Search Results (235)

This study explores the migration intentions of university students—representing the potential creative class—in Erzurum, a medium-sized city in eastern Turkey experiencing shrinkage. Within the theoretical framework of shrinking cities, it investigates how economic, social, physical, and personal factors influence students’ post-graduation stay or leave decisions. Survey data from 742 Architecture and Fine Arts students at Atatürk University were analyzed using factor analysis, logistic regression, and correlation to identify key migration drivers. Findings reveal that, in addition to economic concerns such as limited job opportunities and low income, personal development opportunities and social engagement also play a decisive role. In particular, the perception of limited chances for skill enhancement and the belief that Erzurum is not a good place to meet people emerged as the strongest predictors of migration intentions. These results suggest that members of the creative class are influenced not only by economic incentives but also by broader urban experiences related to self-growth and social connectivity. This study highlights spatial inequalities in access to cultural, educational, and social infrastructure, raising important questions about spatial justice in shrinking urban contexts. This paper contributes to the literature on shrinking cities by highlighting creative youth in mid-sized Global South cities. It suggests smart shrinkage strategies focused on creative sector development, improved quality of life, and inclusive planning to retain young talent and support sustainable urban revitalization. Full article

More than 50 years ago, children were viewed as naturally resilient and often labeled invulnerable or invincible. Resilience is now understood to be the result of dynamic interactions between individual, familial, social, and environmental systems, decentralizing the focus from the individual to the global society. Experiences with adversity may emanate from the youth’s family environment, their community, the school system, and larger structural challenges related to poverty, discrimination, health disparities, and educational inequities. Youth experiences with adversity, trauma, and tragedy have the potential to negatively impact youth well-being, with consequences manifesting across the lifespan. Children and adolescents generally hold limited power to change their circumstances and are often ill-equipped to resolve the adverse or traumatic experiences occurring within their ecosystem. The value of social supports in the young person’s ability to be resilient has been affirmed. This understanding is particularly important for children growing up in poverty or in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) where significant challenges occur as a result of economic and social disadvantage. Resilience at the individual level is unlikely to eliminate macrolevel issues. Developing and deploying strategies to enhance the ability of youth to rebound from adversity represents a positive step at the micro level, but the larger issues of economic and social disadvantage are unlikely to change without macro-level interventions. Glancing toward the future, traumatized youth may grow into traumatized adults without appropriate interventions and changes in social policies, programs, and protections. Full article

It is by now a common trope that youth climate activism has become a ‘global phenomenon’. Yet, it also has significant regional variations. This literature review analyses eighteen academic articles on the topic of youth climate activism in Asia. We found that the literature from Asia overall had ambitions to contextualise and nuance international scholarship on youth climate activism. This was achieved by emphasising social and cultural constructions of youth in different Asian contexts; by exploring inequality-related barriers for young people to enter into climate activism; by emphasising solidarity across classes and ages as a particular aspect of much Asian youth climate activism; and by showcasing the political restrictions in many Asian states, which inhibit (scholarship on) activism. We conclude that Asian avatars of youth climate activism have evolved in response to their distinct social, cultural, and political contexts, and that they challenge not easily transferable concepts such as ‘school strike’ and ‘future generations’. At the end, we offer suggestions for future research, including the need for going beyond desk studies when documenting discrete movements and for conceptualisations of youth climate activism that are inclusive of diverse contexts. Full article

This study presents advanced control and energy management strategies for uncertain wind energy systems using a Takagi–Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy modeling framework. To address key challenges, such as system uncertainties, external disturbances, and input delays, the study integrates a fuzzy H∞ robust control approach with a neural network-based delay compensation mechanism. A fuzzy observer-based H∞ tracking controller is developed to enhance robustness and minimize the impact of disturbances. The stability conditions are rigorously derived using a quadratic Lyapunov function, H∞ performance criteria, and Young’s inequality and are expressed as Linear Matrix Inequalities (LMIs) for computational efficiency. In parallel, a neural network-based controller is employed to compensate for the input delays introduced by online learning processes. Furthermore, an energy management layer is incorporated to regulate the power flow and optimize energy utilization under varying operating conditions. The proposed framework effectively combines control and energy coordination to improve the systems’ performance. The simulation results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed strategies, demonstrating enhanced stability, robustness, delay tolerance, and energy efficiency in wind energy systems. Full article

