Courtly Love in Romeo and juliet Essay

How does Shakespeare show that Romeo’s love for Juliet is real? How do his words and actions differ from when he said he loved Rosaline? In Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet, the introduction of Romeo to the audience is haunted by a melancholic mood. The scene is set in Verona where Romeo’s family is worried about him due to his rejection in love from a woman, Rosaline. However throughout the scenes studied, it seems that love is the primary driving force behind most of Romeo’s actions and words. In general, the theme of love and the course of it intertwine with the fate of the violent peacefulness of this tragedy. His determined desolation from his family stirs unease in his cousin, Benvolio. During the course of this tale, Romeo blooms to become a mature man, who has experienced the double edged blade of love itself. The characterisation of Romeo in the beginning of the play illustrates him as dejected and depressed boy due to his infatuation with Rosaline being rejected. In spite of this, his spoken words of ‘love’ for her, for example: ‘Alas, that Love, whose view is muffled still†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ demonstrates the conventional manner of love that this is. Romeo’s words clarify how he sprouts courtly love poetry, which is machinated and processed. A modern example would be the phrase: ‘roses are red, violets are blue†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ a common phrase which is predictable and an inferior imitation to real love. Courtly love poetry was often used in those days by men with social status to court woman; the purpose behind this courting was to flaunt their skills. Would it be fair to say that Romeo courts for Rosaline’s love because it is the fashion of the season? In Romeo’s first scene, Shakespeare litters the dialogue with negatives, as well as exaggerated words, such as: ‘sad hours seem long†¦Not having†¦short†¦Out of her favour†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ which displays the deep shallowness of his love for Rosaline. Not only Romeo’s word can suggest this, but on the contrary, so do his actions. For example in Act 1 Scene 1, information is revealed to the audience of how Romeo has not yet met Rosaline, but still waffles on about the flawed imperfection of love. His inexperience in real love may be obvious to the reader when he speaks numerous oxymorons. The speech about love starts: ‘O brawling love, O loving hate, O anything of nothing first creates! O heavy lightness, serious vanity†¦Feather of lead†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ which illustrates the confused state that Romeo is in because of love. Leading to the point at which his inexperience and immature manner can be seen. The way in which Shakespeare clutters Romeo speech with riddles may indicate at whether if Romeo’s love or love in general can really be described as brawling and juxtaposed with hate? Shakespeare demonstrates how fickle Romeo really is in the beginning of the play. As known, the words of love from Romeo to Rosaline are all courtly love poetry; fake, clichà ©d and scattered with misrepresented ideas of love. From his initial depression over his rejection of Rosaline’s love, to which he claims an eternity of sadness, to his new professed to Juliet at the Capulet ball. His inconstant change of his receiver of affections hint that his frivolous nature is what defines him. However, his short mourning of Rosaline can suggest of his instant connection with his other half of his soul, Juliet. His halted period of the ‘eternity of sadness’ can only illustrate the strong connection between the two lovers. ‘Love at first sight’ is a familiar phrase to describe how the two fell in love. Could Romeo’s initial fickleness in love demonstrate the vast contrast when he meets Juliet? Romeo soon begins to genuinely fall in love with Juliet as well as idolising her. His first meeting with Juliet at the Capulet ball starts to weave a complicated web of reality, love, fate and death. It is at this moment that Romeo finally grasps/comprehends the true notion of love. His worship and love for Juliet may seem foolish and much like his initial infatuation for Rosaline at the beginning, however it is soon acknowledged that her refusal speaks something differently to him. The full appreciation of this new confound feeling allows Romeo to continue his courting of Juliet with or without her rebuff. His encounter with Juliet could be considered as a ‘reality check’, to which he discovers the differences from his fixated crush on Rosaline to the arduous beauty he compares Juliet to. The unfamiliar sensation begins to broadens his outlook on love; opening his eyes to a fresh, passionate world. Shakespeare indicates the sincere affections of Romeo towards Juliet through their dialogue in the balcony scene, Act 2 Scene 2. Juliet soon teaches Romeo how to love properly and from then Romeo flourishes to appreciate the true meaning of love. A strong example of this is in the balcony scene, at which Romeo in his own peril tries to see Juliet. He sets the foundation of this scene when he begins to compare Juliet to all sorts of things of great beauty. He sees Juliet as light and calls her ‘the Sun†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ He claims that even the moon, the traditional symbol for a woman’s beauty and purity, is envious of Juliet. This characterization is not merely dramatic. The use of these superlatives is meant to convey Romeo’s deep feelings. When compared to his earlier characterization of Rosaline, Romeo’s tribute to Juliet takes on even more significance. The difference between what Romeo says of Rosaline and what he says in the â€Å"But soft† speech about Juliet emphasises his adoration even more. His characterization of Rosaline commences with the traditional comparison to Diana. Romeo acknowledges that Rosaline is â€Å"rich in beauty† and that her beauty is defined in terms of her chastity. It’s part of her appeal to Romeo. Romeo values Rosaline because she will not satisfy his desires; therefore, he thinks of her beauty as lost to ‘all posterity’. However, when he describes Juliet and invokes the sun, he suggests something far more potent: the eternal source of light and life-giving force of the heavens. Juliet’s beauty and warmth will live forever and do not depend upon Romeo’s perceptions. She exists independently of Romeo, and when Romeo thinks of Juliet, he dwells on her and not on what she will do for him. Romeo’s language demonstrates that although he was infatuated with Rosaline; he has no mere crush on Juliet. He is deeply in love, and the depth of his feelings demonstrates Romeo’s maturation. His speech is long and full of devotion, to which Juliet replies: ‘O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo? (Oh Romeo, why do you have to be a Montague?)’. Her obvious fondness for her is displayed, although at this point Romeo is still sprouting his ‘courting’ words. In the middle of the dialogue, Juliet dares to interrupt Romeo on one of his ramblings as she is sorely frustrated with Romeo’s pretence. As he swears by the moon, Juliet responds by saying: ‘O swear not by the moon, th’inconstant moon. That monthly changes in her circled orb, lest that thy love prove likewise variable.’ Once Romeo is firmly ‘put in his place’ by Juliet by her professing that he speak directly to her and not swear on something that disappears in the day and is ever-changing. In addition, when at first Romeo kisses Juliet at the Capulet ball, she accuses him of kissing by the book (kissing expertly), which is the ‘Hallmark’ love that was shown in the beginning. Shakespeare illustrates to the audience that Romeo and Juliet’s love in genuine through the comparison between his love for Rosaline and then his love for Juliet. As written by Shakespeare, Romeo proclaims to be in an eternity of sadness (darkness), however, he soon meets Juliet who is his ‘sunshine’ in his ‘darkness’. Even though Romeo had been rejected by Rosaline, he never tried to court her again, as if his determination went down the drain. On the other hand with Juliet, Romeo tried again and again to try to win her favour, to the point where he risked talking to her by sneaking into her garden. Although the language from Romeo in both scenes has been passionate, however a powerful example of their fated love is their first dialogue. In the Capulet ball, their first encounter and dialogue encompasses in total 14 lines, more commonly known as a sonnet. Sonnets were often written about love, and using a sonnet in this sense shows how they are two halves of one soul; fated to be with each other, for without one half the other in incomplete. The language used is potent in every sense, personifying Romeo’s words when he talks to Juliet. His determination to win Juliet’s favour demonstrates his true ardour for her, whereas his lust for Rosaline left him desolated and irresolute. All of these factors lead to the one point that Romeo’s love for Juliet is real compared to his infatuation with Rosaline in the beginning. In conclusion, a possible theory as to why Shakespeare shows this contrast in love, could be to illustrate when later in the tragedy, their deaths (suicides) were not foolish but bred of unadulterated and unconditional love. To emphasise that they were truly intertwined with each other as to the fact that they could not be separated, ‘til death do us part. Furthermore, it could also be said that Shakespeare showed this contrast to suggest that in this world there is a difference between lust and love, and the difference covers a broad horizon. Perhaps Shakespeare wanted the audience to comprehend how sweet love can bring the most violent of outcomes and what is commonly read in poems or tales are unrealistic and not a true representative of what love is truly like. Maybe it was Shakespeare’s own way of providing the audience of a ‘reality check’, just as Juliet did with Romeo in the play. Many things could be understood from this play which interlocks countless themes of love, fate, death, time, individuality etc†¦, all of which conveys the immense expanse of possible ‘whys?’ as Shakespeare was trying to cover.

