Are graduates’ intrapreneurial skills optimally used for innovation?

This paper studies the extent to which higher education graduates with higher intrapreneurial skills – creative, brokering, and championing skills – are more involved in innovation. Crucially, we differentiate between graduates employed in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) occupations and those employed in business occupations. Using data on higher education graduates from 11 European countries, we find that, in both STEM and business occupations, high levels of creative skills are important to involvement in innovation. Higher levels of brokering skills are particularly important for graduates employed in STEM occupations, whereas higher levels of championing skills are particularly important for those in business occupations. We find, however, that the innovative potential of graduates with higher levels of intrapreneurial skills is not optimally utilized for innovation. Our study provides valuable insights for those selecting graduates for STEM and business occupations based on specific intrapreneurial skills to foster both product and process innovation, as well as for those in charge of designing higher education study curricula.     

STEM selves: Women’s identity projects and their assessment of future employers in technical fields

In this paper, we take an identity project perspective on careers to explore how job seekers assess potential employers. Identity projects are individuals’ self-definitions in the light of their career development and personal aspirations and have the potential to further our understanding of careers. Drawing on focus group discussions of women seeking employment in STEM, we find four identity positioning strategies through which the women assess future employers. Our analysis illustrates the role of organizational images for shaping and realizing individuals’ identity projects. We contribute to research on identity projects by extending the concept’s focus to include job seekers as external organizational stakeholders and provide insight into their identity positioning. Furthermore, our study enhances the understanding of organizational image in the context of employee recruitment by outlining how individuals position themselves in relation to the organizational images they construct when reflecting on their identity projects and on the institutional context. Overall, we develop a more nuanced approach to understanding women’s interpretations of organizational identity claims (e.g., gender diversity claims) and thus extend current theorizing on recruiting women to STEM.     

Do Foreign Experts Increase the Productivity of Domestic Firms?

While most countries welcome (and some even subsidize) high‐skilled immigrants, there is very limited evidence of their importance for domestic firms. To guide our empirical analysis, we first set up a simple theoretical model to show how foreign experts can affect the productivity and wages of domestic firms. Using matched worker–firm data from Denmark and a matching difference‐in‐differences approach, we then find that firms that hire foreign experts instead of domestic experts become more productive, in the sense that they pay higher wages to high‐skilled co‐workers.     

Bolstering the female CEO pipeline: Equalizing the playing field and igniting women’s potential as top-level leaders

Females represent just 6% of Fortune 500 CEOs in the U.S. Which competencies, traits, motivations, and experiences drive female CEOs to the corner office? Our study includes interviews with 57 women, all current and former CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, in an effort to explore the common characteristics of female CEOs and record their experiences as well as actions organizations took that supported—and hindered—their leadership ascents. We found common themes of female CEOs’ courage, risk taking, resilience, and ability to manage ambiguity. Women need not shy away from tough and unpredictable job assignments that will build these characteristics. To this end, we suggest steps organizations should take to cultivate a robust pipeline of female talent in the workplace.     

The evolution of wage gaps between STEM and non-STEM graduates in a technological following economy

ABSTRACT

Based on the assumption that the set of skills characterizing different fields of study do not match the new technologies in the same way, we focus on the evolution of wage gaps between university graduates in STEM disciplines and other subjects. An Oaxaca decomposition technique is applied to early wages of Italian graduates after taking into account both the selection into employment and the endogeneity of major’s choice. Our results can hardly be reconciled with the hypothesis of a technological change favouring STEM graduates in Italy, and are more consistent with the worsening in the relative demand for STEM graduates.     

Workplace incivility against women in STEM: Insights and best practices

As demonstrated by both empirical and non-empirical research, women are more likely than men to be a target of workplace incivility. This manifests in a variety of negative outcomes for female employees, including turnover intentions, poor performance, and higher levels of stress. The problem is exacerbated for women in STEM fields due to factors unique to these industries. Herein, we outline the unique characteristics of STEM organizations that can foster the creation and sustenance of an atmosphere promoting workplace incivility against female employees. Then, we provide five best practice recommendations geared toward reducing incivility, improving work climate, and promoting overall retention of women in STEM.     

STEM 教育理念引入市场营销学教学后的实施效果评估研究——基于3年教学调查数据的双重倍差法分析

集科学、技术、工程和数学于一体的STEM教育理念是否能提高在校大学生的创新能力,是一个具有研究价值的问题。本文以STEM教育理念引入市场营销课程为研究目标,通过理论分析其融合机制与实现形式,设计了基于STEM教育理念的市场营销学课程模式,并利用市场营销课程教学效果的3年调查数据,运用能够消除政策内生性的双重倍差法,实证检验了STEM教育理念引入后的教学效果。研究发现,STEM教育理念引入课程能够显著提升学习优秀率0.23个百分点。这一结论对于大二年级的学生尤为明显,但并不存在明显的性别差异。鉴于此,本文认为应当加快STEM教育理念引入课程教学的建设进程,加大对课程建设的投资力度,以此保证高校培养创新性人才的效果。