La incidencia de los valores culturales en el voluntariado: el caso de Europa

La realidad del voluntariado es sumamente compleja hasta el punto de que resulta complicado definir y caracterizar el trabajo voluntario, dada la gran variedad de interpretaciones, motivaciones, variables sociodemogr��ficas y aspectos culturales que configuran el perfil de los voluntarios. El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar la influencia conjunta de algunas variables sociodemogr��ficas, as�� como de los valores culturales de ��ndole secular o tradicional, sobre el perfil de los voluntarios en Europa. Adem��s, se investiga qu�� variables orientan a los voluntarios hacia un determinado tipo de voluntariado u otro. Para ello se ha aplicado principalmente una metodolog��a de regresi��n log��stica a partir de la informaci��n disponible en la European Value Study. Los resultados obtenidos ayudan a establecer una caracterizaci��n del voluntariado en Europa, y confirman la influencia de los valores culturales, en primer lugar, en la realizaci��n o no de trabajos de voluntariado, y en segundo lugar, en la elecci��n que hacen estas personas del tipo de actividad con la que est��n comprometidos. Al analizar dos tipos de voluntariado de motivaci��n supuestamente muy diferente, se concluye que existe un grupo de valores que influyen en ambos, aunque el sentido y la intensidad en la que lo hacen sea diferente; por otra parte, algunos valores tienen influencia o no en la realizaci��n de trabajos de voluntariado, dependiendo del tipo espec��fico al que nos refiramos.

Impact of the intrinsic motivation on the academic performance through voluntary assignments: An empirical analysis

The students academic performance is a key aspect for all agents involved in a higher education quality program. However, there is no unanimity on how to measure it. Some professionals choose assessing only cognitive aspects while others lean towards assessing the acquisition of certain skills. The need to train increasingly adapted professionals in order to respond to the companies��� demands and being able to compete internationally in a global labour market requires a kind of training that goes beyond memorizing. Critical and logical thinking are amongst written language skills demanded in the field of Social Sciences. The objective of this study is to empirically demonstrate the impact of voluntary assignments on the academic performance of students. Our hypothesis is that students who complete high quality voluntary assignments are those more motivated and, therefore, those with higher grades. An experiment with students from the "Financial Accounting II" during the academic year of 2012/13 at the Business and Economics School of the UCM was carried out. A series of voluntary assessments involving the preparation of accounting essays were proposed in order to develop skills and competencies as a complement to the lessons included in the curriculum of the subject. At the end of the course, the carrying-out or not of the essay together with its critical, reflective quality and style, were compared. Our findings show a relationship between the voluntarily presented papers of quality and the final grade obtained throughout the course. These results show that the students intrinsic motivation is a key element in their academic performance. On the other hand, the teachers role focuses on being a motivating element through the learning process.

From labelling to social aid for immigrants in the 21st Century

Migration is as old as humanity, but since the 1990s migration flows in Western Europe have led to societies that are not just multicultural but so-called ��super-diverse��. As a result, Western towns now have very complex social structures, with amongst others large amounts of small immigrant communities that are in constant change. In this paper we argue that for social workers to be able to offer adequate professional help to non-native residents in town, they will need balanced view of ���culture��� and of the role culture plays in social aid. Culture is never static, but is continually changing. By teaching social workers about how to look at cultural backgrounds of immigrant groups and about the limitations of then role that culture plays in communication, they will be better equipped to provide adequate aid and will contribute to making various groups grow towards each other and to avoid people thinking in terms of ���out-group-homogeneity���. Nowadays, inclusion is a priority in social work that almost every social worker supports. Social workers should have an open attitude to allow them to approach every individual as a unique person. They will see the other person as the person they are, and not as a part of a specific cultural group. Knowledge about the others makes them see the cultural heterogeneity in every group. The social sector, though, must be aware not to fall into the trap of the ���inclusion mania���! This will cause the social deprivation of a particular group to be forgotten. An inclusive policy requires an inclusive society. Otherwise, this could result in even more deprivation of other groups, already discriminated against. Emancipation of deprived people demands a certain target-group policymaking. Categorized aid will raise efficiency of working with immigrants and of acknowledging the cultural identity of the non-natives group. It will also create the possibility to work on fighting social deprivation, in which most immigrants can be found.