The Relationship Between Structure Mentoring Programs

The issue of new graduate nurse retention remains a challenge in many healthcare facilities. More than 50% of new graduate nurses leave their first employment in less than a year (North, Johnson, Knotts & Whelan 2006). Because new recruits are often faced with a variety of stressors in their beginning practice it is clear that a structured mentoring program could be of immense value. Such a program would provide technical and emotional support to nurses and so ease their transition into the unit culture. This article provides a critical review of the literature on mentoring, especially the impact that structured mentoring programs have on the retention rates of new graduate nurses. In the first section I will explore the nature of mentorship within the nursing discipline. I will discuss the functions of a formal mentoring program and the chief characteristics of the mentor: mentee relationship. In the second section I will provide a critical review of the literature concerning the relationship between mentoring programs and increased nurse retention rates. The third section explores common pitfalls that subsume in a dysfunctional mentoring program. Finally recommendations to organisations are proposed based on the review findings. Introduction Graduating from a nursing school is a considerable achievement. New graduates eagerly anticipate their first position in the ‘real world’. The issue however of new graduate nurse retention continues to be a grave concern in many healthcare facilities. It was reported that more than 50% of new graduate nurses leave their first employment in less than a year (North, Johnson, Knotts & Whelan 2006). New recruits are often faced with a variety of stressors associated with beginning practice. It is clear therefore, that a structured mentoring program which provides technical and emotional support to new nurses may be one of the best retention strategies for nurse administrators. This article provides a critical review of the literature on mentoring, with an emphasis on the impact that structured mentoring programs have on nursing retention rates. The first section sets up mentoring concepts and processes as identified in the literature. The second section will provide a critical eview of the literature on the relationship between structured mentoring programs and the nursing retention rate. The third section explores common pitfalls that subsume in a dysfunctional mentoring program. The final section makes recommendations to organisations regarding a successful mentoring program. Significance New nurse graduates have many employment options. They can choose not to work in settings where they are not supported and often they take that option. Common themes emerging from the literature show that many new nurses lack both confidence and a sense of competence (Oermann & Garvin 2002). They are afraid of making mistakes; they complain of an unsupportive environment; and of being obliged to work with ‘difficult’ colleagues (Oermann & Garvin 2002). A lack of recognition of their work as well as difficult shift-work schedules have also been identified as sources of distress (McVicar 2003). It is a sad fact that one out of every three nurses under 30 years plans to leave during his or her first year of employment (Nelson, Godfrey & Purdy 2004). The cost of such high levels of unnecessary nurse turnover is significant (Halfer, Graf & Sullivan 2008). More significantly the resulting deficit of nursing personnel inevitably affects the quality of patient care in hospitals and can compromise patient safety (Leners, Wilson, Connor & Fenton 2006). In response to the critical issue of nursing retention, hospital managements have been urged to address the issue by developing a more congenial work environment. However, it is noticeable that mentoring initiatives are still not integrated into many healthcare organisations, despite a plethora of literature relating this with positive outcomes. Literature search Relevant studies were identified by searching the following electronic databases: Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Ovid and ProQuest. The keywords or their combinations have been utilised in the searching process. These include: mentorship, preceptorship, new graduate nurses, personnel retention, and personnel recruitment. Other literature was identified through searching the bibliographies of studies found through electronic searches, including the World Wide Web, Google Scholar and library data systems. Inclusion criteria included discussion/ opinion papers and articles/materials written in English. There were no particular discipline restrictions and there were also no specific date restrictions. Articles that were published after 1999 were sought. The retrieved articles were reviewed and selected based on these criteria: the relationship between formal mentoring programs and personnel retention; benefits of mentoring; new graduate transition; and possible pitfalls of mentoring. Literature review What is mentoring? There is a substantial body of literature which deals with mentoring and preceptoring as discrete functions (Block, Claffey, Korow & McCaffrey 2005; Kelly 1994). To date however, the two terms continue to be used interchangeably or synonymously (Block et al. 2005). It is useful to draw some distinctions between them. Preceptorship is understood as an organised orientation program in which the nurse preceptor facilitates the integration of new staff into role responsibilities in the clinical setting for a limited period of time (Greene & Puetzer 2002). This relationship is often viewed as one-sided and patriarchal (Leners et al. 006). In contrast, mentorship is a reciprocal relationship established between two nurses â€Å"on the basis of respect and compatible personality with the common goal of guiding the nurse toward personal and professional growth† (Block et al. 2005:134). The relationship often occurs over a much longer period, depending on whether the agreed-upon goals have been achieved (Andrews & Wallis 1999). Stated simply, the features of mentorship as distinct from other supporting roles in clinical settings include a strong repertoire of helper functions, reciprocal sharing and a relatively longer duration (Morton-Cooper & Palmer 2000). Characteristics of the relationship Mentorship primarily involves a mentor and a mentee in a one-to-one relationship (Latham, Hogan & Ringl 2008). This relationship is characterised by a process of enabling, cultivating, and empowering a less experienced practitioner within the work environment (Morton-Cooper & Palmer 2000). In this longitudinal relationship, both mentors and mentees assume their own responsibilities and obligations in achieving either organisational or personal goals (Latham et al. 2008). In this relationship, a mentor is recognised as a wiser and more experienced practitioner, who possesses certain ‘personal’ and ‘professional’ attributes such as good interpersonal skills, self-confidence, flexibility, knowledge, and an interest in professional growth (Kane-Urrabazo 2006:193; Andrews & Wallis 1999:204; Morton-Cooper & Palmer 2000). Personal attributes that have been identified as important factors to success also include good listening skills, the ability to facilitate learning and being comfortable in giving feedback (Sherrod, Roberts & Little 2008; Woodrow 1994). The literature refers to the nurse being mentored as a ‘mentee’, ‘protege’, ‘learner’, or ‘mentoree’ (Zucker, Coss, Williams, Bloodworth, Lynn, Denker & Gibbs 2006; Hunter 2002). Referred to here simply as â€Å"the mentee† she or he can be any nurse at a distinctive stage of his/her profession (Leners et al. 2006). The characteristics of a mentee that allow a functional mentorship to flourish include honesty; the capacity to take responsibility; being ready and available for feedback; following through on decisions, having a strong self-identity and a willingness to learn (Wagner & Seymour 2007; Sherrod et al. 008). Structured mentoring program Various structures of formal mentoring programs are available across institutions (Latham et al. 2008). Broadly speaking, the structure of a mentoring program contains several stages of strategic planning (Latham et al. 2008). Initially the focus is on: establishing objectives and measurable outcomes, role delineation for mentors and mentees, establishment of criteria for involvement in mentorship and the construction of a supportive system and a surveillance system of the mentor-mentee team (Latham et al. 2008). Those parties who are involved in this formal relationship are required to fulfil pre-determined aims, objectives and outcomes as identified by their respective supporting organisations (McCloughen, O'Brien & Jackson 2006). The second stage in which the program is implemented involves the selection of suitable mentors, the recruitment of mentees, (on both a voluntary or involuntary basis) and mentor preparation (Latham et al. 2008). Final stages include an evaluation through reflection and feedback by mentors and mentees, to determine whether specific objectives and measurable outcomes have been achieved (Latham et al. 008). The program duration may last one year or even longer (Morton-Cooper & Palmer 2000). Structured mentoring programs and retention success In this session, several issues regarding structured mentoring program and retention success will be addressed. First, we must ask what mentoring functions are important to retention success? Second: to what extent or in what way does mentoring contribute to the retention of new graduate nurses? Each of these questions is considered in the following section. Benefits of mentoring programs Mentoring has been shown to provide a beneficial effect on a proteges’ job satisfaction levels and willingness to remain in an organisation (Fleig-Palmer 2009). One aspect of the mentoring relationship is the passing of knowledge from a more experienced staff (mentor) to a less experienced staff (protege) (Heartfield, Gibson, Chesterman & Tagg 2005). Research suggests that by the absorption via socialisation of specific skills to proteges is positively related to personal learning in the workplace (Sherrod et al. 2008). This component is akin to preceptorship which also includes skill-development (Sherrod et al. 2008) and is widely accepted as a crucial orientation to new graduate nurses. Literature has linked preceptorship to a high level of satisfaction together with successful retention (Almada, Carafoli, Flattery, French & McNamara 2004; Lee, Tzeng, Lin and Yeh 2009). Anecdotal evidence shows that new graduates after completing the preceptorship program tend to seek more support, a fact which in itself would imply a strong need for good mentoring programs. A second aspect of the mentoring relationship is the psycho-social support the mentor may provide to a mentee: support which enhances his or her sense of competence and confidence (Heartfield et al. 2005). Recent findings from a longitudinal study suggest that mentoring fosters organisational retention rates through the establishment of emotional connections between mentor and mentee, by contributing to higher level of commitment to the organisation (Beecroft, Dorey & Wenten 2007). A substantial body of literature also supports the notion that mentorship initiatives can help new recruits transiting into the unit culture (Leners et al. 006). Positive environments can be created through frequent interaction, communication and relational caring between different generations of co-workers (Latham et al. 2008). Such interactions can help new nurses transcend the generations, norms and values differences in a unit (Latham et al. 2008). It also can aid a new recruit in getting in touch with overt or covert culture within the practice environment (Morrow 