Developmental Paper Essay Example for Free

Developmental Paper Essay bstract The basis of this paper will outline the cognitive and personality development of a young adult female, identified as â€Å"Caroline.† This will be in contrast and comparison to Erikson’s Epigenetic Theory of Personality Development is Intimacy vs. Isolation and Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive development. The paper will address what outside factors influence the developing as well as nursing interventions that will help Caroline obtained optimal functioning for each appropriate developmental level according to Erikson and Piaget. Keywords: developmental, Erikson, Piaget, personality, cognitive, intimacy, isolation, formal operations The Developmental Level: For the purpose of this paper, I will identify the person I am outlining as â€Å"Caroline. † Caroline is a young adult. The developmental level during this stage of Erikson’s Epigenetic Theory of Personality Development is Intimacy vs. Isolation; the virtue being love. A normal adult in this stage will have a strong sense of self and be able to form intimate, close relationships with other individuals. Success in this stage will lead to strong committed relationships (Cherry). Erikson believed that a person must successfully complete one stage in order to complete the next. According to Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive development, Caroline is in the formal operations period. A normal young adult in this stage would manifest adult like thinking, is not limited by own perception or concrete references for ideas, combines various ideas into concepts, develops morality or restraint and cooperation in behavior, uses rules to structure interactions in a socially acceptable way, solves problems mentally and considers alternatives before acting, relates concepts o r constructs not readily evident in external world, increases intellectual ability to include art, science, humanities,  religion, and philosophy, and is increasingly less egocentric. Caroline is in her early adult hood years. A tremendous time for self-discovery, independence, and in some cases, loneliness. Caroline’s personality and cognitive development have blossomed in ways and have been hindered in others. This is due to many factors; biological, social, genetic, situational. The list goes on. One thing is certain, there is always a good reason why individuals do the thing they do. If we as people look beyond others actions and instead look at what causes their actions to manifest, I believe we would be much more accepting and less judgmental as a whole. Throughout this paper I will be discussing ways Caroline compares and contrasts to Piaget and Erikson’s theories, how this impacts her development, and nursing interventions that could help her through these stages. Compare and contrast: After careful observation of Caroline, it does not show evident that she has developed a true sense of self to be able to complete the stage of intimacy with another individual. Even with platonic friendships it seems that when her and an individual start to become close on more of a spiritual and emotional level, she retreats to isolation because she feels that she cannot trust herself or others. According to Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development, I see that Caroline is mastering the formal operations period to a certain degree. In many ways Caroline would be a poster child for what an example of someone in the formal operations period would think like, and in other aspects of the period, she does not show to be operating in this period what so ever. Three examples of how Caroline compares to these levels would include the following: 1. When it comes to romantic relationships, Caroline strives for a deep emotional and physical connection with another human being. However, deep down she is unable to fully commit to another because she doesn’t have a clear understanding of who she is. Subconsciously, she gravitates towards men that are not emotionally available. This includes anyone who is in a relationship, is going to move away, or is obviously not interested in giving her a committed relationship. She wants the commitment, but she is used to men in her life not being available so she is drawn towards that because that is what she is used to. At the end of the day, this leaves Caroline frustrated and isolated. The  crisis between intimacy and isolation, according to Erikson, is clear in Caroline’s life. 2. Caroline is extremely cognitively driven, artistic with her words, and philosophical and spiritual with her beliefs. She looks beyond the world that is seen and challenges her way of thinking with the unseen world. She finds happiness through her writings and connections through spiritual conversation. This side of her is a small glimpse of her essence and what her inner being craves; to be emotionally, artistically, and spiritually stimulated. This very much so aligns with Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development. 3. A contrast to the Formal operations period is that she does not seem to solve problems mentally and considering alternatives before acting. Caroline bases a lot of her talk on impulsivity and is emotionally driven when making decisions. Caroline is a â€Å"feel good† kind of gal, and if it feels good in the moment, she will grab it. If it does not feel good, she will alter whatever her situation is to make herself feel good, no matter how bad or good the outcome will leave her. This contrasts with the norm because someone who is successfully mastering this stage would weigh the outcomes before acting, consider the outcomes, and go towards which action would better benefit their being as a whole. Even though Caroline knows something is hurting her, she will continue to repeat this action, hoping for a different outcome. This is mainly in regards to abusive relationships, but can be applied to the work place and friendships with other females. What Impacts Development