‘It's the end of the university as we know it (and I feel fine)’: the Generation Y student in higher education discourse

This paper examines discussions of Generation Y within higher education discourse, arguing the sector’s use of the term to describe students is misguided for three reasons. First, portraying students as belonging to Generation Y homogenises people undertaking higher education as young, middle-class and technologically literate. Second, speaking of Generation Y students allows constructivism to be reinvented as a ‘new’ learning and teaching philosophy. Third, the Generation Y university student has become a central figure in concerns about technology’s role in learning and teaching. While the notion of the ‘Generation Y student’ creates the illusion that higher education institutions understand their constituents, ultimately, it is of little value in explaining young adults’ educational experiences.

Using performance management systems as identity products

This paper explores how the effective use of performance management systems (PMS) essentialises collective identities through the use of textual performances. The discursive effect of PMS operates to simplify members’ logic to allow them to understand and negotiate the complex nature of collective performance. Two case studies, drawing on a qualitative study of the implementation of PMS in two public sector organisations, point to the unique contribution of symbolic effects of one popular PMS, the balanced scorecard (BSC). Findings suggest that the BSC visualising the trajectory of achieving organisational vision through multiple perspectives, measures and linkages is a valuable identity product to achieve organisational success. The case studies also provide an analysis that contrasts aspects of the diffusion and promotion of collective identities through the use of the BSC. This demonstrates that clear direction in the identity management process is an important factor in the design and implementation of successful PMS programs. The value of this paper is to heighten recognition of the symbolic agency of PMS, as it serves as a subtle mechanism for identity management, and also to foster the collaboration of communication specialists and management accountants to achieve common organisational goals.

Commentary : "Our reflections on identity, gender and transforming action"

This paper explores the cultural interplay between Indigenous women from one geographic locality being on and within the locality of the women of another locality – in this case, Whakatāne, Aotearoa. The authors consider identity, gender and place within the processes of transformation and decolonisation. They argue that women need to be involved in ways that restore their power as women and ensure their rightful place. The authors draw on the female ancestor Wairaka and her courage to argue that Indigenous women need to respond, change and adapt to the places in which they live. They argue that decolonisation needs to include action and possibilities for Māori and Indigenous Australian women.

Ingroup and role identity influences on the initiation and maintenance of students' voluntary attendance at peer study sessions for statistics

Background: Although class attendance is linked to academic performance, questions remain about what determines students’ decisions to attend or miss class. Aims: In addition to the constructs of a common decision-making model, the theory of planned behaviour, the present study examined the influence of student role identity and university student (in-group) identification for predicting both the initiation and maintenance of students’ attendance at voluntary peer-assisted study sessions in a statistics subject. Sample: University students enrolled in a statistics subject were invited to complete a questionnaire at two time points across the academic semester. A total of 79 university students completed questionnaires at the first data collection point, with 46 students completing the questionnaire at the second data collection point. Method: Twice during the semester, students’ attitudes, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control, student role identity, in-group identification, and intention to attend study sessions were assessed via on-line questionnaires. Objective measures of class attendance records for each half-semester (or ‘term’) were obtained. Results: Across both terms, students’ attitudes predicted their attendance intentions, with intentions predicting class attendance. Earlier in the semester, in addition to perceived behavioural control, both student role identity and in-group identification predicted students’ attendance intentions, with only role identity influencing intentions later in the semester. Conclusions: These findings highlight the possible chronology that different identity influences have in determining students’ initial and maintained attendance at voluntary sessions designed to facilitate their learning.

Book review of Donald, S.H., & Gammack, J.G. 2007. Tourism and the Branded City : Film and Identity in the Pacific Rim. Aldershot : Ashgate.

In the decade since the destination branding literature emerged (see for example Pritchard & Morgan 1998, Dosen & Vransevic 1998), only a few books have been published. These are Morgan et al.’s (2002, 2004) edited volumes of international case studies and conceptual papers, and Baker’s (2007) practitioner perspective on branding small cities in the USA. This work by Stephanie Donald and John Gammack is the first research-based text related to destination branding, and is a welcome and timely addition to the field. In the foreword to the first issue of Place Branding and Public Policy, editor Simon Anholt (2004, p. 4) suggested “almost nobody agrees on what, exactly, branding means”, when he described place branding practice as akin to the Wild West. Indeed, this lack of theory was one of the motivators for the authors of this text. Tourism and the Branded City is part of Ashgate’s New Directions in Tourism Analysis series, edited by Dimitri Ioannides. The aim of the series is to address the gap in published theory underpinning the study of tourism, with a particular interest in non-business disciplines such as Sociology, Social Anthropology, Human and Social Geography, and Cultural Studies...

