In Ghana, youth unemployment remains significant challenges, with technical and vocational education and training (TVET) emerging as a potential solution to equip young people with practical skills for the job market. However, the uptake of TVET programmes among Ghanaian youth remains low, particularly among females. This study therefore explores the determinants that influence TVET choices among Ghanaian youth, with the goal of informing policy development to enhance participation in vocational education. Applying an enhanced multinomial logistic regression (MLR) model, this research examines the influence of socio-economic, demographic, and attitudinal factors on career decisions. The enhanced model accounts for class imbalances in the dataset and improves classification accuracy, making it a robust tool for understanding the drivers behind TVET choices. A sample of 1600 Ghanaian youth engaged in vocational careers was used, ensuring diverse representation of the population. Key findings reveal that males are approximately three times more likely to choose TVET programs than females, despite females making up 50.13% of Ghana’s population. Specific determinants influencing TVET choices include financial constraints, parental influence, peer influence, teacher influence, self-motivation, and vocational limitations. In regions with limited vocational options, youth often pursue careers based on availability rather than preference, which highlights a gap in vocational opportunities. Parental and teacher influences were found to play a dominant role in steering youth towards specific careers. The study concludes with recommendations for policymakers, instructors, and stakeholders to increase the accessibility, relevance, and quality of TVET programmes to meet the socio-economic needs of Ghanaian youth.

Nowadays investors are measuring the performances of a business organization not only based on their operating efficiency but also fulfilling their social responsibility. At least the investors need to know whether the activities of the business have any adverse impact on the society and environment. This study explores the accountability of the business from the social and environmental context. This empirical study tends to investigate the nature of the ownership structure that influences the environmental disclosure of a business entity. Based on the sample of fifty-five DSE-listed textile companies, this study used multiple regression to assess the causal relationship between the ownership structure and corporate environmental disclosure. Moreover, this cross-sectional study also considers the agency theory and stakeholder theory to explain the relationship between the ownership structure and environmental disclosure. The findings indicate that corporate environmental disclosure is positively influenced by foreign ownership and institutional ownership whereas director ownership and public ownership have no significant association with the environmental disclosure. These insightful results challenge conventional assumptions and highlight the need for a nuanced understanding of the factors that drive environmental reporting practices in the context of an emerging economy. The main contribution of this article lies in its provision of empirical evidence from an emerging economy, Bangladesh, which helps in understanding sustainable practices in a global context. Additionally, it aids in developing effective corporate governance policies and strategies tailored to similar emerging economies by recognizing the role of ownership structures in influencing environmental accountability. These findings further assist policymakers, managers, and other sustainability advocates in understanding how different ownership structures affect corporate environmental disclosure.

This study aims to take Chinese higher vocational colleges professional group leaders as the research subjects to analyze the components of their key competencies, develop the competency model of professional group leaders (PGL), and analyze the main factors influencing the model. It provides a powerful help for improving the scientific level of the construction and management of the teaching staff in higher vocational colleges and filling the gap in the research on the quality and ability of Chinese professional group leaders. A mixed research method is deployed in this study. Data are collected with the help of a self-administrated questionnaire and a semi-structured interview based on grounded theory. Data analysis involves structural equation modeling using AMOS, complemented by qualitative coding in NVivo. It concludes that the competency development model of professional group leaders comprises two main dimensions: explicit competencies and implicit competencies. Explicit competencies include cross-border adaptability (CBA), resource integration ability (RIA), innovation and development practice ability (IDPA), management leadership ability (MLA), and interdisciplinary scientific research ability (ISRA). Implicit competencies include personality attitude (PA), and intrinsic motivation (IM). The study fills a significant gap in the literature by providing a detailed model of competency for professional group leaders in the context of higher vocational education, offering a practical framework for improving the training and management of teaching staff and promoting the development of professional groups effective in vocational colleges.

Political representation is responsible for choices regarding the supply and the management of transport infrastructure, but its decisions are sometimes in conflict with the will and the general interest expressed by citizens. This situation has progressively prompted the use of specific corrective measures in order to obtain socially sustainable decisions, such as the deliberative procedures for the appraisal of public goods. The standard Stated Choice Modelling Technique (SCMT) can be used to estimate the community appreciation for public goods such as transport infrastructure; but the application of the SCMT in its standard form would be inadequate to provide an estimation that expresses the general interest of the affected community. Hence the need to adapt the standard SCMT on the basis of the operational conditions imposed by deliberative appraisal procedures. Therefore, the general aim of the paper is to outline the basic conditions on which a modified SCMT with deliberative procedure can be set up. Firstly, the elements of the standard SCMT on which to make the necessary adjustments are identified; subsequently, modifications and additions to make to the standard technique are indicated; finally, the contents of an extensive program of experimentation are outlined.

Young people are a traditional risk group for radicalization and involvement in protest and extremist activities. The relevance of this topic is due to the growing threat of youth radicalization, the expansion of the activities of extremist organizations, and the need to organize high-quality preventive work in educational organizations at various levels. The article provides an overview of research on the topic under consideration and also presents the results of a series of surveys in general educational institutions and organizations of secondary vocational education (n = 11,052), universities (n = 3966) located in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation. The results of the study on aspects of students’ ideas about extremism are presented in terms of assessing their own knowledge about extremism, the presence/absence of radically minded people around them, determining the degree of threat from the activities of extremist groups for themselves and their social environment, and identifying approaches to preventing the growth of extremism in society. Conclusions are drawn about the need to improve preventive work models in educational organizations towards a targeted (group) approach.