2008). Ultimately, better patient outcomes can be achieved, which in turn can increase nurses’ satisfaction (Leners et al. 2006). Many studies show that individuals who were mentored report higher levels of job satisfaction (Halfer et al. 2008; Krugman, Bretschneider, Horn, Krsek, Moutafis & Smith 2006; Faron & Poeltler 2007). An abundance of research studies indicates that organisations who implement mentoring programs show a consistent decrease in turn-over rate of new nurses (Hurst & Koplin-Baucum 2003; Greene & Puetzer 2002; Halfer & Graf 2006; Halfer et al. 2008; Zucker et al. 2006; Persaud 2008). Similar results are also evident in other disciplines such as Medicine, Pharmacy and Academia (Cohn, Bethancourt & Simington 2009; Sambunjak, Straus & Marusic 2006). One report in particular highlights the benefits of mentoring. A study from the southern United States by Zucker and co-workers (2006) was done to determine the impact of an 18-month mentoring program on nurse retention in five hospitals. Prior to commencement of the program, participants completed a personality profile, to ensure successful pairing (Zucker et al. 2006). This program included topics such as communication and conflict resolution skills, co-operative learning and time-management (Zuker et al. 006)– all subjects which are normally not covered in conventional orientation programs. At the end of the program, both parties reported that the mentoring relationship increased their knowledge and helped them become ‘better people’ and ‘better colleagues’ (Zucker et al. 2006). Higher levels of protege satisfaction were directly translated into increased retention. In this case, the increase was 16% (Zucker et al. 2006). Given that the high turnover rate of new recruits, mentoring program yield a significance of cost-saving to healthcare system. Research methodology/measurement issues Admittedly, strict evidence for an improved retention rate is hampered by the small sample size of these programs (Hamilton, Murray, Lindholm & Myers 1989; Faron & Poelter 2007). Atkin and William (1995) argue that findings which result from such small purposive studies cannot be generalised. Despite numerous studies therefore which show that retention rates increase with the application of a mentorship program (Block et al. 2005), it is still difficult to draw a firm conclusion on the direct causal relationship between mentoring programs and the attained retention level. This is due to the limited amount of information provided with respect to evaluation tools, sample size, mentor styles as well as the lack of a comparison group in the available studies (Gagliardi, Perrier, Webster, Leslie, Bell, Levinson, Rotstein, Tourangeau, Morrison, Silver & Straus 2009; Greene & Puetzer 2002; Hurst & Koplin-Baucum 2003). In addition, the outcomes of these studies may be affected by: differences that exist in a mentor-mentee relationship; the program’s aim and function; and the frequency of interaction between mentor and mentee (Jacobi 1991; Beecroft et al. 2007). Lack of strong quantitative data may prevent the establishment of a positive colleration between mentoring programs and retention rates. Furthermore it can be argued that retention strategies such as mentorship (which are deemed appropriate in one hospital) may not work in another (Jacobi 1991). Atkin and William (1995) point out that the findings might only show that mentors and mentees’ experience during mentorship was relatively new to them. In spite of all critiques, no one however has doubted the overall value that mentoring programs have for mentees, mentors as well as for organisations (Block et al. 2005). The existing mentoring studies on nursing which are linked to retention rates include cross-sectional and longitudinal components (Halfer et al. 2008). In contrast, empirical studies with correlational design, contain data which are only collected for a single point of the study and are subject to a limited amount of participants (Caine 1989; Fagan & Fagan 1982). Quasi-experimental design is therefore recommended (Jacobi 1991). In such studies data is collected from a group of participants who receive mentoring programs together with another non-receiving group, at multiple points throughout the study (Jacobi 1991). Until today, it is not known how long the mentorship effect takes to emerge, in this instance, nor how long it will last (Jacobi 1991). Pure experimental research has value in determining the relationship between mentoring and retention of new graduates (Jacobi 1991) but not many current studies can afford to adopt such a strict approach to measuring the cause and effect of mentoring programs and retention rates. Pitfalls of a structured mentoring program Despite numerous of benefits gained from a mentoring relationship, the desired outcome such as retention not always achieved. Several types of problems that might occur in mentoring include:- Selection of mentors A number of authors note that inequity in the selection of mentors can be problematic to the success of a mentoring program (Greene & Puetzer 2002; Andrews & Wallis 1999). Andrews and Wallis (1999:206) state that ‘some of the nurses are not mentors by choice’, as they dare not reject their selection by the nursing manager. The mentor selection criteria have not been made clear and explicit (Andrews & Wallis 1999). Sometimes, an experienced staff nurse does not have the attributes to become a good mentor (Greene & Puetzer 2002). Indeed, selection of the mentor should be subject not to seniority but to the mentor’s â€Å"availability, interpersonal skills, clinical knowledge, and teaching experience† (Greene & Puetzer 2002:69). An optional basis may also be used (Atkin & William 1995). An inadequate mentor who lacks strong values, or good personal and professional attributes and who exhibits unwarranted behaviours can be a liability (Kane-Urrabazo 2006). Such behaviours can include negative feedback or a lack of respect towards the mentee and can result in decreased self-esteem in the new recruit (Kane-Urrabazo 2006; Woodrow 1994). These behaviours are also known as ‘joy stealing’ (Heinrich 2007, cited in Driscoll 2009:8). The consequence of this will be frustration for either or both mentor and mentee (Kane-Urrabazo 2006). Poor mentoring can drive the newly employed staff away (Kane-Urrabazo 2006; Woodrow 1994). It is therefore imperative that a formalised selection criteria for mentors should be identified. Compatibility Many proteges complain of being enmeshed in a dysfunctional relationship with their mentor (Feldman 1999). This is likely to occur if there is ‘forced matching’ when a less experienced nurse is assigned to be with a mentor pre-selected from experienced staff nurses (Morton-Cooper & Palmer 2000:46). Given the closed relationship between mentor and mentee, there is a risk of this relationship becoming destructive (Woodrow 1994). Empirical studies have identified this issue (Fenske 1986). Common themes that emerge are: failure of the mentor or mentee to maintain confidentiality of private information, mentee abuse of the relationship in which the mentor’s resources are exploited for personal advantage, mentor abuse of the enthusiasm and goodwill of the mentee by making use of his/her as a personal helper or assistant (Hunter 2002). Eventually varying degrees of injurious consequences to mentor, mentee and organisation can develop if not properly monitored (Feldman 1999). The literature has identified that mentees would have better opportunities for growth if mentees were able to select the mentors (Woodrow 1994). Opposition to this suggests that matching is not as important as meeting regularly for a successful mentoring relationship (Beecroft, Santner, Lacy, Kunzman & Dorey 2006). Training for mentors Undoubtedly, a mentor is the key person in the success of a mentoring relationship. However, several studies have shown that most mentors feel deficient in their role as mentor because their training consisted of learning â€Å"on the job†, and by â€Å"watching how other people do it† (Andrews & Wallis 1999:205-206). There are some institutions providing formal mentor training to guide the mentor along (Hurst & Koplin-Baucum 2003). An evaluation study done by Jinks and Williams in 1994 (cited in Andrews & Wallis 1999:205) found those who undertake a formal course with exams felt significantly more able to undertake the role. A formal mentoring course commonly would examine the phases in mentorship, recognising different adult learning styles and personality traits, provide techniques in dealing with conflict and effectively help to manage the relationship with the mentee (Hurst & Koplin-Baucum 2003; Block et al. 00. In spite of these improvements, the majority of the course content was still perceived as inadequate by mentors’ (Andrews & Wallis 1999). Additionally, those who had left school for a significant period of time, might feel the lack of a theoretical background leading to doubts as to whether they possess sufficient preparation to be a mentor (Andrews & Wallis 1999). Woodrow (1994:813) argues that the ideal of mentorship might be undermined by ‘token mentorship’, in which mentors are unable to perform true mentor functions. Recommendation It is important for hospital managers who prepare and support nurses as mentors to develop a greater understanding of mentoring from the mentor’s perspective (Atkin & Williams 1995). Andrews and Wallis (1999:206) argue that mentors’ gain invaluable skills and satisfaction from their work but this often tends to be â€Å"intrinsic† and is internalised. Several authors believe that administrative support through financial compensation, staffing and schedule flexibility, title and leadership recognition can act as motivators for experienced staff (Greene & Puetzer 2002). Such measures would make mentors more likely to commit and sustain in this longitudinal relationship (Greene & Puetzer 2002). In addition, on-going mentor support through a mentor-support group may be helpful in maintaining the momentum (Latham et al. 2008). Latham et al. (2008) had further examined a university-hospital partnership mentoring program. The program included a component of mentor support as part of the program follow-up. It offered an opportunity for mentors to vent about the difficulties they were facing, and share the successful experiences in the mentorship. A mentor support group can clearly help management to monitor the mentorship progress and develop a strategy to tackle emerging problems (Latham et al. 2008). Conclusion It is important that healthcare organisations not continue to take the nurse retention issue lightly. The provision of an effective mentoring program structure is the appropriate response. This is essential in helping clinical entry nurses make a smooth transition into the working environment and at the same time benefit experienced nurses to achieve a higher level of professional development. Such a program can also help the organisation transcend a multitude of problems by creating a positive environment where every staff member may enjoy working. In order for an effective mentoring program to be carried out, organisations must: allocate sufficiently experienced staff to act as mentors; provide flexible staffing and scheduling; give quality training to mentors; and support the mentors through various means by title recognition, wage adjustment and support groups. In turn the program can help organisations increase retention and reduce turn-over for nurses, particularly new graduate staff. It can thus achieve better patient outcomes and increase nurse’s job satisfaction. By providing a structured mentoring program for new nurses’ career development and advancement, we can help to improve the longevity of active nursing careers and also help to alleviate the problem of current nurses’ retention.

