The effects of transnational mobility on youth transitions. This project aims to examine transnational mobility amongst young people and to understand its effects on their economic opportunities, social and familial ties, capacity for citizenship and transitions to adulthood. Young people increasingly migrate abroad for work and education, and Australia is a significant hub for sending and receiving. Migration and education policies encourage this mobility, which is expected to provide youth wit ....The effects of transnational mobility on youth transitions. This project aims to examine transnational mobility amongst young people and to understand its effects on their economic opportunities, social and familial ties, capacity for citizenship and transitions to adulthood. Young people increasingly migrate abroad for work and education, and Australia is a significant hub for sending and receiving. Migration and education policies encourage this mobility, which is expected to provide youth with enhanced competitive skills. Outcomes of this project include a significant dataset and online research database on how youth from various cultural backgrounds manage mobility and develop economic, social and civic benefits for themselves and the broader community.Read moreRead less
DETERMINANTS OF QUALITY OF LIFE IN CITIES: The South East Queensland Urban Region in Comparative Perspective. This is the Australian component of an international project on quality of life (QOL) in cities. It examines people's perceived QOL and relates this to objective indicators such as employment levels and neighbourhood safety. We examine the South East Queensland urban region; our collaborators focus on Detroit (USA) and Belo Horizonte (Brazil). Our research tests the recent propositio ....DETERMINANTS OF QUALITY OF LIFE IN CITIES: The South East Queensland Urban Region in Comparative Perspective. This is the Australian component of an international project on quality of life (QOL) in cities. It examines people's perceived QOL and relates this to objective indicators such as employment levels and neighbourhood safety. We examine the South East Queensland urban region; our collaborators focus on Detroit (USA) and Belo Horizonte (Brazil). Our research tests the recent proposition that QOL is the key element in the rise of the new economy characterised by increasing emphasis on consumption and expansion of the services sector. Understanding the relationship between QOL and the new economy is vital for future urban planning.Read moreRead less
Social Relations Among Urban Aborigines in Sydney's Western Suburbs.
The forces that generate the horrific health and welfare problems in Indigenous communities will be elucidated and tools will be offered to enhance the work of policy makers and improve communications between Aborigines and providers of services. My research will rely on Indigenous people to expose the normalised and internalised forms of racial inequality they experience and to offer strategies to combat them. Intellectual ....Social Relations Among Urban Aborigines in Sydney's Western Suburbs.
The forces that generate the horrific health and welfare problems in Indigenous communities will be elucidated and tools will be offered to enhance the work of policy makers and improve communications between Aborigines and providers of services. My research will rely on Indigenous people to expose the normalised and internalised forms of racial inequality they experience and to offer strategies to combat them. Intellectual outcomes will include new directions for social science's engagement with Indigenous issues, a more innovative contemporary anthropology and better informed practices in organisations. It will contribute to capacity building by enhancing the skills and experience of participants and improving self-esteem.
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The invisible postmodern family: Investigating the interface between the private and public worlds of lesbian families. This study investigates family diversity and post-modern kinship through a study of lesbian parented families. These families are a recent and significant new family type and knowledge about them is crucial for understanding contemporary family life. We examine family structure including how family members define and describe their relationships, their roles and the social supp ....The invisible postmodern family: Investigating the interface between the private and public worlds of lesbian families. This study investigates family diversity and post-modern kinship through a study of lesbian parented families. These families are a recent and significant new family type and knowledge about them is crucial for understanding contemporary family life. We examine family structure including how family members define and describe their relationships, their roles and the social supports available to them. We examine the interface between the private lives of lesbian parented families and mainstream public institutions. The research will develop the field of family studies theoretically and empirically and will be of major significance to researchers, practitioners and social policy makers.Read moreRead less
Global arenas of knowledge: centre/periphery relations and change in knowledge production on a world scale. This research will increase our understanding of the production and exchange of organised knowledge in the global context. Combining ethnographic fieldwork, quantitative analysis and new social theory, it will provide sociological input into higher education policy and establish a new research trajectory in this emerging international field.
