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Through a glass darkly: Researching workplace discrimination using an identity meta-perception (IMP) lens
No full textThis paper presents findings based on a novel approach to researching identity and inequality in the workplace. Our research results from a large survey of camera department employees in the Australian screen industry. Workers were invited to self-nominate various personal identifications, but also to tell us how they thought they were perceived by others. With this information we analysed workplace discrimination in terms of the various possible interconnections between identity self-perception and meta-perception (what people believe other people think about them). We found a clear link between specific forms of discrimination in camera departments and discordant experiences of identity in which workers did not feel there was an alignment between the way they self-identify and the meta-perception of these identities by colleagues. This link was particularly pronounced for people experiencing homophobia and/or ableism. We also found that ignorance of workplace discrimination was highest among cohorts with highly aligned self- and identity meta-perceptions.</p
Amplifying Women's Voices in Menopause Research: The Importance of Inclusive Perspectives
No full textMenopause, a significant life transition for half the global population, intersects biological, cultural and social dimensions. Despite its universal occurrence, menopause research has historically been dominated by biomedical perspectives, often neglecting women's voices and diverse experiences. This article highlights the importance of including women's perspectives in menopause research to ensure relevance, accuracy and equity. It explores cultural variations in menopause experiences, the impact of socioeconomic status and the often-overlooked emotional and psychological dimensions. This article advocates for participatory approaches, emphasising that women's involvement enhances research design, implementation and policy development. Evidence-based interventions that are tailored to the individual can better address the diverse needs of menopausal women. The discussion extends to addressing health disparities, calling for inclusive research and policies to ensure equitable access to care. Ultimately, empowering women through co-designed research and inclusive policies can transform the menopause journey into an enriching life phase, promoting resilience and inclusivity across communities. This paradigm shift in menopause research and policy highlights the need for diversity, collaboration and evidence-based approaches to improve health outcomes and quality of life for all women. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: This article has been informed by a menopause service user group who discuss their experiences of menopause. The group was formed because of initial qualitative research and now meet on a regular basis to co-design and co-produce activities that inform ongoing research for the menopause taskforce.</p
Accepting the Legitimacy of Difference: Tools to Support the Decolonisation of Human Research Ethics in Western Health Research
No full textABSTRACTWithin the context of health research, the values, traditions and worldviews of First Nations populations need to be represented in an inclusive and ethically sensitive way. Current human research ethics processes are deeply rooted in Western philosophy, which may result in frequent tension and misalignment with the values of First Nations populations, indicating the need for the decolonisation of Western human research ethics processes. While it is important to acknowledge potential points of alignment between the Western and First Nations peoples' research ethics paradigms, it is crucial to recognise and address the inherent complexities and discrepancies between these two standpoints. These discrepancies can also manifest themselves in healthcare provision, healthcare education, and the delivery of other services to First Nations peoples. This may exacerbate current disparities in the ability of First Nations peoples to access quality care. Cultural insensitivity, systemic biases, and a lack of representation of First Nations peoples may also worsen these issues.The purpose of this discussion paper is to examine the prevailing Western philosophical standpoint that influences health research and to explore its misalignment with the beliefs and cultural practices of First Nations peoples. Existing literature that examines the multifaceted challenges faced by First Nations populations when navigating norms associated with Western ethics in the health research process will be explored. The historical context of colonisation and its impact on ethical paradigms within First Nations communities will also be considered.The need for decolonisation of Westernised dominant approaches within health research ethics for First Nations populations is evident because such approaches can pose significant challenges to the well-being and rights of First Nations communities. By promoting a fairer, inclusive, and culturally informed research ethics framework, researchers can contribute to the development of processes that address historical injustices and promote investigations that are tailored to examine phenomena experienced by First Nations peoples.Implications for the Profession: This paper provides a critique of current Western health research ethics processes and proposes an evidence-based tool to guide researchers in promoting inclusivity and cultural safety. Implementing these recommendations can improve health and well-being outcomes for First Nations peoples and communities.Impact: The paper addresses the problem of cultural insensitivity and systemic biases in Western health research ethics, highlighting the need for decolonisation to ensure equitable healthcare access for First Nations populations. The findings will impact researchers, healthcare professionals, and policymakers by promoting culturally safe research practices and fostering better health outcomes for First Nations communities.What Problem Did the Study Address? The study addresses the misalignment between Western health research ethics and the values