Suchergebnisse

Young adults in rural areas in many cases have limited educational opportunities. To obtain higher educational qualifications, rural youth often travel long distances. Therefore, many rural youths choose the "shorter" route and complete vocational training closer to home or drop out of their education prematurely. Against this background, this study examines the education policies of European countries and explores the extent to which these problems are addressed within their policy framework and what measures are taken to improve the situation. Using a unique dataset of policies of 31 European countries for the period 2010 to 2020, we examine more than 500 national and subnational policies that address formal and informal education and training. The results show that despite the sometimes high number of rural youths not in education, employment, or training (NEETs) and high early-school-leaving rates, only some countries have developed a respective policy strategy. The analysis presents the different measures implemented in the countries and furthermore shows that a high problem pressure in a country is not necessarily accompanied by a consideration in policy. Prospectively, there is a need for new policies that understand the multidimensionality of the issue and significantly improve the situation of rural youth.

Happiness is a very important aspect in the life and well-being of all citizens; as such, it has become a key factor in personal preferences. For these reasons, it is relevant to study what factors principally affect the happiness of the population. However, the difficulties involved in measuring this concept mean that there are no clear criteria as to which aspects should be promoted in order for citizens to achieve greater happiness. This paper uses variance-based structural equation modelling (SEM) - partial least squares path modelling (PLS) - to analyse the direct and indirect effects of European citizens' assessment of different aspects of their city related to safety, environmental quality and urban planning on their happiness. The source of information used in this study is the Flash Eurobarometer 419 prepared by Eurostat in 2015, with a total of 9799 observations. The results show how quality of life, safety, the environment and city planning have a positive and significant influence on European citizens' happiness, especially safety. In addition, quality of life acts as a mediating variable, primarily increasing the influence of urban planning on happiness. The findings of the study point to the relevant policies that governments should undertake to ensure the happiness of their citizens.

The present study aimed to predict job control (i.e., task discretion) based on class and occupation with skill use as a (hypothesized) mechanism in four Western European countries by using the OECD adult skill survey (PIAAC). The countries were Denmark, Belgium, Italy, and the United Kingdom (UK). The study used a Bayesian approach that included multilevel models combined with measurement models. The study uses the international standard classification of occupations with two digits (clustering variable) as well as the European socioeconomic classification (ESeC) measured with three social classes. The results indicate that greater worker technical skills (computer use) and social skills (e.g., negotiate and influence) predict higher levels of job control. Social classes interact with skills to predict job control (except Belgium). Occupational computer skills predict job control (in Belgium and Italy). In conclusion, the study supports predictions by neo-Durkheimians, neo-Weberians, New Structuralists, and relational approaches to inequality.

Die massiven Mobilitätsbeschränkungen in der Schengen-Zone, die die EU-Staaten infolge der Corona-Pandemie verhängt haben, sollen ab Mitte Juni aufgehoben werden. Wenn in der Zeit danach keine zweite Infektionswelle ausbricht, kann unter deutscher Ratspräsidentschaft der Ausstieg aus allen verbliebenen Binnengrenzkontrollen ge­lingen. Die Reform der Schengen-Verordnung, die seit der Migrationskrise überfällig ist, kann neu angestoßen werden. Der Zusammenhang zwischen sicheren Außen­gren­zen und interner Freizügigkeit ist spätestens seit diesem Frühjahr neu zu bewer­ten. Zudem müssen gesundheitlich begründete Personenkontrollen besser abgestimmt werden. Es dürfte jedoch schwerer werden, für den kommenden EU-Pakt für Migra­tion und Asyl einen Kompromiss zu finden. Der Zugang zu Asylverfahren ist trotz der nationalen Verantwortung für die öffentliche Gesundheit unbedingt zu gewährleisten. (Autorenreferat)

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine how Quality of Work Life (QWL) influences job satisfaction and to test if gender and organizational type moderate this relationship for Gen-Y. Design/methodology/approach: Questionnaire data were collected from 328 Gen-Y employees in European hospitality businesses. Drawing on generational theory, social role theory, and Person-Environment (P-E) fit theory, we discuss how gender and organizational types (i.e., independent vs. corporate structures) moderate Gen-Y's QWL-job satisfaction relationship. Findings: 1.) Gender and organizational type influence the QWL-job satisfaction relationship for Gen-Y. 2.) Job security does not change job satisfaction levels for female employees while high levels of job security negatively influence job satisfaction for male employees. 3.) Receiving appreciation at work increases job satisfaction for both women and men but, when receiving little appreciation at work, women remain more satisfied. 4.) Having opportunities to contribute to decisions positively affects Gen-Y's job satisfaction. 5.) Having the right to say is more important in independent organizations, while the opportunity to realize an employee's own potential leads to higher job satisfaction in corporate organizations. Originality/value: The study contributes to the limited empirical scholarly research, adding to a deeper understanding of influencing factors of Gen-Y's QWL-job satisfaction relationship.