Three factors that have or are currently affecting Caroline’s stage of development: 1. As I mentioned previously, it is vital for Caroline to develop and true sense of self before she can successfully build intimacy with other individuals. Caroline feels whole with her writings, and spending time with people who truly love her, but she has not fully embraced her inner being. From observation, Caroline has a very low self-esteem. She strives to please others. When others are pleased with her, she is pleased with herself. When others are no pleased with her, she will do what she can to reverse that opinion. She seeks to please others before pleasing herself and that is a clear manifestation of not having a concrete, strong sense of self. 2. Caroline is far away from her family, which live several states away. She stayed in the state she resides because of a romantic  relationship. This romantic relationship has ended. For Caroline, she does not have a firm sense of belonging a t her current location. Being away from loved ones and not having a steady partner can cause an individual to feel isolated and lonely. 3. I am not sure exactly what Caroline’s relationship with her father is or was like, but I would imagine it to be one of low emotional or spiritual connection. Her dad was most likely not a constant in her life and not available to her as a girl in was that she needed, but was not aware of. There is always a good reason why people do the things they do and I would not be taken a back if Caroline was this way with other men in her life because normal to her is not available. Her body, soul, and mind is used to inconsistency and has developed patterns within itself to be drawn to these inconsistencies and behaviors. It has also been shown that engaging in sexual activates with a partner before the proper time, especially before monogamy, can cause much inner turmoil and depression. Sexual activity must be performed in the right context in order for it to be beneficial for the human being. (Carter) Nursing interventions: 1. Before talking to Caroline, if she were my patient and I the nurse, I would first need to assess her physical and mental status. She would need to be fully alert and oriented in order to proceed with the nursing process. I would assess her level of consciousness and willingness to cooperate. I would need to assess her support system, whether it be family, friends, or coworkers. A strong support system is vital to growth and development in any stage of life. 2. In order for Caroline to be eager to listen to what have to offer and cooperate with enhancing her inner self, there would have to be established trust. I would do this by sharing intimate parts of my life and laying the foundation of a healthy, trustworthy relationship. There will be little to no willingness to exchange in such personal matters until trust between us is established. It will also make her much for comfortable to share intimate details of her life with me. 3. I would provide Caroline with therapeutic communic ation. This would include appropriate touch as much as she is comfortable with, paraphrasing, asking open ended questions that encourage communication, maintaining eye contact when appropriate, and not pushing situations when she does not feel at ease. These actions will hopefully cause Caroline to feel more comfortable to share thoughts,  feelings, and encouragement to implement action to better her inner self. 4. In order to master the stage of isolation, Caroline needs to be confident in herself and cater to her inner self. She needs to participate in activities that benefit her in a healthy way and bring healing to where she feels broken. I would encourage her to write in her journal for at least thirty min before she goes to bed. 5. I would encourage her to do simple things to increase healthy living. This would include waking up early, going to bed at a decent hour, getting adequate exercise, eating a diet high in whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, and drinking plenty of water. I would encourage her to avoid alcohol and any other mind altering substances that cause her behavior to be irrational. Addressing the underlying cause of irrational behavior can be much more effective then addressing the irrational behavior as it self. 6. Because Caroline reaches for wholeness in sources that leave her feeling empty, I would ask Caroline to put herself first when she is seeking attention from empty sources. I would have her sit with herself and her emotions and work through them without desperately reaching out to things that cannot fulfill her. In order to be happy with someone else, it is vital that she become happy with herself. 7. Caroline loves to read and with this passion for books I would strongly suggest investing in self-help books that will mentally stimulate her to building a strong, happy inner self. There are so many self-help books that caters to every type of inner self difficulty and roads to self-discovery. Sometimes simply finding a book that speaks directly to your soul can bring some of the most healing and freedom. If Caroline were to follow these nursing interventions and invest whole heartedly to developing a strong inner being, I believe she would begin to see amazing results within a weeks’ time. Of course it would be a journey. Self-reflection is not always easy and can be hard, but in the end it is extremely rewarding. Coming face to face with our inner demons and conquering them is one of the best things you can do for yourself, future partner, and future children. In order to have healthy relationship you must be a healthy person and if Caroline wants to be healthy, she will be. References: Cherry, Kendra. Intimacy Versus Isolation Stage Six of Psychosocial Development. About.com Psychology. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 May 2014. Carter, Don. Intimacy Skills and Human Development Stages. Intimacy Skills and Human Development Stages. Internet of the Mind, n.d. Web. 03 June 2014.

