Does the job performance of academics' influence burnout and psychological counselling? A comparative analysis amongst high-, average-, low-, and non-performers.

BACKGROUND: Extensive research has been conducted treating burnout as an independent variable and performance as a dependent variable to proffer possible solutions to burnout and job performance among academics. Despite this, the burnout crises persist and are exacerbated by the ongoing global proliferation of higher education. Acknowledging this, the current study explored whether performance may contribute to the emergence of burnout. METHODS: The study's sample population comprised 689 academics from Jiangsu province, China. Key Performance Indicator (KPI) results served to measure performance. Psychological counselling and Burnout were calculated using mental health results garnered from the universities. Data was collected on respondents' demographic characteristics and work situations. The mean scores were 0.517 (SD = 0.5) for gender and 1.586 (SD = 1.103) for age. The relationship among performance, job burnout, and psychological counselling was analysed via a cross-sectional survey deploying grouped regression. RESULTS: Academics' job performance was found to regulate their burnout (ß = -0.058, P < 0.01). Higher performance of academics was significantly associated with lower job burnout and psychological counselling. Furthermore, psychological counselling significantly moderated job burnout (ß = -0.012, P < 0.05) among academics without regulating their job performance. CONCLUSION: The paper supplements the discourse on job burnout and academic performance by suggesting a pre-counselling measure as a strategy to address the crises of burnout. The paper argued that the continued competence of employees should prevent burnout in Higher education and ensure better job performance.

What makes a difference for further advancement of engineers: socioeconomic background or education programs?

Education is considered to be the most effective tool that people can use to lift themselves out of poor socioeconomic backgrounds and lead to professional success, which in turn improves society. Since an education system often supports individuals with a higher socioeconomic status (SES), it may not resolve the issue of socioeconomic background impacting on career outcomes. Given the nature of the research questions, an individualistic approach is used for selecting tools. Using qualitative and quantitative analysis methods, we argue that graduates studying an 8-year engineering program fail to succeed compared to counterparts who studied a 4-year engineering program. Findings suggest that engineering graduates' socioeconomic backgrounds help them with their career advancement. A policy intervention may help to address the influence of SES on engineering education and professional employment.

Bioenergy consumption, carbon emissions, and agricultural bioeconomic growth: A systematic approach to carbon neutrality in China.

China is the world's largest fossil fuel consumer and carbon emitter country. In September 2020, China pledged to reduce carbon emissions, and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. Therefore, this study aimed to contribute to the literature and show the pictorial nexus of bioenergy and fossil fuel consumption, carbon emission, and agricultural bioeconomic growth, a new pathway towards carbon neutrality. For this study, time-series data from 1971 to 2019 were used to analyze the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bound testing and novel dynamic autoregressive distributed lag (DYNARDL) simulation models. Initially, the unit root tests results showed that all variables were stationarity at the level and first difference. The presence of cointegration between selected variables was confirmed by the results from ARDL bound test. In addition, the results of long-run and short-run nexus show an increase in bioenergy consumption that caused an increase in agricultural bioeconomic growth both in the long and short-run nexus. A decrease in fossil fuel consumption was shown to result in increased agricultural bioeconomic growth with respect to both long- and short-term effects. Furthermore, the results of the novel dynamic ARDL simulation model demonstrated that a 10% positive shock from bioenergy consumption caused an increase in agricultural bioeconomic growth, while at the same time, a 10% negative shock in bioenergy consumption led to a decrease. A 10% negative shock from fossil fuels caused an increase in agricultural bioeconomic growth, whereas a 10% positive shock from fossil fuels led to a decrease. Therefore, this study suggests that China needs to switch from fossil fuel and other non-renewable energy consumption to sources of bioenergy and other renewable energy consumption to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.

Online technology: Sustainable higher education or diploma disease for emerging society during emergency-comparison between pre and during COVID-19.

Even as the pandemic rages on across the globe, the notion of shutting down higher education has never been an option; instead, finding ways to circumvent it has led to a greater reliance on online technology delivery of courses and programs. Although this is not meant as a complete substitute, critics argue that online education has widened the 'diploma disease' crisis. They argued that this would lead to serious long-term problems which may become irreversible. This comparative study was conducted using an 'empirical survey' with 120 students from each group (before and during COVID-19, giving a total of 240 samples/students) to conduct an in-depth study of the academic and job-ready performance of graduates. Findings show that pre-pandemic students did poorly academically compared to during-pandemic counterparts. On the other hand, pre-pandemic graduates achieved better job-readiness scores which included both aptitude and practicum. Moreover, both groups achieved well in terms of academic performance compared to their job-readiness scores. This leads to the question: is it the role of HE to value the concept of sustainable production or to produce certificates/qualifications? Apparently, the HE system has used COVID-19 as an excuse to extend the "diploma disease crisis", a situation that must be addressed by devising a proper policy framework.