Robots are increasingly being used to assist with various tasks ranging from industrial manufacturing to welfare services. This study analysed how robot acceptance at work (RAW) varies between individual and national attributes in EU 27. Eurobarometer surveys collected in 2012 (n = 26,751) and 2014 (n = 27,801) were used as data. Background factors also included country-specific data drawn from the World Bank DataBank. The study is guided by the technology acceptance model and change readiness perspective explaining robot acceptance in terms of individual and cultural attributes. Multilevel studies analysing cultural differences in technological change are exceptionally rare. The multilevel analysis of RAW performed herein accounted for individual and national factors using fixed and random intercepts in a nested data structure. Individual-level factors explained RAW better than national-level factors. Particularly, personal experiences with robots at work or elsewhere were associated with higher acceptance. At a national level, the technology orientation of the country explained RAW better than the relative risk of jobs being automated. Despite the countries' differences, personal characteristics and experiences with robots are decisive for RAW. Experiences, however, are better enabled in countries open to innovations. The findings are discussed in terms of possible mechanisms through which the technological orientation and social acceptance of robots may be related.

Global intellectual history has attracted traction in the past decade, but the field remains focused on the modern period and the diffusion of Western political concepts, ideologies, and methodologies. This paper suggests that juxtaposing political texts from the medieval Islamic world with their Christian counterparts will allow for a better understanding of the contours of the debate on the space for politics, framed in primary sources as the perennial tug of war between religious and lay authority. The implications of this line of inquiry for the history of European political thought are significant as well. Many of the premises and characteristics that are considered singularly European, such as continuity between past and present, as well as a strong performative regard to political thought, are equally present in non-European (in this instance Islamic) debates. It is more a matter of perspective than essence that distinguishes the history of European political thought, and a wider perspective through juxtaposition of texts and concepts would enhance the global debate by introducing new questions from rarely visited quarters.

Using data from European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions, the study examines the causes of variation in the unexplained gender pay gap among 25 European countries and considers the effect of the legal environment on these. We employ the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition to estimate the unexplained part of the gender pay gap. To assess the impact of the rule of law on unexplained gender wage differences, we apply a linear regression model, where the estimated unexplained gender pay gap is used as a dependent variable and selected rule of law indicators (specifically the Worldwide Governance Indicators Rule of Law and the Legal System & Property Rights Index) as explanatory variables. Controlling for other institutions affecting gender wage differences (specifically labour market regulation, work-family reconciliation policy and male wage dispersion), we suggest that differences in the quality of legislation and law enforcement across European countries may partly account for the variation in the unexplained gender pay gap. A very progressive improvement in rule of law indices (from the worst to the best among the 25 European countries examined) leads to a decrease in the unexplained gender pay gap by 4.5-5 percentage points.

This article employs a two-level analysis to compare the discursive performance of gender on social media in Hungary and Romania; the two countries with the lowest percentage of women in politics in the European Union (EU). First, by revealing the tension between conservative views about gender roles, and social and political specificities in the two countries, the research illustrates how various parties on the conservative right ideological continuum―from the center-right to right-wing populism―relate to the feminist project. Secondly, it analyzes how selected women politicians within this continuum negotiate their ideological beliefs about gender roles with their political career interests, by means of social media (Facebook). The analytical constructs of idealized motherhood and feminine toughness are employed to examine a period of intensive political campaigning in 2014 in both Hungary and Romania. The study triangulates the multi-layered discursive circumstances (the historical, contextual, and social media contexts) in Hungary and Romania, and maps out the similarities and differences that are disclosed when comparing the selected women politicians. The article makes a significant theoretical and empirical contribution to scholarship on gender and conservatism in particular and raises questions for the wider study of gender, politics, and social media in general.

Die Teilnehmerländer der europäischen Währungsunion verfügen über höchst unterschiedliche Regime der Lohnfindung. Diese Unterschiedlichkeit leistete einen eigenständigen Beitrag zur Auseinanderentwicklung der mitgliedsstaatlichen Lohn- und Preisniveaus und damit zu den realen Wechselkursverzerrungen, unter denen der Euroraum seit Einführung der gemeinsamen Währung leidet. Um dies zu zeigen, werden die nominalen Lohnauftriebe von zwölf Euroländern während der ersten zehn Eurojahre 1999-2008 analysiert. Weder ein etwaiger Export des deutschen Lohnregimes noch eine europäische Lohnkoordination sind gangbare Wege der Problembearbeitung. Es spricht daher wenig dafür, dass der Euro in der Zukunft besser funktionieren könnte als in der Vergangenheit.

