Social factors, including social ties (the extent to which students form social ties with other students in the course) and social capital (the resources which are accessed through our social networks), have been acknowledged as important predictors of learning outcomes. Furthermore, they may be particularly important in online distance learning…

Having a sense of belonging can promote persistence in the STEM fields, but less is known about what it means to develop that sense of belonging. To investigate this phenomenon, we conducted semi-structured interviews with a cohort of STEM students (n = 10) nearing graduation at an urban university regarding their sense of belonging and…

Young children engage with digital technologies from a very young age. Often this is considered detrimental to their social development as it is seen as a socially isolating experience. This paper presents the findings of an Australian Research Council funded research project that focused on what characterises infants and toddlers peer-to-peer…

Vertical transfers, those who transferred from a 2-year institution to a 4-year institution, often face multifaceted challenges and lower success rates upon arriving at the receiving 4-year institutions. This quantitative study focused on three forms of social capital related to post-transfer adjustment, retention, and success for vertical…

Purpose: The study examines the influence of family social capital on prospective university graduates' entrepreneurial intentions in Tanzania. The study also looks at the way entrepreneurial education amplifies the primary link between the study variables. Design/methodology/approach: Cross-sectional data were gathered at a specific period from…

Academic writing is an important skill in the development of researcher identity yet remains a hurdle to many. In this study, we examine the ways in which the exchange of social capital occurs in a writing group in Australia. We use Bourdieu's theoretical concepts to examine data obtained from open-ended questions in an online survey that asked…

This article draws on a research project about the transition from PhD student to academic (British Academy-Leverhulme research grant, 2020-2022). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 26 recent PhD graduates and six PhD supervisors. Transcripts were subjected to a thematic analysis. On a theoretical level, the article is informed by…

Friends in early adolescence play a significant role in students' lives, potentially influencing their academic performance. A multi-group stochastic actor-oriented model was employed to examine the effects of social selection and peer influence through friendship ties on Czech language grades and reading literacy among lower-secondary students,…

Sweet foods occupy an ambiguous position in many people's diets, perhaps especially for children and adolescents. The twin expectation that they both covet and limit their intake can create a dilemma not only in the home, but also in the school subject Home Economics (HE), which among other themes has a focus on food and health. In this study, we…

This paper reports on a small-scale research study into the beliefs of teenagers in Switzerland on Swiss national languages and their status relative to English. High school students (n = 232) in the French-speaking city of Lausanne completed a questionnaire about the economic, social, cultural and symbolic value of German, Italian and English.…

Purpose: Employability is an established research theme in Western literature; however, in developing economies, the concept remains unclear and underresearched. This study addresses this lacuna by exploring how Sri Lankan higher education (HE) administrators conceptualise employability and which capitals they perceive as needing development to…

This study focuses on the stories of four newly arrived women and their choices of vocational education and profession. The study highlights the women's life courses and addresses how their vocational skills from their home countries can influence their choices of vocational education and profession, and how these skills are utilised in Sweden.…

The purpose of this study was to describe the lived experiences of middle managers in the banking industry practicing self-directed, lifelong learning. The theory guiding this study is Deci and Ryan's self-determination theory and its relationship with lifelong learning. This study aimed to answer the following question: What are the lived…

Persistence across undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs is exceptionally low. Recent studies have shown that social support and sense of belonging are particularly important for students who are historically underrepresented in STEM, yet few interventions have directly targeted or investigated these…

As ecological globalization intensifies, rural waste recycling and management has become a global concern. China's proactive efforts are significant for revitalizing domestic rural ecosystems, offering valuable insights into global environmental governance. The rampant dumping and informal processing of hazardous waste in rural China pose severe…