Psychology of Language Essay

To briefly introduce the topic, this reaction paper is reflective of David W. Caroll’s book, entitled: ‘Psychology of Language’, which was published in 2008 by Thomson and Wadsworth Publishing. The three selective chapters of the book, namely Chapters 4, 9 and 14 will be the main focus of discussion. As a synopsis of the book, Caroll’s (2008) purpose is to examine how and why human behavior expressively reacts on language, and what influences the language patterns the environment. In search of this critical thinking has explored the observations on the psychological effects of language to the well-being of people and his societal interaction. Chapter 4: Perception of language In ‘Chapter 4: Perception of Language’ examines the comprehension on language that is conveyed in oral and written forms. Caroll pointed out the â€Å"prosodic factors† as a result of physical tension from environmental distraction affects the human mind to understand the message and flow of information (Ferreira, 2003; in Caroll, 2008). It may be interpreted, the prosodic factors is even resulting tremendous difficulty to the â€Å"receiver of information† or listener, from which inability to comprehend and keep abreast to the â€Å"informant† or source of information bears psychological effect of anxiety. Caroll has implied the relevance of tones, use of semantics, time, place and circumstance in transmitting the information. In short, conveying the information can be more expressed according to the emphasized situation and level of expression of the â€Å"talker†. From this, the human behavior develops â€Å"signals† to emphasize the language. As cited, the reconfiguration of transmitting information has been applied in the â€Å"trace model† purposely to analyze the level of comprehension and the pattern of processing the information (McClelland & Elman, 1986; in Caroll, 2008). However, the study may be solely applied in the processing of restricted information that holds risk to national security, wherein US Naval Force adopts the â€Å"trace model†. Significant to human behavior response to information, written communication is described firstly as a â€Å"formal norm† to communicate, I would say, secondly at a long distance â€Å"inscription and transcription†. At this point and time of electronic-telecommunication, written information is relayed through mobile phone and Internet messaging system, in which electronic mail and short-messaging system (SMS) becomes the usual medium of communication, as well as the digital-video-electronic gadgets together with the television, print and broadcast media. The point of view of observing how the human behavior react to present day telecommunication system [not only in written but in digital-communication] could have been a peripheral concern of Caroll. Overall, I would say that both oral and written communication are of formal norms according to the topic, theme, mood, circumstance and notion or understanding the way the information is presented and acknowledged by the receiver. However, it is the â€Å"expression† or could be the body language and emphasis to communicate that can be critically considered by the exhibition of human behavior, applying both expression and feelings that interact between talker and listener, wherein reaction or response depicts the behavior. Chapter 9: Conversational interaction The discussions in ‘Chapter 9: Conversational Interaction’ refers to the exchange of ideas or dialogues between two persons, groups and an individual to a group. In this chapter, Caroll implied the common understanding that conversational interaction is a â€Å"joint action† where individuals converse in a coordinative yet unsystematic flow of ideas, information and topic. As cited, the structure of conversational interaction is the exchange of â€Å"language† in a face-to-face manner and deviate from topic-to-topic, ideas-to-ideas and expressions (Filmore, 1981; in Caroll, 2008). It may be deduced that conversation is important especially in the aspect of clinical psychology, especially considered as a therapy or therapeutic treatment. The inference of conversational interaction can be defined as a â€Å"simple non-drug-related treatment†. Thus, I agree to the explanation that good conversation opens the â€Å"minds and spirit†, and confer the long-kept inner agonies to a good conversationalist. Conversational interaction in the field of psychology can be exemplified by the patient-psychologist conversation on critical thoughts affecting the anxiety of a patient. However, I would like to expound my reaction to the previously discussed norm that conversation has â€Å"unsystematic flow of ideas† since conversation as a therapy for psycho-treatment is applied with the scientific and structured rules. As cited, conversational interaction is institutionally used with specialized therapeutic discourse of a psycho-therapist to a patient (Caroll, 2008). I would further react that the cognitive presentation of theories in Chapter 9 tends to convey a lot of information on conversational interaction but somehow deepen the â€Å"interpretative result† at an average understanding, and hardly express the â€Å"layman’s language† or common knowledge that conversational interaction can be simply described as a convenient manner of talking-listening-talking human behavior. In sum, what Caroll could have simply implied in Chapter 9 is the significance of conversation as an â€Å"easement of barrier†, accordingly in the aspect of â€Å"putting up† a dialogue through therapy in psycho-treatment. On the other hand, conversational interaction can be called as partly â€Å"a way of life† of people, interact each other to communicate, develop ideas and explore the relevance of â€Å"two-way information† on the basis of personal, private and publicly known topic. In addition, interest and willingness could be the expressive rule that creates the â€Å"instinctive† behavior to interact and converse. Chapter 14: Language, culture and cognition The relatedness of language, cultural traits and perceptiveness highlights the discussions in ‘Chapter 14: Language, culture and cognition’. Accordingly, language is primarily the end-result of communication barriers. Indeed it is, for the main reason that the whole wide world is separated by language and dialects, and even the semantics that describe a figure, name and place. It is also a common knowledge that variety of cultures, races and ethnicity has their own system of understanding aside from language in a country. Further, group of people in certain organizations or societies, gender, generation of young and adult and heterosexual groups adopts a â€Å"language† of their owned-meaning and interpretation, like the word â€Å"joint† which has variable meanings for a dope, club, getting-together, and so forth. Caroll (2008) explained that language creates the â€Å"hypothetical understanding† being interpreted by the commonality of meaning, in which individuals and groups in a community understand and accept the perception. In which case, culture and cognition is a belongingness in a given group and community of people. However, according to Carroll, â€Å"linguistic determinism† is different from language of individuals or its groups, as cited, linguistic determinism is the â€Å"learning of language† for certain reasoning or cognitive process (Bloom & Keil, 2001; in Caroll, 2008). Reflective of the above explanation, it may be well explained that what Caroll (2008) implied is the language or word-meaning of scientific and technical terms being used by people in a variety of profession, like the language referring to the use of terminologies in medical science, social sciences, engineering and related fields. However, it may be analyzed that the â€Å"cognitive value† of scientific and technical terms [becoming a language] attributed to the profession or processed knowledge discovers and rediscovers the effects to human behavior, and therefore provides the opportunity to reach out the processes of learning abilities and information sharing at a broadest recipients throughout the world. Again, receiving the information requires the use of language to process the communication, of which the cyclical process of knowledge correlates learning, interpretation, perception and acceptance. It may be therefore said that language is the bottomline to critically convey the culture and cognition, wherein influences interrelate in human behavior. In this regard, I resoundingly acknowledge the fact that language is the key linkage to assimilate cultural diversity, belongingness and displacement of communication barriers. Moreover, it may be further implied that understanding the reciprocity of inherent cultural values, traits and traditions is a critical thought founded on reverent co-existence. Conclusion Human behavior is a fascinating, deeply-intriguing and challenging subject of examination not only in the field of psychological science, but emanates the observation itself within a family and community. It can be said that human behavior is the bulwark of societal development and a never-ending influence to the destiny of an individual. The human behavior patterns the cycle of influence through perception-expression process. From this point of view, language is the most conveyed interaction of human behavior. The psychology of language is a meaningful and motivating exploration of cognitive thoughts adherent to guiding and developing a human behavior that signifies belongingness, progress and harmonizes cultural posterity in transnational boundaries, although in the strictest sense, psychology of language can be inversely applied in the reproach to vindicate human dogmas, greed and plunders of war. On this day and age of integrating information technology, psychology of language is perceived to revolutionize communication exchange effective on how human behavior explicitly react and act, interacting in the fast-changing environment. In conclusion, the study on psychology of language relating the human behavior addresses the critical characteristic and role of individuals in psychosocial landscape. References Carroll, D. W. (2008). ‘Psychology of Language’. 5th Edition, Thomson Wadsworth Publishing, ISBN-10: 0-495-58730-3, ISBN-13:978-0-495-58730-9. Retrieved 22 January 2009 from http://www. ichapters. com/market/eBookAccess. html.

To Serve God and Wal-Mart Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

To Serve God and Wal-Mart - Essay Example Moreton has brought out the family unit as a very instrumental part in the general success of the company. She draws the rise of the values regarded by the family focusing on reproduction and sexuality in conjunction with the rise in service economy as a result of the shift to the reproductive industry from the initial production industries. The family issue in this case according to Merton, meant the rural people of Ozark whose main economic activity was farming as opposed to the urban forks in the northern states that were more of industrialists. The people in Ozark and most populist southern states were against the springing up of chain stores in their neighborhood because they were owned by the wealthy northerners and they resulted in loss of employment and low income to the locals who were trying to compete against them. Walton employed the local people in his chains and subsequently allowed them to own shares in the store and other stores that are being opened. This idea was ta ken up enthusiastically by the family and the locals, because they felt that the chains belonged to them thus less resistance from the locals. Her argument seems convincing because the locals and the chain managers worked hard to maintain their steady profits apart from their salary because they too had invested there. Most large chain companies concentrated in large towns where there were many customers, this is evidence to the fact that Wal-Mart grew easily due to lack of competition in the rural south where it existed alone. In this manner the Wal-Mart rode on the popularity it gained amongst the locals to avoid commercial advertisements and opened more and more stores with the help of the locals, this support was even higher as a resulting of being listed in the stock exchange which brought more capital to expand to other large cities. The cheapest price as the best deal was made to look solidly as a Christian virtue by the Wal-Mart so that the saved money is channeled to other family businesses. Christianity which was the main religion in Ozark and United States in general determined how people conducted themselves and the various virtues that governed the society in addition to recognition of Jesus Christ as the son of God, therefore people are expected to emulate the way He led His life while on Earth. The service leadership popularity in various business and evangelical publications which brought the issue of servant leadership that advocated for feminine, reproductive labor, taken to a higher level in ideological significance, being humble, and men being advised to be active at home so that they keep their promise and to be good examples of leaders at work like Jesus. To emphasize this point, women were to recognize the male leadership as advocated in the Bible even if it meant only in a symbolic manner, this soft patriarch made it easier for the men and women to work together because women could not complain considering the fact that they were to do the work as Christians, providing services cheerfully to others and cherish that opportunity. This changed the negative job attitude to a positive one. The low wages paid to the workers made it easier for Wal-Mart to continue selling their products cheaply and outdo other competitors. Mr. Walton had

Critique of a Political Speech Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Critique of a Political Speech - Essay Example The opening phrase â€Å"Good evening, tonight I can report to the American people and the world†¦Ã¢â‚¬  makes it clear that the speech is a formal announcement, and that the President is conscious that his words will become a part of history. The word â€Å"report† implies that he will stick to a factual account, and the language that he uses to describe events in Pakistan follow this up, for example â€Å"an operation† (paragraph 1) â€Å"counterterrorism professionals† (paragraph 6) â€Å"a targeted operation (paragraph 11) â€Å"took custody of his body† (paragraph 11). This use of plain and logical language, describing neutrally what happened is called an appeal through logos. The action is presented as a straightforward continuation of America’s counter-terrorism strategy following the 9/11 terrorist atrocities. This can be seen when the President sets out the chronological train of events in his planning and execution of anti-terroris t actions: â€Å"Over the years I have repeatedly made clear that we would take action†¦That is what we have done† (paragraph 15) The timeline of consistent and logical action is also projected into the future: â€Å"Yet his death does not mark the end of our effort†¦ We must – and we will – remain vigilant† (paragraph 13). The way that the President delivers the speech is sober and serious, with no pageantry and no audience present. He stands in a dark suit at a podium, inside the Whitehouse but not in any remarkable location. The American flag is held in shot at the opening but the camera focuses very quickly upon the President’s head and shoulders. There is a small â€Å"WHGOV† logo at the top right of the screen, and a full White House credits screen is shown at the end, but apart from that there is no emphasis on the Presidential status of the speaker. This is very clever, because it allows the President to speak as a human be ing, as well as a head of state. He appears determined and calm, and not triumphalist. He even acknowledges the work of his predecessor in office and political opponent, and agrees with him: â€Å"I ‘ve made clear, just as President Bush did shortly after 9/11,†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (paragraph 14) This persona of the calm and dignified leader, victor in long battle and steadily carrying on with the country’s business is an appeal through ethos. It uses President Obama’s political status and personal manner to persuade the audience that â€Å"this is a good and historic day† (paragraph 16) and â€Å"Justice has been done.† (paragraph 19). These last two statements are delivered in the same sober style as the accounts of the action of Pakistan, inviting the audience to trust in his judgement on these matters of interpretation. In fact the President must have known that there would be a lot of angry and worried reactions to the fact that Osama bin Laden was e xecuted without trial. It could be argued that he was not brought to justice at all, and that invading Pakistani air space without permission and then killing him was an act of terrorism which America should be ashamed to admit. These technicalities are not mentioned by the President, and his reassuring persona encourages the audience to concentrate on the result, and not the means that was used to get there. The most obvious rhetorical appeals in the speech are those which use the technique of pathos, a style defined as â€Å"an appeal based on emotion†

Comparison of US and China patterns of trade Essay

Comparison of US and China patterns of trade - Essay Example In 2012, the trade in private services and goods between the U.S. and China totaled to $579 billion. In that year, trade between the two partners (U.S. and China) represented a total of $141 billion of exports and $439 billion of total imports. As at 2014, China was America’s second greatest trading partner. In 2013, China was the third-largest export market for the U.S. In that year, 2013, China remained the greatest goods supplier of imports to the U.S. there was a recorded trade deficit of $318.4 billion for U.S. goods trade with China in 2013. America’s Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in 2012 amounted to $51.4 billion according to data by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (2014). Based on the assessment, China is the leading exporter of manufactured goods to various nations in the global context such as EU and the United States, just ahead of the America and Germany. Many business practitioners believe that Chinese manufacturers experience direct competition against corporations in North America and the European Union. In the course of examining and exploring this skeptical aspect, it is vital to analyze the product components of trades from China before comparing it with the product components of trades from the US and EU. Business entities and nations have the tendency to adopt and integrate the concept of differentiation in addressing demands and needs of the consumers. In this context, there tends to be diversity in the mode and mechanism towards the achievement of the goals and targets. China focuses on exporting various products such as iron and steel, pharmaceuticals, office and telecom equipment. Besides, China transacts on automobiles, machinery, textiles, and clothing.

