Emprego para jovens cientistas no sector empresarial : Expectativas e realidade

A formação avançada de recursos humanos tem vindo a ser objecto de um elevado investimento, com base no pressuposto de que estes recursos desempenham um papel crucial no desenvolvimento tecnológico. No entanto, os jovens pós-graduados têm vindo a deparar-se com dificuldades crescentes no mercado de trabalho académico, dificuldades essas que não estão a ser compensadas com o aparecimento de novas oportunidades no mercado de trabalho empresarial. Tal sugere a existência de alguma desadequação entre a oferta e a procura, ou seja, entre as competências dos indivíduos e as pretendidas por um mercado de trabalho em mutação. Este artigo aborda esse problema, examinando a questão do emprego de jovens cientistas no sector empresarial em Portugal. A investigação foi conduzida tendo em consideração quer o ponto de vista das empresas, quer o dos jovens cientistas e centrou-se nas seguintes questões: a) no caso das empresas que empregam mestres e doutorados, que tipo de competências são procuradas, como são geridos este tipo de recursos e que tipo de obstáculos se deparam à sua integração e utilização plena; b) no caso das empresas que não empregam, mas que poderiam beneficiar destes recursos, quais os motivos para a sua relutância; c) no caso dos jovens cientistas, qual a sua atitude em relação a uma carreira no sector empresarial e em que condições estariam dispostos a segui-la. A investigação permitiu detectar alguns desajustamentos entre os objectivos e expectativas das empresas e dos cientistas, bem como identificar alguns factores de relutância em ambos os grupos. Estes resultados permitiram- nos avançar algumas sugestões no sentido de promover o emprego de jovens cientistas no sector empresarial.

Career and work-family relationship among academics : An exploratory study

Despite the increase, in recent years, of women’s participation in the labour market, sex discrimination remains a reality in most work organisations. In this matter, academic organisations are no exception. Evidence of sex inequalities is well documented in the literature. At the individual level, inequalities are partly explained by family responsibilities mainly held by women. Having to spend a considerable amount of time in home and children related activities women are left with less time available for scientific work than their male colleagues. With the purpose of understanding how academics experience the relationship between work and family, 32 in-depth interviews were conducted among Portuguese academics of both sexes in one particular university. The findings confirmed that work-family conflict is stronger among female faculty than among their male counterparts. Additionally, the prejudice against maternity and the way it is compatible with a successful career appears to survive the new gender relations. Difficulties felt by female academics could be minimised by the introduction of «family-friendly» policies and the development of a positive organisational climate towards maternity and family issues.

Parental unemployment and youth life satisfaction: The moderating roles of satisfaction with family life

Abstract While Europe is slowly recovering from the economic recession, its effects on labour markets are still visible. The number of jobless families has increased and previous research has shown that unemployment can affect the wellbeing of both parents and their children. In this study we explored the links between parental unemployment and youth life satisfaction by considering the potential moderating roles played by satisfaction with family life and perceived family wealth. We used descriptive statistics, correlations, simple moderation and moderated moderation models of regression on data from a representative sample of 3937 Portuguese students (Mage = 13.9 years; SD ± 1.7; 48 % boys). Results showed that the negative effects of parental unemployment on youth life satisfaction were moderated by youth perceived satisfaction with family life but not by perceived wealth. This suggested that during family unemployment, young people satisfied with their family life are less vulnerable to the negative effects of parental unemployment on their life satisfaction. The relationship between parental unemployment and youth well-being requires further research, especially during periods of labour market crisis.