1522 research outputs found
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Traditional and Non-Traditional Female Entrepreneurs : An exploration into what influences thier selection of industry sector
Get PDFThe purpose of this study is to gain an understanding of the factors that influence a woman to start a business in a traditionally female industry sector or in a more male orientated high technology industry sector. This involves examining the antecedent influences, motivations and attitudes which may impinge on the female entrepreneur’s choice of industry sector. This study is unique as it is the first of its kind to investigate this topic in the South East region and in Ireland. The research methodology utilised in the current study was qualitative in nature with the phenomenological philosophy underpinning the research. The primary data for this research was then gathered through the use of in-depth semi-structured interviews. Qualitative interviews allowed this researcher to gain a comprehensive insight into each female entrepreneur’s situation and the influences that impacted her choice of selecting a traditionally female industry sector or a more male orientated high technology industry sector. There are a number of important findings which have emerged from the current research. The most noteworthy, of which, is that differences do exist between women who own and operate businesses in traditional industry sectors compared to those in high technology sectors. It was established that not only were the high technology entrepreneurs more likely to be older and single at start-up, but that they had also attained a higher formal level of education and a more extensive, relevant occupational experience than their traditional counterparts. This research also indicates that education and the educational system has a key role to play in developing technology based entrepreneurs. There is a need for teachers and counsellors, at post primary level, to encourage girls to choose non-traditionally female subjects and thus be more prepared for a high technological career. This confirms research by Richardson and Hynes (2006) who suggested that the low numbers of technology based female entrepreneurs is, in part, attributable to the post primary education system. Previous research has suggested that parental influences are more strongly seen in the choice of non-traditional careers. The current study has also identified that parental influence appears to have a greater influence on the entrepreneurs in high technology sectors than their traditional counterparts. Interestingly, the parents of the high technology females were also more highly educated and were more encouraging of their daughters’ career choices than the parents of the traditional females. Finally, this research has also identified that females in traditional industry sectors are likely to associate themselves with feminine traits such as flexible, quality orientated, customer focused and sympathetic, while their high technology counterparts associated with more masculine traits such as technical, innovative and confident. However, as recent research by Gupta, Turban, Wasti and Sikdar (2005) has suggested, and which is confirmed by the current study, entrepreneurs with high entrepreneurial intentions tend to associate more with masculine traits and thus, all entrepreneurs in the current study did display some masculine characteristics. From the outset the current research has set out to determine what influences a female entrepreneur in her choice of industry sector. The current research will add, therefore, to the growing body of literature on female entrepreneurship in general but, most importantly, it contributes to the emergent field of study that is specifically focused on understanding the female entrepreneur. The current research has highlighted the fact that differences exist between high technology female entrepreneurs and their traditional counterparts. Thus, the outputs from this research have implications for researchers and teachers of entrepreneurship, educators in general, enterprise support agencies, policy makers and female entrepreneurs
Online Privacy and People's Awareness: A Study of Irish Students
Get PDFThis study investigates the awareness levels of college student’s views on possible software tools that can gather their personal information online. A review of the current literature demonstrates three possible tools that can gather people’s personal information online. Following this, possible methods of protection available to Internet users are identified. This study employs quantitative research using questionnaires to examine Internet privacy awareness levels among 70 college students. Analyses of the results of questionnaires administered to college students, suggests that there is a relatively high level of knowledge of possible software tools that can invade their privacy online. The results indicate major differences in the views of male and female participants in relation to privacy online with 73.5 per cent of male rating convenience over privacy. Also highlighted in the study is the varying awareness levels between students of different areas, students from the business school have a greater knowledge of possible software tools that can invade their privacy in comparison to humanities students
Integrating IT Industry Certification into Irish Institutes of Technology : A Stakeholders Perspective
Get PDFThis study investigates the potential for integrating IT industry certification into the undergraduate computing curricula in Irish Institutes of Technology (IoTs) from two key stakeholders’ perspectives: Heads of Department (HoDs) and lecturing staff. A rich contextual framework is derived using aspects of Soft Systems Methodology, and five research propositions are identified to investigate. Given the complexity of the humanoriented domain of this research, an interpretivist epistemology was deemed appropriate.
A web-based survey was employed to provide a combination of both quantitative and qualitative data for in-depth analysis. Two web-based questionnaires were administered to 13 IoTs in the Republic of Ireland, resulting in 86 responses. The findings reveal that both HoDs and lecturing staff anticipate that certification integration into Irish IoTs would require lecturing staff to obtain additional training to effectively deliver IT industry certification. Both respondent groups highlighted that resources would also be an issue. Similarly, the evidence shows that lecturing staff would be required to change some of their current work practices to ensure effective delivery of IT industry certification training and testing.