Does online technology provide sustainable HE or aggravate diploma disease? Evidence from Bangladesh-a comparison of conditions before and during COVID-19.

Higher education (HE) serves to produce well trained and job-ready graduates. Despite this belief, whether HE produces certificates/qualifications or job-ready graduates-this debate remains unsettled. To date, the current COVID-19 pandemic which erupted in late 2019 continues to create much economic, social and political dislocation throughout the world. Consequently, one outcome for HE during this crisis is the much greater dependence on online/digital technology to deliver courses and programs. Although it is not considered to be a complete substitute, critics argue that education delivered through online technology has expended the 'diploma disease' crisis and subsequently may pose a threat to the viability of producing HE graduates. It has been suggested that this can result in significant long-term problems that may be impossible to recover from. This study was based on a 'empirical survey' where the sample incorporated 240 people in two groups (before and during COVID-19, for a total of 120 in each), and the objective was to examine academic and job-readiness of graduates in greater depth. Findings demonstrate that pre-pandemic students scored poorly academically compared to their post-pandemic classmates. Pre-pandemic graduates, on the other hand, had higher work readiness scores in terms of both aptitude and practical aspects. Furthermore, both groups outperformed their job-readiness scores in terms of learning performance. This raises the question: is it the job of higher education to promote sustainable production of graduates or deliver certificates and degrees? COVID-19 appears to have been utilised by the HE system as an excuse to exacerbate the "diploma disease crisis," a scenario that must be resolved by developing a proper policy framework that allows HE to play the necessary role in an emergency. Meaningful measures should be taken so that online technology is employed properly in this situation.

Dual burden of underweight and overweight among women in Bangladesh: patterns, prevalence, and sociodemographic correlates.

The discourse of dual burden caused through underweight and overweight is well-documented globally but this issue and its connection with women's health in Bangladesh is yet to be explored widely. To enrich the current debate, this study, in the context of Bangladesh, examines the patterns, prevalence, and socioeconomic factors influencing the ever-married women of being underweight and overweight over normal weight. Data used in this study have been extracted from the most recent 2011 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey. To achieve results connected with the research objectives, both bivariate and multivariate statistical analyses have been employed. In bivariate analysis, we used seven categories of BMI cutoff points for Asian countries as prescribed by World Health Organization (WHO). Multinomial logistic regression model was constructed to investigate the net effect of socioeconomic factors on underweight, pre-overweight, and overweight over normal weight. The results confirm the co-existence of underweight and overweight among women as we found the prevalence of underweight, normal weight, pre-overweight, overweight, and obesity to be 24.1%, 46.7%, 12.8%, 13.5%, and 2.9% respectively. Compared to the richest, the women from the poorest households were significantly (p<0.001) most likely to be underweight (OR=2.75, 95% CI 2.27-3.35) and least likely to be overweight (OR=0.15, 95% CI 0.12-0.19) over normal weight. The urban women, compared to their rural counterparts, were significantly (p<0.001) less likely to be underweight (OR=0.80, 95% CI 0.71-0.91) and more likely to be overweight (OR=1.33, 95% CI 1.18-1.51) than normal weight. The other socioeconomic grades that were most marked to be underweight and overweight are age, women's education, marital status, age at first childbirth, parity, number of children aged ≤ 5 years at the household, and food security. The findings confirm the dual burden of both under- and overweight. Systematic and regular monitoring and surveillance of the social trajectory of nutritional status of women and men in Bangladesh is crucial to develop opposite strategy that addresses the persistent and chronic problem of underweight and the emerging problem of overweight. The dual existence of both types of malnutrition among women in Bangladesh must be taken into consideration so that public health interventions may be adopted through appropriate policy.

Child marriage in Bangladesh: trends and determinants.

