Labour Market Prospects of Swiss Career Entrants after Completion of Vocational Education and Training

This study seeks to find the reasons for the rising risk of unemployment for people who have completed basic vocational education and training (VET) in Switzerland. We focus on the long-term structural shift on the demand side of the labour market and its consequences for new entrants? chances of employment in the labour force. A detailed analysis of the development of vacancies for such ?career entrants? in the time period 2001 to 2011 suggests that neither a growing occupational mismatch nor a general shift in the level of education to the disadvantage of workers with vocational education can be made responsible for the rising unemployment of labour market entrants. Instead, the available evidence indicates that a diminishing part of the vacancies suited for VET graduates remains open to entrants because of the increasing job requirements with regard to work experience and further education. Basic vocational education and training alone is increasingly less a guarantee for a smooth entry into the working world.

Patient safety in dialysis access: education and research.

Today, a growing activity to improve patient safety in all domains of medicine is reality. This chapter deals with patient safety research in general, but is also about strategies to implement this evidence in the daily clinical work treating patients on dialysis. Good clinical research practice has been well established for some years. In the domain of dialysis access, further basic, clinical, epidemiological and health service research will be important to further improve patient safety as a whole.

Virtual Patients in continuing medical education and residency training: a pilot project for acceptance analysis in the framework of a residency revision course in pediatrics.

AIM Virtual patients (VPs) are a one-of-a-kind e-learning resource, fostering clinical reasoning skills through clinical case examples. The combination with face-to-face teaching is important for their successful integration, which is referred to as "blended learning". So far little is known about the use of VPs in the field of continuing medical education and residency training. The pilot study presented here inquired the application of VPs in the framework of a pediatric residency revision course. METHODS Around 200 participants of a pediatric nephology lecture ('nephrotic and nephritic syndrome in children') were offered two VPs as a wrap-up session at the revision course of the German Society for Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine (DGKJ) 2009 in Heidelberg, Germany. Using a web-based survey form, different aspects were evaluated concerning the learning experiences with VPs, the combination with the lecture, and the use of VPs for residency training in general. RESULTS N=40 evaluable survey forms were returned (approximately 21%). The return rate was impaired by a technical problem with the local Wi-Fi firewall. The participants perceived the work-up of the VPs as a worthwhile learning experience, with proper preparation for diagnosing and treating real patients with similar complaints. Case presentations, interactivity, and locally and timely independent repetitive practices were, in particular, pointed out. On being asked about the use of VPs in general for residency training, there was a distinct demand for more such offers. CONCLUSION VPs may reasonably complement existing learning activities in residency training.

Political Education and First-Time Voting in Switzerland

The proposed paper investigates the effect of political education on first-time voting in Switzerland. Theoretically, the paper takes up assumptions of recent research that political education is positively related to political interest, and hence to political participation. Thereby, the paper adds to the literature in two aspects: First, in Switzerland, education is a cantonal matter presenting a unique opportunity to investigate the impact of political education on voting on individual as well as cantonal level. Second, political education is not only measured by political knowledge, but also by civic skills and attitudes acquired in school. Conceptually, the study adopts a multilevel approach permitting a simultaneous testing of the influence of individual and contextual determinants on electoral participation. This paper corresponds closely to the panel topic by examining the important question of how political education affects the voting behaviour of first-time voters not only on individual, but also on contextual level.

Education and employment pathways from the end of compulsory school to young adulthood: the first ten years

Dieser Beitrag beschäftigt sich mit den Ausbildungs- und Erwerbsverläufen vom Ende der obligatorischen Schulzeit bis ins junge Erwachsenenalter. Als empirische Datengrundlage dient die Längsschnittstudie TREE („Transitionen von der Erstausbildung ins Erwerbsleben“). Die Auswertungen beruhen auf den Daten der ersten acht Befragungswellen von 2001 bis 2010.