In general, both HoDs and lecturing staff indicated that they would be in favour of integrating certification into the undergraduate computing curricula, though not at the expense of the existing modules. Both respondents agreed to some extent that certification would help improve students’ competencies, skills, and employability and it would raise the profile of the IoT. Overall this study concludes that, currently, Irish IoTs do not have the required level of capability or maturity to integrate IT industry certification into the undergraduate computing curricula
The Hankel transform of the sum of consecutive generalized Catalan numbers
Get PDFWe discuss the properties of the Hankel transformation of a sequence whose elements are the sums
of consecutive generalized Catalan numbers and find their values in the closed form
Calculation of nanoparticle capture efficiency in magnetic drug targeting
Get PDFThe magnetic targeted drug delivery system of Aviles, Ebner and Ritter, which uses high gradient magnetic separation (HGMS) is considered. In that model large ferromagnetic particles are used as seeds to aid collection of multiple domain nanoparticles (radius ≈ 200nm. Here, in contrast, single domain magnetic nanoparticles(radius in 20–100 nm) are considered and the Langevin function is used to describe the magnetization. Simulations based on this model were performed using the open source C++ finite volume library OpenFOAM. The simulations indicate that use ofthe Langevin function predicts greater collection efficiency than might be otherwise expected
A Critical Edition of the Irish Music Manuscripts of Philip Carolan c1839-1910
Get PDFThe Philip Carolan Manuscripts were compiled in Crossmolina, Co. Mayo, c1863 to c1873. They comprise hundreds of tunes which were mainly transcribed by Philip Carolan, a local farmer and fiddler player, but were never published. After the death of Philip Carolan the manuscripts remained in the possession of his family and therefore their contents have been uninvestigated until now. This study of the manuscripts combines an investigation of both paleographical and musical data with a view to obtaining an appreciation of the collection itself and the insight it can offer to the repertoire of an Irish musician in rural Ireland in the closing decades of the 19th century. As an initial step, a catalogue of the Carolan Manuscripts is compiled and the papers, rastrographies, handwritings and bindings are classified to facilitate further study. The background to the manuscripts, and the life and times of Philip Carolan are also investigated as a means of understanding the context in which the manuscripts were written. An examination of the textual and non-textual data to be found in individual manuscripts helps to establish the provenance of the manuscripts and also gives a comprehensive view of the composition of the collection. An assessment of the relationship between the Carolan manuscripts and the printed sources that he used also yields new insights into the formation of the collection. A critical edition of the Carolan Manuscripts is presented with a copious Critical Commentary and various indices
How to Upload Documents to This Repository
Get PDFThis is a poster that shows how documents may be uploaded to WIT Institutional repository http://repository.wit.ie/
The repository uses the Southampton University's EPrints software. http://eprints.org
The relationships between macular pigment optical density and its constituent carotenoids in diet and serum
Get PDFPURPOSE: Lutein (L) and zeaxanthin (Z) are two dietary carotenoids that accumulate at the macula, where they are collectively known as macular pigment (MP). There is a biologically plausible rationale, with some supporting evidence, that MP may protect against age-related maculopathy (ARM). This study was undertaken to investigate the relationship between dietary intake of L and Z, serum concentrations of these carotenoids, and MP optical density in 828 healthy Irish subjects. METHODS: Dietary intake of L and Z was assessed with a validated food-frequency questionnaire, and serum concentrations of these carotenoids were quantified by high-performance liquid chromatography. MP optical density was measured psychophysically, using heterochromatic flicker photometry. Demographic data, lifestyle data, and general health status, were also recorded by questionnaire, with particular attention directed toward risk-factors (established and putative) for ARM. RESULTS: The relationships between MP optical density, serum concentrations of L (and Z), and dietary intake of L (and Z) were positive and statistically significant when analyzed for the entire study group (r = 0.136-0.303; P 27, did not demonstrate a positive and significant relationship between MP optical density and serum concentrations of Z (r = 0.041, r = 0.001, r = 0.074 and r = 0.082, respectively; P > 0.05 for all). However, there was a positive and significant relationship between MP optical density and serum concentrations of L in the presence of all these risk factors (r = 0.165 to 0.257), except for current heavy smokers (r = 0.042; P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: For subjects at increased risk of ARM (e.g., subjects with a clinically confirmed family history of ARM, current heavy cigarette smokers, subjects aged > 53 years and subjects with a BMI > 27) retinal capture and/or retinal stabilization of Z appears to be compromised, whereas retinal uptake and/or stabilization of L appears to be compromised in current heavy smokers only. Given the lack of MP in association with risk for ARM, the findings indicate that a retina predisposed to this condition may have an impaired ability to accumulate circulating Z
Conflict prevention via model-driven policy refinement
Get PDFThis paper describes an approach for application specific conflict prevention based on model-driven refinement of policies prior to deployment. Central to the approach is an algorithm for the retrieval of application-specific data from an information model relating to the subject and targets of a given policy. This algorithm facilitates the linkage of policies loosely defined at a high level of abstraction to detailed behavioural constraints specified in the information model. Based on these constraints policies are then modified so that conflicts with other deployed policies can be readily identified using standard policy conflict detection techniques. This approach enables policy enforcement to be cognisant of application specific constraints, thereby resulting in a more trustworthy and dependable policy based management system