Search results for "Social system"

Data from: Vitellogenin-like A–associated shifts in social cue responsiveness regulate behavioral task specialization in an ant

2018

Division of labor and task specialization explain the success of human and insect societies. Social insect colonies are characterized by division of labor with workers specializing on brood care early and foraging later in life. Theory posits that this task switching requires shifts in responsiveness to task-related cues, yet experimental evidence is weak. Here we show that a Vitellogenin (Vg) ortholog identified in a RNAseq study on the ant Temnothorax longispinosus is involved in this process: Using phylogenetic analyses of Vg and Vg-like genes, we firstly show that this candidate gene does not cluster with the intensively studied honey bee Vg, but falls into a separate Vg-like A cluster.…

Comparison of social-ecological resilience between two grassland management patterns driven by grassland land contract policy in the Maqu, Qinghai-Ti…

2018

Embraced for decision-making, resilience has evolved as a meaningful term in areas such as ecology, the economy and society. After a policy of grassland contracts was implemented on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, two grassland management patterns evolved: the multi-household management pattern (MMP) and the single-household management pattern (SMP). Within a resilience-driven perspective, this study compared the outcomes of these grassland management patterns by measuring their effects on the resilience of grazing, ecological, economic and social systems. Resilience indicators for each of the four systems were: grazing system (grazing space, transhumance, water source and reproduction); ecolo…

The Universitary Educational System, Cibernetic System

2009

The national system of higher education shall solve one of the most difficult and most important social and human issues – the education and training of the young generation, of the labour hand. The system of higher education appears as a subsystem of the national educational system and of the society. That is why it appears the urgency of the artificial unrestriction of the university educational subsystem by the economy system. Economy’s vision of the university’s education subsystem must respond in these conditions to the following questions: What services and under what form should give the university at a time? Who should provide these services? What methods and strategies will be addr…

Nordic City Regions in the Creative Class Debate—Putting the Creative Class Thesis to a Test

2010

The Nordic countries have a quite different urban structure and social systems than the USA. Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden may then constitute a critical test of the empirical reach of Richard Florida's much cited creative class thesis beyond its empirical basis in the USA. This paper employs comparative statistics to examine the importance of the quality of place in attracting members of the creative class to Nordic city regions, and it analyses the role of the creative class for regional economic development. Florida's original study focused only on city regions with more than 100,000 inhabitants. Our statistical analyses mainly support Florida's results with regard to these larger …

Utopianism in the Age of Capitalocene

2021

This article explores the social and political imagination of ‘the Anthropocene’ and the utopian counter images that can be derived from it. From the utopian studies perspective, I argue that the Anthropocene cannot provide sufficient societal alternatives for the current ecological predicament. This is due to the fact that the concept of Anthropocene relies too heavily on the image of abstract humanity to be able to offer real societal alternatives. It cannot name the social system we live in and, therefore, it cannot fundamentally challenge existing social arrangements. Based on utopian social theory, I conceptualize utopia as a counter image of the present motivated by a desire for bette…

A moral economy of patents: case of Finnish research universities' patent policies

2013

The primary objective of this paper is to demonstrate the usefulness of the concept of moral economy for higher education studies through a study of Finnish research universities' patent policies. Patent policies not only stimulate the commercialization of research, they also set norms for behavior and aim to clarify how to distribute rights and responsibilities during the commercialization of research results. My main research finding is that even though institutionalized university patenting is a very recent phenomenon in Finland, policies regulating it have significant similarities to the US case. The main conclusion of this paper is that the question of university patent policies should…

Diversity begets diversity: A global perspective on gender equality in scientific society leadership.

2018

Research shows that gender inequality is still a major issue in academic science, yet academic societies may serve as underappreciated and effective avenues for promoting female leadership. That is, society membership is often self-selective, and board positions are elected (with a high turnover compared to institutions)—these characteristics, among others, may thus create an environment conducive to gender equality. We therefore investigate this potential using an information-theoretic approach to quantify gender equality (male:female ratios) in zoology society boards around the world. We compare alternative models to analyze how society characteristics might predict or correlate with the …

The socio-economic impact of transnational corporation on mining community and artisanal small-scale miners : a case study of Mererani Tanzania

2006

Newcomers in the Workplace

2019

When newcomers enter a workplace, the focus is usually only on orientation and onboarding tactics, which aim to socialize newcomers into the workplace. However, it is through workplace relationships that newcomers make sense of their work tasks and create an understanding of “our workplace.” This chapter describes the processes of interpersonal communication in the workplace during a newcomer’s entry phase. Newcomers may face uncertainty regarding professional performance, relationships, job tasks, or membership. This uncertainty is managed by information-seeking strategies. In social interaction with others, newcomers construct their belonging through membership negotiation and identificat…