Impact of Sea Level Rise and Adaption Strategy

Impact of Sea Level Rise and Adaption Strategy This essay focuses on a impact of SLR along the NZ costal margin and an overview of the different adaptation strategies, a recommended framework for decision making to support local adaptation measures. Introduction Even if greenhouse gas emissions stopÂÂ   tomorrow, the effects of climate change will continue in the certainÂÂ   manner. One of the recognized impacts of climate change and possibly the most dramatic for the many coastal communities of NZ is the sea level rise. As oceans warm, they expand, raising the global sea level. Melting ice caps and land-based ice sheets also contribute to the rise in sea level. This essay focuses on investigating how much effect and effect along the NZ coastal margin and how much of our preparation weve done to minimize this devastating effect.-[2] Impact and Effects Most of our NZ population live and work within the 5km of our coastline which mean the large majority of the built environment will face increasing risks from ongoing SLR-[1]. Basically, there are three types of coastal dangers in New Zealand, which are directly affected by the rising sea level-[1]. Â   Â   Â   Â   Â   Inland Flooding Rising sea levels are increasingly affecting our coastal cities. Coastal floods occur when the sea rises above the normal flood level and flows down into lowland streams-[1]. This results is flooded buildings as well as damaged subway infrastructure. The rising sea level could increase the duration and extent of the floods of the river. If such river floods peak at high water, they become more damaging as flood waters become higher-[3] The projected frequency of extreme water levels is important because inland waters are a threat to people living near our coastal cities and small islands. As reported in the report Dr.Jright Wright, below table shows that In future, our four major coastal cities ports will more than the excesses of todays 100 years of events more and more often-[1] All our infrastructures such as buildings, roads, airports, wastewater systems based on a historical understanding of the range of tides and occasional floods in storms. As the sea level increases, areas of deep coastal coasts, which are flooding in storms, are becoming more frequent and heavy flooding. Areas that are a little higher also begin to flood over time.-[1] Erosions As already mentioned, coastal flooding occurs in deeper areas when the sea rises above the normal high water level; it will open up wetlands to the water, erode beaches, increase floods and increase the salt content of river estuaries.-[1] As a result of these effects of coastal erosion, the effect washed on sediment or rocks and our coastal line is changing. Coastal erosion is a natural process that has been happening for thousands of years. Sea water collides with cliff and shore, it causes sediment or rocks to be washed out to the sea. Erosion can happen under any condition, but it tends to increase rate when wave are strong. Wave cause erosion in four main types-[4] The way in which erosion on the coast changes depends largely on the nature of the rocksÂÂ   in other words its Geology-[4]. But as the sea level rises, the erosion increases in many places around the coastline when strong storm waves arrive at the beach-[1]. Thus, beaches and cliffs that are vulnerable to erosion are likely to destroy faster. Not only that stable beaches can also begin to destroy, and beaches that accumulate may slow down or begin to erode.-[1] High Ground water Note:Adapted from-[3] Unfortunately, groundwater problems are not visible and it is very difficult to measure. Most of our coastal areas, the groundwater is not far below the ground and is connected to the sea. As the sea level rises, the water level in these areas will rise, which can lead to both human activities and coastal ecosystems-[1] such as: Recommendation Adaptation planning Adaptation Strategies We now know that with the climate change rising seas are emerging and that this rise in the sea level will drastically affect our coastal communities-[2]. These communities require resilience and adaptation strategies to minimize the long-term economic, environmental and social impacts of the sea level rise on coastal development. So we can group the basic adaptation strategies to the sea level as follow-[2]; Protect Protect is a reactive strategy to protect people, property and infrastructure from rising sea level and is generally considered the first answer. The protection of the coast by structural mechanisms such as dikes, seawalls and sandbags is the traditional approach to deal with the rise in sea level in many parts of the world. Protection strategies tend to be expensive, and can have long-term effectiveness in long-term vulnerable places.-[2] But this can lead to a false sense of security. It can also increase the risk by encouraging the development behind dikes and other structural protection elements, which can make the number of people and the amount of property at risk if this is not. Protection strategies are particularly attractive when the costs of protecting governments are supported at different levels like if individual owners bear little or no risk and if land use is not perceived by the municipal authorities in the long term.-[2] Accommodate This is an adaptive strategy that enables continuous occupation of the coastal areas while changing human activities and infrastructure to adapt to the rise in sea level. The accommodation can be part of the new building, the use of structural filling to raise the increase in the habitable space, the restriction of the building areas subject to flooding in garages, others-[2] Retreat Any strategic decision to withdraw, relocate, or abandon private or public assets that are threatened, relocated or abandoned due to the rise in sea level and associated coastal risks is a retreat. It is an adaptive strategy to limit the use of structural protection, the development of discourages in areas exposed to sea level rise, and the planning of the possible relocation of buildings and infrastructures to areas without risk or lower risk areas-[2]. Avoid This means that the new development does not take place in areas exposed to coastal hazards associated with an increase in sea level or a surface that will increase over time. Basically this is the identification of the future no build areas within the municipal planning documents.-[2] Recommendation It is a prudent step to begin planning the future sea level from now on. From the preparation of New Zealand for rising seas: certainty and Uncertainty (Wright, 2015) [1] report contains eight recommendations to the government. The first seven focus on improving the direction and advice given to the councils. The last recommendation focuses on the fiscal risks of the rise in sea level.