Representing Afghanistan: The United States and Democracy's Imposition

There is an ongoing mission in Afghanistan; a mission driven by external political forces. At its core this mission hopes to establish peace, to protect the populace, and to install democracy. Each of these goals has remained just that, a goal, for the past eight years as the American and international mission in Afghanistan has enjoyed varied levels of commitment. Currently, the stagnant progress in Afghanistan has led the international community to become increasingly concerned about the viability of a future Afghan state. Most of these questions take root in the question over whether or not an Afghan state can function without the auspices of international terrorism. Inevitably, the normative question of what exactly that government should be arises from this base concern. In formulating a response to this question, the consensus of western society has been to install representative democracy. This answer has been a recurring theme in the post Cold War era as states such as Bosnia and Somalia bear witness to the ill effects of external democratic imposition. I hypothesize that the current mold of externally driven state-building is unlikely to result in what western actors seek it to establish: representative democracy. By primarily examining the current situation in Afghanistan, I claim that external installation of representative democracy is modally flawed in that its process mandates choice. Representative democracy by definition constitutes a government reflective of its people, or electorate. Thus, freedom of choice is necessary for a functional representative democracy. From this, one can deduce that because an essential function of democracy is choice, its implementation lies with the presence of choice. State-building is an imposition that eliminates that necessary ingredient. The two stand as polar opposites that cannot effectively collaborate. Security, governing capacity, and development have all been targeted as measurements of success in Afghanistan. The three factors are generally seen as mutually constitutive; so improved security is seen as improving governing capacity. Thus, the recent resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan and a deteriorating security environment moving forward has demonstrated the inability of the Afghan government to govern. The primary reason for the Afghan government’s deficiencies is its lack of legitimacy among its constituency. Even the use of the term ‘constituency’ must be qualified because the Afghan government has often oscillated between serving the people within its territorial borders and the international community. The existence of the Afghan state is so dependent on foreign aid and intervention that it has lost policy-making and enforcing power. This is evident by the inability of Afghanistan to engage in basic sovereign state activities as maintaining a national budget, conducting elections, providing for its own national security, and deterring criminality. The Afghan state is nothing more than a shell of a government, and indicative of the failings that external state-building has with establishing democracy.

Health, education and community: Assets and needs of a small urban community in north east Tamaulipas, Mexico: A community based participatory research assessment

This study explored the health, education, social assets, needs, attitudes, and behaviors of residents of Ferrocarril #4, a small urban community in Tamaulipas, Mexico. A collaborative Participatory Action Research approach was used to emphasize community involvement. Using Triangulation to ensure validity, qualitative methods included key informant in depth interviews, participant observation and participatory discussion groups with women and men. A personal interview with a probability sample of women was done. The median age of interviewees was 37 years. The majority was married or had a partner. Over half of respondents completed grades 6-9. Employed women (25%) earned a median weekly salary equivalent to ∼56 USD. Women with health insurance (67.7%) were covered mainly through Social Security and Seguro Popular. One in 5 reported bad health. Barriers to care were primarily money and transportation. To improve health care, women wanted a full service clinic in or close to the community and affordable health care. Socially, 28% of respondents had no close friends in the community and most did not participate in beneficial community activities. Many women did not socialize with others and help from neighbors was situational. Primary school teachers lacked parental support and it interfered with classroom efforts. Healthy community discussion groups focused on personal and environmental hygiene and safety. Valuable assets exist in the community. To date, collaborative efforts resulted in a school First Aid station, a school nurse visit weekly, posting of emergency contact phone numbers in the school and community center, and development of a student health information form. ^

A summative evaluation of a HIV/AIDS Early Childhood Care, Education and Development Teacher Training Workshop in Mongu, Zambia

Objective. To conduct a summative evaluation of an Early Childhood Care, Education and Development (ECCED) Teacher Training Workshop in Mongu, Zambia by assessing changes in knowledge, attitudes and intent to use the information. ^ Study design. A matched cohort survey design was used with additional qualitative data collected by structured observation of workshop sessions, daily facilitator and participant debriefs and participant interviews. ^ Results. Matching pre and post tests were completed by 27 individuals in addition to daily debriefs, structured workshop observation and participant interviews with 22% of the group. The participant population was predominantly female individuals aged 15-44 years old that had completed high school and additional post-secondary training, been teaching children aged 0 – 8 years for 2-5 years in the Western Province and received other HIV/AIDS and ECCED education. Pre-tests indicated a strong understanding of ECCED principles and misconceptions regarding HIV transmission, prevention and the disease's impact on early childhood development. The workshop was found to significantly increase the participants' knowledge of topics covered by the curriculum (paired t-test, N=27, p = 0.004, 95% CI 1.8, 8.6). Participants began with a more limited understanding of HIV/AIDS than ECCED, but the mean gain was much greater at 7.4 +/- 12.3 points. Significantly more participants believed at post-test that HIV/AIDS education should increase for future educators. The 77.8% of participants that increased their knowledge scores at post-test expressed significantly less fear of having a child with HIV/AIDS in the classroom (Independent Samples t-test, N= 27, p = 0.011). Overall participant fear decreased 15.5%. 92.6% and 88.9% of participants planned at post-test to respectively use and share the taught information in their daily professional lives and reported on innovative strategies to communicate with the community. ^ Conclusions. Teacher training workshops can significantly increase HIV/AIDS awareness and promote positive attitudes in educators working with children affected by HIV/AIDS. Using participant suggested teaching techniques such as poems and songs and translating the materials to the local language could assist future facilitators to both culturally and professionally relate to the workshop audience as well as increase participant capacity to share the information with the local community. ^

