25 septembre 2010

One in four lap dancers has a degree, study finds

The researchers found no evidence of trafficking in the industry, and concluded that career and economic choices were motivations for dancing rather than drug use or coercion. Aspiring actresses, models and artists used exotic dancing as a career strategy which fitted alongside their other work, training or studies. Unemployed new graduates – mainly with arts degrees – were also dancing because they could not find graduate jobs and found that lap dancing paid much better than bar work. The research by Dr Teela Sanders and Kate Hardy, from the University of Leeds, found the vast majority of dancers reported high rates of job satisfaction. The main attraction of the work was the flexibility it offered to combine different work options and studying.
However, the researchers also found dancers' welfare was often disregarded. They called for better regulation to improve dancers' safety and security, including the banning of private booths in clubs, arguing that women could be in danger when alone with customers or that standards could be lowered by women offering more than was allowed in dances. Dancers were also open to financial exploitation by the clubs who could impose charges and fines. One dancer told researchers: "There's not enough security. I know of girls who have been raped and abused at work. You cannot go to the police as you are a stripper, so there's no legal standing." The research comes at a pivotal time for lap dancing clubs. After an explosion of clubs across UK high streets, a change in the law earlier this year saw their reclassification as sexual entertainment venues, giving local authorities more powers to limit the number of clubs in their area and to take objections into consideration.
The change in the licensing laws governing lap-dancing clubs came after a campaign by the Fawcett Society and Object, the women's rights organisations. They have welcomed the change in the law but called for it to go further, saying "lap-dance clubs are a form of commercial sexual exploitation and promote the sexist view that women are sex objects". Dr Sanders said she had been surprised at the "endless supply of women" wanting to be lap dancers. She said: "These women are incredibly body confident. I think there is something of a generational cultural difference. These young women do not buy the line that they are being exploited, because they are the ones making the money out of a three-minute dance and a bit of a chat. You have got to have a certain way about you to do it. They say 80 per cent of the job is talking. These women do work hard for their money – you don't just turn up and wiggle your bum. "But there is an issue about whether these women become trapped in the job because of the money. I think people often stay longer than they want."
The preliminary findings of the year-long study, which will include interviews with 300 dancers, reveal that all the women interviewed had finished school and gained some qualifications. Most (87 per cent) had at least completed a further education course, while one in four had undergraduate degrees. Just over one in three dancers were in some form of education, with 13.9 per cent using dancing to help fund an undergraduate degree, 6.3 per cent to help fund a postgraduate degree, and 3.8 per cent using it to fund further education courses.
Some women begin dancing after graduating from university and not being able to find work. The researchers found arts degree graduates were most likely to report that they had turned to dancing after being unable to find other work. Others used dancing to provide a more steady and reliable income when working in more unstable arts jobs. One dancer had been doing a law degree which included a work placement during her third year. While working, she got used to earning a good wage, decided she would struggle when she returned to university without an income, and began dancing as soon as she went back to finish her degree.
Case study: 'It's your job to flatter men into buying dances'

Amber gave up a career as a financial journalist seven years ago, and now earns around £40,000 a year working as a stripper in pubs in London's East End. The 32-year-old, who has three A-levels and a journalism degree, said: "I had always been fascinated by the idea of being a stripper. I was disillusioned about the work I was doing. I think many people who have worked hard at school and university get out into the real world and find it's not what they expected. Someone I knew had a partner who worked as a stripper, so I went to see her perform at a pub in the East End. "I think it's everyone's dream to be self-employed, to not have a boss and to work as much or as little as you want. In journalism, it didn't matter how many hours of overtime I put in, I still got paid the same. Now I can work really hard one week and earn good money, and then I can have a week when I don't work so hard and don't earn so much. "At first, I combined the stripping with my office job, but then I thought I could come back to sitting behind a desk when I'm older. I've started to move away from pub stripping now, moving more into burlesque and pole and podium dancing.
"I've tried the big clubs, but it didn't suit me. In a funny way, I'm not money-motivated enough. I don't like flattering people's egos if I think they're a bit of an idiot. In a club, it's your job to flatter the men into buying private dances. It's a sales job, and the girls who do that job do it really well. You have to suss out someone's body language, look at their clothes and watch to suss out how much money they've got, and look at how they behave in the group they're in. "I enjoy a proper strip show. I get to choose my own music, my own clothes and perform my own show. In the pubs, I pay £15 on average as a house fee, then you make your money by collecting £1 from everybody. There's no typical earnings – it depends how many people are there. "It doesn't surprise me that dancers are well educated, although in my experience they tend to be from not traditionally academic families. One personality trait most share is being very driven. You need that to get good qualifications if you're not from a traditional academic background. "I've met dancers who have degrees in astrophysics from top universities. They've pushed themselves hard to get those qualifications and now they're pushing themselves to be successful dancers."

