Beyond market share: Accounting for doctoral program size in recent rates of anthropology faculty job placement.

Job placement trends in higher education at US institutions are bleak. Within anthropology and other social science disciplines this problem appears to be particularly pronounced. Recent studies focusing on placement in Anthropology using market share analysis have suggested that specific doctoral programs offer a greater chance of placing their graduates in faculty positions. Here we expand on that work, looking beyond market share to the number of graduates placed in positions relative to the total number of program graduates. Our results suggest that while large programs do indeed command the majority of tenure track placements by market share, much of this may be a product of the high numbers of graduates from these programs. Smaller programs can be proportionally as successful at placing their students in tenure track positions. The majority of PhDs in anthropology should anticipate gaining employment outside of a tenure track position. Training students for positions in private industry, government, and other non-faculty opportunities is essential.

A critical assessment of a protected area conflict analysis based on secondary data in the age of datafication.

Recently, a global trend towards a broader use of secondary data in social sciences has been reinforced by the COVID-19 pandemic. This evoked doubts about the validity of the results unless restrictive assessment procedures are implemented. To address this need in the field of protected area (PA) conflict analysis, we propose a three-fold approach (theory-, method-, and cross-scale simulation-driven) to assess the usefulness of the utilized state register dataset and the indicator analysis methodology for the multi-level recognition of PA conflict determinants. With the ultimate aim to inform case study selection, we processed 187 relevant indicators from the official Statistics Poland register for a Lesser Poland region. We distinguished five types of PA conflict determinants in Lesser Poland ('urbanity', 'agriculture', 'tourism', 'small-scale entrepreneurship', and 'sprawl') and respective groups of 15 clusters comprising local-level units. For one cluster, we juxtaposed the obtained results with secondary data from another source (Internet content) and for a specific PA (Tatra National Park). Although the reported conflict issues corresponded to the indicator-derived descriptors of the cluster, in the theory-driven phase of the assessment, the state register failed to address the key prerequisites of PA conflicts. We have demonstrated that, in crisis conditions such as COVID-19, the proposed method can serve as a proxy for a multi-level recognition of PA conflict potentials, provided that it synthesises the results of different methodological approaches, followed by in-person interviews in the selected case studies.

Global narratives on unequal outcomes produced by lockdown in Africa: A social science perspective on the "one-size-fits all" COVID-19 response.

Introduction: Lockdown measures were introduced worldwide to prevent the spread of COVID-19, and several studies showed the positive impacts of these policies in places such as China and Europe. Many African governments also imposed lockdowns at the beginning of the pandemic. These lockdowns met with mixed reactions; some were positive, but others focused on concerns about the consequences of lockdowns. Methods: In this article, we use social listening to examine social media narratives to investigate how people balanced concerns about preventing the spread of COVID-19 with other priorities. Analyzing social media conversations is one way of accessing different voices in real time, including those that often go unheard. As internet access grows and social media becomes more popular in Africa, it provides a different space for engagement, allowing people to connect with opinions outside of their own conceptual frameworks and disrupting hierarchies of how knowledge is shaped. Results: This article indicates which narratives were favored by different organizations, stakeholders, and the general public, and which of these narratives are most dominant in policy discourses. The range of narratives is found to be reflective of the blindness to inequality and social difference of much decision-making by policymakers. Discussion: Thus, contrary to the "we are all in this together" narrative, diseases and public health responses to them clearly discriminate, accentuating long-standing structural inequalities locally, nationally, and globally, as well as interplaying with multiple, dynamic, and negotiated sources of marginalization. These and other insights from this article could play a useful role in understanding and interpreting how social media could be included in pandemic preparedness plans.

The choice of response alternatives in COVID-19 social science surveys.

Social science research is key for understanding and for predicting compliance with COVID-19 guidelines, and this research relies on survey data. While much focus is on the survey question stems, less is on the response alternatives presented that both constrain responses and convey information about the assumed expectations of the survey designers. The focus here is on the choice of response alternatives for the types of behavioral frequency questions used in many COVID-19 and other health surveys. We examine issues with two types of response alternatives. The first are vague quantifiers, like "rarely" and "frequently." Using data from 30 countries from the Imperial COVID data hub, we show that the interpretation of these vague quantifiers (and their translations) depends on the norms in that country. If the mean amount of hand washing in a country is high, it is likely "frequently" corresponds to a higher numeric value for hand washing than if the mean in the country is low. The second type are sets of numeric alternatives and they can also be problematic. Using a US survey, respondents were randomly allocated to receive either response alternatives where most of the scale corresponds to low frequencies or where most of the scale corresponds to high frequencies. Those given the low frequency set provided lower estimates of the health behaviors. The choice of response alternatives for behavioral frequency questions can affect the estimates of health behaviors. How the response alternatives mold the responses should be taken into account for epidemiological modeling. We conclude with some recommendations for response alternatives for behavioral frequency questions in surveys.