and cultural practices of First Nations peoples, which result in cultural insensitivity, systemic biases, and disparities in healthcare access and quality.What Were the Main Findings? Significant discrepancies exist between Western and First Nations research ethics paradigms, including differing views on consent, relationality, data ownership, and holistic well-being. Western frameworks have perpetuated cultural insensitivity and marginalisation, exacerbating healthcare disparities.Where and on Whom Will the Research Have an Impact? The research will impact researchers, healthcare professionals, and policymakers by promoting culturally safe research practices. The findings aim to foster better health outcomes for First Nations communities in Australia and potentially other First Nations populations globally.What Does This Paper Contribute to the Wider Global Clinical Community? This paper contributes a critical examination of Western health research ethics and its impact on First Nations populations, providing a framework for decolonising research practices. The proposed evidence-based tool can guide the global clinical community in promoting inclusivity and cultural safety, ultimately improving health outcomes for Indigenous peoples worldwide.</p
Transcending the prison walls through transformative learning: the Australian Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program
No full textPurpose This paper aims to provide an evaluation on the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program in Victoria, Australia. This program was founded 30 years ago in Philadelphia and was based on uniting criminal justice degree students and incarcerated people to embark on a collaborative semester of higher education learning. This paper describes location-specific implementation, using interview data to explore the learning environment created through dialogic andragogy. In the first qualitative publication on the Australian Inside-Out program, this paper argues that it creates a transformative experience for both student cohorts when belief systems are challenged through open and respectful dialogue managed by a trained facilitator. Design/methodology/approach This is a qualitative study using interview data from four one-hour focus groups. Data was thematically analysed using the six-step procedure outlined by Braun and Clarke (2006) to generate themes. For the purpose of this study, “themes” are defined as patterns of collective meaning that are “underpinned by a central organising concept” (Braun and Clarke, 2019, p. 593). This methodology allowed for the rich human experience of study participants to come to the forefront in their own words. As the first Australian solely qualitative publication on this topic, this research delivers a more nuanced understanding of the subjective participant experiences. Findings The findings demonstrate multiple positive outcomes from the program. The first is the benefit of using a dialogic teaching approach instead of the traditional didactic approach most commonly seen at universities. The second finding shows the enhanced learning experience of the Inside-Out framework of blending student cohorts from higher education and prison. These factors combined produced critical thinking skills in the outside students, allowing analysis of preconceived notions. The final finding was the personal development expressed by the inside students who articulated how feeling heard and seen impacted self-esteem and confidence. Research limitations/implications A dearth of existing qualitative research is about Inside-Out worldwide. Data collected were from the participants of the inaugural delivery of Inside-Out in Australia, meaning recruitment and implementation were evolving frameworks at the time of the study. The final number of inside students at both prisons was reduced, which impacted on the overall numbers participating in the study. Participation in the Inside-Out program is voluntary for inside students and an elective for outside students. As such, the participant pool would be skewed towards representing individuals who are more inclined to engage with the program and reflect its benefits. Practical implications This publication delivers practical implications for implementing the Inside-Out program in Australia. As a 30-year-old program in the USA, Inside-Out is run in 49 states and with an array of higher-education subjects. Yet despite 10 years of success in Australia, it has yet to move beyond the inaugural university. This paper has had contact from other universities and correctional institutions who are interested in this program, but they need the evidence of the positive human outcomes to facilitate initial implementation. By sharing the framework experienced as successful, other institutions can use our knowledge to expand the program and its benefits. Social implications The equitable sharing of knowledge allowed inside students to be someone other than a label, and facilitated the outside students’ growth and understanding of the social contributors to the crime rate and the far-reaching impact of media representations. The immediate social implications were processes of de-stigmatization, but longer-term, it is seen that former outside students become engaged criminal justice professionals who operate with compassion to improve correctional culture and practices. By elevating participants’ experiences through publication, the potential for social impact expands by allowing other institutions to use a tangible framework to achieve tangible results. Originality/value As the first solely qualitative publication on the Australian Inside-Out program, this paper will deliver a powerful tool for those who have already expressed an interest in replicating the program. Employees of correctional institutions and universities in four other states have expressed interest in delivering this program, however, they experience difficulty convincing their respective hierarchies of the impact this has on program graduates. By elevating the lived experience voices of student participants, this paper can humanise the benefits beyond measurable outcomes and provide evidence that warrants finding ways to mitigate perceived risks to reap the tangible rewards.</p