-[1] Conclusion All thing consideredÂÂ   , this essay focuses on a New Zealand impact of SLR along the NZ costal margin and an overview of the different adaptation strategies, a recommended framework for decision-making to support local adaptation measures. As a result, the impact of the rising sea level on our coastal line is more likely to be felt. Therefore, adaptation responses must be introduced earlier to take into account the excessive rise in sea level-[10]. Overall, we can suggest that there is no single adjustment to the sea level rise, and that the most logical answer would be a combination of all four basic strategies, as discussed in the previous sections, and it is likely that decisions on appropriate action are taken at a Area by area with factors such as topography, prosperity and population density all expected to influence the suitability of each response-[10] Although the information that local and government authorities need to know must be aware that there is a high percentage of uncertainty that are present in sea level forecasting, and adaptation responses must be flexible, under changing conditions, and typically implement responses well in advance, When required-[10]. References : [1] http://www.pce.parliament.nz/media/1380/preparing-nz-for-rising-seas-web-small.pdf [2] http://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/environment/climate-change/policy-legislation-and-responses/adaptation/sea-level-rise/slr-primer.pdf [3] http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/290088/nz-urged-to-act-on-rising-sea-levels [4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUh3WeilFN4 [5] http://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/80441421/Eating-the-shore-New-Zealands-shrinking-coastline [6] http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/05/120531-groundwater-depletion-may-accelerate-sea-level-rise/ [7] http://hubpages.com/education/Mega-Engineering-Solutions-to-Sea-level-Rise-Buckets-and-Plug-Holes [8] ) https://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar5/syr/SYR_AR5_FINAL_full_wcover.pdf [9] https://www.planning.org/planning/2012/jan/waterwarriorsside2.htm [10] https://blackboard.vuw.ac.nz/bbcswebdav/pid-1948452-dt-content-rid-4067513_1/courses/201601.ESCI201.11341/Essay1.pdf

The Raising Of Children :: essays research papers

The raising of the children in Wuthering Heights seemed to be mostly done by the nannies. In fact, the story is mainly told from the perspective of Nelly Dean, the housekeeper of Thrushcross Grange and Wuthering Heights. Upper-class parents delegated the entire care of their children to a nurse or a "nanny". The nanny and the children occupied a separate wing or floor of the house. Ideally, the wing or floor had a day nursery, one or more night nurseries for children of different ages, bedrooms for older children and their governess, and a schoolroom or older children's sitting room. The fully staffed nursery had additional nurserymaids, a schoolroom maid, a laundress, and sometimes a cook. The reason children were separated from adults was that they were to be sheltered from adult life and given a structured routine and also to hvae their characters trained. The adults were freed for their own pleasures and responsibilities, and for the London season and foreign travel which were expected parts of aristocratic life. The full-fledged nanny was a professional and she had full charge of the children and their upbringing. Mothers recognized their own deficiencies and deferred to the nanny's training and experience. Children spent mostly all of their time with the nanny. Her bed was in the night nursery where they slept. The parents paid little attention to the everyday happenings as in seen in Wuthering Heights. Catherine and Francis depended on Nelly's care of the children all throughout Wuthering Heights. When the kids were about eight, their lessons began to occupy most of their time. Boys went to boarding school and girls became primarily responsible to the governess. Despite a nanny's absolute authority, children were still called "miss" or "master" when

The American Culture Essay example -- republicans, kennedy, clinton

Have you ever noticed the different policies and influences that have affected you and the generations before you? The American culture and influences have changed greatly over time. I believe that the policies and influences of American culture have changed since John F. Kennedy and Bill Clinton John F. Kennedy or as many people called him â€Å"Jack† was born on May 29, 1917 in Brookline, Massachusetts in a large and wealthy family with 9 other brothers and sisters. Growing up John was very sick and was in the the hospital for a long period of time. According to Kaplan, Howard S â€Å"600 kids in the Boston area were suffering from scarlet fever†. (1) Many kids were suffering from scarlet fever along with John F. Kennedy. John F. Kennedy was also suffering from a few other diseases including a stomach disorder and Addison’s disease. Despite having all of these illnesses it did not stop him from playing the one true thing he loved, sports. John and all of his other brothers were all very competitive when it came to sports. According to ED. Kelle S, John was very good at sports but unfortunately he â€Å"hurt his back playing football at harvard†.(6) John eventually joined the Navy during WW2, while on a mission a Japanese Destroyer shot at the cruise boat he was on. while his boat was sinking he saved one of his other soldiers and had to swim with him 2 miles to a near by island. Unfortunately his time in the service hurt his back even more and when he returned home he had to have back surgery. William Jefferson Blythe 3 was born August 19, 1946 in Hope, Arkansas. Bills father died 3 months before he was born in a car accident. Bills’ mother left him with his grandparents because she left to go to college to become a nurse. Bills’ g... ...Raffaelle. Detroit: Gale Group, 2003. Student Resources in Context. Web. 13 Feb. 2014 7. O'Brien, Steven G. "Bill Clinton." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2014. Web. 14 Feb. 2014. 8. "John F. Kennedy." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2014. Web. 14 Feb. 2014 9. William Jefferson Clinton (1946 - )." N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2014. 10. "The John F. Kennedy Administration." Presidential Administration Profiles for Students. Ed. Kelle S. Sisung and Gerda-Ann Raffaelle. Detroit: Gale Group, 2002. Student Resources in Context. Web. 24 Feb. 2014. 11. "John F. Kennedy." Image. John F. Kennedy Library. American History. ABC-CLIO, 2014. Web. 13 Mar. 2014. 12. Greenberg, David. "Impeachment Trial of Bill Clinton." Dictionary of American History. Ed. Stanley I. Kutler. 3rd ed. Vol. 4. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2003. 238-241. Student Resources in Context. Web. 13 Mar. 2014.

