Suchergebnisse

Introduction -- Rural-Urban Inequality in Chinese Higher Education -- WU, the Prestigious Path, and Initial Difference -- Advantage Begets Advantage -- Keep Searching, Keep Trying: Always Have the Hope -- Building My Résumé: Every Experience Counts -- Forging My Own path: Becoming the Person I Plan for Myself -- Conclusion.

Over the past few years, the number of foreign students from both European and non-European countries have increased in higher education institutions in the European Union (EU) and in the world. This increase is due to the interconnectivity of national economies and the phenomena of internationalization of higher education – the development of higher education and improved opportunities to study for students who come from abroad. Global economic, political and social processes and changes have influenced the development of studying conditions, such as: the youth unemployment rate in Europe has increased; increased political attention on education, where education is linked to employment and careers; massive participation and increasing competition amongst higher education institutions and entrants; higher education funding loss (the impact of the crisis); inadequate provision of higher education in emerging economies; the development of information technologies (distance learning), etc. In analyzing the motives of students' choice to study abroad, the change is quite noticeable. Previously, study abroad was seen as an opportunity to contribute to society, the state, but not individual goals. However, when students pay for their studies independently, their goals are more aligned towards career prospects and opportunities to remain in the country they studied in. Meanwhile, the main criteria of the selection of foreign students for studying abroad are: study language (English), the quality of programs, immigration policy and future (work) opportunities, study fees, perspectives, culture, etc. Thus, institutions are facing an increasing financial and competitive pressure to attract and retain as many foreign students as possible. This means that institutions of higher education need to innovate more by improving the admission of foreign students and balancing them with student support services that promote students' success, including the expectations of career and job opportunities.

In this article, Stephen Barley examines the extent to which the U.S. military serves as a provider of skills in the civilian economy. His investigation centers around the following questions: Do training and education in the military transfer into the civilian workforce? If the military does prepare individuals for civilian jobs, will reductions in accessions constrict the availability of trained personnel, just as firms are realizing that they require a workforce more highly skilled than in the recent past? Barley presents a review of studies focusing on the economic returns to military service, which fall into one of three categories: the effect of military service on earnings potential; the effects of military training and occupational speciality; and the effects of military service on employment. Barley concludes by offering a series of recommendations for policy, highlighting the fact that returns to service are primarily due to access to further education.

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to draw on the employment situation of postdoctoral researchers (postdocs) in the Netherlands, concerning their career prospects and embeddedness within their organisation, in order to discuss theoretical perspectives on academic careers.


Design/methodology/approach
This multi-method study consists of three parts: a survey, in-depth interviews, and three focus group meetings with postdocs as well as representatives of the human resource staff and the Dutch Research Council (NWO). This paper reports on the findings from the focus group meetings, which concentrated on how postdoctoral researchers consider their employment situation and career prospects.


Findings
The three focus group discussions revealed that postdocs are caught within a dual controversy, the first involves their lack of clarity concerning their career prospects and developments despite their highly valued work, the second regards the fact that they are specialized staff, contributing to the primary process of their employing organisation but faintly connected. Although the postdocs' formal position seems weak, their situation in terms of academic socialising is much stronger and active than appears at first sight, particularly due to their personal agency.


Practical implications
The postdocs require and appreciate guidance and support, particularly when they must leave academia.


Originality/value
The paper provides new and additional insights into the position of postdocs and their career prospects. Their personal agency in pursuing further career steps is more active than expected in previous studies.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to focus on two welfare state regimes with differing degrees of de‐familialisation strategies, Germany and Sweden, to study whether and how women's career interruptions influence their labour market prospects. By comparing women with continuous careers to those with discontinuous careers due to: parental leave or homemaking; unemployment; or other reasons, the authors explore the support for the skill depreciation hypothesis and signalling theory. Depending on the type of welfare state regime, the authors expect women to be subject to varying degrees of career punishment for time spent out of the labour market.Design/methodology/approachCox proportional hazard regression models of the transition rate of an upward or downward occupational move among women in the labour market were estimated.FindingsFocusing on upward career moves, the results show no significant relationship between a career interruption and upward occupational moves in Germany. In Sweden, the longer the accumulated duration of family leave, the lower the transition rate to an upward move. Overall occupational mobility is higher in Sweden, and in a policy regime where almost all women work, extended leaves may have a more negative effect on career prospects than in Germany, where many mothers drop out of the labour force altogether. In Germany, on the other hand, the authors find traces of unemployment to be scarring, as the risk of downward moves increases with increased unemployment experience.Originality/valueThe paper explores the impact of policies in shaping women's career trajectories and critically examines the often‐cited skill depreciation hypothesis.