The emotional structure of the advertising message in radio

Radio advertising is suffering from a remarkable crisis of creativity as it has yet not found its role in a radio model based on voice locution and information genres. This article suggests the need for implementing a peripheral or heuristic strategy to attract and hold listeners��� attention. Within this framework, the narration and scene representation are proposed as suitable persuasion techniques. The objective is to design a useful conceptual tool for an efficient creative conception of narration at the service of certain commercial strategy. First, the concept of narrative persuasion is grounded according to the possibilities of the sound code. Second, the keys of scene representation and commercial strategy (brand, product, advantage, benefit and target) within the sound message are presented. And third, these keys are articulated in a model. This model is pre-tested by means of analyzing eight different case-radio ads.

The trade unions membership dynamics and union members��� trajectories

This text presents an analysis of aggregated membership���s dynamics for Spanish trade unions, using ECVT data, as well as union memberships��� trajectories, or members��� decisions about joining the organization, permanency and responsibilities, and subsequent attrition. For the analysis of trajectories we make use of information of the records of actual memberships and the record of quitting of CCOO, and of a survey-questionnaire to a sample of leavers of the same union. This study allows us to confirm a linkage between the decision and motivations to become union member, to participate in union activities, the time of permanency, and the motives to quit the organization. We also identify five types of union members��� trajectories, indicating that, far from views that assert a monolithic structure, unions are complex organizations.

Conscientiousness and laboriousness as academic achievement predictors in a Spanish students sample

To understand academic performance of students, the variable of conscientiousness from personality inventory Big Five, has been recognized as an important key. The aim of this paper is to analyze the relationship established between the personality factor conscientiousness itself and two of its facets, laboriousness and planning, with academic performance, and observe if there are genre differences in consciousness personality factor. A total of 456 Spanish students of high school and college participated in the study. They were requested to answer a personality report and a self inform questionnaire. The results show that both conscientiousness as a personality dimension and the consideration of laboriousness facet are able to predict academic performance, especially with regard to student���s exam marks, classroom attendance and dedication to study. The genre variable pointed out that feminine genre is more conscious than male in that personality factor. From a practical perspective, these results indicate that the establishment of a routine of continuous work is suitable for improving student grades and their adaptation to the educational environment.

Predictors of attitudes toward inclusion of students with special educational needs in future education professionals

One of the main pillars in the development of inclusive schools is the initial teacher training. Before determining if it is necessary to make changes (and of what type) in training programs or curriculum guides related to the attention to diversity and inclusive education, the attitudes of future education professionals in this area should be analyzed. This includes the identification of the relevant predictors of inclusive attitudes. The research reported in this article pursued this objective, doing so with a quantitative survey methodology based on the use of cross-sectional structured data collection and statistical analyses related to the quality of the attitude questionnaire (factor analysis and Cronbach's alpha), descriptive statistics, correlations, hypothesis tests for difference of means, and regression analysis in order to predict attitudes towards inclusion in education. Firstly, the results show that the participants held very positive attitudes toward the inclusion of students with special educational needs. Particularly, older respondents, those with a longer training and, to a lesser extent, women and those who had been in touch with disabled people stood out within this attitude. Secondly, it is evidenced that self-transcendence values ���and, more weakly, contact, function as robust predictors of attitudes of future practitioners towards the inclusion of students with special needs. Some applications for the initial professionalization of educators are suggested in the discussion.

��Barreras invisibles? Actitudes de los estudiantes universitarios ante sus compa��eros con discapacidad

