The use of casual contract employment has become a prominent feature in higher education institutions worldwide, including the growth of adjunct roles in the United States and fixed-term teaching staff positions in the UK. In Australia, this trend has been a subject of significant controversy and national attention in recent years, as casual…

Focused on academic departments in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields in the United States, we attempt to map department chairs' awareness of family friendly policies and investigate possible determinants of their knowledge levels. Based on a sample of STEM department chairs in American research universities, we find…

Since the 1980s, many employment relationships in Taiwan have evolved from regular and long-term to contingent and short-term, with widespread downsizing adding a considerable amount of instability. Since these changes are part of a global trend, there is a growing literature concerning their influences on worker attitudes and work life quality.…

People who choose careers in advancement know they're not entering a 9-to-5, 40-hours-a-week profession. Staffers juggle personal lives with their commitment to stressful jobs that involve travel, long hours, weekend events, and deadlines. Work-life balance means different things to different people, but flexibility seems to be a priority for…

Management experts have observed that employment relationship has become contractual, fragile, and short-lived. Downsizings have resulted in some people having far too much work and stress, while increasing numbers have no work at all. As a result, people are taking jobs they do not really want and staying longer in jobs they do not really like.…

This study investigated the process of burnout and engagement in layoff survivors. Job demands (job insecurity and work overload) and resources (social support, optimism, career adaptability, and career management self-efficacy) were examined as predictors of burnout and engagement. The sample consisted of 203 adults currently working at…

Temporary workers in Britain experience lower job quality. However, the proportion of employees on temporary contracts has fallen since a decade ago to just 5.5% in 2005. There have also been qualitative improvements. Many temporary workers now fall under the protection of the Fixed Term Employees' (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment)…

The publication of "Learning Through Life," the main report of the Inquiry into the Future for Lifelong Learning, has been welcomed across the trade union movement. It offers a useful and useable framework for discussing the learning needs of people through the different stages of life and makes compelling suggestions about how to adjust…

This study investigated the use of "natural supports" in the workplace in tandem with supported employment services for employees with severe disabilities. Analysis of data from 462 people in eight states on how "typical" the individual's employment setting was found that incorporating "typical" employment features in workplaces was associated…

A scale to measure higher education institutions' organizational health was developed and tested using 198 survey responses. Scale dimensions include communication adequacy, participation/involvement, commitment/loyalty, morale, external reputation, ethics, performance recognition, goal alignment, leadership, development, and resource use.…

These 38 presentations are the highlights of the Conference Board's Work and Family Conference. An "Introduction" (Dana Friedman) is followed by "The Future Is Not What It Was, and Why Companies Care" (William Lee, Reuben Mark), which consists of introductory remarks and responses to an interview. "The Diversity of…

Gold mining brought a forced labor system to Witwatersrand, South Africa, in the 1880s as African laborers were rounded up from the hinterland and delivered to the mines. The system produced low wages, high mortality, and the loss of chances for upward mobility. Forced labor persists today in South African mines. (VM)

Investments in technology and the number of workers using computers are growing quickly and at an increasing rate. From 1990-1995, investments in computers and related equipment tripled. Real (inflation-adjusted dollars) investments in computers and peripheral equipment increased from $200 million in 1973 to $91.6 billion in 1995. Increasing…

A longitudinal study compared the effectiveness of worker buyouts and quality of work life programs (QWL) in reversing the shutdown of supermarkets in Philadelphia. Working conditions, worker attitudes, and economic outcomes at a group of employee-owned stores and a group that had adopted QWL strategies were compared at three points in time…

Presents ideas about how the workplace affects job performance, how to diagnose workplace-related problems, and how to make modest improvements. Highlights include: workplace-imposed limits on performance; the mental and physical steps of work; screening behavior; how adaptation interferes with performance; task- and human-based workspaces;…