Huck Finn :: essays research papers

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Modern American (1885) 1. The Author and His Times Mark Twain, the pen name of Samuel Clemens, was born in Florida, Missouri in 1835. When he was four, his family moved to Hannibal, Missouri, the setting for many of his books. His father died when he was 12. After his father died, he went to work as a printer ¹s apprentice and eventually as a printer in Missouri, St. Louis, and New York often writing a few works himself for periodicals. He worked as a printer and a reporter selling much of his work to newspapers. He continually moved from town to town. In 1857, he decided to move to South America to make a fortune there. He boarded a riverboat and headed for New Orleans where he would arrange the rest of his trip. However, he never made it past New Orleans and never into South America. He begged the riverboat to teach him how to pilot the riverboat. The riverboat pilot agreed to teach him for $500. Mark Twain went west during the civil war and established himself as a writer during this time. He wrote humorous stories about his experiences which lead to a job as a newspaper reporter in 1862. The following year he began signing his work  ³Mark Twain, ² a riverboat term meaning two fathoms deep. Mark Twain went to Hawaii in 1866. This trip was the beginning of his career as a travel correspondent. The next year he went to Europe and wrote a successful book there titled, The Innocent Abroad. In 1876, he published The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. This book was such a success that he decided immediately to write a sequel. The sequel, which became much more complex than the original was published seven years later in 1883 and titled, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. After Huckleberry Finn, Twain wrote nearly a dozen more books but none were as successful. By 1939, Twain had lost all of his money investing in various schemes and inventions, almost all of which were failures. After this, he went on a world lecture tour and was able to pay his debts by 1896. While on the tour, one of his daughters died. His wife later in 1904. In 1909 his daughter died leaving him unhappy. 2. Form, Structure, and Plot The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn consists of 43 chapters and is told in the first person with

Recruitment and Retention

Demand for academic staff in Higher Education has been increasing2 and may be expected to continue to increase given the Government’s intention that participation in Higher Education should increase substantially amongst those aged 18 to 30 years old. At the same time, recruitment and retention problems have been growing in prominence (HEFCE, 2003) and there has been a long-standing concern that the sector faces a ‘retirement bulge’, as academics from the 1960s expansion reach retirement.Consequently, there is concern about the adequacy of the future supply of academics. Other substantial changes in Higher Education in the past 10 to 20 years are likely to have contributed to the tightness of the academic labour market3. Polytechnics were granted university status in 1992, changing their funding regime, their focus and the demands on staff. The number of students has grown substantially, a growth which has not been matched by staff increases resulting in a large i ncrease in the student:staff ratio.Changes in funding have led to much greater emphasis on research output (through the Research Assessment Exercise, the RAE), teaching quality (through the requirements of the Quality Assurance Agency, the QAA) and on academics raising research and consultancy funds. Other changes include tighter contractual terms (affecting holidays and hours worked), an increase in the use of short-term and hourly-paid contracts and the loss of tenure. Overall, these changes have tended to alter the nature of the job, reducing autonomy and increasing the workload, including that of administrative and teaching tasks.At the same time, both the salaries and status of academics are perceived to have deteriorated relative to alternative careers (Halsey, 1992; Keep et al. , 1996). Substantial change in the nature of any job is likely to increase turnover, as a mismatch develops between the nature of the job to which people were recruited and the actual job. If these cha nges tend to reduce the quality of the job, rather than just change it, and if the applicant requirements are not altered (and, probably, lowered), recruitment will also become more difficult.Both turnover and recruitment difficulties will be exacerbated by a relative decline in pay. Overview of the study Against this background, the study was designed to identify the factors which lead to individuals entering and leaving academic employment in the English Higher Education sector. Although the main focus was entry and exit from the sector, recruitment to and retention by individual institutions can shed light on this and was also investigated.For the purposes of the study academic employment was defined as jobs in higher education institutions (Universities and Colleges of Higher Education) whose main function was academic teaching or academic research, irrespective of the contractual terms of the job holder. Thus lecturing (e. g. Professors, and Lecturers) and research staff (e. g. Research Assistants, post-docs and Senior Research Fellows) are included, but academic-related staff (e. g. technicians) are not. Full-time, part-time, permanent and temporary staff within these groups are included4.Two main groups of academics were excluded from the study: those in Further Education Institutions and those on clinical rates of pay. The resources of the study precluded inclusion of these two groups5. Following discussion with the DfES, it was decided to focus on staff at English HEIs. This was done in order to prevent differences in the funding and structure of the HE sectors obscuring the analysis. Two exceptions to this rule are the analysis of the HESA data on research students and the chapter on international comparisons of pay (Chapter 4). These are discussed in more detail in sections 1. . 1 and 1. 1. 2 below (and in further detail in Appendix C and Appendix D). The study had five, inter-related, strands: †¢ a literature review to establish the nature of the recruitment and retention problems and to identify previous evidence on the factors affecting recruitment and retention; this was conducted from March to May 2003; †¢ analysis of HESA staff and student data, 2001/02, to provide a descriptive analysis of turnover in academia, to identify the basic characteristics of employment in the sector and to identify the student supply into academia6; a comparative analysis of pay, using 2001 data, both for comparable employment nationally and for academics in Higher Education internationally, in order to establish the competitiveness of academic pay; †¢ qualitative research within universities exploring human resource policies and practices and factors affecting entry and exit from the sector; the fieldwork was conducted between July 2003 and July 2004; 4 However, the coverage of hourly paid staff is severely limited, owing to limitations in the HESA data (see below) and to practical difficulties of sampling for the survey (see b elow). Inclusion of the former would have extended the study to Further Education Institutions. The latter have different terms, conditions and employment patterns from other academics in HEIs and so a larger sample would have been required to adequately cover this group. Staff on clinical rates accounted for five per cent of academic staff (HESA Individualised Staff Record 2001/2). 