El presente trabajo analiza los conocimientos, opiniones y actitudes de los estudiantes universitarios sobre sus compa��eros con discapacidad. La integraci��n educativa y social de estos estudiantes es objeto de preocupaci��n y estudio en todo el sistema educativo espa��ol, incluida la ense��anza superior en la que 21.942 universitarios con discapacidad se encontraban matriculados en el curso 2013-2014. El estudio se realiza en el marco de dos Proyectos de Innovaci��n Educativa[1] de la Universidad de M��laga en los que se examinaron las actitudes del personal docente e investigador, el alumnado en general y el alumnado con discapacidad de esta instituci��n. En este art��culo se recogen las perspectivas de los estudiantes sin discapacidad, necesarias para medir el grado de aceptaci��n dentro de las aulas universitarias. Se emple�� una encuesta suministrada mediante correo electr��nico a la totalidad de la poblaci��n de estudiantes de la Universidad de M��laga (N= 32.464). El tama��o de la muestra fue de 620 estudiantes, por lo que trabajamos con un margen de error del 3,9% para la estimaci��n de los porcentajes con un nivel de confianza del 95%. Los datos, analizados mediante an��lisis estad��stico, visibilizan la importancia de un elevado grado de informaci��n y conocimiento as�� como de una experiencia directa con la discapacidad. Ambas circunstancias se traducen en actitudes m��s positivas y favorables. Tan solo el 20% de los alumnos manifest�� haber recibido en alguna ocasi��n cualquier tipo de informaci��n sobre este asunto por parte de la Universidad; no obstante, la mayor��a valora positivamente la presencia de alumnos con discapacidad en la Universidad, la posibilidad de contar ellos como compa��eros de clase y el enriquecimiento que supone esta convivencia dentro del aula. Se discuten posibles acciones para mejorar las actitudes hacia los estudiantes con discapacidad. Adem��s, se plantea incluir una perspectiva que promueva el empoderamiento de estos estudiantes. [1] PIE 10-135 y PIE 13-103.

A proposal for a corresponsible intervention on sexual harassment at work

Sexual harassment at work is a form of gender violence barely made visible but still present in labor organizations, where it keeps generating high levels of suffering, discrimination and inequality mainly affecting women. To address it properly it is necessary an organizational change towards equity arising from the knowledge of the subjective meanings that stakeholders (staff, union representatives, employers, public administration, etc.) attribute to that reality. In this article we present the main findings of a qualitative study on the social perception of sexual harassment. The work highlights the existence of many strategies aimed at legitimize and minimize the relevance of the problem, blaming the victim, justifying the lack of support from the environment and / or the involvement of the organization in the solutions. Among the conclusions we underline the need for new models of business management involving all stakeholders in the prevention and control of the in a responsible way.

Crisis communication in politics: forgiveness as image restoration tool

Crisis communication is a widely treated field. There are lot of works and guides which provide helpful information in order to face crisis situations successfully (Alcat, 2005, Benoit, 1997) and articles about case studies (Nespereira, 2014, Blaney y Benoit 2001). Nonetheless, most of times, these guides are focused on business or corporations (Abeler, 2010) and there are not such information about crisis communications in politics (Gaspar e Ibeas, 2015). The field is smaller if we speak about forgiveness as restoration image tool in politics (Harris 2006). Despite all, we live in ���forgiveness era��� as Krauze said (1998) where people demand to politicians to apologize when they have mistakes (Harris et al. 2006:716). So, we will try to make an approach to forgiveness in politics as a image restoration tool and analyze its capabilities in order to face crisis management.

Effect of reading sport chronicles on the perception of justice and the predisposition to protest actions in soccer

In this study three chronicles from national newspapers (one generalist and two sport press) were analyzed. The chronicles belong to Spain���s soccer final of the King���s Cup in 2014. The aim of the study was to know if there was any influence on the readers��� perception of justice and consequently if this influence could cause a particular predisposition to participate in acts of protest. 462 university students participated. The results showed that different chronicles caused differences in the perception of justice depending on the chronicle read. However, a clear influence on the willingness to participate in acts of protest was not obtained. These results should make us think about the impact of sport press and its influence, and to be aware of the indirect responsibility of every sector on the antisocial behaviors generated by soccer in our country.

