Envisioning Workforce Training Differently: The Obama ‘Free’ Community College Initiative

2015 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 249-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Holland
Keyword(s):  
Community College ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Workforce Training ◽  
President Obama ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Post Secondary ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Programme Design ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Tuition Costs

Education, particularly at the post-secondary level, does not come cheaply in the USA, with the increase in annual tuition costs far outpacing the inflation rate during the same time period. A core tenet of US President Obama's domestic policy agenda is the belief that increased educational attainment can potentially lead to better economic prospects. As a result of the financial hardship that higher education brings to low-income and middle-income individuals and families, access to these educational opportunities and their benefits are not then fully realized. In response, President Obama has called for a ‘universal community college’, where tuition costs are reduced to zero. The intent and effect of the ‘universal community college’ initiative are identified and this commentary also suggests that additional scrutiny is needed with four questions to ensure that the programme design will later translate into meaningful outcomes, if this policy were to pass in Congress.

Truth without Action

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (10) ◽  
pp. 93-96
Author(s):  
Theodore Sawruk
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Education Department ◽  
President Obama ◽  
Post Secondary ◽  
Spellings Commission ◽  
Education Report ◽  
Federal Agents ◽  
Tuition Costs

This reflection utilizes Kevin Casey’s 2007 article, Truth without Action, as a springboard to address contemporary issues related to autonomy, accountability and accreditation in higher-education. With escalating costs, rising unemployment and deepening consumer debt, it is natural for government officials to seek out a cause, or more accurately, a scape-goat for the evolving crisis. Over the last few decades, starting with A Time for Results in 1980, following with The State Post-secondary Review Entities (SPREs) in 1992; and continuing with the Spellings Commission on the Future of Higher Education Report in 2006, federal agents have politicized American education and issued indictments against higher-education. Tuition costs are too high, graduation rates are too low and student learning-outcomes remain ineffable. With the recent re-election of President Obama, “the Education Department will continue to play an active role in regulating and attempting to influence colleges and universities.” (Nelson, 2012) Amy Laitinen, deputy director for higher-education at the New America Foundation and former Education Department policy advisor, recently stated, “The President himself, not just his advisors, is very interested in the college cost and the college outcome issue.” (Nelson, 2012)

scholarly journals Global palliative care research (2002-2020): bibliometric review and mapping analysis

2021 ◽  
pp. bmjspcare-2021-002982
Author(s):  
Hammoda Abu-Odah ◽  
Alex Molassiotis ◽  
Justina Yat Wa Liu
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Research Field ◽  
Cancer Prognosis ◽  
Inclusion Criteria ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Global Trends ◽  
Related Research ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Bibliometric Review

Background and objectiveDespite the important benefits of a bibliometric approach on mapping a research field, relatively little efforts have previously been conducted to map and analyse the global trends of palliative care (PC)-related research. This bibliometric review aimed to provide an overall picture and systematic mapping of the state of research trends within the field of PC internationally.MethodsScopus and Web of Science databases were searched to retrieve original articles focusing on PC between 2002 and 2020. Searching was conducted on 5 May 2020, and was updated on 6 May 2021. All retrieved articles were assessed by title and abstract, and the bibliometric metadata of those that met the inclusion criteria were downloaded for analysis. The results were analysed by VOSviewer and Gephi software.ResultsA total of 19,199 articles met the inclusion criteria. Significant growth of the number of published articles was reported by around five-fold from 2002 to 2020. The USA and UK were the most productive countries in terms of the number of papers published and citations. Weak collaborations were observed between low-income or middle-income countries and high-income countries. Cancer-related PC research was the most common focus. Seven clusters of research were identified and included heart failure and cancer prognosis, nursing home, pain and symptoms management, PC knowledge and attitudes, quality improvement of services, PC ethics, and the ongoing assessment of PC services.ConclusionsThere is a need to expand PC-related research to non-cancer diseases. More international research and cross-institutional cooperation is required to address more global PC issues and benefit from wider sharing of expertees, potentially leading to higher quality or more impactful studies. Setting up research agendas and priorities from funding bodies and institutions may also enhance cooperation among researchers.

Estimating effects of Uber ride-sharing service on road traffic-related deaths in South Africa: a quasi-experimental study

2019 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
pp. 263-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Yinhao Huang ◽  
Farhan Majid ◽  
Mark Daku
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Road Traffic ◽  
Road Traffic Injury ◽  
Health Improvement ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Ride Sharing ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
The Usa