Posté par pcassuto à 23:14 - - Permalien [#]


Conference on university rankings

http://www.che-ranking.de/cms/images/logo_che-ranking.gifFor the second time after 2006 the CHE – Centre for Higher Education Development is organising the annual conference of the International Observatory on Academic Rankings and Excellence (IREG). It will take place in Berlin from 6 to 8 October 2010. Interested individuals and organisations can register via the observatory’s website. The event is expected to attract more than 150 participants from all over the world.
The International Observatory on Academic Ranking and Excellence is a worldwide association of organisations that produce rankings on the one hand, and on the other hand of people who use the rankings for research purposes, or who are interested in observing the rankings. The Observatory conferences, which take place every 18 months, support discussions of new developments in relation to the content and methodology of rankings.
The focus of the 2010 meeting will be on European projects that are already underway, such as the U-Multirank Project, in which the CHE is substantially involved, or on projects related to the establishment of a ranking of the “third mission” activities of higher education institutions. Another key topic of the meeting will be the indicators and rankings in humanities and social sciences. There will also be lectures about rankings in Africa and Latin America. Last but not least, an auditing procedure for university rankings will be introduced, which aims to show compliance with minimum quality standards.

Posté par pcassuto à 23:12 - - Permalien [#]

Internationalization of Higher Education: Global Trends, Regional Perspectives

Internationalization 2010Internationalization of Higher Education: Global Trends, Regional Perspectives, IAU 3rd Global Survey Report. Internationalization is now perhaps the most important agent of change in higher education. Higher Education Institution leaders, faculty members, researchers and students, as well as government policy makers and education planners are increasingly interested in internationalization approaches, strategies, as well as issues related to the benefits, risks and challenges that need to be considered as they look into the future. From its unique global vantage point, the International Association of Universities (IAU) regularly undertakes Global Surveys on Internationalization of Higher Education and disseminates their findings.
Internationalization of Higher Education: Global Trends, Regional Perspectives is the title of the IAU 3rd Global Survey Report, data for which was collected in 2009. With contributions from internationalization experts from around the world, the analysis of results is based on responses from HEIs in 115 countries making this the largest internationalization study of its kind!  Internationalization of Higher Education.

Posté par pcassuto à 23:02 - - Permalien [#]

Changing patterns of working, learning and career development across Europe

http://www.ndphs.org/internalfiles/Image/European%20Commission/European%20Flag(1).gifAuteur :  Alan Brown, Jenny Bimrose, Sally-Anne Barnes, Simone Kirpal, Terje Grønning & Marianne Dæhlen
Editeur :  Commission européenne
Date :  09/2010
Cette étude européenne lancée en 2007 et réalisée par le Warwick Institute for Employment Research (IER) examine la formation continue dans la perspective du développement des carrières individuelles. Elle cherche en particulier à identifier les différents types de formation suivies par les travailleurs tout au long de leur vie professionnelle et le rôle joué par le travail lui-même dans le développement des compétences et aptitudes individuelles. Elle va ainsi au-delà des travaux antérieurs, largement focalisés sur l'offre formelle de formation continue et l'apprentissage auto-dirigé, et sur les expériences les plus récentes.
Voir aussi le résumé exécutif. Télécharger le document: http://ec.europa.eu.

Posté par pcassuto à 22:36 - - Permalien [#]

'Expanding Europe'

http://ent.pote.hu/IMAGES/PTE_cimer_kicsi.jpgThe ‘Expanding Europe’ Jubilee Rectors Conference, hosted by the University of Pécs in Hungary, will take place from 11-13 October 2010.
The conference will focus on the following themes in the plenary sessions: university and society, international education, and science and social responsibility. Speakers will include Viktor Orbán, Prime Minister of Hungary, José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission and EUA Deputy Secretary General, John Smith.
There will also be parallel sessions on the impact and experiences of the Bologna Process at EU universities; the new cultural environment in the European Higher Education Area - Degree equivalence as a driving force for the international labour market, and sustainability and profitability of the university.
The conference bears the title Expanding Europe whose validity is deemed to be justified by the idea that it is timely to think about the expansion of European ideas in the minds  without necessarily thinking about physical expansion associated with political states and geographical borders. The conference will be held between 11-15 October, 2010.
Expanding Europe is an initiative to channel efforts on governmental, regional, city and university levels effecting social inclusion, accession in higher education, equal chances to educational and cultural opportunities and to labor markets.
Expanding Europe is a grand opportunity for European rectors to discuss state-of-the-art issues in the European Higher Educational Area, while celebrating the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the European Capitals of Culture Programme. Therefore, the Rectors' Conference will be followed by the annual scientific conference of the University Network of the European Capitals of Culture (UNeECC)  and the Compostela Group of Universities, organized jointly by the two international university organizations.