This study examines the trends and determinants of child marriage among women aged 20-49 in Bangladesh. Data were extracted from the last six nationally representative Demographic and Health Surveys conducted during 1993-2011. Simple cross-tabulation and multivariate binary logistic regression analyses were adopted. According to the survey conducted in 2011, more than 75% of marriages can be categorized as child marriages. This is a decline of 10 percentage points in the prevalence of child marriage compared with the survey conducted in 1993-1994. Despite some improvements in education and other socioeconomic indicators, Bangladeshi society still faces the relentless practice of early marriage. The mean age at first marriage has increased by only 1.4 years over the last one and half decades, from 14.3 years in 1993-1994 to 15.7 years in 2011. Although the situation on risk of child marriage has improved over time, the pace is sluggish. Both the year-of-birth and year-of-marriage cohorts of women suggest that the likelihood of marrying as a child has decreased significantly in recent years. The risk of child marriage was significantly higher when husbands had no formal education or little education, and when the wives were unemployed or unskilled workers. Muslim women living in rural areas have a greater risk of child marriage. Women's education level was the single most significant negative determinant of child marriage. Thus, the variables identified as important determinants of child marriage are: education of women and their husbands, and women's occupation, place of residence and religion. Programmes to help and motivate girls to stay in school will not only reduce early marriage but will also support overall societal development. The rigid enforcement of the legal minimum age at first marriage could be critical in decreasing child marriage.

Whether academics' job performance makes a difference to burnout and the effect of psychological counselling-comparison of four types of performers.

Treating burnout as an independent variable while performance is the dependent variable, earlier studies revealed that job burnout experienced by academics adversely affects how well they perform. Whether performance may contribute to the emergence of burnout is yet to be analyzed-it is an issue investigated in this paper. Readjusting the nature of the variables, this quantitative study adopted group regression and it discovered that the performance of academics instead regulates their burnout without making performance a consequence of burnout-a new dynamic that challenges the earlier assumption. Following this earlier belief, counselling strategy to boost the employees' psyche was deemed to be the main post-measurement tool to deal with the burnout crisis. With respect to both tenets (current and earlier), psychological counselling was treated as a moderating variable to check whether it is important enough in removing the burnout felt by employees so that they subsequently could function better. It is further discovered that although psychological counselling removes employees' burnout to some extent, it failed to transform them into better-functioning people. This study suggests a pre-measurement counselling strategy will ensure academics are competently engaged since ensuring competency is a fundamental aspect of eliminating a job burnout crisis. The sustained competency of employees will eventually prevent burnout and may halt the transmission of a burnout crisis at large-it adds to this study's theoretical contribution to the topic.

Determinants of institutional delivery among women in Bangladesh.

This study examines the factors that influence institutional delivery among women in Bangladesh extracting data from 2007 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey. We employed both bivariate and multivariate statistical analyses in this study. Findings revealed that, only 14.7% of the women went for institutional delivery and 28.8% births were delivered by trained birth attendance. The multivariate logistic regression analysis yielded quantitatively important and reliable estimates of facility delivery. The likelihood of institutional delivery was significantly higher for first-order pregnancy, couples' higher education, the richest, higher autonomy, TV ownership, non-Muslims, who received antenatal care services, pregnancy complications, and urban residents. Government should ensure quality of care, easy accessibility, and availability of all facilities free of cost in the public medical institutions. Women should be informed regarding the long-term benefit of institutional delivery through information, education, and communication program.

Negative correlation between age of subjects and length of the appendix in Bangladeshi males.

INTRODUCTION: The anatomy of the vermiform appendix shows variations in its macroscopic dimensions some of which have potential to influence the clinical aspects of the appendix. Anatomical studies on the appendix using people in Bangladesh as a sample are limited and fall short of producing any standardized anthropometric data. This study is predominantly a cross-sectional observational study which also uses some statistical analysis to understand the relationships amongst variables. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Fifty-six adult male postmortem appendices and adnexa were examined for macroscopic features. Possible interrelationships among the variables were assessed through statistical analysis. The age of the samples ranged from 18 to 67 years. The most common position of the appendix was retrocolic (53.57%) followed by pelvic (30.35%), postileal (12.5%), and subcaecal (3.5%). RESULTS: In most cases (62.5%) the mesoappendix did not reach the tip of the appendix. The appendicular length varied from 6.00 cm to 16.30 cm with mean (± SD) and median value of 10.21 ±2.50 cm and 10.00 cm respectively. The base of the appendix was 1.90 to 3.80 cm away from the ileocaecal junction. The other macroscopic measurements of the appendix were taken at the base, at the midzone and at the tip of the appendix and the mean of the three measurements was considered as the overall value. Thus, the overall external diameter varied between 0.32 cm and 0.83 cm. Assessment of possible correlations amongst different variables revealed a significant negative correlation between the age of the subjects and the length of the appendix. CONCLUSIONS: The data of the present study may provide a baseline along with some previous data in the standardization of the anthropometric information regarding the vermiform appendix of Bangladeshi males.