The current article seeks to understand, and critically analyze the implications of, how youth custody workers understand the relationship between sport, physical activity, and health among youth who are incarcerated. Data was collected through surveys (n = 15) and semi-structured interviews (n = 16) with youth custody workers in Ontario, Canada. We present and analyze three themes emerging from participants’ narratives: the potential for sport and physical activity to contribute, in a holistic way, to the physical, mental, and social health of youth who are incarcerated; the possibility for sport and physical activity to create space for building “therapeutic alliances” between staff and youth, which can improve the mental and social health of youth who are incarcerated; and perceptions of health deficits among youth who are incarcerated and their implications for social inequality. Through an analysis of these themes, we deepen the limited scholarly analysis of sport, physical activity, and health among young persons who are incarcerated and connect these discussions to broader considerations of social determinants of health (that is, structural and social factors that create health inequities) as a matter of social justice. Full article

There are increasing expectations that we should live in a digitally and computationally literate society. For many young people, particularly girls, school is the one place that provides an opportunity to develop the necessary knowledge and skills. This environment can either perpetuate and reinforce or eliminate existing gender inequalities. In this article, we present the “PLAYING, ENGAGEMENT, CREATVITIY, CREATING” (PECC) Framework, a practical guide to supporting teachers in the design of gender-sensitive learning activities, bringing students’ own interests to the fore. Through a six-year, mixed-methods, design-based research approach, PECC—along with supporting resources and digital tools—was developed through iterative cycles of theoretical analysis, empirical data (both qualitative and quantitative), critical reflection, and case study research. Exploratory and instrumental case studies investigated the promise and limitations of the emerging framework, involving 43 teachers and 1453 students in secondary-school classrooms (including online during COVID-19) in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. Quantitative data (e.g., surveys, usage metrics) and qualitative findings (e.g., interviews, observations, classroom artefacts) were analyzed across the case studies to inform successive refinements of the framework. The case study results are presented alongside the theoretically informed discussions and practical considerations that informed each stage of PECC. PECC has had a real-world, tangible impact at a national level. It provides an essential link between research and practice, offering a theoretically informed and empirically evidenced framework for teachers and policy makers. Full article

Background: The provision of education, health, and social care for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in England has long been criticised for its inequities and chronic underfunding. These systemic issues were further exacerbated by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the accompanying restrictions, which disrupted essential services and resulted in widespread unmet needs and infringements on the rights of many children with SEND. This study aimed to use a three-phase consensus-building approach with 1353 participants across five stakeholder groups to collaboratively develop evidence-informed priorities for policy and practice. The priorities sought to help address the longstanding disparities and respond to the intensified challenges brought about by the pandemic. Methods: A total of 55 children with SEND (aged 5–16), 893 parents/carers, and 307 professionals working in SEND-related services participated in the first phase through online surveys. This was followed by semi-structured interviews with four children and young people, ten parents/carers, and 15 professionals, allowing for deeper exploration of lived experiences and priorities. The data were analysed, synthesised, and structured into five overarching areas of priority. These were subsequently discussed and refined in a series of activity-based group workshops involving 20 children with SEND, 11 parents/carers, and 38 professionals. Results and Conclusions: The consensus-building process led to the identification of key priorities for both pandemic response and longer-term recovery, highlighting the responsibilities of central Government and statutory services to consider and meet the needs of children with SEND. These priorities are framed within a children’s rights context and considered against the rights and duties set out in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989). Priorities include protecting and promoting children with SEND’s rights to (1) play, socialise, and be part of a community, (2) receive support for their social and emotional wellbeing and mental health, (3) feel safe, belong, and learn in school, (4) “access health and social care services and therapies”, and (5) receive support for their parents/carers and families. Together, they highlight the urgent need for structural reform to ensure that children with SEND receive the support they are entitled to—not only in times of crisis but as a matter of routine practice and policy. Full article

