach. A questionnaire was sent to the CEOs of an international sample of pharmaceutical companies. A regression analysis was used to test hypotheses about the influence of the staffing services quality dimensions on innovativeness. The main findings are that all but one of the staffing services quality dimensions considered have significant, positive effects on innovativeness. Candidate quality is the dimension that affects innovativeness most, while timeliness has no significant effect.     

Interests of Engineering Graduates According to Undergraduate Curricula

This report describes a study of the interests of students who graduated from different engineering specialties at the University of Maine. 90 graduates in each of 5 specialties were selected for study. The Strong Vocational Interest Blank was the measure of interests. Analysis of variance and Duncan's Multiple Range Test were the statistical procedures employed. The study shows that the interests of students in engineering differ statistically among the curriculum specialties. The study also reveals the nature of these differences. Some practical applications of the data are suggested.     

Predictors of Cultural Values Conflict for Asian Indian Women

This study explored the relationship between the family environments and coping styles and the cultural values conflicts of 110 Asian Indian women. Results indicated that women perceiving supportive family environments had less sex role conflict. Additionally, avoidant and emotion‐focused coping predicted high conflict regarding intimate relations and sex role expectations. Implications are discussed. Este estudio exploró la relación entre los entornos familiares y los estilos de afrontamiento y los conflictos en valores culturales de 110 mujeres de la India. Los resultados indicaron que las mujeres que perciben un entorno familiar que las apoya sufren menos conflictos con el rol de su sexo. Adicionalmente, el afrontamiento centrado en la evitación y las emociones predijo un nivel de conflicto elevado relacionado con las relaciones íntimas y las expectativas del rol de su sexo. Se discuten las implicaciones.     

The Predictors of Suicidality in Previous Suicide Attempters following Case Management Services

Suicide attempts constitute a serious clinical problem. People who have attempted suicide are at an elevated risk for additional suicide attempts, but there is limited evidence regarding the predictors of suicidality of suicide attempters following case management services. In the present study the indicators of suicidality after case management were examined. A total of 1,056 subjects who had recently attempted suicide were recruited from January 1, 2011, to June 30, 2011. The suicide prevention center of Kaohsiung City in Taiwan provided case management services and followed up on suicide attempt cases for 6 months. The salient factors for repeat suicide attempts were estimated using a logistic regression analysis. The results showed that multiple factors, including a “willingness to receive mental health services during a crisis,” “social support,” “a history of mental disorders,” and “a history of suicide,” could predict repeat suicide attempts with hazard ratios (0.58, 0.54, 3.84, 1.51) and 95% confidence interval (0.39–0.86, 0.36–0.83, 2.41–6.10, 1.03–2.21). The four factors mentioned above were the most accurate predictors of subsequent suicidality when case management services were utilized after 6 months of follow‐up. The findings of our study could help clarify future strategies for suicide prevention.     

Predictors of Living in Precarious Housing Among Immigrants Accessing Housing Support Services

The purpose of this study was to identify factors that explain immigrant housing vulnerability, thereby contributing to the growth of a more substantial knowledge base on the intersection between immigration, housing and homelessness. Administrative data on housing support service recipients (n?=?4168) in Alberta, Canada, were analysed to determine the varied demographic, socio-economic and health-related factors that contribute to living in a precarious housing situation (such as homelessness, couch surfing, staying with friends or family etc.). Logistic regression analysis shows that being an immigrant is a protective factor from living in a precarious housing situation. For the immigrant subsample (n?=?525), logistic regression analysis demonstrates that living in a larger city, having a mental illness and being married were protective factors from living in a precarious housing situation. However, having an addiction and being precariously employed (such as only working part-time, having temporary employment or being unemployed) were risk factors for living in a precarious housing situation. Shared and distinctive vulnerabilities among the immigrant subsample and the full study sample are discussed, along with implications for specific policy and programmes that aim to address the housing needs of immigrants.     