Price Elasticity of Demand Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Price Elasticity of Demand - Essay Example Consequently there would be a decrease in demand for soybean, thereby a reduction in the demand for soybean. As soybean is a substitute for corns, people would prefer the corns over the soybeans because of its use as an alternative energy source. In respect of the facts at hand when the farmers would look at the fact that there is an increased demand for corn by way of the demand curve shifting to the right and the fact that there has been a market in equilibrium because of the fact that there has been an increase in demand thereby the quantity demanded is more than then the quantity supplied and therefore there is a disparity between the two. Furthermore due to the fact that the ram material being used is the same it would not take much time to switch to produce corns instead of soybeans. Therefore the incentive of the increased price would allow certain producers to switch to produce corns thereby increasing the quantity supplied meeting the level where the quantity demanded is equ al to the quantity supplied thereby reaching new market equilibrium. The price of corn oil because of the increase in demand and the fact there has been a shortage in the quantity that is being supplied thereby creating disparity between the quantity demanded and the quantity supplied.

Burger King and Innovation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 12000 words

Burger King and Innovation - Essay Example In order for a company to survive and succeed in the current economic climate, which is itself having difficulties, companies have to develop in such a way to be one step ahead of their competition. Since the global recession, there is a need for change and members of organizations are urged to change their own mindsets. For this to happen, organizations have to emphasize on 1) communicating more with their customers. Companies have to find out what their customers want and need, especially in the midst of a changing environment where needs and priorities may be different from how they used to be in previous years, and 2) striving for improvement and innovation. During the global economic crisis, it is not sufficient that companies remain to be on the same level as their competitors. In order to survive the competition, creating new business practices in both customer care and creating product value is what is needed in order to innovate. However, innovation doe not occur by simply e ncouraging organization members to be creative. Moreover, the concept of innovation is one that needs to be planned, encouraged and managed. It is a process that is gradual and continual (Desmond, 2009).  According to Christiansen (2000), innovation is the process that involves the management of ideas, the provision of funding and implementation. In the food services industry, it is common to expect that most companies do not have research and development laboratories. Innovations mostly include innovations in equipment design and layout.

Frank Gilbreth and his contributions to Management History Research Paper

Frank Gilbreth and his contributions to Management History - Research Paper Example Secondly, Lillian Gilberth made major contributions to the psychology of management. Thirdly, both before and after the death of her husband, Lillian was an active teacher – she trained some of the most significant figures in the world of business. Additionally, she was a significant role model for women in management in her later years (Witzel, 145). After graduating from Boston English High School, Gilbreth later worked for Whidden and Company Construction as a bricklayer’s apprentice. Later, beginning 1895, he founded Frank Gilbreth construction and became its president until 1911. The company put up projects throughout the US. Beginning the year 1912, Gilbreth and his wife formed Gilbreth Consulting Incorporated. While he was working at Whidden Construction, Gilbreth did not find satisfaction with simply learning a skill but yearned to get to know the reason as to why his instructors used different motions as they taught him to lay a brick while when working alone, they used only one set of motion to lay a brick (Witzel, 209). He also realized that the bricklayers were using three dissimilar sets of motions – one for teaching bricklaying to others, a second while working at a slow speed, and a third while working at a quickly (Nelson.com, 9). These observations saw the start of Gilbreth’s groundbreaking work in the study of motion as well as ergonomics (the scientific workplace layout that reduces fatigue and improves work performance at the same time) and brought about his invention. While he was only 24, Gilbreth received the first of numerous patents for what he referred to as his â€Å"non-stooping scaffold†. He designed the scaffold with the aim of improving the rate at which workers laid bricks. As he observed bricklayer’s movements, Gilbreth came to the realization that it was possible to reduce the number of individual movements that workers made while moving every brick to the wall they were building from t he pallet. This would culminate into a double impact of reducing the amount of energy that they would have to use in addition to accelerating the work (Witzel, 209 & Witzel, 144-145). He started studying the various approaches and started doing away with those motions that were not necessary. For instance, he designed a stand that workers could raise to waist height, which eliminated the motion of stooping to lift each brick (Nelson.com, 9). Witzel explains that before Gilbreth’s design, bricklayers used most of their time stooping to lift bricks and then mortar, which they kept beside their feet. Gilbreth’s invention added a second level at the waist height of the workers to aid in storing materials. The scaffold would be hoisted in such a way that the top of the wall that workers were building was even with their torsos at all times. Instead of bending down now and then, workers would only turn and grab the bricks and this was easier and faster (Nelson.com, 9). The m ost significant fact was that the design deliberately decreased the amount of fatigue as well as stress on the backs of the workers – they were able to lay more bricks daily, with less exhaustion, chiefly in terms of back strain (Witzel, 209). Additionally, by giving those workers whose salaries were low the duty of putting all the bricks with their most attractive side facing

Business Law Essay Example for Free

Business Law Essay Consideration is an essential element of a valid contract. The four main ingredient of a contract is the offer, the acceptance, the consideration and the intention to create legal relation. Consideration refers to what one party to an agreement is giving or promising in exchange for what is being given or promised by the other contracting party. There are certain rules that govern a valid contract.The issue in the case is whether the agreement was legally binding upon Dream Design or whether it failed for want of consideration. If the promise merely fulfils an existing contractual duty to the promisor, he does not provide consideration to buy the buy promisor’s promise. The baskets were to be delivered by A and a rate was agreed upon between the party. After the first delivery A demanded more money from K before making any further deliveries to W. K unwillingly agreed to pay the extra money and A continued with the delivery. Later on K refused to pay the extra money to A and A sued K. It was held that A had not given consideration to K to buy K’s promise of extra money. A could not say that making the delivery was the consideration, as A was contractually bound to make these deliveries under the original contract. With the case of Dream Design the consideration will not be sufficient where a contractually duty already exist. The fact is that Parma Steel and Dream Design agreed on a written contract dated October 22, 2009 for the supply of fabricated steel at a cost of $165 per ton for â€Å"Grade60,000 and $156 per ton for â€Å"Hard Grade. † In this case Parma Steel could not say that making the deliveries was the consideration, as Parma Steel was already contractually bound to make these deliveries under t he original contract. According to Tucker J. there was no consideration for the new agreement. The plaintiff was already obliged to deliver the defendant goods at the rates agreed under the terms of the original agreement. The facts constituted economic duress but the court has to refuse to enforce the new agreement for the increase in the prices or the higher charges as it lacked any fresh consideration from the purchaser, Dream Design. The supplier, Parma Steel claim for the outstanding balance has to be dismissed.