The research analyzed the cognitive styles, sexist attitudes and social competencies that hinder gender equality in secondary education students. It identified sexist attitudes, cognitive styles and social skills that hinder change towards gender equality; explored significant differences in sexist attitudes and cognitive strategies and social attitudes by age; studied the relationship between sexist attitudes and cognitive and social strategies that perpetuate gender inequality; and analyzed how age may predict the use of these strategies. A total of 1034 students aged 11 to 18 participated in a cross-sectional study. The Ambivalent Sexism Inventory for Adolescents and the Questionnaire of Attitudes and Cognitive Social Strategies were administered. The results indicate that young people exhibit moderate levels of cognitive and social strategies that hinder the change in sexist behaviors. At ages 12–14, the acceptance of ambivalent and benevolent attitudes such as paternalism and heterosexual intimacy increases. We found greater aggressiveness–stubbornness, apathy–withdrawal, impulsivity, and rigidity of thought at ages 15–17. Age explains a small proportion of the variance in sexist attitudes, cognitive styles, and social competencies that hinder gender equality. The study highlights the need for coeducational measures that ensure equal cognitive and socio-emotional development in women and men. Full article

Socioeconomic inequalities in educational achievement are pervasive across societies. To inform a European Commission-funded project on educational inequalities in children, adolescents, and young adults, we used a scoping review methodology to synthesise the methods, topics, and coverage of reviews of empirical studies published in the past five years (2019–2024). Our systematic search of the Web of Science database identified 498 unique records, which were screened for eligibility. Of these records, 57 progressed to full-text screening, with 29 included in the metareview. We extracted data on the reviews’ methodologies, overarching conceptual perspectives, conceptualisations of socioeconomic inequalities and educational achievement, and educational stages covered. Our analysis found gaps, including a lack of qualitative reviews, a lack of focus on primary education and on tertiary education outside of university (e.g., further education college), scarce coverage of the impact of broader contextual indicators of socioeconomic inequality (e.g., school and neighbourhood contexts) on educational outcomes, and a narrow focus on academic achievement. To conclude our metareview, we synthesise and expand the review topics into an interdisciplinary conceptual diagram that illustrates the breadth and depth of research needed in this field. Full article

The content in this autoethnography manuscript is significant because it takes a different angle than the typical discourse surrounding sport-based youth development (SBYD). Typically, the discourse on SBYD focuses on the positive outcomes of improved social–emotional learning and academic achievement. In using an autoethnographic approach, I share stories from my personal experience as a practitioner in the field to illustrate a new perspective on how to think about the impact of sport-based youth development on young people. Though those outcomes are positive and impactful, they fail to capture the continued inequity in the quality of youth sports programs in underserved communities compared to others. I utilize research in SBYD to analyze each story as a practitioner in the field to thoroughly reflect on my personal experiences and their relation to social justice. The stories are also a tool for making the connection between the individual work of various organizations pursuing sport equity. Through storytelling, reflection, and analysis, I connect the mission of each organization I worked with to the concept of social justice youth development in a more personalized way than numbers and data can illustrate. Additionally, this autoethnography highlights non-traditional sport spaces and advocates for a way to fuse social justice into them. This manuscript seeks to simultaneously refresh the way equity in sport has been looked at, while also illuminating the ways it is already being examined. The paper presents new questions that can be used to better analyze the presence of social justice in youth sports and provides a potential pathway forward by grounding in a definition of quality SBYD programming. These questions imply that the measures of the impact and potential benefits of SBYD may need to be redefined to better match the real lived experiences of individual youth participating in such programs. Full article

Cisheteronormativities inform and distort what LGBTQ+ young people’s bodies can be and do, and what choices about the body are possible, profoundly impacting mental health. This article presents findings from a UK study examining ‘what works’ in early intervention mental health support for LGBTQ+ youth to examine how these impacts can be addressed. Data were collected across 12 mental health support services via the following: interviews with LGBTQ+ youth aged 12–25, service staff/volunteers, and parents/carers (n = 93); document review; and non-participant observation. In analysis, ‘Body’ was identified as a key principle underpinning effective early intervention mental health support. This article presents three key areas: the ability to name and define the body; the body’s ability to ‘do’; and the ability to make informed decisions about one’s body, life, and future. This article highlights the urgent importance of upholding bodily autonomy for LGBTQ+ youth if efforts to address mental health inequalities are to have any chance at success. Full article