Social Resilience, Migrant Integration and Informal Sport in Public Space. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of public space and leisure in strengthening individual and community well-being. This project investigates the potential of informal sport in fostering social resilience and cohesion in new migrant communities by analysing how social outcomes are shaped by public spaces and built environments of Australia and Singapore. Expected outcomes and benefits include qualitativ ....Social Resilience, Migrant Integration and Informal Sport in Public Space. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of public space and leisure in strengthening individual and community well-being. This project investigates the potential of informal sport in fostering social resilience and cohesion in new migrant communities by analysing how social outcomes are shaped by public spaces and built environments of Australia and Singapore. Expected outcomes and benefits include qualitative evidence of the dynamics that contribute to the formation of successful neighbourhoods and communities, related policy and urban planning recommendations and an enhanced capacity to build urban citizenship among Australia's growing and vulnerable multicultural migrant populations.Read moreRead less
Vocational studies in school - does it matter if I'm a girl and if I'm poor? The growth of VET in Schools has been associated with government policy to promote an innovation culture and economy, to increase secondary retention, and to strengthen transition from school to tertiary study, training and work. This study seeks to examine the effectiveness of VETiS, from a gender and SES perspective, in strengthening participation, fostering student engagement and facilitating effective transition. It ....Vocational studies in school - does it matter if I'm a girl and if I'm poor? The growth of VET in Schools has been associated with government policy to promote an innovation culture and economy, to increase secondary retention, and to strengthen transition from school to tertiary study, training and work. This study seeks to examine the effectiveness of VETiS, from a gender and SES perspective, in strengthening participation, fostering student engagement and facilitating effective transition. It does so by analysing national VETiS data, followed up by a longitudinal study of students in 12 schools (small, large, single sex, co-educational, metropolitan and non-metropolitan). It uniquely combines a system-wide perspective with a detailed and qualitative school-level view.Read moreRead less
Australian Global Identities: Images of Globalization, Transnationalism and Individualism among New Expatriates. Globalization is dramatically transforming Australian society. By exploring the neglected terrain of emergent 'Australian global identities', this research will benefit policy analysts, government and the public they serve. Research findings on how globalization influences the decisions of Australians to live and work abroad, promoting new lifestyles and international careers, will ....Australian Global Identities: Images of Globalization, Transnationalism and Individualism among New Expatriates. Globalization is dramatically transforming Australian society. By exploring the neglected terrain of emergent 'Australian global identities', this research will benefit policy analysts, government and the public they serve. Research findings on how globalization influences the decisions of Australians to live and work abroad, promoting new lifestyles and international careers, will be used by organizations and government to shape policy in employment, education and professional development. The research will shed new light on the rising numbers of Australians working abroad, as well as detail ways Australia might better adapt to global institutional networking in order to attract expatriates back to Australia.Read moreRead less
From Stranger to Citizen: Migration, Modernisation and Racialisation in the Making of the New Australian. The project addresses an important question: How can Australians continue to reap the benefits of cultural diversity while building a strong sense of national cohesion with which to engage productively with the rest of the world? Refugees from developing countries appear to pose a particular challenge to integration into Australian society. A close examination of the contact zone where newco ....From Stranger to Citizen: Migration, Modernisation and Racialisation in the Making of the New Australian. The project addresses an important question: How can Australians continue to reap the benefits of cultural diversity while building a strong sense of national cohesion with which to engage productively with the rest of the world? Refugees from developing countries appear to pose a particular challenge to integration into Australian society. A close examination of the contact zone where newcomers interact with service providers will result in a better understanding of citizen-making processes and facilitate the improvement of policies and their implementation to facilitate faster and deeper integration of migrants and refugees from developing countries into Australian society.Read moreRead less
Playing for Life: the everyday music practices of marginalised youth as strategic pathways to agency, employment and socio-economic inclusion. Popular music is widely recognised as affectively and culturally central to marginalised youth, often providing strategic pathways to employment and socio-economic inclusion. This project is the first comparative international project to explore how marginalised youth engage with popular music in post-industrial societies, and how they develop their music ....Playing for Life: the everyday music practices of marginalised youth as strategic pathways to agency, employment and socio-economic inclusion. Popular music is widely recognised as affectively and culturally central to marginalised youth, often providing strategic pathways to employment and socio-economic inclusion. This project is the first comparative international project to explore how marginalised youth engage with popular music in post-industrial societies, and how they develop their music and technological skills by using local cultural resources that exist outside of formal schooling. Located in community-based organisations, the study will identify processes of learning and agency from the perspectives of young people themselves. The findings will enrich current social theory on youth, policy and program development of youth services.
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