Understanding the Effects of Unemployment in Indian Graduates: Psychological,Financial and Social Perspectives

The present research attempts to examine the psychological impact of unemployment and understand the individual experiences of unemployed Indian graduates. It seeks to address three possible effects of unemployment, which are psychological, financial and social, along with a necessary scrutiny on how these individuals cope with their present unemployed situation. A qualitative analysis method has been employed to investigate the research objectives through employment of a semi-structured interview schedule among graduates in the age group of 21–23 years. The research findings suggest that unemployed graduates are psychologically impacted and sometimes experience feeling of worthlessness, social embarrassment and high level of stress. Some individuals also reported a lack of motivation and meaning in their life. Although, a majority of the participants agreed to have a decline in their psychological well-being, not all share the similar experiences of unhappiness and worthlessness owing to their unemployment. Therefore, this research also hopes to underline differences in the individual experiences due to unemployment.     

大学毕业生就业能力、求职认知评价、就业不安全感对心理健康预测作用的追踪研究

旨在探究大学毕业生就业能力对求职过程中心理健康的预测作用,以及求职认知评价和就业不安全感在其中的中介作用。采用结构方程模型等对343个样本的三轮追踪问卷调查数据进行分析后发现：就业能力显著正向预测心理健康;挑战认知评价和就业不安全感依次中介就业能力对心理健康的预测作用。研究结果表明,可以通过提高大学毕业生就业能力来积极促进其对求职的正确认知评价,从而纾解就业不安全感,保持和改善求职过程中的心理健康状况。     

Management of Employability in The Netherlands

This article explores the question how companies can create a different basis for security for their employees now that job security has increasingly become a thing of the past? An answer to this question is to create a new secure base by developing the employability of workers by sustaining and developing opportunities for work in the future. Promoting employability is part of a new psychological contract between employer and employee, whereby both are responsible for maintaining the employment situation. The employability of employees is determined by their actual know-how and skills; their willingness to be mobile and their knowledge of the labour market. Although the development of employability is not only a matter for labour organizations (branch organizations, the government, and employers' representatives and unions have to do their part too), we focus primarily on the policy that organizations can set out. Policymakers have to answer the following questions: (1) Is it necessary to develop the external or internal employability of employees? (2) For which category is it in particular necessary? (3) If employability does not take place automatically, is this because employees do not want this, or because they cannot do this? Or is it restricted by organizational aspects? Each of these questions will be discussed in this article.     

Hardiness and Personality as Predictors of Military Enlistment Intention among the Indian Youths

The present study examines the role of hardiness and personality factors in predicting youth’s enlistment intention towards Indian defence services. The participants were (n?=?2500) higher secondary school students from the four states (TamilNadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh). The youth with high intention to join army scored higher on the measures of hardiness construct and two personality dimensions i.e. Extraversion and Conscientiousness. Furthermore, results of logistic analysis confirmed that the hardiness and personality factors significantly predicted the enlistment intentions of youth. The implications for recruitment of youths for the Defence Services are discussed.     

Health Consequences and Buffers of Job Burnout among Indian Software Developers

This study examines the conceptualization, health-related consequences, and buffers of job burnout. Analyzing the responses of 372 Indian software developers to questionnaire survey, findings suggest that on burnout dimensions, increased exhaustion and cynicism have increased professional efficacy of software developers. Experiencing more burnout, software developers have reported adverse physical, mental, and behavioral health. Subjective well-being, social support, and practising yoga and meditation have partially arrested the adverse effects of job burnout on health-related outcomes. Job burnout has the biggest adverse impact on mental health and social support is the most influential intervening construct to counter the adverse consequences of job burnout.     