Identity development in career-changing beginning teachers : a qualitative study of professional scientists becoming school teachers

This qualitative study provides a critical case to analyse the identity development of professionals who already have a strong sense of identity as scientists and have decided to relinquish their professional careers to become teachers. The study followed a group of professionals who undertook a one-year teacher education course and were assigned to secondary and middle-years schools on graduation. Their experiences were examined through the lens of self-determination theory, which posits that autonomy, confidence and relationships are important in achieving job satisfaction. The findings indicated that those teachers who were able to achieve this sense of autonomy and confidence, and had established strong relationships with colleagues generated a positive professional identity as a teacher. The failure to establish supportive relationships was a decisive event that challenged their capacity to develop a strong sense of identity as a teacher.

Social defence and international reconstructon : illustrating the governance of post-war criminological discourse

This article examines the technocratic priorities of criminological discourse following the Second World War. In doing so, it charts the role and influence of the United Nations and the doctrine of social defence, and traces those shifts and events that have forged a nexus between criminological endeavour and processes of governance. This article aims to illustrate that social defence and international reconstruction provide a useful framework for understanding the links between power/knowledge and the pragmatic orientations of criminological scholarship.

Qualitative inquiry as transformation and agency : the black sheep and workplace mobbing

This chapter discusses an action research project into the lived experience of the workplace mobbing phenomenon. The action research methodology is based on the exemplarian model (Coenen & Khonraad, 2003) from the Netherlands Group. This model requires positive outcomes for those immersed in the problem to reduce the adversity of their circumstances. The findings challenge the psychological perspective of the existing bullying literature that tends to focus on individual behaviour. This research, undertaken over a three year period with 212 participants, identified the dysfunctional nature of public sector bureaucracies and the power gained through gossip and rumour as some of the key emergent themes to explain the workplace mobbing problem. In addition, resistance, conscientisation, and agency were identified as the key to transformation for those targeted. The discussion focuses on the crystallisation phase of the exemplarian model where the participants identified themselves as the Black Sheep and adopted the motto that “a black sheep is a biting beast” (Bastard, 1565 or 6-1618, p. 90), reflecting a sense of empowerment, individual agency, and a sense of humour in dealing with the serious yet seemingly absurd reality of their situations. The identity of the Black Sheep was consolidated when the group organised a 2 day conference with over 200 attendees to discuss how best to prevent workplace mobbing. This self-affirming action was a proactive step towards metaphorically “biting back” at the problem. A number of positive outcomes were achieved including the conference with over 200 attending leading to national media coverage across Australia and additional interviews with magazines, newspapers, and radio.

Professional identity of management accountants : leadership in changing environments

The professional identity of management accountants (MAs) is evolving. According to 8,727 descriptors expressed by 1,158 participants, a range of characteristics of MAs are competing in shaping the identity of future MAs. Respondents strongly valued qualities such as professional principles, hard work, intelligence, analytical and forward thinking in MAs. Further, more innovative, dynamic and people-oriented qualities were strongly suggested for future MAs, with roles relating to multi-skilled business integrator, business partner/advisor, leader, change agent, and decision enabler/maker. Cultivating leadership qualities in the management accounting profession is critical according to participants. Projecting a positive image of the profession and CIMA, and innovative training in management and leadership skills can further support MAs to meet future challenges. Most of all, understanding business and continued personal development by individual MAs is highly valued in shaping the future leadership identity of MAs. Our quantitative data show positive relationships between the professional identification, image and reputation, and leadership qualities of MAs. This suggests that the more one identifies with the profession, the more one is likely to report higher levels of leadership qualities that support members to internalise the desired meaning of their profession and to create a positive image and reputation. After the financial crisis of 2008–2009, the image of financial professions has been tarnished and unpredictable markets and unstable employment opportunities have challenged the profession across all sectors. Many respondents, especially CIMA members, suggested that the turmoil of the financial crisis did not impact negatively but rather elevated the pivotal role of MAs in contributing to cost efficiency and value creation.

Using digital storytelling as a change agent for women’s participation in the Turkish public sphere

