Juliet Thondhlana

Collaborative writing in engineering: Perspectives from research and implications for undergraduate education

In engineering, like in many other disciplines, collaborative writing (CW) has been identified as a central practice in both the academy and industry. A number of studies have shown that both students and professionals in this field write most discipline-specific genres collaboratively. Despite its centrality, CW in engineering is still an under-researched area with very few empirical studies on how it happens as situated practice. This article reports on a study that used a variety of data sets as its empirical base to examine CW in four schools of the faculty of engineering at a university in the UK. It also reports on the views of CW in the workplace that lecturers involved in industry hold. The article aims at contributing to the understanding of CW in engineering by identifying its role, nature and dynamics. It also examines pedagogical implications resulting from the study with a view to making a contribution to developments in writing in engineering education. The article finishes by making a number of recommendations for future research.

Provision of quality education in the context of Syrian refugee children in the UK: opportunities and challenges

Abstract While existing research has shown the importance of the three interrelated domains of the wider policy, the school and home/community environments in the development of quality education for learners, this literature does not fully capture the experiences of the refugee population. In this article we focus on a group of Syrian refugees who came as part of the first large cohort that was welcomed in the UK in December 2015. We adapt Tikly’s quality education frameworks and develop a model that highlights not only the importance of the three intersecting environments, but also the specific inputs/processes that are critical to achieving quality education for refugees. In so doing, we stress the critical role of English as a tool for refugee children’s inclusion and integration in schools. Consequently, the contribution of the paper is an understanding of the inputs/processes that are key to the development of quality education for migrant/refugee children.

Cracking the Case A Task-Based Investigation of a Group Case-Study Project at a Business School

Research has noted an increase in the use of assessed group projects across disciplines in institutions of higher learning. Consequently, this study investigates the prompt for an assessed group case-study project in a sophomore business module in order to provide lecturers with tools and techniques for probing a prompt document. The authors use a task-analysis framework developed for task-based language teaching to examine the project’s requirements and chain of integrated tasks. The study shows that the project prompt was dense and complicated and the component tasks were highly interactive and complex. Further, the study reveals that group case-study projects can play an important role in developing the team skills needed for future real-life projects.

Exploring the Pentecostal Faith—Sustainability—Entrepreneurship Nexus in Zimbabwe

The aim of this paper is to explore the intersection between sustainability and the humanities, specifically the Pentecostal faith—entrepreneurship—sustainability nexus in Zimbabwe. It focuses on The Zimbabwe Assemblies of God Africa (ZAOGA) and associated Forward in Faith Ministries International (FIFMI), which is one of Zimbabwe’s largest and most established Pentecostal churches with a global international presence. ZAOGA-FIFMI has a well-known faith-based entrepreneurship model, commonly known as Matarenda (talents), which is claimed to have a positive impact on the lives of poor Zimbabweans, both locally and internationally. The paper explores the Pentecostalism-entrepreneurship-sustainability nexus surrounding the Matarenda model and its basis in Christian faith, and its translation into practical entrepreneurship activity through the use of primary fieldwork comprising personal observations, semi-structured interviews and focus groups. In so doing it highlights the central role of education (both formal and informal) in entrepreneurial venture. By adopting an interdisciplinary and international approach, the paper focusses on the sustainability of the model in terms of economics, finance, human capital and theology. This paper will be useful to anyone interested in exploring the impact of African Pentecostalism and, more generally, religious practice on entrepreneurship and sustainable development.

Skilled Migrant African Women of Faith and Diaspora Investment

The link between faith and entrepreneurship is a subject of growing multidisciplinary interest. However, not much is known about women of faith’s participation in entrepreneurship activity. Focusing on the African diaspora in the UK, this chapter engages with the transnational entrepreneurship activity among educated and skilled migrant women of faith. We consider the factors which influence their decisions to invest in their countries of origin (COO). In so doing, we highlight the interaction of faith with related education, economic, social and psychological push and pull factors and the accompanying gender-based and related pressures in the context of transnational business investment.

Exploring Gender and Diaspora Investment Among Diaspora Women in the UK

Although the transnational literature on gender, diaspora direct investment and remittances has burgeoned, largely overlooked in this mainstream literature are the ‘behind the scenes’ acts of diaspora women who, apart from their own economic gain, remit to help fund businesses of extended family members in the Country of Origin (COO). In this chapter, we draw on five women’s narratives of their lived experiences of migration to the UK and consequent investment activities in the COO. In so doing, we highlight not only the huge investments that women make in other people’s businesses, but how the act of investing in other people in itself empowers them to search for new and challenging business opportunities in the COO. We conclude by highlighting areas for further research.

On becoming a skilled migrant: towards habitus transformation through higher education

ABSTRACT Research on the labour market experiences of highly skilled migrants has revealed the crippling employability challenges they face in the UK workplace resulting from the devaluation of their homeland qualifications and experiences. Studies on highly skilled migrants from Zimbabwe have revealed how migrants have to resort to semi-skilled and unskilled work for survival. Little is known, however, about the education and labour market experiences of migrants who come into the UK without degrees and subsequently acquire a UK degree. Drawing on Bourdieu’s theory of cultural capital and habitus, this article explores the higher education and labour market experiences of this group, as revealed by in-depth interviews with 20 participants. Findings reveal that these participants’ habitus is a complex dynamic interaction of diverse (pre)dispositions and strategies which result in them reporting better labour market success than Zimbabwe-degreed migrants. Arguably, their experiences suggest the emergence of a new UK-based habitus for Zimbabwean migrants.

Rethinking the employability of international graduate migrants: Reflections on the experiences of Zimbabweans with degrees from England

The last decade has seen the rise of literature focused on the rapid expansion of international students in higher education globally and the growing policy discourse around improving graduate employability. However, both, inevitably, have limitations. Together, they tend to homogenise international learners and see them narrowly as simply economic actors. More recently, however, there have been signs of important new developments in both literatures, drawing on interactive employability and capability accounts that stress both agency and structure in more satisfactory ways. We seek to further the development of an account that bridges the new wave of student mobility research and capability–employability research. In doing so, we offer two further elements to the literature. First, we aim to bridge the gap between accounts of international higher education and those of migration and diasporic studies. Second, we deliberately focus on a group that is marginal to the mainstream discourse but who are migrants that have engaged in international higher education in order to improve their labour market prospects, amongst other motivations. We do this through examining the stories of five Zimbabweans who embarked on additional higher educational studies in England after migrating to the country. Through this unique approach, we offer an important new perspective on how the debates on international higher education, employability and migration can be taken forward through closer articulation between these accounts.