Towards a Philosophy of Software Development: 40 Years after the Birth of Software Engineering

Over the past four decades, software engineering has emerged as a discipline in its own right, though it has roots both in computer science and in classical engineering. Its philosophical foundations and premises are not yet well understood. In recent times, members of the software engineering community have started to search for such foundations. In particular, the philosophies of Kuhn and Popper have been used by philosophically-minded software engineers in search of a deeper understanding of their discipline. It seems, however, that professional philosophers of science are not yet aware of this new discourse within the field of software engineering. Therefore, this article aims to reflect critically upon recent software engineers’ attempts towards a philosophy of software engineering and to introduce our own philosophical thoughts in this context. Finally, we invite the professional philosophers of science to participate in this interesting new discourse.

A Psychological Autopsy of an Indian Adolescent Suicide with Implications for Community Services

This psychological autopsy of the suicidal death of an adolescent Indian boy includes a brief family background, a history of his difficulties, and a report of his psychological evaluation. There is an attempt to understand the societal and familial factors that seem to have predisposed him to commit suicide. The report includes an analysis of the resources currently available in Indian communities and a recommendation for the kinds of resources that might prevent suicide in this setting.     

Ethical Education in Software Engineering: Responsibility in the Production of Complex Systems

Among the various contemporary schools of moral thinking, consequence-based ethics, as opposed to rule-based, seems to have a good acceptance among professionals such as software engineers. But naïve consequentialism is intellectually too weak to serve as a practical guide in the profession. Besides, the complexity of software systems makes it very hard to know in advance the consequences that will derive from professional activities in the production of software. Therefore, following the spirit of well-known codes of ethics such as the ACM/IEEE’s, we advocate for a more solid position in the ethical education of software engineers, which we call ‘moderate deontologism’, that takes into account both rules and consequences to assess the goodness of actions, and at the same time pays an adequate consideration to the absolute values of human dignity. In order to educate responsible professionals, however, this position should be complemented with a pedagogical approach to virtue ethics.     

The Use of Behavior Contracts in Employability Development Planning

The counseling procedure of the behavior contract is suggested for the enhancement of the employability development plan. Some of the difficulties associated with the use of employability development planning, such as lack of motivation for completion, can be dealt with successfully by incorporation of a behavioral contract. Specific behaviors and responsibilities are defined and appropriate reinforcements are applied in a combined approach. Although this type of planning may require some examination of the two processes for full use within a manpower program, the end result appears to be a more effective use of manpower programs. The article examines employability development planning and behavior contracts and discusses their possible use by counselors.     

Corporate Social Responsibility Practices of Colombian Companies as Perceived by Industrial Engineering Students

Science and Engineering Ethics - This work describes the perceptions that Industrial Engineering students have regarding Colombian firms’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices. It...     

Change in Change Agents: Effects of an Employability Institute

A revised version of the Porter Scale of Counselor Attitudes was used to assess the interpersonal response patterns of 16 Nebraska Department of Labor employees who had completed the Nebraska Employability Development Institute. A significantly greater percentage of understanding responses (compared to national norms for a similar group) was interpreted as meeting intermediate criteria of training program success. Comments are made regarding the further necessity for final program assessment using enrollee outcomes as successful criteria.     

Employability of Genetic Counselors with a PhD in Genetic Counseling

The development of a PhD in genetic counseling has been discussed for more than 20 years, yet the perspectives of employers have not been assessed. The goal of this qualitative study was to gain an understanding of the employability of genetic counselors with a PhD in genetic counseling by conducting interviews with United States employers of genetic counselors. Study participants were categorized according to one of the following practice areas: academic, clinical, government, industry, laboratory, or research. All participants were responsible for hiring genetic counselors in their institutions. Of the 30 employers interviewed, 23 envisioned opportunities for individuals with a PhD degree in genetic counseling, particularly in academic and research settings. Performing research and having the ability to be a principal investigator on a grant was the primary role envisioned for these individuals by 22/30 participants. Employers expect individuals with a PhD in genetic counseling to perform different roles than MS genetic counselors with a master's degree. This study suggests there is an employment niche for individuals who have a PhD in genetic counseling that complements, and does not compete with, master's prepared genetic counselors.