Pandemic fatigue fueled political discontent during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Health authorities have highlighted "pandemic fatigue" as a psychological consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic and warned that "fatigue" could demotivate compliance with health-related policies and mandates. Yet, fatigue from following the policies of authorities may have consequences far beyond the health domain. Theories from the social sciences have raised that real and perceived costs of policies can also drive sentiments of discontent with the entire political establishment. Integrating theories from the health and social sciences, we ask how pandemic fatigue (i.e., perceived inability to "keep up" with restrictions) developed over the pandemic and whether it fueled political discontent. Utilizing longitudinal and panel surveys collected from September 2020 to July 2021 in eight Western countries (N = 49,116), we analyze: 1) fatigue over time at the country level, 2) associations between pandemic fatigue and discontent, and 3) the effect of pandemic fatigue on political discontent using panel data. Pandemic fatigue significantly increased with time and the severity of interventions but also decreased with COVID-19 deaths. When triggered, fatigue elicited a broad range of discontent, including protest support and conspiratorial thinking. The results demonstrate the significant societal impact of the pandemic beyond the domain of health and raise concerns about the stability of democratic societies, which were already strained by strife prior to the pandemic.

Science, health, and human rights.

A solid knowledge base is one of the necessary conditions to assure health as a human right. The contemporary source of such knowledge are the sciences at large, which however presents a problem, since the scientific enterprise can - and has been - a source of human rights violations as well. The field of social studies of science (STS) takes an iconoclast approach to the science, providing much needed criticism of its claims of authority. Recently, however, when attacks from multiple sources attempt to undermine perfectly reasonable scientific developments, the STS approach may not provide the adequate tools to deal with such challenge, especially with regard to health issues. This essay explores, with examples, ways in which the critical stance of STS may be compatible with a defense of proper scientific knowledge - in fact, helping to define what that actually means - without falling in the trap of scientism.

Mechanisms Driving Postgraduate Health and Social Science Students' Cultural Competence: An Integrated Systematic Review.

PURPOSE: The COVID-19 pandemic revealed a global urgency to address health care provision disparities, which have largely been influenced by systematic racism in federal and state policies. The World Health Organization recommends educational institutions train clinicians in cultural competence (CC); however, the mechanisms and interacting social structures that influence individuals to achieve CC have received little attention. This review investigates how postgraduate health and social science education approaches CC and how it accomplishes (or not) its goals. METHOD: The authors used critical realism and Whittemore and Knafl's methods to conduct a systematic integrated review. Seven databases (MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, and ERIC) were searched from 2000 to 2020 for original research studies. Inclusion criteria were: the use of the term "cultural competence" and/or any one of Campinha-Bacote's 5 CC factors, being about postgraduate health and/or social science students, and being about a postgraduate curriculum or a component of it. Thematic analysis was used to reveal the mechanisms and interacting social structures underlying CC. RESULTS: Thirty-two studies were included and 2 approaches to CC (themes) were identified. The first theme was professionalized pedagogy, which had 2 subthemes: othering and labeling. The second theme was becoming culturally competent, which had 2 subthemes: a safe CC teaching environment and social interactions that cultivate reflexivity. CONCLUSIONS: CC conceptualizations in postgraduate health and social science education tend to view cultural differences as a problem and CC skills as a way to mitigate differences to enhance patient care. However, this generates a focus on the other, rather than a focus on the self. Future research should explore the extent to which insight, cognitive flexibility, and reflexivity, taught in safe teaching environments, are associated with increasing students' cultural safety, cultural humility, and CC.

Information and communication technologies in student learning in times of COVID-19 / Las tecnologías de información y comunicación en el aprendizaje del estudiante en tiempos de COVID-19

Las Tecnologías de Información y Comunicación (TIC) han sido herramientas vitales en la interacción humana de cara a la pandemia COVID-19, permitiendo la virtualidad de muchas actividades cotidianas que de otro modo configurarían un riesgo biológico inherente del contacto físico. Por ello, fue necesaria la adopción de TIC como elementos formadores no presenciales en la educación superior, permitiendo el desarrollo pedagógico y la interacción docente-estudiante desde los hogares. En esta investigación se buscó determinar la influencia de las TIC en el aprendizaje de 450 estudiantes universitarios del Perú, en el contexto de la pandemia COVID-19, En general, las TIC transmisivas obtuvieron mayores proporciones de accesibilidad (87%), usabilidad (81%) e influencia en el aprendizaje de los estudiantes (73%) en comparación a las interactivas (Figura 1), siendo las TIC activas las de menor percepción en las tres dimensiones. De acuerdo a los resultados obtenidos, se propone una relación positiva entre el aprendizaje del estudiante universitario y la adopción de herramientas TIC durante el período de pandemia COVID-19 (p=0,076). Los buscadores, las videconferencias, las páginas web, las plataformas académicas, los repositorios y los tutoriales multimedia, ejercen la mayor influencia positiva en el proceso educativo. No obstante, los estudiantes de las ciencias de la salud mostraron más aversión a establecer TIC en su aprendizaje, mientras que los alumnos de ingeniería mostraron mayor receptividad a su aplicación(AU)

