For some time, the word "diversity" has been used to convey to members of Western societies that they live in a social climate of openness and welcome. Diversity might refer to any number of social identities or categories, and often is twinned with the phrase social equity to signal its attachment to a progressive agenda. In this…

Antony John Kunnan is a language assessment specialist. His research interests are fairness of tests and testing practice, assessment literacy, research methods and statistics, ethics and standards, and language assessment policy. His most recent publications include a four-volume edited collection of 140 chapters titled "The Companion to…

This article analyses academic work and the academic workforce in the context of current dynamics and likely futures. It discusses the significance of academic work, reviews workforce characteristics, and analyses tensions and pressures. Prevailing conceptualisations, it is argued, do not reflect the current situation in which the profession finds…

Library scholars and practitioners have frequently reflected on the various factors that in combination make up a hospitable library, but there has been little theoretical synthesis of the notion of the library as a place of hospitality. The hospitality industry provides a rich vein of theoretical material from which to draw definitions of…

The New Media Consortium's Horizon Project is an ongoing research project that seeks to identify and describe emerging technologies likely to have a large impact in education and other industries around the world over a five-year time period. The chief products of the project are the "Horizon Reports", an annual series of publications…

Interviews with 17 deaf adults (ages 39 to 65) examined the perceived effects of changing technology on older deaf workers. Responses concerned effects on the individual of education, formal accommodations to deafness, informal accommodations, attitudes, and small shop versus large shop workplace setting. (DB)

Reviews literature to form a folklore of information workspace and emphasizes the importance of studying folklore of information work environments in the context of the current shift toward removing work from any particular place via information systems, e-mail, and the Web. Discusses trends in workplace design and corporate culture. Contains 84…

An overview is presented of social and demographic trends prompting changes in workforce composition and workers' values, and a conceptual model for understanding these changes and their effects on the work environment is offered. The Ohio State University's shared approach to managing the work/family overlap and its policy implications are…

Based on a survey, college/university faculty salaries, working conditions, workload, and salaries in 10 countries (Germany, France, United Kingdom, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Canada, United States, Australia, Japan) are compared and barriers to occupational and geographic mobility are identified. Suggestions are made for fostering academic…

Conflicts in many states between administrators and disgruntled college employees have led to a surge of labor activism in academe, including strikes and protests, votes to unionize, disputes over evaluation and compensation, and court litigation. Conflicts involve teaching assistants, adjunct faculty, and tenured faculty alike. (MSE)

Effects of recent changes in Australian higher education on everyday academic work are examined, including changed emphases in teaching, research, administration, and public service and new demands associated with allocation of time, self-regulation, fragmentation of work into more discrete tasks, greater uniformity of effort, recruitment…

Surveys of Australian college faculty, conducted in 1977 and 1993, provide data for tracing trends in workload. While time devoted to teaching and research have remained stable, changes at the margins of academic workload are considerable. These tasks are largely generated by demands of institutional competition, accountability, and quality…

This chapter addresses recent changes in public policy and organizational practices that affect LGBTQ individuals and the role that organizational policy can play in establishing and maintaining respectful and inclusive workplaces.

A trend toward the use of groups can be seen both at the workplace and in education. The growing presence of groups at work provides one motivation for groups in educational context, especially ESP, because students now need to acquire a higher form of literacy to participate in groups at work. Involved in this broader literacy are such skills as…

Examines demographic changes in the United States since 1980s influencing the recent effort to assert English over other languages. Key issues include: efforts to ensure English dominance in English-Only initiatives; court rulings on English-Only regulations in the workplace; and bilingual education legislation. Reviews current research on…