6 Analysis of more recent HESA data and of trends over time is contained in HEFCE (2005a) and HEFCE (2005b). 3 quantitative surveys of academic staff and of research students to identify factors which affect recruitment into academia and retention; the fieldwork was conducted between May and July 2004. The research findings are affected by the policies and practices in effect at the time. To assist the reader, the DfES has produced a list of relevant Higher Education initiatives since the survey fieldwork. These are listed in Appendix H. Below, essential aspects of the methods are described. Further deta ils of the methods appear in appendices. Appendix A describes the qualitative research.Appendix B discusses the quantitative surveys of academic staff and research students. Appendix C describes the HESA staff and student datasets. Appendix D describes the data used for the intra- and international pay comparisons. Appendix F describes the model used for the analysis of the likelihood of students entering academia. Appendix G describes the econometric analysis of job satisfaction and intentions to leave academia. 1. 1. 1 HESA staff and student data7 For staff, the HESA Individualised Staff Record for the academic year 2001/02 was used.The analysis was confined to institutions in England and to staff who were not on clinical grades. The sole exception to this is chapter 4, where the focus is expanded to the whole of the UK, to maintain consistency with the international comparisons analysis. For the study’s purposes, the Individualised Staff Record data has two important limit ations. Firstly, they exclude employees8 whose total academic employment is below that of 25 per cent of a full-time academic (i. e. those with short hours or with substantial management and administrative responsibilities are excluded)9.One of the implications is that hourly-paid staff will be substantially under-reported and is unlikely to be representative of hourly-paid staff as a whole. Secondly, the data relating to leavers suffer from a high level of nonreporting: around 60 per cent of leavers’ destinations are missing10. Therefore the findings on movement out of the sector must be treated with caution. For students, the Combined Student/Module Record for the academic year 2001/2 was used. This was combined with the First Destination Supplement (FDS), relating to those students who left in 2001/2.The analysis was not limited to students from English higher education institutions because the appropriate pool of domestic entrants into Higher Education academic post is th e whole of the UK. It is important 7 Note that the University of North London was not included in either the staff or student data supplied by HESA because the university has asked that its individual data is not released. 8 Strictly, they exclude contracts whose total academic employment is below that of 25 per cent of a full-time academic, as the record reports contracts rather than individuals.For more information see Appendix C. 9 However, there are staff in the Individualised Staff Record with their FTE recorded as less than 25%; the majority of these records relate to staff who arrived or left during the year. 10 Internal work by HEFCE that matched the 2001-2 survey with that for the following year using staff code, data of birth and sex, found that 20% of those for whom the destination was not known remained at the same institution, 5% were found at a different institution and the remainder could not be matched with a record in the second year.This latter group are made up of those who left the sector and those who remained but whose record in the second year did not match with respect to one of the three criteria. 4 to note that the destination of postgraduate research students in the FDS has a particularly low level of response (38%). Further details are given in Appendix C. 1. 1. 2 The comparative analysis of pay The comparative analysis of pay uses data from national labour force surveys (and censuses in nine countries. These were chosen to illustrate the types of countries to and from which most international movement with UK academia occurs.They include the main English–speaking countries to which UK academics move (the USA and Australia), together with other English-speaking nations (New Zealand and Canada), three European countries (Denmark, France and Sweden) and Japan. The analysis of the labour force survey data used in the international comparisons used data from the whole of the UK. This was to increase the sample size. However, we w ould not expect to find significant differences within the UK. Identifying higher education academics was done using information on occupation and industry where available.In most countries we were able to obtain a sample group that matched the UK sample. Exceptions to this were the US, where the sample also included academic staff at state colleges, who also conduct teaching undertaken in the FE sector in the UK, and Australia and New Zealand, where it is possible that our sample excludes some researchers who have no teaching responsibilities. We discuss the implications of this in Chapter 4 and Appendix D. Comparisons were made in both nominal and real terms. Earnings were converted using exchange rates to make nominal comparisons.In order to account for differences in the cost of living, purchasing power parity exchange rates developed by the OECD were used to make real earnings comparisons. Further details are given in Appendix D. 1. 1. 3 The qualitative and quantitative survey research Qualitative research was conducted in thirteen English universities and quantitative research conducted in a subset of these. A structured sample of universities was selected to ensure coverage of different types of universities (new, old and colleges of Higher Education), universities in London and elsewhere and universities with differing research ratings.Institutions with fewer than 200 academic staff and most specialist institutions11 were excluded. Small institutions were excluded because economies of scale in setting up the quantitative survey meant that their inclusion would have led to a smaller survey, as the project resources could not increase the sample through an increased number of institutions. Specialist institutions were excluded for similar reasons. (This did not reduce the subject coverage, as subjects taught in specialist institutions are also found in other HEIs. The purpose of the qualitative research was to identify factors which might affect recruitm ent and retention, including human resource practices and staff preferences. Qualitative interviews were held with senior staff with responsibility for 11 ‘Specialist institution’ is a classification developed for funding purposes and refers to institutions where 60 percent or more of funding is allocated to one or two cost centres. 