Research within the field of inclusive leadership solely derives from insights from leaders practicing inclusive leadership in physical settings. Building on previous research of e-leadership in virtual settings, the purpose of this study is to make a theoretical contribution to the area of inclusive leadership by incorporating the experiences and perspectives of leaders practicing inclusive leadership in hybrid settings. In addition, a practical contribution is to provide guidance on how leaders can adapt their leadership practices to be suitable for a hybrid way of working. The research is based on a qualitative interview study with an abductive approach and collected data from semi-structured interviews with fourteen formal leaders in a wide range of industries practicing inclusive leadership in a hybrid setting. The results show that inclusive leadership is influenced when practiced in hybrid settings and the key finding of this thesis concerns that shared decision-making incorporates additional features for inclusive leaders in hybrid settings to take into consideration.

Cemented paste backfill (CPB) is a highly advantageous method of backfill that has been increasing in use in recent decades as it provides many environmental, economic, and practical benefits. When combined with cement and water, it recycles a portion of the dewatered tailings produced from mines as backfill for underground stopes. CPB is transported from the plant on the surface through pipes to the stopes, sometimes over several kilometers, and then placed in underground mining cavities (stopes) to support the ground or rock mass. Therefore, it must meet certain rheological, setting time, and strength gain performance requirements. Additionally, as many mines around the world are located in areas of freshwater scarcity, and societies are holding corporations to ever higher standards for humanitarian and environmental responsibility, many mines are seeking to utilize locally available, saline groundwater or seawater as mixing water in backfill. The impacts of this decision on the rheological, setting, and strength properties of CPB must be better understood to allow for the confident selection of this convenient solution, as the risks associated with improper design include huge costs due to pipeline clogging and death or injury due to backfill failure and ground subsidence. NaCl is a contributor to natural groundwater and seawater salinity and may be present in concentrations of up to 300 g/L. An additional cost-saving measure favoured by mines is to replace some of the costly Portland cement with much cheaper supplemental cementitious materials such as blast furnace slag. Therefore, this thesis examines the impacts of NaCl concentration and binder composition on the yield stress, viscosity, initial and final setting time, and strength development of CPB. A robust experimental program has been undertaken in which CPB was subjected to the above-mentioned tests in addition to pH and MIP testing, SEM, TG/DTG, XRD, and zeta potential analyses, and electrical conductivity, suction, and water content monitoring. CPB samples were made with synthetic silica tailings, Portland cement, and water with NaCl concentrations of 0 g/L, 10 g/L, 35 g/L, 100 g/L, and 300 g/L and CPB made with 35 g/L and slag replacement percentages of 0%, 25%, 50%, and 75%. Additional samples tested were made with natural gold tailings, Portland cement, and NaCl concentrations of 0 g/L and 35 g/L for verification. Rheological testing was conducted at 0 minutes, 15 minutes, 1 hour, and 2 hours after mixing, and UCS testing was conducted after 1 day, 3 days, 7 days, 28 days, and 60 days of curing. Additional tests or analyses were performed on selected mixes and curing times for optimum insight and monitoring was conducted from 0 to 28 days after curing. It was found that low concentrations of NaCl (10 g/L and 35 g/L) generally had favourable impacts on the UCS and setting times of CPB, while higher concentrations had negative impacts. The impacts of slag replacement on UCS development of saline CPB were also generally favourable. However, the impacts of slag replacement on initial setting time were generally negative, and favourable at higher replacements (50% or more) for final setting time. Low NaCl concentration led to slightly negative impacts on yield stress, especially at longer curing times (1-2 hours), but high concentrations greatly reduced the yield stress. NaCl concentration had minor impacts to viscosity, with any concentration leading to a slightly higher initial viscosity but slightly lower viscosity at longer curing times. Slag replacement content had negligible effects on yield stress, but led to favourable decreases in viscosity over longer curing times. The combination of positive and negative impacts indicates that care must be taken to knowledgeably prioritize or balance critical properties in mix design, though there is indication of opportunities for overall improvement. Supplemental testing provided useful information to explain the mechanics behind the results which will allow designers to carefully select the required components for the desired properties.