The Structure Of Personality Psychology Essay

The Structure Of Personality Psychology Essay Everyone is created unique and special in their own way. Everyone has a personality of their own that is developed throughout ones life. To effectively and efficiently teach and ensure that each learner grasp the concepts, the teacher needs to understand each student and their personality. Personality can be defined as the pattern of behaviour that is enduring, distinctive thoughts, emotions and behaviours that differs from every individual and is used to adapt to the world. The personality of a person is forms with nature and nurture playing an integral role. With reference to the work of Child Dennis (2007:410), posited that personality involves knowledge of the total organization of humans A classroom is not just a cognitive habitat but consist of intricate personal interactions which deeply affect the learning and teaching processes. In classroom there are so many different personalities and characters that one must understand personality so as not to discourage the students because they are different. According to Buskist William (1990:496), personality is a particular pattern of behavior and thinking prevailing across time and situations that differentiates one individual from another.  [1]  No two persons think alike, everyone is different in attitudes, interest, learning abilities as well as thoughts. The personality of each individual develops though their genetics composition as well as their interaction with the environment. Plomin et al (2002:392) stated that from a sample of 24,000 twins his evidence points to genetic factors accounting for 40 percent of the variance and environment factors the remaining 60 percent. This means that the influential environmental factors are experienced by the twins independently of each other.  [2]   The researchers intent to highlight the structure of personality, personality theories, big five factors of personality, personality and the school environment and type A behaviour of students and teachers so that the researchers can emphasis the need to promote education on personality in schools and in the society so that everyone can accept each other with their differences. THE STRUCTURE OF PERSONALITY Personality according to Freud is made up of the Id, ego and superego. They involve in the process of shaping the individuals mind. According to Buskist William (1990:505), the unconscious mind is a perceptual battleground in which the Id, ego and superego are engaged in unending conflict. The result form the battle cause everyone to behave or react differently forming and showing a different personality. According to Freud the Id is the pleasure principal that seeks gratification and the instincts are: food, sexual pleasure and aggression.  [3]  The adolescents are often hungry and teachers would find them eating in class, fighting to get justice they think they deserve rather than complaining to the teachers. To deal with these behaviour teachers need to understand the students personalities. The ego involves cognitive thinking which allows reasoning, reality and process information about the environment. The ego links the individual and the environment and self awareness. According to Santrock (1994:31), Freud states that the Id is an absolute ruler, owed complete obedience; it is spoiled, willful, impatient and self-centered. The ego has the job of getting things done; it is tuned into reality and is responsive to societys demands. The superego is concerned with right and wrong; its role is to tell the greedy Id that nobler purposes should be pursued. The superego is the moral part of the self.  [4]   According to Santrock (1994:33)  [5]  Defense Mechanisms which are unconscious methods by which the ego distorts reality to protect itself from anxiety are: Repression is a powerful and pervasive defense mechanism since it works to push unacceptable Id impulses out of awareness and back into the unconscious mind. Rationalization is the psychoanalytic defense mechanism that occurs when the real motive for an individuals behaviour is not accepted by the ego and is replaced by a sort of convert motive. Displacement occurs when the involvement of unacceptable feelings from one object to another, more acceptable object. Sublimation occur when a useful course of action replaces and unacceptable one. Projection occurs when we attribute our own shorting, and faults to others. Reaction formation occur when we express an unacceptable impulse by transforming it into its opposite. Regression occur when we behave in a way characteristic of a previous developmental level. COMPARING PERSONALITY THEORIES INNATE VS. LEARNED FACTORS The question is; which factors affect the personality more innate or learned? Both of these factors are important in the development in an individuals personality. In the study of fraternal twin who were separated at birth proves that both twin were very different. They had the same genetic composition but their environment was different. One of the twins was in a wealthy environment with everything and the other in a poorer environment and they both turned out so different all because of the environment they were exposed to. The environment or society you belong to will influence your personality since your will be groomed and taught what that society feel is right or wrong. The richer family will provide moral, emotional support, financial security which all human beings need as stipulated by Abraham Maslow in the theory of hierarchy of needs. However, a different society or a poor society will think differently and react differently. If your change the persons environment they wil l adapt to the new environment and change their personality to adapt to their present environment. It is simply our human nature of survival. According to Santrock (1994), Skinner and social learning theorist believe personality is behaviour that is environmentally determined. However, humanistic theories believe that personality is influences by experience and can be changed and people have innate ability to self actualized.  [6]  It can be seen that both heredity and environment plays and important part in an individuals personality development. CONSCIOUS VS. UNCONSCIOUS According to Freud in Buskist William (1990:505), personalities are determined by both conscious and unconscious powers, with the unconscious exerting considerable influence on the conscious.  [7]  Therefore repressed ideas, thoughts and wished influence our conscious way of thinking and behaviour. Also repressed ideas and thoughts can surface in dreams and mistakes of speech known as Freudian Slips. The Conscious mind hold things we are fully aware of, that we can think and rationalize while the unconscious mind is the bulk of the mind. The mind suppresses the things we dont want to remember like pain, hurt, conflict, abuse and things we hid from the world that we hid it so far we ourselves do not remember. According to Freud, our deeply repressed experiences in infancy and early childhood determined what our personality will be in adulthood. While psychoanalytical theorist argues that individuals are unaware of our personality development.  [8]  Students are different and they all have different personality and to understand their needs teachers need to understand personality. Students in our classroom have pain and hurt deep within them causing them to behave reserved or misbehave and the teacher without studying the child plaster a label as indiscipline, pest, dunce without understanding or thinking about what is causing this child to behave this way. INTERNAL VS. EXTERNAL DETERMINANTS The internal dimensions of personality according to Freud are the Id, ego and superego whiles the external determinants being cognitive and social learning. People are prisoners of their past since the problem may have hurt the persons ego before when a similar problem arise the individual struggles with low self esteem and low self confidence. Also the cognitive development, social learning and moral guidance help to make decisions rather than overacting with the Id but the superego controls all the extreme actions and it helps both the internal and external determinants to harmonize. According to Freud (1933:69): The poor egoà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦feels hemmed in on here sides, threatened by three kinds of danger to which, if it is hard pressed it reacts by generating anxietyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Thus the ego, driven by id, confined by the superego, repulsed by reality, struggles to master it economic talk of bringing about harmony among the forces and influences working in and upon it, and we can understand how it s that so often we cannot suppress a cry: Life is not easy!  [9]   THE BIG FIVE FACTORS OF PERSONALITY Some individual have a high level of intellect or gifted while some students are slow learners. Some students are social and interact while others are reserved and quiet, some are funny and jolly while some are sad and depress and these are all personalities of people. Everyone deal with situation differently since everyone is being guided differently by their superego. Everyone is taught different values depending on their culture. According to Child (1998), Eysencks big five are Neuroticism-Emotional Stability, Introversion-Extraversion, Openness-Convergence, Agreeableness-Antagonism and Conscientiousness-Undirectedness.  [10]   Extroversion Agreeableness Conscientiousness Neuroticism Openness to experience Low Scorers Loner Quiet Passive Reserved High Scorers Joiner Talkative Active Affectionate Low Scorers Suspicious Critical Ruthless Irritable High Scorers Trusting Lenient Soft hearted Good-natured Low Scorers Negligent Lazy Disorganized Late High Scorers Conscientious Hard-working Well-organized Punctual Low Scorers Calm Even-tempered Comfortable Unemotional High Scorers Worried Temperamental Self-conscious Emotional Low Scorers Down-to-earth Uncreative Conventional Uncurious High Scorers Imaginative Creative Original Curious Table 1:1 The dimensions of personality according to Eysencks (1916)  [11]   http://alleydog.com/images/eysenek-wheel.gif Figure 1.1 Eysencks Wheel of Personality http://alleydog.com/images/eysenek-wheel.gif Temperament according to Galambos and Costigan (2003) as citied by Santrock (2005:192), is an individuals behavioral style and characteristic way of responding and it is the foundation of personality. There are three types of temperament: Easy Child: this child is generally in positive mood, quickly establishes regular routines, and adapts easily to new experiences. Difficult Child: this child reacts negatively to man situation and is slow to accept new experience. Slow-to-warm-up child: this child has a low activity level, is somewhat negative and displays a low intensity of mood.  [12]   With reference to the table and the wheel the researchers have experience with students who behave in all these ways. However, it is seen that not all the time the trouble students are poor performers but sometime the more privilege students have greater pain from pressure and high expectations that they behave differently at home and in school. They can be stable at home and at school the complete opposite and need love and attention. Students when away from home they want to be themselves and live a little and teachers need to help them by showing them how to behave an help them understand life during the period of Adolescence, that they are going through. At this point, students are forming an identity and developing a personality that will define who they are as individual. It is important that teachers understand personality, their own personality so that they can tolerate others so the students will imitate them and tolerate their peers in the classroom and this knowledge about personality can help students to avoid conflict and confrontation among peer because they will understand that everyone is different and is part of our society. PERSONALITY AND SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT A classroom is not just a cognitive habitat, but consists of intricate personal interactions which deeply affect the learning and teaching process. Personality characteristics play an important role when it comes to the learning process and the attitudes and perceptions of learning. Every student views learning differently since their parents and teachers would try to convenience them that learning is beneficial to them in the future. Some students are interested in learning one way while others are not motivated by when teachers utilize multiple intelligence methods students will find what stimulates their interest and will become interests. According to Child and Smithers (1971) reviewed and cited by Child (2007:403): Variations in performance are not entirely a question of intellect, motivation or thinking skills, but may depend on the personal attributes which can enhance or inhibit the quality of that performance. In the classroom and in the teaching profession there are individuals with Type A behaviour personality and they can be difficult individual so that is why it is often a problem that some students and teachers just cannot get along because they dont understand each other personality or even realize they have a Type A behaviour. After the work of two American Heart Specialist Friedman and Rosenman 1974 was reviewed, endorsed and cited in Child (2007:403) the characteristics of Types A behaviour are: Tries to do or think of two or more things at once, (b) Cannot sit doing nothing-feels guilty when not working, (c) Develops ticks, facial movement (eyebrow raising), (d) has a thing about punctuality, (e) gets impatient watching others doing a job he or she thinks can be done better, (f) plays to win- even when playing with children, (g) drums fingers impatiently, (h) does lots of arm waving when talking, (i) hurries others along who are speaking, (j) tries to steer conversations to her or his own interests, (k) tries to pack a lot of work into little time, (l) shows no interest in aesthetic aspect of surroundings (m) gets very cross in queues, (n) has the motto if you want something done properly, do it yourself and (o) pushes other people hard at work Students with this kind of behaviour do not usually get along with their peers since they want everything perfect and bossy. If the students are aggressive and dominant then they will be fidgety and argue with the teachers and be disruptive to prove their points. Also, it is can be very alarming if teachers have that types of behaviour since they can be cold, detach and no-nonsense person with no lenience who the students will fear and this can cause students to underperform since they do not understand what is requires of them from the teacher. These persons will have a high self-esteem and confidence and will work hard and be professions. The students will be hard working striving for only A. This type of behaviour cause stress, frustration and aggression that is not good for the students or the teachers health. Summary Personality can be defined as the pattern of behaviour that is enduring, distinctive thoughts, emotions and behaviours that differs from every individual and is used to adapt to the world. A classroom is not just a cognitive habitat, but consists of intricate personal interactions which deeply affect the learning and teaching process. The unconscious mind is a perceptual battleground in which the Id, ego and superego are engaged in unending conflict. Defense Mechanisms which are unconscious methods by which the ego distorts reality to protect itself from anxiety are: Repression, Rationalization, Displacement, Sublimation, Projection, Reaction and Regression Both heredity and environment plays and important part in an individuals personality development. The cognitive development and social learning and moral guidance help to make decisions rather than overacting with the egos but the superego controls all the extreme actions and it helps both the internal and external determinants to harmonize. Eysencks big five are: Neuroticism-Emotional Stability, Introversion-Extraversion, Openness-Convergence, Agreeableness-Antagonism and Conscientiousness-Undirectedness. Three types of temperament: Easy Child, Difficult Child and Slow-to-warm-up child. Variations in performance are not entirely a question of intellect, motivation or thinking skills, but may depend on the personal attributes which can enhance or inhibit the quality of that performance Type A behaviour personality can cause a person to be difficult to deal with and understand. Conclusion The researchers can confidently conclude that this was the most informative and beneficial researcher that they have ever pursued: understanding personality From the readings the researchers believe that there is still so much yet to uncover about personality. Understanding personality opens the eyes of an individual to accept and tolerate the behaviours, attitudes and cultures of others. The researchers being teachers looked at how the concept of personality can influence their attitudes and behaviours when dealing with the adolescents. Understanding the personalities and difference will help teachers to interact better with the students and also they are better able to counsel the students into tolerating each other and to help students and teacher to better deal with situations. Personality studies will never come to an end because each person is different, complex and sophisticated in their own way.