BackgroundRoad traffic deaths are a substantial barrier to population health improvement in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). In South Africa, the road-traffic injury mortality (RTM) rate of 27 per 100 000 population is twice the global average, over 60% of which are alcohol-related. Recent US studies suggest the Uber ride-sharing service may reduce alcohol-related RTM, however RTM burden in the USA is relatively low and transport behaviours differ from LMICs.MethodsUsing certification data from all deaths occurring in South Africa in the years 2010–2014 (n=2 498 216), we investigated the relative change in weekly road traffic-related death counts between provinces which received Uber services (beginning in 2013) against those that did not using a difference-in-differences approach.ResultsWeekly road traffic-related deaths in provinces with Uber were lower following Uber introduction than in comparison provinces without Uber. The effect size was larger in the province which had Uber the longest (Gauteng) and among young adult males (aged 17–39 years). However, the absolute effects were very small (<2 deaths per year) and may coincide with seasonal variation.ConclusionsOverall, findings did not support either an increase or large decrease in province-level road traffic-related deaths associated with Uber introduction to South Africa. More localised investigations in South Africa and other LMICs are needed.

scholarly journals Financial Inclusion and Economic Growth Utilizing Panel Co-Integration

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 1131-1139
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Empirical Analysis ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Financial Services ◽  
Financial Inclusion ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Integration Test

This paper attempts to test the co-integration association flanked by financial inclusion and economic growth. The study uses a composite score of financial inclusion and GDP per capita as a proxy of economic growth for its empirical analysis. The panel data covers a large sample of 52 countries for the time period 2005-2015, separated in three groups depending on their income level – low, middle and high. For the analysis, first the study constructed an index of financial inclusion (IFI) utilizing the methodology adopted by Sarma [41]. Then the study applied unit root checks to validate if the variables are non-stationary and co-integrated. Last, the study utilized Pedroni’s panel co-integration analysis to investigate the long-run affiliation. The study also cross checked the results using Fisher’s panel co-integration test. The empirical analysis is based on 11 countries from high income economies, 19 countries from middle income economies and 21 countries from low income economies. The findings confirm a long-run association flanked by economic growth and index of financial inclusion for the middle income countries. This concludes that financial inclusion can contribute substantially to economic growth through better penetration, availability and use of financial services in the middle income countries.

scholarly journals International Collaboration in Open Access Publications: How Income Shapes International Collaboration

Publications ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Cary ◽  
Taylor Rockwell
Keyword(s):  
Open Access ◽  
Low Income ◽  
International Collaboration ◽  
Digital Publishing ◽  
Income Group ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Open Access Journals ◽  
International Collaborations ◽  
The Usa

Does the rise of open access journals change the way researchers collaborate? Specifically, since publishing in open access journals requires a publication fee, does income affect how researchers form international collaborations? To answer this question, we create a new data set by scraping bibliographic data from Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI) journals. Using the four income group classifications from the World Bank Analytical Classifications, we find that researchers from low-income nations are more likely to form international collaborations than researchers from wealthier nations. This result is verified to be significant using a series of pairwise Kolmogorov–Smirnov tests. We then study which nations most frequently form international collaborations with other nations and find that the USA, China, Germany, and France are the most preferred nations for forming international collaborations. While most nations prefer to form international collaborations with high-income nations, some exceptions exist, where a nation most often forms international collaborations with a nearby nation that is either an upper-middle-income or lower-middle-income nation. We further this analysis by showing that these results are apparent across the six different research categories established in the Frascati Manual. Finally, trends in publications in MDPI journals mirror trends seen in all journals, such as the continued increase in the percentage of published papers involving international collaboration.

scholarly journals Conducting clinical research in a resource-constrained setting: lessons from a longitudinal cohort study in The Gambia

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (8) ◽  
pp. e006419
Author(s):  
Abdulazeez Imam ◽  
Oghenebrume Wariri ◽  
Tida Dibbasey ◽  
Abdoulie Camara ◽  
Anthony Mendy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Research ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Newborn Infants ◽  
Good Clinical Practice ◽  
The Gambia ◽  
London School ◽  
Resource Constrained ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Expanded Program On Immunization

Clinical research conducted to Good Clinical Practice (GCP) standards is increasingly being undertaken in resource-constrained low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) settings. This presents unique challenges that differ from those faced in high-income country (HIC) contexts, due to a dearth of infrastructure and unique socio-cultural contexts. Field experiences by research teams working in these LMIC contexts are thus critical to advancing knowledge on successful research conduct in these settings. The Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine has operated in The Gambia, a resource-constrained LMIC for over 70 years and has developed numerous research support platforms and systems. The unit was the lead clinical collaborator in a recently completed Expanded Program on Immunization Consortium (EPIC) study, involving a multicountry collaboration across five countries including the USA, Canada, Belgium, Papua New Guinea and The Gambia. The EPIC study recruited and completed follow-up of 720 newborn infants over 2 years. In this paper, we provide in-depth field experience covering challenges faced by the Gambian EPIC team in the conduct of this study. We also detail some reflections on these challenges. Our findings are relevant to the international research community as they highlight practical day-to-day challenges in conducting GCP standard clinical research in resource-constrained LMIC contexts. They also provide insights on how study processes can be adapted early during research planning to mitigate challenges.

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