AN ANALYSIS OF THE RELATIVE INFLUENCE OF RACE, INCOME, EDUCATION, AND FOOD STAMP PROGRAM PARTICIPATION/NONPARTICIPATION ON THE FOOD AND NUTRIENT CONSUMPTION OF A NORTH FLORIDA URBAN CLINIC POPULATION IN CONJUNCTION WITH A SURVEY OF NUTRITION RELATED HABITS AND ATTITUDES

The relative influence of race, income, education, and Food Stamp Program participation/nonparticipation on the food and nutrient intake of 102 fecund women ages 18-45 years in a Florida urban clinic population was assessed using the technique of multiple regression analysis. Study subgroups were defined by race and Food Stamp Program participation status. Education was found to have the greatest influence on food and nutrient intake. Race was the next most influential factor followed in order by Food Stamp Program participation and income. The combined effect of the four independent variables explained no more than 19 percent of the variance for any of the food and nutrient intake variables. This would indicate that a more complex model of influences is needed if variations in food and nutrient intake are to be fully explained.^ A socioeconomic questionnaire was administered to investigate other factors of influence. The influence of the mother, frequency and type of restaurant dining, and perceptions of food intake and weight were found to be factors deserving further study.^ Dietary data were collected using the 24-hour recall and food frequency checklist. Descriptive dietary findings indicated that iron and calcium were nutrients where adequacy was of concern for all study subgroups. White Food Stamp Program participants had the greatest number of mean nutrient intake values falling below the 1980 Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs). When Food Stamp Program participants were contrasted to nonparticipants, mean intakes of six nutrients (kilocalories, calcium, iron, vitamin A, thiamin, and riboflavin) were below the 1980 RDA compared to five mean nutrient intakes (kilocalories, calcium, iron, thiamin and riboflavin) for the nonparticipants. Use of the Index of Nutritional Quality (INQ), however, revealed that the quality of the diet of Food Stamp Program participants per 1000 kilocalories was adequate with exception of calcium and iron. Intakes of these nutrients were also not adequate on a 1000 kilocalorie basis for the nonparticipant group. When mean nutrient intakes of the groups were compared using Student's t-test oleicacid intake was the only significant difference found. Being a nonparticipant in the Food Stamp Program was found to be associated with more frequent consumption of cookies, sweet rolls, doughnuts, and honey. The findings of this study contradict the negative image of the Food Stamp Program participant and emphasize the importance of education. ^

Possible selves of inner city fourth graders: What do they believe about their future education and occupation?

Possible selves, a component of self-concept, are the thoughts people have about their future. The overall purpose of this study was to examine the educational and occupational possible selves of inner city children. Specific aims of the study were to: 1) Assess the similarities and differences between the level of schooling inner city children hope to complete and expect to complete, and 2) Assess the similarities and differences between the jobs inner city children hope to have in the future and expect to have. As part of a larger study designed to pilot test a health promotion intervention, fourth grade students (n = 19) completed two measures: the Level of Schooling Questionnaire and the Jobs Questionnaire. No significant differences were found between students' hoped-for and expected educational possible selves or their hoped-for and expected occupational possible selves. Future studies can explore methods and strategies to support, encourage, and cultivate inner city children's possible selves.^

Sudden Infant Death disparities: A systematic review on health education and policy recommendations for decreasing Sudden Infant Death in the African-American community

Objective: To perform a systematic review of the literature on SIDS and SUID deaths concentrated in the African-American community, describe health education and policy recommendations and recommend a new approach that may aid in decreasing the disparity of infant mortality in the African-American community. ^ Methods: The PubMed database was systematically searched to identify relevant articles for final review and analysis. Using the CASP 2006 system to critique literature, twelve articles were found that met inclusion and exclusion criteria. ^ Results: Evidence in the literature confirmed there was a current disparity among African Americans' infant mortality rates in comparison to other US ethnic groups. The underlying reasons for these disparities included the following maternal and infant characteristics: mothers younger than eighteen, having more than one live infant, having a high school education or less, never been married, and have infants born preterm or with low birth weight. Maternal smoking, substance abuse, and breastfeeding did not have a significant impact on infant sleep environments among African Americans. ^ Conclusion: Tailored health education programs at the community level, better access to pre-pregnancy and prenatal care, and increased maternal perception of risk that is relevant to the infants sleeping environment are all possible solutions that may decrease African American infant mortality rates.^