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have been vital tools in human interaction in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing the virtuality of many daily activities that would otherwise configure an inherent biological risk of physical contact. For this reason, it was necessary to adopt ICT as non-face-to-face training elements in higher education, allowing pedagogical development and teacher-student interaction from home. This research sought to determine the influence of ICT on the learning of 450 Peruvian university students, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.In general, transmissive ICT obtained higher proportions of accessibility (87%), usability (81 %) and influence on student learning (73%) compared to interactive ones (Figure 1), with active ICT being the least perceived in all three dimensions. According to the results obtained, a positive relationship is proposed between university student learning and the adoption of ICT tools during the COVID-19 pandemic period (p = 0.076). Search engines, video conferences, web pages, academic platforms, repositories, and multimedia tutorials exert the greatest positive influence on the educational process. However, health science students showed more aversion to establishing ICT in their learning, while engineering students showed greater receptivity to its application(AU)

Immunities of the Herd in Peace, War, and COVID-19.

Intermittently, the concept of herd immunity has been a potent, if sometimes ambiguous and controversial, means of framing the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic and envisaging its end. Realizing the full meaning of human herd immunity requires further attention to its connections after World War I with British social theory. Distracted by "obvious" yet unsubstantiated correspondences with veterinary research, historians of the concept have not engaged with the more proximate influence of discussions of social psychology and group dynamics on postwar epidemiology. Understanding the openness of early 20th century epidemiology to social thought deepens our appreciation of the significance of herd or population immunity, as well as suggests new avenues for exchange between public health and contemporary social sciences. (Am J Public Health. 2022;112(10):1465-1470. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2022.306931).

[Humanities, social sciences, and the COVID-19 Pandemic: an extraordinary mobilization]. / Les sciences humaines et sociales face à la pandémie de COVID-19 : une mobilisation extraordinaire.

This contribution presents the dynamics generated by the COVID-19 pandemic since March 2020 in the humanities and social sciences (SHS) in France. It first describes the main elements of the individual and institutional involvement that give this dynamic the characteristics of an "extra-ordinary" mobilization. Based on a collective research report, it goes on presenting the research themes and issues, as well as the methodological and epistemological reflections put forward by the SHS on the subject of the pandemic and its management. This contribution thus gives an account of the way in which the SHS participate in a social and political understanding of health issues. By carrying out research themes and issues that are sometimes new and sometimes deeply rooted in the scientific capital that is theirs concerning health and environmental crises, the SHS bring their contribution to the description and the analysis of the foundations and consequences of these crises on individuals and societies: knowledge likely to enlighten public decision-making.

Efforts to advance NIH-funded behavioral and social sciences research on structural racism and health.

This commentary provides background and context for the increasing attention to research designed to better understand and address the impact of structural racism on health, with particular attention to the role of the behavioral and social sciences. The manuscript describes the impetus provided to this work by recent public health crises of COVID-19 and the racial justice movement that emerged following the murder of George Floyd in the summer of 2020. A range of initiatives from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) focused on structural racism and health equity are discussed in this context and opportunities and gaps for future research are identified.

Social science approaches to infodemiology: understanding the social, political, and economic context of information.

Embedded within the COVID-19 pandemic is the spread of a new pandemic of information - some accurate, some not - that can challenge the public health response. This has been termed an 'infodemic' and infodemic management is now a major feature of the World Health Organization's work on health emergencies. This commentary highlights political, social, and economic aspects of infodemics and posits social science as critical to mitigating the current infodemic and preventing future ones. Infodemic managers should address the wider context of infodemics if we are to understand narratives, help to craft positive ones, and confront the root causes of misinformation rather than just the symptoms.

Vaccination conspiracy beliefs among social science & humanities and STEM educated people-An analysis of the mediation paths.

Understanding vaccine hesitancy is becoming increasingly important, especially after the global outbreak of COVID-19. The main goal of this study was to explore the differences in vaccination conspiracy beliefs between people with a university degree coming from different scientific fields-Social Sciences & Humanities (SH) and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). The study was conducted on an online convenience sample of respondents with college and university degrees in Croatia (N = 577). The results revealed that respondents educated in SH proved to be more prone to vaccination conspiracy beliefs. The indirect effect through science literacy was confirmed, while this was not the case for the indirect effects through health beliefs (natural immunity beliefs) and trust in the healthcare system. However, all three variables were important direct predictors of vaccination conspiracy beliefs. Female gender and religiosity were positively correlated with vaccination conspiracy beliefs, while age was not a statistically significant predictor. The authors concluded by emphasizing the necessity of the more theoretically elaborated approaches to the study of the educational and other socio-demographic differences in vaccine hesitancy.