This thesis builds on the scholarship and practical know-how that have emerged from digital storytelling projects around the world with diverse groups of participants in a range of institutions. I have used the results of these projects to explore the opportunities Digital Storytelling workshop practice may hold for women’s participation in the public sphere in Turkey. Through theoretical discussion and practical experimentation, I examine the potential of Digital Storytelling workshop practice as a means to promote agency and self-expression in a feminist activist organisation, focusing in particular on whether Digital Storytelling can be used as a change agent – as a tool for challenging the idea of public sphere in ways that make it more inclusive of women’s participation. The thesis engages with feminist scholarship’s critiques of the public/private dichotomy, as well as the concept of gender, to seek connections with narrative identity in the light of the analysis of the Digital Storytelling workshops and the digital stories that were created in a feminist context. The study on which this thesis is based saw the introduction of Digital Storytelling to Turkey for the first time through workshops in Istanbul and Antakya, conducted in partnership with the feminist activist organisation Amargi Women’s Academy. Applying the principles of feminist post-structuralist discourse analysis as used by Judith Baxter (2003), I examine two sets of data collected in this project. First, I analyse the interactions during the Digital Storytelling workshops, where women from Amargi created their digital stories in a collaborative setting. This is done through participatory observation notes and in-depth interviews with the workshop participants and facilitators. Second, I seek to uncover the strategies that these women used to ‘speak back to power’ in their digital stories, reading these as texts. I conclude that women from the Amargi network used the workshops to create digital content in order to communicate their concerns about issues that can be classified as gender-specific matters. During this process, they also cooperated, established new connections, and at the end of the process even defined new ways of using, circulating and repurposing their digital stories for feminist activism in Turkey. My research thereby contributes equally to feminist discourse analysis, the study of new-media usage and uptake among non-professionals, and the study of media–public sphere interactions in a particular national setting: Turkey. My conclusion indicates that the process of production is as important as the product itself, and from that I am able to draw out some strategies for developing digitally equipped women’s activism in Turkey.

'Rebellion in the backland': discourse, truth and power

This article sets out to interpret the construction of truth discourse in the War of Canudos, through the classic 'Rebellion in the backland' by Euclides da Cunha. To enrich the research, the articles wrote by Cunha, while he was a war correspondent for the Estado de São Paulo newspaper, will be analyzed, too. Along with the text, the expression “truth-effects” designed by French philosopher Michel Foucault is being used. “Effects of truth” is an expression in reference to the idea of discourses being neither true nor false. In Os sertões, the effects of truth emerge from strategic power disputes amongst the Church, landowners, politicians and a seaside ruling elite that ignores the reality of the poor and forsaken hinterlands. Keywords: discourse, power, truth.

Management strategies to harness cultural diversity on Australian constructions sites : a social identity perspective

Construction sites around the world employ large numbers of people from diverse cultural backgrounds. The effective management of this cultural diversity has important implications for the productivity, safety, health and welfare of construction workers and for the performance and reputation of firms which employ them. The findings of a three year, multi-staged study of cultural diversity management practices on construction sites are critiqued using social identity theory. This reveals that so called "best-practice" diversity management strategies may have an opposite effect to that intended. It is concluded that the management of diversity on construction projects would benefit from being informed by social identity research.

Using reflective practice assessment in the first year of law to encourage a positive professional identity and promote law student well-being

In this paper we argue that intentional curriculum design in the first year of law should encourage law students to develop an emergent sense of a positive professional identity. When first year law students engage with a nascent notion of a positive professional identity, their well-being is supported because their studies are informed and contextualised by a sense of purpose for their future professional life. In a first year law subject run for the first time at the QUT Law School in 2011, reflective practice was successfully used to achieve these goals. The paper discusses the subject, the opportunity of using reflective practice to teach a positive sense of professional identity, and some student perspectives on the subject’s design.

Identity and genetic origins : an ethical exploration of the late discovery of adoptive and donor-insemination offspring status

This thesis is an ethical and empirical exploration of the late discovery of genetic origins in two contexts, adoption and sperm donor-assisted conception. This exploration has two interlinked strands of concern. The first is the identification of ‘late discovery’ as a significant issue of concern, deserving of recognition and acknowledgment. The second concerns the ethical implications of late discovery experiences for the welfare of the child. The apparently simple act of recognition of a phenomenon is a precondition to any analysis and critique of it. This is especially important when the phenomenon arises out of social practices that arouse significant debate in ethical and legal contexts. As the new reproductive technologies and some adoption practices remain highly contested, an ethical exploration of this long neglected experience has the potential to offer new insights and perspectives in a range of contexts. It provides an opportunity to revisit developmental debate on the relative merit or otherwise of biological versus social influences, from the perspective of those who have lived this dichotomy in practise. Their experiences are the human face of the effects arising from decisions taken by others to intentionally separate their biological and social worlds, an action which has then been compounded by family and institutional secrecy from birth. This has been accompanied by a failure to ensure that normative standards and values are upheld for them. Following discovery, these factors can be exacerbated by a lack of recognition and acknowledgement of their concerns by family, friends, community and institutions. Late discovery experiences offer valuable insights to inform discussions on the ethical meanings of child welfare, best interests, parental responsibility, duty of care and child identity rights in this and other contexts. They can strengthen understandings of what factors are necessary for a child to be able to live a reasonably happy or worthwhile life.