Posté par pcassuto à 22:26 - - Permalien [#]


Croatian Agency for Science and Higher Education call for members of expert panel

http://www.azvo.info/_/rsrc/1278487567501/config/pagetemplates/predlozak-javni-poziv-hren/logo005.pngPublic call of the Agency for Science and Higher Education for members of expert panels for re-accreditation       
Agency for Science and Higher Education launches re-accreditation of higher education institutions in academic year 2010/2011 and advertises public call for application of members of the expert panel (experts in the field of higher education). Please find more information about application procedure at http://www.azvo.info/javni-poziv-en.
Deadline for application is 15th October 2010. If you have further questions, please send them to akreditacija-visoko@azvo.hr.
Agency for Science and Higher Education launches re-accreditation of higher education institutions in academic year 2010/2011 and advertises public call for application of members of the expert panel (experts in the field of higher education). If you want to apply to be entered in our database of members of the panel of experts, please fill in the following form: Form for application of members of the expert panel for evaluation of higher education institutions – expert in the field of higher education.

Posté par pcassuto à 21:58 - - Permalien [#]
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Positioning and Conceptualizing Adult Education and Learning within Local Development

http://www.eaea.org/kuvat/EAEA-logo-2010.gif28th-30th April 2011, İstanbul, Turkey, Conference theme:
This 5th Seminar of European Society for Research on the Education of Adults (ESREA) Network on Between Global and Local: Adult Learning and Development is organized by ESREA and Boğaziçi University (Turkey) in İstanbul on April 28-30, 2011.
In the first seminar of the network, participants focused on Human Development and Adult Learning in Faro (Portugal) in 2006. In 2008, the seminar was in Wroclaw (Poland) and the topics were grouped under the title ‘Local and Global’, and focused on adult learning and community development. In Magdeburg (Germany) the Seminar focused on learning landscapes between the mainstream and the margins, in 2009. In Seville (Spain), in 2010, participants discussed transforming and researching communities.
The fifth seminar of the network will focus on changing paradigms in the field of adult education and learning, and will discuss how adult education and learning can continue contributing to local development in the global era.
Adult education and learning has been conceptualized and positioned in line with the demands of neo-liberal economy and policies particularly since the 1970s. In this view of things, adult education and learning becomes one of the means to acquire a qualified, flexible and competitive labour force. Such approaches based on human capital theory and organizational effectiveness subordinate the individual and the society to the demands of the market economy.
However, the learning needs of adults cannot be limited to vocational skills compatible with the requirements of the market. Since the foundation of adult education as a field, there have been radical, humanistic and other perspectives that offer different ways of thinking about adult education and learning that have valuable implications for encompassing diverse needs of the individual and society; and for contributing to local development and empowerment. Within the scope of this seminar, we would like to hear the voices of such perspectives focusing on adult education and learning in different contexts, and spaces.
Within this framework, we would welcome all the papers that are connected with, but not limited to, the sub-themes below.
Sub-Themes
    * Impact of neo-liberal transformation on conceptulization and practices of adult education and learning.
    * The role of adult educator for local development and community empowerment
    * Community education as emancipation
    * Emancipatory role of adult education and learning
    * Learning in social movements and local change.
    * Adult literacy: an everlasting and permanent issue.
    * Research trends in adult education and learning
    * Role of media and information technologies on adult education and learning.

Posté par pcassuto à 21:28 - - Permalien [#]

