Documents found
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3521.More information
Though gender equality has been at the centre of debate over the last decades, a number of benefits concerning the impact of female directors on corporate performance are still overlooked. Particularly, the link that seems to exist between female directors and sustainable finance has received limited attention. We investigate the impact of an enhancement in female presence, meant as women in decision-making positions, on a firm’s performance both in financial and sustainability terms. The goal is to contribute to the literature streams on gender economics and on sustainable finance.Most research on sustainable finance and its impact on corporate governance rely only on aggregate ESG ratings for their results. Such scores are typically a black-box, with financial providers supplying little information about their methodology. Our analysis not only develops disaggregate scores for each dimension, but also provides motivation for the measurement of gender equality by means of specific indicators, such as the number of female directors, going beyond the bare (S) or (G) rating. ESG ratings and specific indicators of gender equality were retrieved from the well-known Bloomberg provider. Relying on a dataset concerning European companies, we empirically show that an increase in gender equality has a positive effect on a firm’s financial performance and on its share of sustainable investments.
Keywords: ESG, Sustainable Finance, Risk management, Gender Economics, Bloomberg
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3522.More information
Live music performance provides a source of income and opportunities for musicians to develop creative and performance skills as well as engage with peers. The Australian live music sector, however, was shuttered as part of the public health measures enacted during the global COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on findings from a multi-year national study into the portfolio careers of Australian musicians (2016–2019), this article reports findings related to live music performance and considers them in relation to the sector’s shuttering. It argues for the consideration of the role and nuance of performance as we re-emerge in a post-pandemic world so that the diversity of formats and opportunities are sustained.
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3523.More information
The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of arts engagement during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic via virtual delivery of music workshops for military-connected people. Twenty participants completed an online survey before and after participation that included two validated surveys measuring sense of community and social support, ten questions assessing motivators for participation, and open-ended ethnographic qualitative questions examining intended and fulfilled participation goals. Despite the social distancing challenges of COVID-19, our participants’ sense of community and social support did not decline over time, likely because of their engagement in the workshops. Participants’ achieved goals included learning how to play the ukulele, songs, joining with others and making connections, praising the leaders and community, and feeling that their voice was incorporated in the workshops.
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3524.More information
Land-grant colleges and universities in the United States, and by extension their libraries and archives, seek to uphold a three-part mission of teaching, research, and service, while also focusing on equality of access, regardless of class. The admirability of that mission, however, is tempered by “genesis amnesia,” where, as Pierre Bourdieu and Jean-Claude Passeron say, “societies cover up or erase the origins of policies or institutions in order to obfuscate the social constructions that underlie them.” Other former settler colonies, such as Canada, maintain similarly structured and afflicted colleges and universities. For many institutions, the terms “land-grant,” or in Canadian contexts “land-endowed” or “land-financed,” act as a veneer, covering up and at times venerating an extractive and traumatic process by which Indigenous peoples were dispossessed of their lands. In this reflective case study, we define pioneer veneration as a symptom of colonialism and describe recent efforts to challenge it within our own library and archives. Using two collections containing Indigenous knowledges but not (primarily) Indigenous belongings, we explore our attempts to challenge pioneer veneration and seek out more impactful and purposefully reparative avenues of service to Indigenous patrons and stakeholders. By specifically defining the term pioneer veneration and discussing our institution’s effort to counter it in two specific collections, we hope to expand the lens of the types of collections that can be part of decolonization work and offer some replicable examples of work that redresses white supremacy and colonialism in institutional archives.
Keywords: decolonization, bibliothèques et archives, land-grant colleges and universities, collèges et universités concédants de terres, décolonisation, libraries and archives, vénération des pionniers, pioneer veneration
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3525.More information
With the nature of work constantly changing over the past few years, employees’ ability to learn new skills in changing contexts has become increasingly valuable for organizations seeking to accomplish their goals. Adaptive performance (AP) makes it possible to respond to this new reality of work by integrating the notion of adaptation to the concept of performance in a work context. However, despite the multiple studies that have been done, empirical data regarding AP is still limited and, in some cases, inconsistent. Furthermore, research concerning AP evolved into numerous methods and perspectives leaving gaps in the current knowledge base. Therefore, the goal of this study is to update the last literature review regarding AP’s predictors (antecedents). It also aims to reframe the current knowledge regarding the predictors of AP towards empirically proven relationships. This review is mostly based on Park and Park’s (2019) recent work. Additional articles published between 2016 and March 2023 have also been considered. In summary, 40 empirical studies were selected and supported a grand total of 38 predictors of adaptive performance. The empirical links are presented, categorized, and displayed on multiple charts to facilitate data comparison. The literature tendencies as well as the implications for future research are elaborated in the discussion.