The Side Effect Of Brain Drain In Globalisation Economics Essay

The Side Effect Of Brain Drain In Globalisation Economics Essay In this paper we will describe one of the side effects of globalisation, more specific the effect on the human capital of underdeveloped and developing countries who see their best and most productive workers leave the country to seek fortune and money in the richer western world. In an economic context Globalisation is the reduction or removal of barriers and borders in order to facilitate flows of capital, goods, services and also labour. Globalisation is also the integration of economies and societies around the world. This paper focuses on the labour flows and more specific on the migration and flows of skilled labour. Globalisation is not something new, but the technological and political evolutions after World War II have hastened this process. We wont look at the flows themselves, but rather at one of the side-effects of migration in a globalised world: the brain drain, and, in some cases the brain gain. Brain drain is human capital flight. Its the phenomenon where skilled workers or young potentials : individuals with technical skills or knowledge; migrate and leave their country. While brain drain is not something new, its effects are much greater in a globalised world where skilled workers can freely travel the world. Many countries have restricted migration policies; but high-skilled well trained workers are often more than welcome and often even encouraged to come to the western world. There are many reasons for this skilled migration and the reasons to migrate may differ from region to region. Skilled workers living in Eastern Europe migrate to the USA or the EU because there are more career opportunities, salaries are higher and social security is better. African migrants sometimes flee violence, poverty, political instability or corruption, While there are also highly skilled European academics working in the USA, the Far East or vice versa; we will focus on the skilled migration from under-developed or developing countries to the developed world. In this paper we will take a deeper look at the brain drain. The first section summarises migration data, both skilled and unskilled The next section discusses the disadvantages of skilled migration from the point of view of the underdeveloped and developing countries. The subsequent section takes a look at the advantages of skilled migration, again from the point of view of the underdeveloped and developing countries. Before jumping to the conclusion, well discuss a few advantages and disadvantages of the skilled migrants themselves. The final section sums up the conclusion and gives some moral point of views and my opinion about this theme. Where possible, we will make a distinction between several groups of underdeveloped and developing countries: Eastern Europe, Middle East and Northern Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian world and Pacific Islands. Every region has a different history and every region has different regional characteristics. The effects of skilled migrations or the extent of every effect will be different for every region depending on the technology level, the political stability, the share of skilled workers, the composition of the population, How big is the brain drain? Before summarizing the advantages and disadvantages of skilled migration from the sending countries perspective we first must know how big the brain drain really is. How many skilled workers leave the Third World and migrate to the developed countries? Answering this question is not easy. Who are the highly skilled? Should we also count unskilled migrants who are educated in the developed world and thus become skilled? Do we count illegal migrants as well? We wont tackle these questions in this paper, but simply use the data provided by organisations like the IMF, the World Bank Group and the OECD. According to these organisations skilled migrants are migrants with at least tertiary educational attainment, wherever they completed their schooling. Table 1 shows us some regional characteristics of the different regions in 2000. It provides us for each region the proportion of skilled in the resident population (Skill), the average emigration towards the OECD countries (Aemig), the skilled migration rate (Semig) and the ratio of remittances to GDP (Rem/Y). The regions are grouped as follows: Eastern Europe (EAS), Middle East and Northern Africa (MEN), Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and the Indian world and Pacific Islands (IND). Table 1: regional characteristics in 2000: Region Skill Aemig Semig Rem/Y EAS 12.4% 6.6% 11.8% 1.3% MEN 8.5% 3.5% 8.5% 2.8% SSA 2.8% 0.8% 12.9% 2.6% IND 4.5% 0.4% 5.2% 1.8% Data source: Luca Marchiori, I-lung Shen, Frà ©dà ©ric Docquier (2009) We can conclude from table 1 that Eastern Europe and the Middle East and Northern Africa have attained a reasonable level of education already. The situation in India is worse and alarming in Sub-Saharan Africa. In all four regions, the skilled migration rate is a lot higher than the average migration rate, hence the brain drain. Again, the situation in Sub-Saharan Africa is disturbing. Eastern Europe and to a lesser extent also the Middle East and North Africa also have a very high skilled migration rate. The skilled migration rate is lower in India, but the skilled and unskilled migration rates of bigger countries are always less impressive than those of smaller countries. Disadvantages of skilled migration Support rate diminishes When the active part of the population diminishes, a smaller group of people are capable of providing economic support to the number of older people, children and students who are materially dependent on the support of others. The burdens are carried by a shrinking group workers and the part of the population that creates an added value becomes smaller and smaller. The support rate in Western Europe and Japan for example, diminishes due to the aging of the population. Not only Western Europe and Japan are hit by the aging of the population! There are developing countries in Eastern Europe and Asia that face the same problems. The aging of the population isnt the only cause for a diminishing support rate. Migration can have the same effect, especially when young or high schooled workers leave the country: the group of active workers shrinks when some of them search a better future in other countries all over the world. When developing countries who have to cope with a growing group of retired inactive people, also lose their trained and educated workers, they are hit twice. First of all, this means that the pressure on the government budget augments: pensions need to be paid, medical costs are higher while tax revenues go down. One of the consequences can be that countries will cut in educational programs. This can even amplify the brain drain: not only do they lose their most productive workers, they also wont be able to educate enough new young high skilled workers to replace the retired workers. This is a major problem for countries in Eastern Europe. African countries, the Middle East and India all have a very young population. The diminishing support rate doesnt really trouble them. Human Capital goes down The biggest and most notable disadvantage of schooled migration looking from the perspective of the sending countries is the downswing of human capital in these sending countries. Human capital is the stock of competences, knowledge and personality attributes embodied in the ability to perform labour so as to produce economic value. It is the attributes gained by a worker through education and experience (Sullivan, Arthur; Steven M. Sheffrin (2003).). Its obvious that human capital of a country is affected by the migration of the high schooled and best trained workers. The human capital of a country determines among others the number and type of investments a country attracts, but has also a huge impact on another important factor of the growth of a country: the technology level of an economy. Political unstable or unsafe countries are often faced with a large stream out of both high schooled and unschooled workers. The stream out of these unstable countries is often a lot bigger than the stream out of more stable underdeveloped countries where workers leave for economical reasons only. Countries with an unstable and violent history have as a result lost almost all their skilled workers. This also means that they need to invest in the training of new skilled workers or that they have to attract foreign doctors, engineers, craftsmen, As a consequence, a huge part of the official development assistance goes to the recruitment and or training of skilled workers (doctors and other health care workers, skilled craftsmen for rebuilding infrastructure, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦) who are difficult to retain once trained. This way, western countries are indirectly investing their own future workers. Especially Sub-Saharan Africa has this huge problem. The first step to retain their skilled workers is off course, the much needed political and economical stability. As a result the growth of Technology slows down As explained above, theres another important factor affected when human capital goes down: technology. When discussing the brain drain, we talk about the most skilled workers who leave. Those skilled workers are the first and most important people who use and/or develop new technologies. The talents of these workers are indispensable when a country wants to advance to higher technology level. Technology is an important factor determining the type of (foreign) investments a country attracts. The brain drain can thus have an immense effect on the development of a country. When foreign investors are only interested in cheap workers or natural recourses, but not in the local talents; foreign investments often dont help to develop a country. Companies who search a country with enough skilled workers are often willing to invest in training, but will look for countries with a better starting position. The brain drain clearly slows down or even stops the development of underdeveloped or developing countries who are only attractive for their low wages or natural recourses. The regions principally affected are again the least developed countries: Sub-Saharan Africa and unstable Asian countries. The Middle East or Eastern Europe is less affected. The recent revolution even shows that there seem to be to many high schooled young people. They dont find a job even after several years of academic schooling. The Economic returns to investment on education in underdeveloped countries go to the developed countries. The investments in education done by underdeveloped countries and developing countries partly disappear without a trace. The investments go up in smoke when the high skilled workers, educated in their own country, leave their country and migrate to the developed world. As mentioned before, the same can be said about big parts of the development aid send to underdeveloped countries: parts of this aid are reserved for educational projects. It can be at first sight be discouraging to invest in the education of academic personnel when the most talented individuals dream of a career in the western world. As expected, the negative aspects of the brain drain are numerous and can be devastating in the short run. The human capital of a country not only determines the number of skilled workers available for domestic production, but also affects other important parameters of an economy: technology and the capacity to innovate! Both factors determine the volume and type of incoming investments. Add to this the diminishing support rate and the low returns on investment on education and the picture doesnt results dont look promising. Advantages of skilled migration Remittances à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‹â€  investments? More often than not, migrants send home large sums of money to their family whom they left behind in their home country. These sums are called remittances. They are sometimes even the only or at least the most important reason for migrants to travel to a richer and better developed country in search of career opportunities and wealth. At first, many migrants plan to work a few years until they have acquired enough money to be able to return back home and maintain their family. It makes therefore perfect sense that these migrants send home lots of money even before returning home. According to The World Bank, these remittances send back to the developing or underdeveloped countries are even 1,5 times greater than the worldwide budget spend on development aid. For the developing countries, remittances represent about 2% of their Gross Domestic Product, for the underdeveloped countries roughly 6% and for some of the least developed countries of this world this percentages rises to almos t 20%! There are certain analysts who equate remittances with foreign investments, but opinions are divided on this subject. There are even analysts who claim that remittances have mainly negative effects on the economies in underdeveloped countries. Remittances create and maintain economic dependency and take away incentives to start local businesses and take the initiative to enhance living standards. While there are indeed negative effects, most economists believe remittances to be a good thing for developing and underdeveloped countries. Remittances can enhance the state of health, the level of education, the access to information and technology and can reduce the need of child labour. While they indeed can be the cause of dependency, the money send back home can also create opportunities to invest in the local economy and start up new businesses. One of the biggest advantages of remittances is the stability they bring. In times of hunger, crop failure, drought, an economical or political crisis; remittances can make the difference for families hit by misfortune. It s important to make a critical note before jumping to the next advantage. While there are many migrants, both low and high skilled, who send back large sums of money, its the small elite group of very high skilled migrants who send back the smallest amount of money; if they send something to their home land at all. The skilled workers who left their country that invested in them and who can produce, potentially, the highest return on investment, are also the workers that fail to do so, not because they can t fulfil their potential, but because they seem to forget their roots, financially speaking. The incentive effect of brain drain Success can be contagious. The same can be said about migration. When Young people in underdeveloped countries see that their countrymen who left in search of better career opportunities, more stability and a higher living standard, they can be stimulated to study to enhance their chances of also finding a better future abroad. At first, this seems to be another disadvantages of the brain drain. Underdeveloped countries seem to be losing even more high-skilled workers. Not all these new formed high skilled workers however will migrate. The long term net effect will in most cases be positive for the human capital of a country. Obviously this effect can only be positive in the long term: it takes time and money to invest in young people and to create a new generation of high skilled, well trained potentials. Furthermore, this wont stop the brain drain. Migrating is still the main goal of many students in Third World countries. The investments of underdeveloped countries are still very high when looking at the outcome, even if the net effect is positive. Investing in education remains investing