Limited access to education in rural areas of Senegal is a structural barrier to human development and equal opportunities. The Bicycles for Education project, promoted by the Utopia Foundation—Bicycles Without Borders (BSF), aims to improve the educational participation of young people aged 12 to 21 by providing bicycles to facilitate their travel to school. In this study, the GRITS research group from the University of Barcelona externally evaluates the impact of the project on improving access to education, reducing gender inequalities, and the associated socioeconomic as well as community benefits. A qualitative approach based on individual interviews (n = 23), focus groups (n = 6) and group interviews (n = 8) was used, with a total of 80 participants, including students, families, teachers, project coordinators, and institutional managers. The analysis was carried out through thematic coding and content analysis, identifying four main axes: educational impact, gender equity, economic effects, and community transformation. The results show that the provision of bicycles throughout the school year led to increased school attendance and punctuality, improvements in academic performance, a reduction in social inequalities, gender inequalities in access to education, and a decrease in household costs associated with transport and food. In addition, there has been a cultural transformation in the perception of cycling as a viable means of mobility and a change in those communities where the project has been running for more than a decade. Full article

Despite growing concern, there is limited comprehensive and up-to-date research on the burden, disparities, and inequalities of depressive disorders in the Western Pacific region. We obtained data from the Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD; 2021) for the Western Pacific region. We reported the prevalence and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) rates of depressive disorders from 1990 to 2021. Our results showed that the prevalence of depressive disorders in the Western Pacific region was 1723.1 per 100,000 people (95% UI: 1359.2–2164.9), contributing to 1057.3 DALYs per 100,000 (95% UI: 683.0–1551.8). From 1990 to 2021, the burden of depressive disorders initially decreased but then increased, with Japan, Malaysia, and South Korea seeing the most significant rise. The burden grew with age, especially in the 10–14 age group, and exhibited significant sex disparities, especially in this age group. Among 31 countries, those with higher UHC scored had higher prevalence rates, but the gap between high- and low-UHC countries has decreased over time, indicating that countries with lower UHC might face greater challenges in the future. Our results highlight the differences in burden by sex and age call for targeted policies and interventions to promote youth mental health. Accelerating universal health coverage could be a key strategy to further reduce this high burden. Full article

Millions of young Africans earn a variety of qualifications annually, yet the majority return without prospects for employment. This challenge has become a catalyst for inequality, poverty, crime involvement, and international migration. Empirical discourse points to education—such as a pedagogy that is chiefly theory-oriented rather than aligned with a knowledge economy, mismatched skills, and irrelevant qualifications—as constraints that contribute to the unemployment of the continent’s vibrant young graduates. Amidst this surging issue, the call for transformation in higher learning has never been clearer. Focusing on rural landscapes, this case study analysed the contextual employability potential of graduates pursuing an entrepreneurial university trajectory in Africa, illustrating why the paradigm should be implemented. The findings, based on qualitative data collected using a semi-structured questionnaire through one-on-one and remote approaches from stakeholders in universities across five African countries, highlight three dimensions central to this pathway. These include (1) curriculum alignment to advance cutting-edge qualifications and skill development that resonate with industrial demand and local economic priorities; (2) stakeholder embeddings in which universities strive to partner with local organisations and established alumni to provide mentorship, job leads, and referrals; and (3) innovation hubs that offer a variety of entrepreneurial support, real-world experience, and Indigenous entrepreneurship practices, leading to unique new ventures and employment opportunities. Implementing this strategy will enable rural-based universities in Africa to innovate in promoting graduate employability, socioeconomic advancements, and sustainable development, ultimately shaping a brighter future for the continent. Further studies could test the assumptions for broader application using statistical analysis. Full article

This qualitative study adopts a feminist perspective, delving into the cultural and moral dynamics inherent in financial literacy for retirement among Generation Y women in Israel. Employing the theoretical framework of gendered cultural schemas and focusing on the motherhood model, the research provides valuable insight into the social and moral forces that underlie young women’s financial literacy perceptions and actions regarding retirement in Israel. Based on interviews with 46 young Israeli-Jewish women from the Y generation, results underscore the significant embedded nature of the cultural model of intensive motherhood in young women’s financial literacy and their approach to retirement planning. This study emphasizes the role of culture in explaining gender inequality in retirement planning, shedding light on the role of young women’s agency operating within the boundaries of a gendered social structure. It calls for the inclusion of feminist approaches to enhance our understanding of social phenomena. Full article