Keywords: Adaptive performance, Performance adaptative, Adapting to change, Adaptation au changement, Revue de littérature, Literature review, Antecedents, Antécédents, Revue des écrits quantitatifs, Quantitative literature review
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3526.More information
The rise in popularity of the maker movement in schools is evident around the globe, yet research, particularly in French, is still in early stages. This article provides a scoping review of maker projects in grades four through eight classrooms in elementary schools from around the globe, aiming to uncover their implementation, materials used, and outcomes on students and teachers. From 1900 initial studies, 68 scientific articles were analyzed. This article outlines the three stages of maker projects: 1) inspiration and preparation, 2) implementation and realization, and 3) presentation and recontextualization, while highlighting an equal mix of digital and physical tools within the selected papers. It also discusses the impact on students across affective, social, disciplinary, and metacognitive dimensions, as well as on teachers, including pedagogical, affective, and social outcomes. Examples of disciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary maker projects are highlighted, showcasing the broad scope and potential of maker education. These findings are essential for strengthening teacher education with research-informed best practices for designing and integrating maker projects in classrooms.
Keywords: digital technologies, bricoleur, maker, formation enseignante, maker, maker education, revue de la portée, scoping review, teacher education, technologies éducatives
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3527.More information
This exploratory study is based on semi-structured interviews with digital preservationists working in Canada. The goal was to understand how participants are reviewing sensitive personal information in their digital materials and identify the challenges they face in this work. Findings include a summary of current practices in place (e.g., risk profiling, using software tools for triage, and consultation with donors and/or community), and a list of challenges (e.g., IT or systems infrastructure, scale, barriers to access for software tools, and funding restrictions). The implications of these findings are that Canadian memory workers require time, staff, support, and training, while developers of assistive-software tools for this work should address tool limitations and prioritize user-friendly interfaces. Grant funding stipulations should also be revised to allow for diverse access options, while investment in controlled access repositories would enable responsible online access to complex collections.
Keywords: préservation, preservation, informations sensibles, sensitive information, confidentialité, privacy, digital, numérique
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3528.More information
This study analyzed how Canadian post-secondary libraries manage and administer their web-scale discovery service. Through a combination of survey responses and semi-structured interviews, the author investigated how Canadian academic libraries support their web-scale discovery service from an organizational structure perspective. Academic libraries can manage their discovery service from a technical services unit, a library systems or a web services department, or by a committee. However, there is consensus that a discovery service requires collaboration among many functional areas. Discovery service leaders often have organizational awareness to break down the silos between traditional library functions to perform the various duties related to managing and administering their web-scale discovery service. Individuals responsible for their discovery service work collaboratively with staff in many different areas and often have a strong user-centred focus.
Keywords: web-scale discovery services, Service de découverte à l’échelle du Web, service de découverte, discovery services, Canadian academic libraries, bibliothèques universitaires canadiennes, bibliothèques universitaires, academic libraries, bibliothèques postsecondaires, post-secondary libraries, library organizational structure, structure organisationnelle de la bibliothèque, structure organisationnelle, organizational structure
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3529.More information
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the health and well-being of families in South Africa, amplifying family challenges and requiring modifications to their coping mechanisms. While the pandemic has been successfully managed in South Africa, some challenges, such as those related to poverty, loss of income, and economic uncertainty, have been exacerbated. This study, which used an exploratory qualitative research design, sought to offer insight into the coping mechanisms of South African families used to deal with family challenges during the pandemic. Through purposive and snowball sampling, 31 participants were recruited; the majority were living in a nuclear family, but some had other arrangements. The participants were from six municipal districts in the Western Cape Province. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, and data were analysed using thematic analysis. The findings of this study demonstrate that the coping mechanisms families used during the COVID-19 pandemic were largely drawn from internal resources.
Keywords: family, family challenges, coping mechanisms, COVID-19, South Africa
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3530.More information
Objective – The goal of this study was to determine the extent to which evidence synthesis (ES) is incorporated into American Library Association (ALA)-accredited master’s level Library and Information Studies (LIS) programs. The study considered the depth of coverage, interest in additional curriculum content, and preferences for expanding existing coverage.Methods – A cross-sectional survey was implemented. Program administrators and instructors currently involved with ALA-accredited master’s level LIS programs in Canada and the United States were eligible to participate. Recruitment emails targeted faculty and administrators from a directory of institutions offering ALA-accredited MLIS programs.Results – 26 eligible responses from 20 unique institutions were obtained. Most respondents reported that ES is incorporated into the curriculum, albeit only briefly in most cases. Most of the respondents expressed interest in incorporating more ES content into the curriculum, specifically as a portion of a course. A greater number of respondents would prefer to bring in external guest speakers to teach the ES content, but a small percentage were interested in training for existing LIS instructors.Conclusion – In-depth instruction on ES in LIS programs is currently limited. However, there appears to be interest in increasing ES content in curricula, primarily in the form of guest lecturers.