in the future of both your country and the future of the countries that attract skilled workers. This effect can only play in countries with enough infrastructure and stability. A country that lacks the necessary resources to train their high potentials will never be able to benefit from this incentive. This effect therefore isnt big enough to be called an advantage in Sub-Saharan Africa. In Eastern Europe on the other hand is the number of skilled workers already relatively high. Thats why the incentive effect wont be very high in Eastern Europe. The incentive effect can be a real advantage in India and North Africa and the Middle East: both regions are reasonably stable and have the infrastructure and means to educate their workers. Reduced Risk Premium In an open economy, the Risk Premium is one of the most important factors that determines the volume of (foreign) investments in physical capital in a country. Countries with a low risk premium can more easily attract foreign investments than countries with a higher risk premium. Financiers who invest in regions or countries where the return is less certain and with more uncertain circumstances will demand a higher return on investment than those who choose to invest in more stable regions. The risk premium is determined by several factors: political stability in a region, economic stability of a country, and also by the available knowledge of a country or region. Migrants can t really affect the political or economical stability of their home country, but they can spread the knowledge of their country. When high skilled leave their country they can spread this knowledge in the companies and countries where they live and work. This way, they can directly and indirectly reduce the risk premium for their country and thus attract more foreign investments. The effect is assumed to impact every region with comparable magnitudes. Diasporas can be an important source of trade, capital, technology, and knowledge for origin countries. We have just explained that the brain drain can indirectly enhance the physical capital of a country thanks to the reduced risk premium. The extra foreign investments not only raise the physical capital of a country, they can also raise the human capital and the technology of a country. The foreign investments can bring new technologies to a country. There is however another mechanism that can bring extra investments, technology and knowledge to a country: networking or more specific diasporas. A population of a country cast around the world can still keep in contact with each other and with their home country. This way, new technologies, ideas or concepts or moral standard can reach their home country. They all can have an effect on the labour market or the human capital of a country. If the status of women changes for example, the labour market can be opened for women. If family values change, birth control can become a discussable issue. Theres also a change that a world-wide network is created when people keep in contact. This network can defend the interests of a country, can promote a region and can help to attract investments. DDI: Diaspora Direct Investments When an underdeveloped or a developing country is faced with a large stream out of skilled workers or academic personnel, the chances will grow that some of these migrants will invest in the country they came from. They should have a great knowledge of their home region and they normally still have lots of local contacts. When some of those migrants are successful and search a good place to invest, there s a big chance that they will choose their home country, if stable enough off course. Migration can attract foreign investments thanks to the reduced risk premium (foreign investments) and thanks to successful migrants who invest in their home country (Diaspora investments). Theres however a difference between the two. Foreign investments are not always seen as a factor of growth and evolution. Some scholars argue that foreign investors only exploit workers and that technological spillover effects are rare. Diaspora investments on the other hand are more likely to be durable investments. At first sight, the loss of skilled workers has mainly a negative impact on the economies of the sending countries. When we dive deeper into the effects of the brain drain and when we also take a look at the long term effects, we can be more optimistic. For some countries the brain drain might even be an advantage. The economy and society of countries faced with a large stream out of skilled workers can be more open, more globalised and more advanced thanks to the technology spillovers of diaspora investments, the changed standards and values and the incentives effect of brain drain. On top, Gross Domestic Product of the underdeveloped and developing countries rises thanks to the remittances and the extra foreign investments they can attract through the reduced risk premium. What about the immigrants themselves? When looking at the advantages or disadvantages of the high schooled immigrants who head to the developed world, we mainly see advantages. That may seem obvious, there s after all often a good reason why they choose to migrate. Many unschooled migrants who reach the Western World after a long and touch journey dont end up in paradise, but often have to spend at least a few years as an illegal. For those who are finally accepted, a good job is often unreachable. The situation for most high-skilled migrants is of course very different. Many of them can perfectly legally and without much problems choose the country they prefer. The western world even actively recruits in many developing countries when searching scarce workers. There are for example many health care workers from the Philippines working in Europe and many IT-specialists from India work in the USA or Canada. One could even say that high schooled workers in underdeveloped countries are crazy if they do not leave their country and search a better future in the Western World where the career opportunities are better and wages are much higher. Nevertheless, there are a few critical comments to make. Even for high schooled migrants, live is not roses all the way. Brain waste: high skilled immigrants accept jobs way under their level of schooling The training, education and experience of migrants isnt always appreciated in the western World. There are many examples of high schooled Asians, Africans or Eastern Europeans who have to accept jobs why under their level of schooling. That doesnt have to mean that their standard of living has decreased after migrating, but we might say that their intellectual capacities are wasted. The Western World doesnt always take full advantage of their schooling, experience and talents and they arent fulfilling their potential. A question we might ask is whether these high skilled workers would offer their talents to a country where they would be much more appreciated and where they could fulfil their potential, like their home country. They might be happier, even when working for a lower salary. Conclusion There are both negative and positive aspects on the brain drain, on the migration of skilled workers from underdeveloped and developing countries to the developed world. The brain drain has correctly raised many questions, especially when looking from the perspective of the sending countries. There are however scholars who claim that the brain drain has more advantages than disadvantages when looking at the picture as a whole. On the one side we see the direct impact of the brain drain: countries lose their schooled workers and their human capital goes down by definition. The decline of human capital has an impact on the technology level of a country and on the investments it can attract. In addition a big part of the investments on education done by the sending countries go up in smoke: the schooled workers leave the country and take their skills with them. Countries who lose their skilled workers and who face another problem, the aging of the population, are hit twice. They not only have to face all the problems mentioned above. They also have to cope with a shrinking support rate. The active part of the population who contributes to the economy and pays taxes grows smaller and smaller while the number of pensioners who need to be supported by the government and thus by the active part of the population expands. On the other side recent studies have come to the conclusion that there are also many advantages to the brain drain, particularly when looking at the long term effects of skilled migration on the economy of the sending countries. The creation of human capital in the sending countries is stimulated by the incentive effect and the migration of workers, both skilled and unskilled creates flows of cash to the developing and underdeveloped countries. These flows of cash, the so-called remittances, often represent an important share in the Gross Domestic Product of the sending countries, especially in the Gross Domestic Product of the least developed countries. Furthermore, a sending country can attract additional foreign investments thanks to the brain drain. Firstly thanks to a reduced risk premium and secondly the migrants themselves can, when they are successful abroad, invest in their home country. We can for certain say that the short term effects of the loss of schooled workers on the underdeveloped and developing countries are negative. Furthermore the economical growth of countries faced with a brain drain can stagnate. Human capital is an important economical factor for growth and evolution not to be underestimated. Looking at the long term effects, the answers are less clear and ambiguous. Future investments can be higher thanks to the diaspora investments and the additional foreign investments. The remittances are often indispensable for many undeveloped countries, particularly in moments of crisis: famine, an economical crisis or natural disasters. Lastly, we must also mention the influence migrants can have on the technology level of underdeveloped countries, but also on standards and values. The effects of birth control on poverty cannot be underestimated. When we make a distinction between the different regions, the least developed countries are not the ones that are affected the most by the loss of skilled workers. When we say least developed countries, we are referring to the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa. This region benefits the most from the brain drain in the long run. We might even conclude that Sub-Saharan Africa will benefit from a brain gain thanks to the loss of skilled workers. Sub-Saharan Africa however will not benefit from this brain gain as long as the region isnt politically and military stable. The African countries will never attract enough investments without this much needed stability. Both the short term and the long term effects for Eastern Europe are probably negative. The level of education in this region is already too high to profit from the positive effects on the human capital of a country. Next, this region is hit by the same big problem Europe and Japan have to face: the aging of the population. When a big part of the most productive part of the population leaves the country, those who stay will have to double their efforts. When looking at the two other regions, India and the Pacific and The Middle East and North Africa, drawing the right conclusion is less evident. Will the positive effects outweigh the negative ones or not? Both regions already have a relatively large group of schooled workers and the technology level in both regions is sufficient. The benefits for those aspects will be negligible. Both regions need to attract extra investments. Tunisia for example, has many young academic schooled workers who are familiar with the new technologies, but not enough jobs. When the high-schooled, but unemployed young workers migrate to the Western World, the Middle East and North Africa can only benefit. My Opinion The effects of skilled migration on the developing and underdeveloped countries, both the long term effects and the short term effects, are analysed in detail. But how to deal with the negative effects of the brain drain or how the negative effects can be limited is almost never explained. Only the papers discussing Diaspora Direct Investments give advice on how to get more out of and attract these investments. Its difficult to give an opinion on a subject when it isnt clear how to counter the negative effects or how to get the most out of the positive effects in order to go from a brain drain to a brain gain. Before taking a position on the brain drain, it might be useful to clarify the situations of the different parties involved. Firstly, there are the underdeveloped and developing countries faced with a large stream out of schooled workers. They seem to be powerless to stop this since scholars only describe their problems, but dont propose a solution. As mentioned above, the effects of the brain drain are mainly negative. There are indeed also positive effects when looking at the long term, but its far from certain that the positive effects will outweigh the negative ones for many countries. The question remains: can the underdeveloped and developing countries change their precarious situation? Can they encourage the schooled workers to stay in a country where the future is often uncertain, wages are low and career opportunities scarce? This seems impossible to be. That however doesnt mean that nothing can be done. Taking away some of the reasons to migrate will reduce the migration an d its effects: political and military stability, safety, less corruption, are just a few of the many reasons to flee a country and to built a new life abroad. Whats more, if these problems are at least partially solved the economical returns to investment on education will be higher. To conclude, there seems to be no real solution for this problem when looking at the sending countries. The only thing they can do is closing the gap with the developed world. The magical formula to do so though, do not seem to exist. Its even more difficult to find a solution when we analyse the brain drain from the individual migrants perspective. It seems that the decision to migrate, when possible, is at first sight easily made. Can we blame the high skilled workers living in an underdeveloped country to dream of a better paid job in a safer and more stable environment with more career opportunities? Are they wrong to do so and is it wrong to leave a country that invested in them? Theres another aspect we must look at when we analyse the brain drain from the migrants perspective: remittances and investments. Do these migrants have the moral duty to send back large sums of money? Do they have the moral duty to invest, when possible, in the country that educated them? Its better to leave the answer to the migrants themselves. Finally, we have the Western governments and companies who fight their war for talent. The United States of America, Europe and Japan all need new skilled workers to replace the baby-boom workers who will retire and the BRIC-countries need skilled workers to close the gap with the developed countries. Many countries and companies try to attract the same highly skilled talents and rely on international labour flows to fill in future gaps. The global competition doesnt give them a choice. If they dont attract enough talented workers, economic growth might slow down. In my opinion, we cant blame the developed countries for the brain drain. Every country tries to prosper. But should the Western World compensate the developing and underdeveloped countries for the brain drain? Should they make good the loss of skilled workers in