ESREA launches new academic journal

http://www.eaea.org/kuvat/EAEA-logo-2010.gifThe European Journal for Research on the Education and Learning of Adults (RELA) is a refereed academic journal creating a forum for the publication of critical research on adult education and learning.
It has a particular focus on issues at stake for adult education and learning in Europe, as these emerge in connection with wider international and transnational dynamics and trends. Such a forum is important at a time when local and regional explorations of issues are often difficult to foreground across language barriers. As academic and policy debate is increasingly carried out in the English language, this masks the richness of research knowledge, responses and trends from diverse traditions and foci. The journal thus attempts to be linguistically 'open access'. Whilst creating a forum for international and transnational debate, contributions are particularly welcome from authors in Europe and other locations where English is not the first language.
RELA invites original, scholarly articles that discuss the education and learning of adults from different academic disciplines, perspectives and traditions. It encourages diversity in theoretical and methodological approach and submissions from non-English speakers. Contributions will be subject to a rigorous peer review process. Clarity and conciseness of thought are crucial requirements for publication.
The first issue focuses on Envisioning future research on the education and learning of adults. Read RELA. The first issue: RELA volume 1.
VOLUME 1 NUMBER 1-2 OCTOBER 2010, Contents
7 Editorial: Envisioning future research on the education and learning of adults, Andreas Fejes and Henning Salling Olesen
17 Is there still a place for social emancipation in public policies? Envisioning the future of adult education in Portugal, António Fragoso and Paula Guimarães
33 The role of adult educators towards (potential) participants and their contribution to increasing participation in adult education - insights into existing research, Aiga von Hippel and Rudolf Tippelt
53 On the incommensurability of adult education researchers’ worlds, Mieczysław Malewski
67 Riding the lines of flight, Robin Usher
79 Workplace ‘learning’ and adult education. Messy objects, blurry maps and making difference, Tara Fenwick
97 Invisible colleges in the adult education research world, Staffan Larsson
113 Aggression, recognition and qualification. On the social psychology of adult education in everyday life, Kirsten Weber
131 A democracy we can eat: a livelihoods approach to TVET policy andprovision, Astrid von Kotze
147 Book review: The State, civil society and the citizen: Exploring relationships in the field of adult education in Europe, Erik Nylander

Posté par pcassuto à 20:46 - - Permalien [#]

Développer l’employabilité des seniors

http://www.institutmontaigne.org/desideespourdemain/themes/default-3cols-fixes/css/img/top_bandeau.jpgPar Alexandre Quintard, responsable affaires publiques et médias de l'Institut Montaigne. Voir la Vidéo. La réforme des retraites fait l’actualité. Pour des raisons démographiques, le nombre de retraités augmentera dans les prochaines années. Il convient cependant de rappeler que le nombre de cotisants – de personnes qui financent notre système de retraites par répartition – diminuera progressivement. La population des 25-54 ans chutera de 10 % d’ici 2025 (OCDE, 2009). Or, c’est cette même population qui assure aujourd’hui 80 % des emplois en France.

Il paraît dès lors difficile de garantir un financement efficace de notre système de retraites sans un effort significatif en faveur de l’emploi. En particulier de l’activité des jeunes et des seniors.
Nous avions formulé des propositions pour favoriser l’emploi des jeunes dans une précédente minute Montaigne. Voici une autre série de propositions destinées, cette fois-ci, à développer l’employabilité de l’autre extrémité du spectre démographique, les seniors.

Posté par pcassuto à 18:49 - - Permalien [#]

Colloque Territoires, développement et formation

http://www.formationauvergne.com/images/bandeauPRO.gifL'Institut International Joseph Jacotot pour la formation professionnelle, porté par le Conseil régional de Bourgogne, organise un colloque sur le thème Territoires, développement et formation les lundi 6 et mardi 7 décembre 2010 à Dijon. Colloque Territoires_Jacotot.
Ce colloque propose d'explorer la richesse de cette articulation entre les notions de territoire, de développement et de formation, au niveau de la réflexion et au niveau des pratiques (économiques, éducatives, sociales...). Il s'agit donc d'une rencontre entre chercheurs et praticiens destinée à informer et à valoriser les réalisations mais également à mettre en débat les conceptions et les actions menées dans le domaine.
Les apports seront pluridisciplinaires ; les réalisations viendront d'opérateurs de terrain français et étrangers qui s'efforcent de renouveler la réflexion et d'inventer des démarches nouvelles. La perspective proprement politique ne sera pas oubliée. Les membres des Conseils régionaux et généraux, ceux des agences, organismes, administrations, services de l'emploi, des réseaux éducatifs, de formation, d'insertion, de développement, sont directement concernés par la thématique territoriale. Plus d'infos: Véronique Briet, Institut International Joseph Jacotot pour la formation professionnelle, 15 place Grangier, 21 000 Dijon, 03 80 54 14 14, v.briet@institut-jacotot.eu.
http://www.formationauvergne.com/images/bandeauPRO.gif Joseph Jacotot Het Internationaal Instituut voor de beroepsopleiding, ondersteund door de Bourgogne Regionale Raad, is het organiseren van een symposium over gebieden, ontwikkeling en training op maandag 6 en dinsdag de 07 december 2010 in Dijon. Symposium Territoires_Jacotot. Meer...

Posté par pcassuto à 15:23 - - Permalien [#]
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