Teamwork skills in higher education: is university training contributing to their mastery?

Teamwork skills are considered essential for personal, academic and professional achievement, so universities are increasingly integrating them into their syllabuses. However, little is known about how some specific features of students and their educational development can affect their acquisition. Accordingly, this study aims to fill this gap and describe higher education students' mastery of teamwork skills and its relation to certain socio-academic variables (gender, academic year and grade point average—GPA). With the aim of determining the level of teamwork skills among university students, an observational, transversal descriptive study was designed with an intentional sample of Spanish university students. The sample is made up of 615 social science degree students. The results suggest significant gender differences, highlighting that female students outdid their male counterparts in most teamwork skills, except leadership. Likewise, students' skills improved as they progressed in their studies, particularly those skills related to adaptability and decision-making. Finally, a positive relationship was observed between teamwork skills and GPA, except for interpersonal development. A regression analysis confirmed the influence of both academic year and GPA for women whilst no effect was detected in the case of men. Based on these results, it is suggested to make changes in university education programmes to compensate for the influence of socio-academic factors and benefit from the most positive features of each gender regarding teamwork to achieve an equal and fair higher education. (AU)

Aborto inducido y embarazo no planeado en Guatemala / Induced abortion and unintended pregnancy in Guatemala

Contexto: aunque la legislación guatemalteca permite el aborto inducido solamente para salvar la vida de la mujer, con frecuencia muchas mujeres obtienen abortos, en condiciones de riesgo y en respuesta a un embarazo no planeado. Estudios recientes indican que el aborto inseguro es un factor clave que contribuye a la morbilidad y mortalidad materna en el país; sin embargo, no existen datos a nivel nacional sobre la incidencia del aborto...

Unintended Pregnancy And Induced Abortion In Uganda: Causes and Consequences

Because abortion is banned in Uganda (except to save a woman's life) and because strong social stigma surrounds the issue; many women try to conceal their unplanned pregnancies and abortions.The clandestine nature of abortion makes it difficult to measure its incidence in Uganda and allows policymakers to avoid dealing with the problem. Yet the serious health consequences of abortions carried out in unsafe conditions by untrained or poorly trained practitioners impose a heavy burden on women; families and Uganda's already overburdened health care system. Studies of womenhospitalized for the treatment of complications from unsafe abortion have documented the tragic burden of morbidity and death borne by many Ugandan women. New research findings now make it possible to fill in the many gaps in our understanding of the prevalence; causes and consequences of induced abortion in Uganda