This study investigates non-academic employees’ perceptions of their line managers’ leadership styles at a private university in Malaysia and how these perceptions influence their intention to remain employed. Employing a qualitative approach and the path-goal theory as a theoretical framework, data were collected through purposive sampling from 10 non-academic employees and analyzed thematically using NVivo 12 software. The findings reveal that a supportive and participative leadership style fosters an informal leadership dynamic between line managers and subordinates. Informal leadership behaviors encompass affective qualities and effective communication that enable the development of close relationships outside the workplace, facilitating increased employee engagement and motivation levels. Consequently, this approach notably improves employee retention. This study offers a comprehensive understanding of informal leadership styles contributing to enhanced human resource management at the private university while providing an inclusive perspective on employees’ perceptions and their intention to remain employed. Finally, we propose a model of employees’ perception of leadership styles as the main driver that better serves their intention to stay in organizations.

In the present and future of education, fostering complex thinking, especially in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), is critical to lifelong learning. This study aimed to analyze learning scenarios within the framework of a model that promotes complex thinking and integrated design analysis, to identify the contributions of linking design models to the SDGs. The research question was: How does the open educational model of complex thinking link to the SDGs and scenario design? The analysis examined a pedagogical approach that introduced 33 participants to the instructional design of real-life or simulated situations to develop complex thinking skills. The categories of analysis were the model components, the SDGs, and scenario designs. The findings considered (a) innovative design capacity linked to SDG challenges, (b) linking theory and practice to foster complex thinking, and (c) the critical supporting tools for scenario design. The study intends to be of value to academic, social, and business communities interested in mobilizing complex thinking to support lifelong learning.

Primary reason for interpretation the paper was the creation of a starting position for setting up e-learning in the structures of the executive forces of the Slovak Republic, which absent in the current dynamic environment. Problems with education arose mainly in connection with the global problem of Europe, such as the influence of illegal migrants, and it was necessary to retrain a large number of police officers in a short time. We reflect on the combined model of LMS Moodle and proctored training through MS TEAMS and their active use in practice. We focused on the efficiency in the number of participants in individual trainings and costs per participant according to the field of training. We compared the processed data with the costs of the pilot introduction of analytical organizational unit providing e-learning and interpreted the positive results in the application of e-learning compared to conventional (face-to-face) educational activities. As a basic (reference) comparative indicator, the costs of educational activities of selected organizational unit of state institution represented by own educational organizations and the number of trained employees for the periods in question were chosen. To measure effectiveness, we set financial—cost KPIs. Our findings clearly demonstrated that it is possible to significantly optimize costs when changing the current form of ICT education to e-learning. The implementation of another educational activities form of education, e-learning, within public institutions, according to the results of the analysis, can simplify and at the same time make education processes more efficient in the context of individual subjects of the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic.

Financial inclusion and social protection have been recognised as the primary essential stimuli from the potential they carry as avenues for economic development, especially with respect to reduction in poverty and inequalities, the creation of employment and the enhancement overall welfare and livelihood. However, inclusive access to financial resources and equitable access to social protection interventions have remained a significant concern in Nigeria. In addition, the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic exposed the weakness of Nigeria in all sectors of the economy such as energy, health, education and food systems and low-level inclusive access to financial resources and social protection coverage. On the other hand, this study argues that financial inclusion and social protection has the potential to mitigation shocks orchestrated by the COVID-19 pandemic. This study empirically examines how social protection interventions and access to financial resources responded to COVID-19 pandemic. The study made use of data sourced from the World Bank’s COVID-19 national longitudinal phone survey 2020 and applied the logit regression. The findings show that social protection and access to financial resources significantly associated with the likelihood of shock mitigation during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results show that social protection intervention reduces the probability of being severely affected by shocks by 0.431. Given this result, the study recommends that the government should put more effort into proper social protection intervention to mitigate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The target date for achieving the 2030 UN Agenda [Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)] is fast approaching. The construction sector is critical to achieving many SDGs, including Goal 5. Studies regarding achieving Goal 5 (Gender Equality) in the construction industry, especially women’s consultancy participation in developing countries, are scarce and complexly interrelated. Societal problems and divergence may have contributed to this. Therefore, this study explores issues hindering gender equality and suggests measures to promote more women construction consultants through policy to improve achieving Goal 5 in Nigeria. The research employed face-to-face data collection via a qualitative mechanism to achieve this. The study covered Abuja and Lagos. It accomplished saturation at the 20th participant. The research utilised a thematic method to analyse the collected data from knowledgeable participants. The perceived hindrances facing Nigerian construction consultants’ gender equality were clustered into culture/religion-related, profession-related, and government-related encumbrances. Achieving Goal 5 will be a mirage if these issues are not addressed. Thus, the study recommended measures to motivate women to study construction-related programmes and employment opportunities, including consultancy services slots through programmes and policy mechanisms to achieve Goal 5. As part of the implications, the study suggests that Nigerian construction consultants and other stakeholders need to make feasible improvements to achieve gender equality (Goal 5).

The issue of academic achievement among Chinese university students is emerging due to difficulties in finding employment. This study investigates the structural relationships between social support, goal orientation, and academic achievement with the aim of enhancing students’ academic performance and facilitating sustained employability. Data were collected from 202 college students in South China, revealing that students’ levels of social support, goal orientation, and academic achievement were all moderate. Lower-grade students, in comparison to higher-grade students, exhibited lower levels of social support, goal orientation, and academic achievement. Additionally, students from lower economic backgrounds tended to lack social support. Among the factors of social support, goal orientation, and academic achievement, there were positive correlations among these three variables. Social support significantly and positively influenced goal orientation and academic achievement. Specifically, the sub-factors of social support, school support, and teacher support had differential effects, with school support enhancing academic achievement and teacher support boosting goal orientation. Goal orientation also significantly and positively impacted students’ academic achievement, with the sub-factor of mastery goals having a stronger influence. Goal orientation partially mediated the relationship between social support and academic achievement. This study discusses limitations and provides insights for future research.