The Pricing of Bitcoin Return as a Risk Factor in the Cross-Section of Expected Stock Returns and The Risk Determinants of Bitcoin-Related Stocks
No full textThis thesis aims to understand the nature of Bitcoin and the characteristics of Bitcoin-related equities using established asset pricing frameworks. It involves the empirical testing of two hypotheses. The first hypothesis posits that Bitcoin returns should be priced in the cross-section of expected stock returns, with a negative risk premium. Using a sample of 5,091 U.S.-listed stocks from March 2011 to April 2024, the cross-sectional analysis indicates that the risk premium associated with Bitcoin returns is not statistically significant. This finding challenges the “digital gold” narrative, which implies that Bitcoin functions as a safe-haven asset. Instead, the evidence suggests that portfolios with extreme Bitcoin betas consistently yield abnormal negative future returns, revealing a non-linear, inverted U-shaped relationship between Bitcoin beta and expected stock returns. While abnormal negative returns align more closely with speculative behavior, the interpretation regarding Bitcoin’s role remains theoretically challenging, as portfolios with the lowest Bitcoin betas also exhibit abnormal negative returns. The second hypothesis examines the risk determinants of Bitcoin-related stocks. This analysis is based on a sample of 20 Bitcoin-holding firms listed in the U.S. market, covering the three-year period from January 2020 to December 2022. The results indicate that the stock returns of these firms are significantly exposed to daily Bitcoin price fluctuations, exhibiting a positive beta. Additionally, the stock returns of Bitcoin-mining firms in the sample are significantly influenced by changes in Bitcoin mining difficulty, with a negative sensitivity—an effect not observed in other types of Bitcoin-holding firms. This suggests that Bitcoin-specific risk factors beyond price fluctuations may play a role in the risk-return dynamics of Bitcoin-related equities. Furthermore, a reverse size effect is observed within this sector: Bitcoin-related firms with larger market capitalizations tend to generate higher returns compared to smaller firms. This finding holds important implications for industry practice since it challenges the conventional belief that smaller stocks typically yield higher returns.</p
Development and validation of the Global Urban Heat Vulnerability Index (GUHVI)
No full textClimate change increases the frequency and intensity of heatwaves, amplifying heat-related health risks in cities worldwide. Inequities in heat vulnerability arise from disparities in heat exposure, built and natural environments and population attributes that impact heat sensitivity, and socio-economic determinants of adaptive capability. A lack of internationally consistent and accessible heat vulnerability metrics creates barriers to assessing inequities and benchmarking urban heat vulnerability between cities worldwide. To address this need, we developed the Global Urban Heat Vulnerability Index (GUHVI), applicable to cities worldwide, using open data to identify spatial inequities in heat vulnerability at the neighbourhood scale. Built from an Australia-specific heat vulnerability index, the evidence-informed framework developed for the GUHVI evaluates heat exposure, heat sensitivity and adaptive capability to holistically assess heat vulnerability. Quantitative validation for eight Australian cities demonstrated strengths of the GUHVI in spatial resolution and assessment coverage of the grid-based framework. Qualitative validation for nine diverse cities internationally was performed in collaboration with local subject matter experts with knowledge of each city context. The GUHVI addresses critical gaps in existing methods by enabling systematic and comparable measurement of heat vulnerability in diverse cities internationally. Available through our customizable open-source global indicator software, the GUHVI provides evidence on modifiable risk factors of urban heat vulnerability, to inform targeted adaptation strategies that promote climate resilience and reduce health impacts from heat.</p
Smart and Sustainable Cities in the Asia-Pacific Region: Current Landscape, Challenges and Policy Implications
No full textThis white paper analyses the development of Smart and Sustainable Cities (SSCs) in the Asia-Pacific region. It examines current trends, challenges, and opportunities across governance, technological infrastructure, innovation ecosystems, and human capital. The report provides policy recommendations for inclusive, resilient, and technology-enabled urban development to support sustainable growth and climate resilience in the region</p
Engaging Humanities and Social Science Students in Interdisciplinary Team Projects: Influences on Career Identity Narratives
No full textHumanities and Social Science (HASS) students often encounter challenges related to career clarity. This perception may stem from a characterization of HASS disciplines as generalist and lacking a direct vocational orientation. Despite this, many HASS students are motivated to study based on interests and self-exploration. Although the employability discourse focuses on the importance of ‘human capital,’ it is appropriate that students establish a deeper level of engagement between their education and identity. Students' awareness of their career identity is needed to navigate their transition into employment and to identify suitable career opportunities. The study aims to explore the learning impacts of interdisciplinary team projects on HASS career identity formation. Interdisciplinary team projects are an example of social learning environments which can enable the crafting of career identity. They involve students from diverse disciplines working together to address business and societal challenges. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten HASS students enrolled in different interdisciplinary projects in higher education institutions from Australia, Finland and the Netherlands. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with nine educators from Australia, Finland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom who developed and facilitated these interdisciplinary team projects. The educator perspective added further context and pedagogical insight into the students’ comments and experiences.Before exploring the influence on career identity, it was pivotal to understand the learning impacts of interdisciplinary team projects. Following Braun and Clarke’s (2022) understanding of thematic analysis, two key themes emerged from my analysis of the interview data. The first theme was enhanced disciplinary awareness, which enabled HASS students to gain a better appreciation of the breadth and utility of their HASS education. A second theme was relational learning, which refers to understanding peers from diverse disciplines, both interpersonally (interpersonal relations) and cognitively (interdisciplinary mindset).The main research question: ‘how interdisciplinary team projects influence the career identity development of university HASS students’ was explored using narrative thematic analysis through a framework of identity learning by Meijers (2002). This framework posits that individuals learn about their identity through ‘boundary experiences’ which are ambiguous learning environments that challenge an individual's sense of self and lead to transformational learning about themselves. Interdisciplinary team experiences were identified as boundary experiences as they can be discomforting and anxiety provoking as students are taken out of their educational silos to work in a discipline-diverse environment. Viewing their experiences as a ‘structure of meaning,’ career identity involves a dual interpretation between discursive meaning-giving of experiences and intuitive sense-giving by connecting with emotions and alignment with personal histories. The findings revealed that HASS students' enhanced disciplinary awareness shaped their career identity by negotiating the salience and positioning of their disciplinary, personal and professional identities. The findings reinforce the concept of career identity for HASS students as more powerful than professional identity. Career identity is holistic and flexible as it defines more than an individual's relationship to their profession. Relational learning showed that interpersonal relations and an interdisciplinary mindset allowed HASS students to develop adaptable career identities. For example, students were more open-minded about their career after seeing and imagining future career possibilities through exposure to interdisciplinary projects.This research suggests creating interdisciplinary learning environments in higher education develops students' particularly non-vocational students' career learning related to self-knowledge and career clarity to help them transition into workplace contexts. The study reveals the importance of interdisciplinary education and career identity. Firstly, interdisciplinary learning influenced students' relationship with their discipline in forming their career identity. Interdisciplinary learning experiences move beyond the hierarchical discourses of disciplines. This helps students see how their education fits in with the ‘interdisciplinary world,’ enabling them to not only be ‘job ready’ but ‘society ready.’ Secondly, students were able to explore possible selves in experiencing diverse roles, tasks and industries which has implications on how they approach the labour market. This also has implications for educators in designing learning experiences to allow students to imagine different career possibilities.The findings of this study call for universities to develop interdisciplinary learning ecologies as it disrupts siloed thinking and aligns with the needs of the future workforce. Furthermore, the results show the importance of developing students' career identity through career dialogues and career writing. This has implications for how career practitioners work with non-vocational students. Connecting and extending students’ pedagogical experiences with their professional and personal life experiences in making sense of their relationship to their work and future careers is crucial in illustrating the holistic nature of career identity.</p
Beyond automation: Understanding unemployment in the AI Epoch from a global viewpoint
No full textThis study examines the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications on the subjective well-being of the unemployed, analyzing a data set comprising 179,504 global citizens spanning from 1981 to 2022. Employing a high-dimensional fixed-effect estimator, we assess how different intensities and scales of AI deployment across various national contexts correlate with life satisfaction and happiness. Our findings indicate that rapid and unprepared AI integrations tend to amplify the negative effects of unemployment on subjective well-being and exacerbate inequalities, particularly among the most vulnerable populations. Conversely, in the context where AI applications are well-planned and gradual, the negative impacts are mitigated, which suggests the importance of considering the social and regulatory contexts of AI applications. Furthermore, our results suggest that cautious and thoughtful AI applications can potentially cushion vulnerable populations from the adverse impacts of job displacement. Moreover, enhancing public engagement and transparency in AI policies can contribute to reducing the socio-economic divides exacerbated by rapid technological changes. This study underscores the necessity for policymaking frameworks that foster equitable AI applications and integration with socio-economic development, ensuring that advancements in AI do not widen existing social disparities but rather promote social inclusivity and well-being.</p
Does geopolitical risk drive earnings management? Evidence from Low- and Middle-Income countries
No full textWe examine the impact of geopolitical risk (GPR) on earnings management (EM) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Using 257,659 firm-year observations from 16 LMICs (2002-2022) and System Generalized Method of Moments (System-GMM) estimations, we find that GPR significantly increases EM, especially under weak audit quality, low development, and high taxation. While EM buffers short-term shocks, it undermines transparency, underscoring the need for stronger institutions.</p