Gender differences in early childhood development are under-researched in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where almost 90% of the world's young children live. This study examines the direction, magnitude, and variation of gender similarities and differences in 3- and 4-year-olds' early childhood development in 71 low- and middle-income…

Knowledge applied to innovation is increasingly recognized as an explanatory factor of economic growth. Innovation derives from applying knowledge to generate new products or processes. National Innovation Systems (NIS) performs as the formal or informal network of people within institutions interacting to produce and apply knowledge to…

Parents have the option of enrolling their children in the first stage of early childhood education (from 0 to 3 years of age). However, not all parents decide to do so, waiting until the second stage of early childhood education to enrol them in the education system (from 3 to 5 years of age), or even until compulsory education when their…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify the most prevalent initiatives undertaken by leading universities in sustainability and offer a roadmap for other institutions seeking to undertake similar actions and contribute to more effective implementation of sustainability practices. Design/methodology/approach: By using a quantitative…

This paper explores how conversations among academics in a particular institutional context evolve, starting from the individual development of teachers and shifting in focus to institutional development. Results of our basic survey (N = 55) and semi-structured interviews with teachers (N = 13) who participated in lunch-time conversations on…

Studies show that executive functions and motor development are associated with each other and with learning ability. A more technological lifestyle combined with digital culture should be considered a viable alternative to stimulate children's development. Therefore, this study aimed to present a systematic mapping of the literature involving…

Purpose: Case competitions are growing in popularity, in part because they are believed to build the skills and employment opportunities that higher education institutions are struggling to provide. We add to the nascent research on case competitions and answer calls for more exploration of career-related aspects of case competitions by exploring…

Governments, businesses, and educational institutions need to collaborate and make significant investments in order to address the growing digital skills crisis. In Europe, hundreds of digital skills initiatives have been launched with different forms of government and private industry support in the last five years alone. Consequently, digital…

The monitoring and evaluation of R&I policies relies on quantitative and qualitative methods with important methodological shortcomings. Quantitative assessments rely on standardized indicators that do not capture context-specific challenges, while qualitative approaches lack comparability. Both approaches are complementary but not always…

This study examines the impact of the Fraunhofer Society, Europe's largest network of applied research institutes, on patent applications. A difference-in-differences strategy was employed exploiting the establishment of five new Fraunhofer centres in the 2000s. The panel includes 65,963 European applicants (both firms and independent inventors)…

Technological innovations have led to an increase in demand for information technology (IT) skills in contemporary library and information agencies. This in turn has created an increased need for pedagogical skills on the part of library and information science (LIS) professionals for them to empower users with knowledge and skills to navigate a…

There has been a steady increase in popular music programs at Higher Music Education Institutions (HMEIs) across Europe. However, what students actually are supposed to learn at popular music bachelor/master programs has remained largely understudied. Based on 12 in-depth interviews with leaders in higher popular music education, this paper…

The emergence of moral emotions such as guilt is central in moral and prosocial development. Guilt is an important psychological factor, which motivates prosocial behaviour and is credited for multiple social functions. Importantly, it remains unclear what determines the extent to which children show guilt. The current study examined two factors…

Academic debate highlights the need to develop suitable teaching and training practices to accompany the implementation of universal design for learning (UDL) and inclusive higher education policies. This study addresses this need by investigating the relationship between knowledge and utilization of inclusive pedagogy, on the one hand, and the…

Participatory research can be promoted by scientific intermediary units, such as Science Shops. The overarching goal of these initiatives is thereby to foster a process of co-creation of the research questions to address societal needs that are relevant to scientific research and society at large. The InSPIRES project was a Horizon Europe…