In Europe and all over the world, higher education systems face the challenge of preparing an increasing number of students for the labor market and teaching them discipline-related knowledge and competences as well as generic competences. But what requirements do higher education graduates actually meet on the labor market? To identify higher…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore patterns of importance ratings of managerial competencies in 22 countries in different regions around the globe, to guide specificity in assessing and developing managers in multiple geographies. Additionally, this study examined the utility of clustering countries based on shared culture, as…

Purpose: This study investigated Finnish physical education (PE) teachers' intentions to leave the profession and the reasons behind them. Method: A large sample (N = 808) of PE teachers who graduated between 1980 and 2008 (432 women, 376 men) answered a modified job satisfaction and teacher follow-up questionnaire that elicited career…

This paper presents an investigation into Indian elementary and middle school students' images of designers. A "Draw a designer at work" test was used with 511 students from Classes 5 to 9 from a school located in Mumbai. Findings from the study indicate that Indian elementary and middle school students, who had no experience in design…

There is growing concern about the detrimental effect of term-time employment on university students' academic success. We report results from an online survey of 1837 students of the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, whose responses were later matched to their academic records for a semester. The majority of employed students reported…

Many factors in Saudi society have led to a need for counselling services in educational institutions. However, concerns remain that the role of school counsellors in that setting is unclear. An aim of this study was to determine the perceptions of principals concerning the actual and ideal role of intermediate girls school counsellors in Saudi…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the labor market position of environmental science graduates and the core competencies of these environmental professionals related to their working practice. Design/methodology/approach: The authors carried out two surveys amongst alumni of the integrated environmental science program of Utrecht…

Purpose: Employees' work in innovation processes generates ideas, but more often it serves to create conditions so that new products or services can be effectively produced or delivered. Self-organizational activities involve proactively handling new possibilities, unexpected situations, problems or tasks. The aim of this paper is to provide…

This paper seeks to establish the state of knowledge of Knowledge Management (KM) among Library and Information Services (LIS) professionals, the extent to which they find positions in the KM sector, the extent to which they practise identifiable KM processes in their work and the adequacy of educational preparation and professional development…

Purpose: This paper seeks to present and discuss the findings of a study of staffing practices in the Sri Lankan private sector with particular reference to junior level managerial jobs. The scope of staffing practices consisted of six major areas, namely the usage of information from job analysis in staffing, the sources of labour, selection…

The future of subject librarianship is being challenged by technological advances and funding pressures. Questionnaires were used to collect data about the roles, relationships and competencies of 32 subject/liaison librarians supporting three disciplines in UK universities. The survey showed that postholders were undertaking a wide range of…

This paper investigates aspects of the management of independent secondary school libraries in England and Wales. It is based on a survey of 150 independent school library managers, with a response rate of 68.7 percent, which was carried out as part of an ongoing PhD research project. The paper considers a range of issues important to school…

Reports on the findings of a questionnaire that elicited information from 99 instructional designers in Australia about their qualifications, the activities they undertake, and perceptions of their role. Variations based on place of employment are discussed, and confusion and negative perceptions regarding instructional designers' roles are…

Describes a survey of 192 special library and information center managers in Brazil that examined managerial activities and factors accounting for variation in managerial jobs. The results are discussed in terms of personal and organizational characteristics, perceived importance of managerial roles, and perceived preparedness to perform…

A comprehensive study of social services, carried out in Saskatchewan in 1973, had as its ultimate purpose the determination of the kinds of qualifications needed in the social services as a basis for guidelines for the provision of appropriately trained social service personnel. A distinctive feature of the study was that questionnaires were sent…