Maintaining Career Momentum: Women-Centered Strategies for Social Sciences Career Success in the Context of COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic poses unforeseen risks to women’s academic career advancement. Women faculty are more likely to be grappling with new challenges related to caregiving and work-life balance, compared to their male colleagues, and may be facing more research obstacles due to the disruption of human-subjects data collection. In the following essay, we, two tenure-stream social scientists, describe four strategies that we have relied on to maintain career momentum: staying passionate, engaging in active mentorship, making virtual connections, and launching research in COVID. We conclude with recommendations for institutions of higher education to formalize specific policies to support gender and intersectional equity in career advancement. These include more formalized mentor programs, professional development for and access to technology resources for the purposes of research, institutional training and support in leading research teams, seed grants for racial and gender disparities research, and pro-family policies that provide financial supports and job security in the context of caregiving.

Best-Practise Mentor Programmes

The chapter focuses on features of mentor programs and emphasizes their growing importance. It aims to bring clarity to the concept of mentoring and offers clear guidelines on how to set them up and make them best practices. It starts by looking at the different roles and definitions of mentors, sponsors, coaches, and line-managers and how they work together to enable employees to develop their potential in a workplace environment. A short overview of the change in human resource strategies over the last two decades shows the history and motivations as to why mentor programs have become not just an accepted people development tool but are also increasingly recognized as a reliable tool for influencing and changing organizational culture. Finally, key drivers of good mentor programs will be reviewed and an assessment of the benefits to the individual and organization provided. Trends in mentor programs will also be touched upon. References in this chapter are based on work with clients in industry and research conducted at Richmond, The American University in London.

Applying Self-Care to Strategically Prevent Burnout in Early Career K-12 Teachers

This chapter explores potential sources of burnout for early career K-12 teachers, or those with less than five years of classroom experience. After a discussion of burnout and compassion fatigue, this chapter will present strategies for building positive relationships, developing and engaging in effective mentor programs, and current best practices in self-care. The discussion will include a presentation of steps one can take to promote and effectively manage mental and physical health to improve personal and professional relationships. This chapter will bring together resources, ideas, and information to help early career teachers to view themselves, their classrooms, and their relationships with students, parents, peers, and administrators from a different perspective through the building of positive relationships, collaboration efforts, and mentorship. The chapter will conclude with a list of examples of best practices in self-care to aid early career teachers in better serving themselves, their students, and their learning community.

DESCRIBING A CONCEPT OF NURSE INTUITION AND IMPLICATIONS FOR DEMENTIA CARE IN NURSING HOMES

The purpose of this concept analysis was to explore nurse intuition historically and in current literature, appraise the value of nurse intuition to research and practice, and discuss implications for practice in caring for residents with behavioral and psychological symptoms of Dementia (BPSD) in nursing homes. To date, no research has examined the presence or utility of nurse intuition in the nursing home setting. A conceptual analysis using pragmatic utility was chosen and based on the work of Walker and Avant (2005). In the literature, nurse intuition is characterized by attributes of knowledge not preceded by inference, knowledge that is holistic in nature, independent of linear thinking, and drawn from synthesis instead of analysis. Nurse intuition is based on preconditions of experience, empathy, limited information, and limited time to make vital decisions about patient care. Studies on nurse intuition have been criticized for their lack of rigor and empirical evidence of the effect of nurse intuition on positive patient outcomes. The attributes of intuitive nursing practice have important implications in nursing applied to residents with BPSD. The nursing home nurse with extensive educational and experiential knowledge is well-situated to understand the complex, changing needs of residents exhibiting various forms of BPSD in an effort to communicate their needs. Future studies on nurse intuition should focus on early education in dementia care, nurse residency-mentor programs to enhance intuitive thinking in the management of BPSD, and more empirical studies on the use of intuition in the context of dementia care.

Take a Load off Fanny: Peer Mentors in Veterans Treatment Courts

This article explores the role of mentors in three veterans treatment courts (VTCs) in two Midwestern states. VTCs have existed for more than 10 years and continue to flourish across local, state, and federal jurisdictions. Yet, little is known about the factors related to program compliance, completion, and reductions in recidivism. Many VTCs consider peer mentors as a key link between the court workgroup, program participants, and ultimately program outcomes. Thus, this study uses individual and focus-group data from interviews with veteran mentors and VTC team members along with field observations in various VTC settings to better understand the role of peer mentors. The research begins with an overview of the recruitment, selection, training, and retention of mentors. Secondly, the study examines the impact of these mentor programs and concludes with recommendations for further evaluation of the role of mentors and other key stakeholders regarding program compliance, completion, and recidivism reduction.

Pain and Masculinity: A Cohort Comparison between Mexican American Vietnam and Post–9/11 Combat Veterans

Using twenty-six interviews with Mexican American veterans, this study analyzes cohort effects between Vietnam War veterans to Iraq and/or Afghanistan veterans on the meanings and experiences of pain from combat, masculinity, and how ethnicity affects expressions of pain. Although there were relative similarities between the cohorts, differences arose because of age. Vietnam veterans understood their pain to be long-lasting and have built coping mechanisms around a lifetime of pain, as opposed to younger veterans who have not yet solidified coping strategies. Machismo plays a dynamic part in the expression and daily experience with pain for young veterans, as opposed to older veterans who enjoy relaxed gendered obligations based on their age. Finally, older veterans used family as a base of social support, as opposed to younger veterans who found support from peer-mentor programs. In addition, respondents indicated that machismo acted more as guiding principle and offered them motivations to seek help, and not necessarily barriers to health. Overall, both cohorts are governed by strict gender standards and expressions influenced by their ethnic identity. Findings suggest that the study of race/ethnicity and age plays a fundamental framework from which to understand the experiences and behaviors of pain.