5 human resourcing and, in eight of the universities, interviews were conducted with heads of two departments, and a sample of their academic staff and research students.A survey of academic staff was conducted in ten12 of these universities. The survey covered both research and lecturing staff. Full-and part-time staff were included, but hourly paid staff were excluded (see Appendix B). The questionnaire collected data on personal characteristics, employment history, views on aspects of the job and career intentions. The survey was web-based. A total of 2805 staff responded, a response rate of 32 per cent. Survey data have been re-weighted to be representative of university academic staff in English HEIs.For more information on the weighting and other issues relating to the staff survey see section B. 1 of Appendix B. A survey of research students (full-time and part-time) was conducted in nine of the universities, where research students were those undertaking a Masters degree mainly by research or a doctorate. The questionnaire collected data on personal characteristics, employment history and career intentions. The survey was web-based. A total of 1330 research students responded, a response rate of 29 per cent. Survey data have been re-weighted to be representative of research students in English HEIs.For more information on the weighting and other issues relating to the staff survey see Section B. 7. Further details are given in Appendix B. 1. 2 Nomenclature Throughout this report the following nomenclature is used: †¢ Student when referring to the student survey refers to research student. †¢ ‘Ac ademic’, ‘academic staff’ refers to those employed in higher education institutions on either the research grade or the lecturing grade. †¢ University is used to refer to all higher education institutions, whether a university or a college. New and old universities. New13 universities are those that received university status in 1992 (when polytechnics and many colleges of Higher Education converted to university status) or later; old universities are those which had university status before this date. 1. 3 Report layout The structure of the report is as follows. The next chapter sets the scene by presenting evidence on turnover and recruitment and retention problems in higher 12 The aim had been to survey staff and students in twelve universities.Unfortunately, not all the universities were able to supply the sample, either due to data protection considerations or due to difficulties providing an email contact list. 13 This nomenclature is in common use now , but, previously, ‘new university’ was used to denote universities established in the 1960s and early 1970s. Perhaps the term was also used in the nineteenth century to refer to the redbrick universities when the sector was expanded in the Victorian era. 6 education. It also presents evidence on the factors affecting recruitment and retention of academics.Chapter 3 then describes the structure of academic employment in Higher Education, including the grade structure and contractual status, and the main characteristics of academic staff. This description is used to raise some of the factors which might affect recruitment and retention. Chapter 4 continues with the theme of structure, focusing on pay, and examines relative pay to investigate whether pay differences may be a cause of recruitment and retention difficulties. Both domestic and international comparisons are made.

Ethical issues related to reproducation Essay

Assisted Reproduction Technology is a new found system to aid infertile couples to get children. It is also used in transgender couples and genetic concerns in the family. The examples of assisted reproduction technology include invitro-fertilization embryo transfer, intracytoplasmic sperm injection, gamete intrafalllopian transfer, zygote intrafallopian transfer and intrauterine insemination. It is a practice that has caused wide controversy from the ethical point of view. There are many ethical issues surrounding artificial reproduction. Many religious organizations condemn the practice as it goes against the religious beliefs. Most religions believe that God is the sole creator of life and determiner of fertility of an individual. Therefore, the practice is viewed as one that is trying to supersede the power and belief in God. The element of surrogate parenting in assisted reproduction is also a highly thorny issue in the society. The practice of sperm egg donation is also very emotive. The main protagonist in this debate is the religious organizations and their beliefs and practices (Gillian, 2003). Surrogate parenting is an arrangement in which an infertile married couple contracts a fertile woman to undergo gestation on their behalf and surrender the child after birth. This is described as a non-nuclear family arrangement in that the family allows a third party into their family relationship to play the role of a birth mother. Surrogate parenting raises various ethical questions. There are various forms of surrogate parenting. These include traditional and gestational. In traditional surrogacy, the mother shares genetic information as the child since she acts as a sperm recipient. The gestational surrogacy involves insemination with fertile ovum of the infertile couple. Therefore, she does not share genetic information as the child. The ethical dilemma that exists in surrogate parenting is whereby commercial surrogacy is viewed as exploitative to poor single women. The woman is viewed as a mere incubator while her money is siphoned by the surrogate agencies. The child is traumatized on discovering that the mother raising him/her is not her biological mother due to different genetic information. This leads to acrimony in the family. Some organizations claim that surrogacy leads to commoditization of babies as mere goods. This shows a lack of respect to the human being as a whole (Gillian, 2003). Surrogate parenting causes controversy in the traditional definition of a family unit. A family is viewed as made of mother, father and children who are genetically related. Surrogacy allows a third party into the traditional nuclear family. This distorts the meaning completely. This is especially so in traditional form of surrogate parenting. In this form, the surrogate