No abstract

Women generally have less job authority than men. Previous research has shown that human capital, family features and contextual factors cannot fully explain this gender authority gap. Another popular explanation holds that women's career opportunities are limited because their social networks comprise less beneficial contacts and resources than men's. Yet, the role of social networks has received little attention in empirical research seeking to explain the gender gap in job authority. This study examines to what extent gender differences in social networks exist and are related to the gender authority gap. Drawing on two strands of social network theory, we develop hypotheses about the role of network diversity and network status. We test these hypotheses using representative longitudinal data from the NEtherlands Longitudinal Lifecourse Study (2009-2013). Results reveal that women generally had less diverse occupational networks in terms of contacts' occupations and were less likely to know managers than men, network features which are found to be significantly related to job authority. Controlling for these gender differences in networks leads to a reduction of the observed gender authority gap that is statistically significant but modest in substantive terms.

Approaches for competence assessment are becoming increasingly important to plan school development goals, especially during complex educational changes. This paper outlines authors’ experience and recommendations from the designing and piloting of teacher online tests as part of a wider competence management process. A developed theoretical model of a universal teacher competence profile is presented. Tests represent four thematic parts related to teacher performance in classroom to facilitate: student cognitive activation, student self-regulation, student collaboration, and leveraging digital. Test questions were developed based on a framework of teacher performance assessment that consists of a structured set of performance level descriptors to help determine teacher level of competence (0-4) according to criteria developed. Online tests were completed by 197 teachers. Test results were analysed to determine their validity. Proposed online tests can be used for interpreting assessment results of teacher knowledge and beliefs necessary for teaching 21st century skills and plan teacher professional development for goal attainment in schools.

The aim of the present research is to investigate the existing practices of linking competence assessment to organizational goal-setting in various organisations in Latvia. The importance of linking employee competences to goal-setting within organizations has been established in scientific literature. Nevertheless, there is evidence gathered in this interdisciplinary research that existing methods of competence assessment used by various organizations in Latvia do not translate well into organizational goal-setting. The research is based on information gathered from semi-structured interviews with representatives of managerial positions in private and public, including educational service organizations (26 in total). Additionally, publicly available development plans are analysed. Empirical data are analysed according to a conceptual framework of criteria impacting the goal-setting process. Three subsets of criteria are used that guided interview question formulation and interview data analysis: formulation of a goal; employee’s ability to reach the assigned goal; employee’s self-assessment on his/her ability to reach the assigned goal. Analysis of the results indicate that when setting goals and assessing employee competences in relation to those goals, management decisions are greatly guided by subjective approaches. Such identified approaches in observed private and public service organizations indicate common risks that are discussed in this research.

In the context of planned curriculum reforms in Latvia, teachers will have to acquire the necessary understanding and experience for teaching 21 st century skills. This goal demands real changes in lesson design and how teaching is presented in the classroom. Therefore, this paper seeks to describe and analyse two years of experience in implementing a lesson-based professional learning model for primary school teachers. Empirical data were gathered through a case study design documenting the experience and professional growth of two teacher teams over the course of two years. Results show the first measurable evidence that a lesson-based professional learning model can be helpful to primary teachers for teaching 21 st century skills.