Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the learning climate in elderly care, its potential improvements after the "Steps for skills," and its influence on knowledge from formal training. The assumptions were: the different activities of the Steps for skills should enhance the perceived learning climate; differences in working…

The United States does not guarantee families a wide range of supportive workplace policies such as paid maternity and paternity leave or paid leave to care for sick children. Proposals to provide such benefits are invariably met with the complaint that the costs would reduce employment and undermine the international competitiveness of American…

What are the prerequisites for principals' success within a decentralized and deregulated Swedish-policy environment characterized by democratic equity values and neo-liberal practices? Twenty-four secondary school principals identified internal and external factors that promote or inhibit principals' success. The discussion concerns whether the…

The phenomenon of women's underrepresentation in engineering is well known. However, the slow progress in achieving better gender equality here compared with other domains has accentuated the "numbers" issue, while the quality aspects have been largely ignored. This study aims to shed light on both these aspects via the lens of mentors,…

This study investigates the relationship between the work conditions in higher education work settings, the academic staff's strategies for handling excessive workload and impact on well-being and work-life balance. The results show that there is a risk that staff in academic work places will start using compensatory coping strategies to deal with…

In this study, one-to-one tuition in higher music education (HME) was theorised as a culturally and historically grounded activity system consisting of relationships between musicians, instruments, music-making traditions and audiences. The "skills paradox", as seen in the inherent conflict between musicians' need for long-term artistic…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyze learning in a Swedish trade union board in a workplace, according to contemporary challenges in working life and conditions, of decentralization and local independency of trade union work and learning. Design/methodology/approach: The paper is based on ethnographic studies of two Swedish local trade…

The research discussed in this article focuses on workplace learning in industrial manufacturing work. Everyday work episodes contributing to workplace learning are investigated in four companies operating in the Finnish and Swedish package-supplier sectors. The research adopts a qualitative, interpretive approach. Interviews with employees and…

This article discusses forms of "boundary-work" in school-based training for industrial work or, put another way, discourse and practices that cross, blur or reinforce boundaries between school and industry. The discussion builds on two ethnographic studies, one conducted in the 1980s and one in 2006, to provide insights on continuity…

In recent years, virtual learning environments (VLEs) or course management systems (CMSs) have become commonplace in European higher education as well as making inroads into primary and secondary schools. VLEs such as "Moodle," "Blackboard" and "It's Learning" offer educational institutions standardised packages in…

Purpose: Decentralization and company cultures have emerged to master increasing external flexibility, as in a competitive bank in Sweden, raising issues of the sustainability in terms of competence and competence development. The purpose of this paper is to study how the staff members in a bank perceive a company culture and how this perception…

The project Early Language Learning in Europe (ELLiE) has studied the longitudinal effects of an early foreign language (FL) start in seven European contexts. This article presents a sub-study of ELLiE that investigates the impact of out-of-school factors on learners' listening and reading skills in year four of formal FL instruction. More…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyse the experiences of an intervention programme for development of health promoting leadership in Gothenburg in Sweden. The more specific purpose is to identify critical aspects of such a programme as part of the development of a health promoting workplace. Design/methodology/approach: A…

The aim is to investigate female and male managers' learning environments with particular focus on their opportunities for and barriers to learning and career development in the managerial work of a male-dominated industrial company. In the case study 42 managers, 15 women and 27 men in the company were interviewed. The findings demonstrate that…

This article presents a case study of a student involved in language learning at a work placement, as part of the basic Swedish language programme for adult immigrants, Svenska for invandrare (Sfi), in Gothenburg, Sweden. In accordance with the predominant economic agenda, this system is assumed to accelerate labour market entrance as well as…