mother is just not the gestational bearer of the child, but she also shares genetic information with the child. The family will be in a dilemma whether to inform the child of his gestation and parenting lest he/she finds out. Such information is likely to break the family unit (Markens, 2007). Commercial surrogate parenting has been viewed as exploitative. Young single and poor girls are chosen to act as surrogate mothers. The agency that contracts them does not care about their well-being but is interested in profiteering from their services. These girls are paid 10000-150000 dollars for their services. Court cases have been filed where these mothers reject the money to take custody of the children. This is the exploitative nature of the practice (Markens, 2007). Doctors place multiple eggs into the womb of a woman in artificial reproduction. The medical significance of this practice is to reduce the proportion and margin of error. Statistics shows that most of the eggs implanted into a woman do not get implanted and are aborted by the mother. As such, the practice of inserting multiple eggs is to increase the likelihood of implantation or fertilization of the eggs. The other concern is the cost of artificial reproduction technology. The technology costs highly to the partners and the insurance companies. Multiple eggs are inserted by the healthcare professionals as a means of cost saving and cost reduction in fertility treatment. This addresses the cost that would be incurred if one egg failed. Multiple implantations bring with it the dilemma of multiple pregnancy complications and multiple birth costs. The dilemma with the practice is that a healthcare professional is legally mandated to abort some of the implanted fetuses upon informed consent from the parents. This practice is called multi fetal pregnancy reduction or selective abortion. The medical rationale behind embryo reduction is the fact that there are many risks associated with carrying multiple pregnancies to the mother. There is the risk of in-uteri death of the fetus, premature delivery and retardation. Any pregnancy with more than three fetuses is an iatrogenic complication of artificial reproduction (Simo, 2002). Selective abortion is moral as it is done in the interest of the mother and the family. Informed consent has to be sought from the partner, and they must reserve the right to select the embryos that will be reduced. However, in a perfectly health mother, selective abortion is not advisable rather the doctor should practice watchful waiting on the patient. Selective abortion is done to reduce child impairment if he/she is born prematurely. The practice is a morally justified option for the parent. This is because the quality of life of the child born and the economical and psychological burden on the parents to support a mentally retarded child. Despite religious, social and cultural perceptions on selective abortion, it is a perfectly moral practice done in the interest of the family. The sanctity of life must indeed be observed and respected so much as the quality of the baby’s life. The grounds that lay the foundation for the decision to selectively abort an embryo are based on the moral and financial ability of the family to take care of complication of multiple pregnancies: especially premature babies (Simo, 2002). The society is obliged to support families that have multiple babies born prematurely, with defects or mental retardation. These parents are under immense pressure to provide for and raise these children. The society is obliged to support these families in whatever means possible. The immediate extensive family plays a huge role in supporting these parents morally and financially. Premature children need to be loved by everyone in the family and external community. Financial assistance is vital to cater for constant hospitalization of these children. Children with mental retardation and prematurity need constant visitations for medical checkup to ensure that they grow and mature like other children. The community is obliged to offer financial support to these families. Through various community forums and organizations, the locals can take care of these children and accord them equal rights enjoyed as other healthy children. The community may also set up special schools with special teachers to guide these children as they develop. The local government and the federal government are also obliged to support families with disabilities. The government can enact of laws and policies that offer incentives to these parents and those that govern the development of these children. The local government is also mandated to establish institutions that will take care of these children as they grow as they belong to children with special need (Gillian, 2003). Abortion is a highly controversial moral subject worldwide. There are proponents of abortion who claim the practice is done to safeguard the health of the mother and the dignity of girls who have been sexually assaulted. Whereas, there are the opponents who argue that the vice is against the universal right to life and respect of life. There are various ethical issues with abortion. Ethical issues arise due to the moral dilemma. The reasons for procuring an abortion include not being able to raise the child at the moment or irresponsible parents. Such scenarios would warrant an abortion to avoid future suffering of the child. Some mothers claim that childbearing will interfere with their careers, or they have reached their limit of child bearing. The moral dilemma is the sanctity of life. Religious backgrounds claim that life begins after fertilization and terminating it at any stage is paramount to murder. With such personification, the fetus is entitled to the right of life as any other human being (Hinman, 2013). As such, they argue against abortion. However, medically, health professionals are obliged to abort so as to preserve the life of a mother if her pregnancy is complicated. Therefore, abortion is a highly controversial moral issue between the ‘pro-life’ and the ‘prochoice’ ? References Committee on Organ Procurement and Transplantation Policy, Institute of Medicine. (2001). Organ Procurement and Transplantation: Assessing Current Policies and the Potential Impact of the DHHS Final Rule. New York: National Academies Press. Gillian, T. (2003). Mixed blessings: ethical issues in assisted conception. Journal of Reproductive and Social Medicine, 34-35. Hinman, L. (2013). Abortion: an oveerview of the ethical issues. University of San Diego. Landlau, R. , Blythe, & Eric. (2004). Third Party Assisted Conception across Cultures: Social, Legal, and Ethical Perspectives. London: Jessica Kingsley Publications. Markens, S. (2007). Surrogate Motherhood and the Politics of Reproduction. Berkley: University of Carlifornia Press. Simo, V. (2002). Parental Responsibility and the Morality of Selective Abortion. Journal of Reproductive Health, 463-484.