Looking for Determinants of Ontological Security in the Spain of the Crisis

The concept of ontological security has a remarkable echo in the current sociology to describe emotional status of men of late modernity. However, the concept created by Giddens in the eighties has been little used in empirical research covering various sources of risk or uncertainty. In this paper, a scale for ontological security is proposed. To do this, we start from the results of a research focused on the relationship between risk, uncertainty and vulnerability in the context of the economic crisis in Spain. These results were produced through nine focus groups and a telephone survey with standardized questionnaire applied to a national sample of 2,408 individuals over 18 years. This work is divided into three main sections. In the fi rst, a scale has been built from the results of the application of different items present in the questionnaire used. The second part explores the relationships of the scale obtained with the variables further approximate the emotional dimensions of individuals. The third part observes the variables that contribute to changes in the scale: These variables show the structural feature of the ontological security.

Diagn��stico del rendimiento acad��mico de estudiantes de una escuela de educaci��n superior en M��xico

El objetivo del art��culo es realizar un diagn��stico sobre la percepci��n de los factores que intervienen en el rendimiento acad��mico de los estudiantes de cinco carreras universitarias en una escuela de educaci��n superior en M��xico, para as�� reconocer las ��reas de oportunidad que permitan sugerir pol��ticas y estrategias para elevar su rendimiento. Se utiliz�� una muestra de 1651 estudiantes, se obtuvieron los datos a partir de un cuestionario con treinta preguntas que estudian la percepci��n del rendimiento acad��mico en escala tipo Likert. Se realiz�� un an��lisis factorial exploratorio que permitiera reducir los datos, facilitar la interpretaci��n y validar el instrumento. Se identificaron tres factores: a) el rol de los profesores, b) la evaluaci��n y c) la motivaci��n de los estudiantes. Se llev�� a cabo un an��lisis comparativo por carrera. Se encontr�� que los estudiantes perciben que la mayor��a de los maestros no se preocupan por la condici��n de los j��venes en situaci��n de reprobaci��n. Adem��s, casi no motivan y carecen de expresiones de sentimientos de orgullo por los logros acad��micos de los estudiantes. La mitad de los participantes piensa que los docentes no cubren el temario en su totalidad. Se detect�� que los estudiantes poseen una alta motivaci��n siendo esto positivo porque son alumnos dedicados y responsables. Se concluye realizando una serie de sugerencias y explicando las implicaciones que tiene este trabajo para las instituciones de educaci��n superior.

Correlation between anxiety and academic self-concept in interpreter trainees

This paper focuses on two basic issues: the anxiety-generating nature of the interpreting task and the relevance of interpreter trainees��� academic self-concept. The first has already been acknowledged, although not extensively researched, in several papers, and the second has only been mentioned briefly in interpreting literature. This study seeks to examine the relationship between the anxiety and academic self-concept constructs among interpreter trainees. An adapted version of the Foreign Language Anxiety Scale (Horwitz et al., 1986), the Academic Autoconcept Scale (Schmidt, Messoulam & Molina, 2008) and a background information questionnaire were used to collect data. Students��� t-Test analysis results indicated that female students reported experiencing significantly higher levels of anxiety than male students. No significant gender difference in self-concept levels was found. Correlation analysis results suggested, on the one hand, that younger would-be interpreters suffered from higher anxiety levels and students with higher marks tended to have lower anxiety levels; and, on the other hand, that younger students had lower self-concept levels and higher-ability students held higher self-concept levels. In addition, the results revealed that students with higher anxiety levels tended to have lower self-concept levels. Based on these findings, recommendations for interpreting pedagogy are discussed.

Motivation and Vocabulary Breadth in CLIL and EFL Contexts. Different age, Same Time of Exposure

Numerous studies have found a positive connection between learners��� motivation towards foreign language and foreign language achievement. The present study examines the role of motivation in receptive vocabulary breadth (size) of two groups of Spanish learners of different ages, but all with 734 hours of instruction in English as a Foreign Language (EFL): a CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) group in primary education and a non-CLIL (or EFL) group in secondary education. Most students in both groups were found to be highly motivated. The primary CLIL group slightly overcame the secondary non-CLIL group with respect to the mean general motivation but this is a non-significant difference. The secondary group surpass significantly the primary group in receptive vocabulary size. No relationship between the receptive vocabulary knowledge and general motivation is found in the primary CLIL group. On the other hand, a positive significant connection, although a very small one, is identified for the secondary non-CLIL group. We will discuss on the type of test, the age of students and the type of instruction as variables that could be influencing the results.