European Politics and Society Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Programme MA Thesis Attitudes towards European Integration in the Western Balkans: Euroscepticism and Europhilia in North Macedonia Maria Paschalina Dimopoulou Abstract The progress in the integration of EU candidate member states is determined by the level of democratization they have achieved, the level of success in the transition to market economy, the rule of law development and the ability to fulfill the conditions obligatory for member states. The attitudes towards the prospect of membership range from fervent enthusiasm to severe skepticism, depending on the length of the process, the success or lack thereof in the institutional transformation, the compatibility of the European values with traditional norms and region-specific reasons. There have been many studies focusing on the Central and East European former candidate states, while contemporary research on the Western Balkan region is rather focused on the EU's enlargement fatigue and conditionality failure. This thesis attempts to examine the role of domestic media of a candidate state in shaping the public opinion and the possible role of the political parties using the media to project their agendas on integration. The case study of North Macedonia proves the positive connection...

This diploma thesis deals with the framing of the Black Lives Matter movement and related protests in the Czech news media. The aim of this work is to reveal the way in which the Czech media informed about the Black Lives Matter movement with the help of quantitative content framing analysis. The theoretical part of the thesis deals with the theory of social and media construction of reality by Berger and Luckmann, which plays the role of an overarching theory. It also deals with the agenda-setting theory, which it expands with the concept of framing. The agenda-setting theory describes the ability of the mass media to influence the significance of topics in the eyes of the public. The theoretical part also describes a brief history of the Black Lives Matter movement and the events that led to its emergence. Furthermore, the relationship of the mass media to racism is introduced and the concept of the protest paradigm is introduced. The work then describes the previous findings of the protest paradigm, which are then used in the analytical part. The methodological part then presents the research goal, questions and hypotheses, defines the sample set and the research method used, including the characteristics of individual variables. The analytical part of the thesis presents the results of the...

In this study the researcher's intent was to examine the initial academic goals and objectives of successful adult-degree completers in 4 baccalaureate-degree programs at East Tennessee State University. Although there has been much written about adult motivation to re-enter formal education, there have been few studies of adult students' goals as they entered degree-completion programs. The purpose of this study was to provide a framework for the understanding of the academic goals and objectives expressed by adult students as they were starting to return to college. Research questions that guided the study included exploration of student goals and objectives, an examination of differences among adult students' statements with regard to age, ethnicity, or gender, and an examination of differences in those statements of goals and objectives written over a range of years. An open an axial coding method was developed to analyze 637 statements written by degree-completion students who graduated between 1999 and 2008. Seven themes emerged among students' essays that describe those students' motivations to re-enter the university and their goals at the point of entry to those degree programs. First, students indicated they wanted to earn degrees. Second, some students identified trigger events that had prompted their return to the university. The third theme included professional goals and motivators that were included in students' statements of goals and objectives. Fourth, students cited personal motivators and goals for completing their undergraduate degrees. Fifth, students wrote about institutional barriers that led them to choose a degree-completion program over a more traditional model. Sixth, students wrote about attractive features of their respective adult-degree-completion programs. Seventh, students placed their learning in the context of a broader commitment to lifelong learning.

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This research explores the role of the art therapist in a nonclinical setting. The research dissects the experiences of nine art therapists who participated in an artist residency that was informed by art therapy but was not clinically based. The spectrum of literature reviewed focused on the professional identity of art therapists and therapists as well as social action art therapy and working with Native American cultures. A qualitative approach was utilized through the conduction of a focus group along with four individual interviews, which were both enhanced by a parallel art making process. Analysis of the data resulted in four significant themes: illuminating strengths and activating existing resources, containment, chaos, and finding hope amidst inadequacy. The findings were triangulated with the art therapy literature reviewed on the identity of the art therapist as well as leading art therapists’ visions for the field’s future. The research accentuates the complexity and significance of art therapists participating culturally informed, with underserved communities and redefining their role in order to carry out that purpose. In sum, the research offers insight into how art therapists can creatively and with great sensitivity, “meet clients where they are at”.

Since the 1990s, Sweden's societies has changed in terms of the prevalence and spread of criminal environments. Gun violence in criminal environments has become more frequent and has grown during the last couple of years. The police explains the increased gun violence through organized crime. Previous research has showed that newspapers portrayal of gang crime lacks in a distinct definition of the criminality and are more likely to use condescending descriptions rather than positive ones. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate how the Swedish news media portray and describe gang crime in terms of attribute and definition. To enable the survey, a qualitative content analysis with a limited selection of newspaper articles were used. The study has been conducted with two theories, framing theory and the agenda-setting theory to create an understanding of the news media's presentation of gang crime. To achieve the aim of the study, 18 articles in three newspapers were used in a process of coding to highlight the descriptions of gang crime. The results of the study demonstrated in two main categories and six subcategories. The results of the collected empirical evidence showed that gang crime was presented mainly in a negative way to describe vulnerable areas, young men, shootings and rappers. The results also showed that the definition in Swedish news media is vague and lacks a clear description of what the issue is about.