The present study examines the influence of non-economic factors on women’s labour market participation in low-income neighbourhoods of urban areas in India. For this purpose, we conducted a survey in two slum areas of Kolkata city in West Bengal – one, located in a residential neighbourhood, and another, situated in the dock area of the city and surrounded by factories. Our survey of 384 ever-married working-age women makes three noteworthy observations. First, the location of slums crucially affects the type of paid work that is available and accessible to women. Secondly, although women’s entry into the labour market maybe crisis-driven, the women workers develop an intrinsic valuation of paid work as their right, and as a means of livelihood in the process. Finally, social and community norms explain both the non-participation and the temporary withdrawal of women from the labour force. Thus, the inability and/or the unwillingness of slum women to participate in the labour market primarily stem from the strict adherence to patriarchal norms in general, and community norms in particular, either imposed on them directly by their spouses or indirectly by the community they reside in. Therefore, our analysis highlights the need for tailor-made policies that meet locality-specific needs.

With increasingly available computer-based or online assessments, researchers have shown keen interest in analyzing log data to improve our understanding of test takers’ problem-solving processes. In this article, we propose a multi-state survival model (MSM) to action sequence data from log files, focusing on modeling test takers’ reaction times between actions, in order to investigate which factors and how they influence test takers’ transition speed between actions. We specifically identify the key actions that differentiate correct and incorrect answers, compare transition probabilities between these groups, and analyze their distinct problem-solving patterns. Through simulation studies and sensitivity analyses, we evaluate the robustness of our proposed model. We demonstrate the proposed approach using problem-solving items from the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC).

This study examines multilevel barriers to women’s participation and contribution to the process manufacturing industry in an emerging economy. We employed an exploratory multiple-case study approach, and 24 semi-structured interviews were conducted with senior corporate managers. Drawing on the behavioral reasoning theory, intellectual capital-based view, and institutional theory-based view, the findings highlighted several individual, organizational, sociocultural, infrastructure, and institutional barriers at micro, meso, and macro levels that inhibited female participation in the manufacturing sector. This study is one of the early empirical investigations to examine the obstacles hindering women’s contributions to the process manufacturing industry in an emerging country, applying three theoretical lenses – behavioral reasoning theory, intellectual capital-based view, and institutional theory-based view. Furthermore, the insights gained from the study contribute to the literature on diversity, equity, and inclusion in the operations management domain by developing a multilevel integrative model of barriers to women’s participation in the manufacturing sector.

Observations of millisecond pulsars (MSPs) at low radio frequencies play an important role in understanding the Galactic pulsar population and characterising both their emission properties and the effects of the ionised interstellar medium on the received signals. To date, only a relatively small fraction of the known MSP population has been detected at frequencies below 300 MHz, and nearly all previous MSP studies at these frequencies have been conducted with northern telescopes. We present a census of MSPs in the SMART pulsar survey, covering declinations south of +30° at a centre frequency of 154 MHz. We detected 40 MSPs, with 11 being the first published detections below 300 MHz. For each detection, we provide coherently-dedispersed full-polarimetric integrated pulse profiles and mean flux densities. We measured significant Faraday rotation measures (RMs) for 25 MSPs, and identified apparent phase-dependent RM variations for three MSPs. Comparison with published profiles at other frequencies supports previous studies suggesting that the pulse component separations of MSPs vary negligibly over a wide frequency range due to their compact magnetospheres. We observe that integrated pulse profiles tend to be more polarised at low frequencies, consistent with depolarisation due to superposed orthogonal polarisation modes. The results of this census will be a valuable resource for planning future MSP monitoring projects at low frequencies, and will also help to improve survey simulations to forecast the detectable MSP population with the SKA-Low.

This study aimed to explore the associations between weight gain during infancy with pre-pregnant body mass index (BMI) later in life, focusing on risks of being overweight or underweight. A retrospective cohort study was conducted using data from women (n = 1082) who visited the National Center for Child Health and Development between 2017 and 2021. The participants provided their Maternal and Child Health Handbook, which included records of their own birthweight and weight gain from birth to 1, 3, and 6 months. The infant weight gain was divided into quintiles. Multivariable logistic regression was used to assess the association of weight gain during infancy with pre-pregnant underweight (BMI < 18.5) and overweight (BMI ≥ 25) later in life, adjusting for potential confounders. The current study found that the largest weight gain category (5230–7700 g) by 6 months was associated with a decreased risk of “pre-pregnant underweight,” compared to the third weight gain category (4355–4730 g) by 6 months (OR, 0.40; 95% CI, 0.22–0.73). In contrast, no significant association was observed between weight gain category in infancy and being overweight in adulthood. In conclusion, greater weight gain during the first 6 months of life was associated with a reduced risk of “adult underweight,” without increasing the risk of being overweight.