"In the course of the nineteenth century, millions of migrants moved to and settled permanently in western European urban centers. This large influx of immigrants, originating from various regions with different demographic backgrounds, affected the level and pace of the local fertility transition. In this study the authors sampled and analyzed 747 couples consisting of natives and immigrants in the city of Antwerp during the early fertility transition. Stopping behavior of both native, immigrant and mixed couples is analyzed. The authors found that adult migrants display stopping behavior that resembles that at their origin while individuals that immigrated during childhood adapt more often to the dominant local fertility pattern. While the migratory status of the mother was more decisive than that of the father, couples consisting of both immigrants were the last to implement more efficient reproductive strategies. By focusing on individual behavioral patterns, new light is shed on the diffusion of reproductive behavior during the Western European fertility decline." (author's abstract)

"Seit nordamerikanische ÖkonomInnen in den 1990ern begannen, das 21. Jahrhundert euphorisch als 'pazifisches Jahrhundert' zu feiern, kennzeichnet ein auffällig prophetischer Utopianismus den Diskurs des 'Pacific Rim', dessen ideologische Konstruktion seit jeher von hegemonialen Repräsentationsstrategien des Westens bestimmt wird. Fast analog dazu tauchen in der nordamerikanischen fiktionalen Literatur um 2000 Texte auf, die diese diskursive Aneignung im Dienst des globalisierten Kapitalismus und dessen rassistische und sexistische Implikationen ausstellen und konterkarieren. Anhand eines close reading von Larissa Lais Roman Salt Fish Girl untersucht der Aufsatz die ästhetischen, politischen und ethischen Strategien dieser Literatur, die zugleich die Möglichkeit einer egalitären, posthumanistischen Subjektivität verhandelt." (Autorenreferat)

"Der vorliegende Beitrag stellt die Probleme der Vorbereitung und Durchführung einer internationalen Vergleichsstudie im Bereich der beruflichen Bildung als Large-Scale-Assessment dar. Dabei werden die Unterschiede der Anlage einer solchen Studie zu den Prinzipien herausgestellt, die zum Beispiel für PISA-Studien gelten. Im Zentrum steht die Frage der Strukturierung und Operationalisierung beruflicher Handlungskompetenzen unter den Rahmenbedingungen von Berufsfeldern und Ausbildungskonstellationen. Im Hinblick auf die Erfassung der Leistungsfähigkeit unterschiedlicher Berufsbildungssysteme geht es vor allem um Fragen der Messung beruflicher Handlungskompetenz, um die Erfassung der relevanten Rahmenbedingungen sowie um die Identifikation von international vergleichbaren Berufsfeldern und Erwerbstätigkeiten. Es werden erste Schritte zur Beantwortung dieser Fragen nachgezeichnet und gleichzeitig die Schwierigkeiten der entsprechenden Operationalisierungsprozesse anhand von Beispielen beleuchtet." (ICI)

Die zentrale Stoßrichtung dieses Beitrages ist es, Wege für eine erfolgreiche Familienpolitik aufzuzeigen. Basierend auf einem 16-Ländersample und unter Zuhilfenahme des neuen MVQCA-Ansatzes werden unterschiedliche europäische familienpolitische Regulierungsmuster multivariat untersucht. Die theoretischen Annahmen basieren auf dem Ernährermodell. Es zeigt sich, dass (noch) in fast allen Ländern ernährertypische Strukturen zu finden sind und die Kinderraten entscheidend beeinflussen. Es wird dargestellt, warum flankierende familienpolitische Maßnahmen, besonders im finanziellen Bereich, neben einem hohen Kinderbetreuungsangebot und einer umfassenden Teilhabe der Frauen am Arbeitsmarkt, zentrale Faktoren sind, die zu einer Erhöhung der Kinderrate beitragen können.

In dem Beitrag werden Überlegungen zu einem "Framing" für eine interdisziplinäre Behandlung des Phänomens der Multilokalität angestellt. Dabei wird eine Konzeption gesucht, mit deren Hilfe sowohl die kognitiv-emotiven und lebensweltlich-existenziellen Bedeutungs- und Sinnaspekte für die betroffenen menschlichen Akteure als auch die sozialen, ökonomischen, politischen und planerischen Implikationen des Phänomens behandelt werden können. - Ausgehend von der Körperlichkeit des Menschen und den existenziell bedeutsamen Funktionen der Wohnung wird argumentiert, dass der Wohnstandort die Rahmenbedingungen der Lebens- und Verwirklichungschancen einer Person festlegt. Denn der Wohnstandort begrenzt das Gesamtspektrum der Nutzungspotenziale auf die Gesamtheit jener Standortofferten, die von der Wohnung aus durch tagesrhythmische Zirkulation erreichbar sind. Nach einer kritischen Diskussion terminologischer Konventionen der Wanderungsforschung werden Argumente vorgebracht, die das Phänomen der Multilokalität neben Sesshaftigkeit, Zirkulation und Migration als eigenständige Form einer spezifischen sozialen Praxis der Lebensbewältigung plausibel machen. Das Spezifikum der Multilokalität besteht darin, dass mit dieser sozialen Praxis die Standortofferten von zwei (oder mehreren) Lokalitäten miteinander verknüpft und für den betreffenden Haushalt nutzbar gemacht werden können. Anschließend werden erste Ansätze einer Theorie der Multilokalität zu Diskussion gestellt, Bezüge zu aktuellen Sozialtheorien erörtert und konkrete Forschungsfragen angesprochen, die für empirische Studien zum Thema relevant erscheinen.