As the number of working parents rises, employers are increasingly called upon to support employees’ work–family (WF) obligations. Grounded in conservation of resources theory, we examined how providing varying degrees of parental support (paid vs. unpaid leave and family-supportive vs. -unsupportive leadership) is mutually beneficial to employee and organizational well-being – the ultimate criterion for organizational science. Participants (N = 538) were randomly assigned to read vignettes that varied the amount of parental support provided for expectant working parents. We tested whether WF benefits fairness perceptions moderated the indirect effects of parental support on felt obligation through job-related anxiety. Findings supported our proposed moderated-mediation model, with the most positive effects when full parental support was provided to individuals with high fairness perceptions. Our research highlights the value of providing both paid leave and family-supportive leadership, while also considering employees’ fairness perceptions, to reap the most gains of employee and organizational well-being.

The pursuit of measures to enhance the environmental sustainability of societies has shifted to become a core aspect of contemporary public policy. Taxation measures, intended to alter the behaviour of individuals and households, have become a central plank of many nations’ policy response. However, these initiatives arise alongside other taxation and redistributive policy objectives focused on equity.

The purpose of this article is to explore the taxation policy design challenges raised by attempts to pursue simultaneously environmental goals and traditional social policy objectives regarding social justice in line with sustainable development principles. Focusing on the experience of two liberal political economies with broadly similar tax structures but whose approach to carbon taxation has varied, Ireland and the UK, the article develops a social policy framework, inspired by the energy justice literature, to facilitate a holistic delineation of the social implications of carbon taxation in the two countries.

Democratic decision-making processes tend to take less account of future interests than of present ones, thereby jeopardizing not least the foundations of future democracy. Democratic short-termism causes considerable problems, especially when decisions made now have serious consequences for the future and can hardly be reversed. Thus, the current climate protection legislation, which is far too weak worldwide, threatens to impose unbearable and unjust burdens on people in the future and deprive them of any political leeway for shaping their own policies, thus also undermining the very basis of democracy. In general, it is one of the functions of constitutional law to help overcome such short-termism of decision-making processes. However, in the case of climate protection, this is difficult because the veto power of constitutional law and constitutional courts has comparatively little impact here—for reasons related to the factual characteristics of climate protection. Nevertheless, constitutional law and courts have their own potential in climate protection that needs to be further developed in order to overcome some of the democratic short-termism.

Introducing the Special Issue on “Judging under Pressure,” this Article sets out three interlinked challenges facing constitutional courts, broadly understood: persisting inequalities, the climate crisis, and rising autocratization. The Articles in this Special Issue identify, analyze, and prescribe a set of judicial responses and strategies when judging under pressure. Some reimagine and recalibrate the role of judges, while others respond with doctrinal and theoretical innovation; yet, throughout, there is a recognition of judicial constraints and institutional fragility.

The international solidarity principle is a crucial legal norm of international society. It helps guide state conduct and facilitate cooperation among international actors to respond to global challenges and uphold human rights. The European Union (EU) and its Member States have argued that their bilateral agreements with non-EU countries to prevent irregular migration to Europe is a demonstration of international solidarity that fulfils their obligations to asylum seekers and refugees. However, the EU’s interpretation of international solidarity in these arrangements has been contested. This article argues that the EU has strategically interpreted the international solidarity principle to fit in with, and complement, its migration deterrence policy framework. It posits that the EU’s interpretation abuses the international solidarity principle as it aims to separate the solidarity principle from the realisation of human rights, thereby hurting, instead of benefitting, asylum seekers and refugees. This article makes an important contribution to understanding how the solidarity principle is interpreted between EU and non-EU partners, and the intimate connection between solidarity and the realisation of human rights. More importantly, it demonstrates how the interpretation and evasion of the international solidarity principle has been shaped by, and shaped to fit, the EU’s migration externalisation policy framework.

Who has been considered human by the humanities? Along with its emancipatory potential, the humanities have historically also been related to imperial states whose military conquests have implicated the dehumanization of other peoples. Many times, the humanities have offered foundational narratives sustaining imperial projects. This essay takes a constructivist epistemology to explore the concept of humanism, and how it has emerged and changed in different contexts, beginning with the Roman idea of humanitas that focused on civilization to legitimize domination. A critique of colonial Christian humanism reveals how it was used to justify violence against those defined as non or less human, be they women, Africans, or indigenous people. The historical exclusion of many groups from educational institutions and knowledge production shows how the humanities have perpetuated hierarchies of power that, ironically, dehumanized. Movements such as the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, which sought to reform the humanities, continued to favor a Eurocentric culture. This essay advocates for an intercultural approach to the humanities, one that frees itself from imperialism and promotes inclusive dialogues among peoples. This effort must go beyond overcoming Eurocentrism. It must also overcome anthropocentrism to incorporate a more respectful relationship with Nature, recognizing the cultural practices of indigenous peoples, who have maintained a more conscious and harmonious link with beyond human lifeways.