Despite progress made in recent years, women continue to be underrepresented in academic publishing. We aim to share insights from academic women researchers who participated in the Training Needs Assessment for developing their writing for publication skills in an Open Distance Learning institution in South Africa. The research questions that guided the study were: a) What specific challenges do academic women researchers face in developing research and publishing skills? b) What motivated academic women researchers to participate in a writing project? c) What type of support do academic women researchers identify as essential for advancing their research and publishing skills? The data were collected through an initial face-to-face meeting, followed by a Training Needs Assessment from eight purposively chosen participants in a case study design. The findings indicate participants’ challenges of time constraints, lack of confidence, and knowledge as obstacles that hindered their publishing. Despite their challenges, women researchers reported their motivation to participate in the writing project for career advancement, personal development, academic recognition, and their inspiration to publish their research work. The study found that women researchers required writing support, peer collaboration, mentorship, and institutional support to improve their writing for publishing skills. Supporting academic women researchers with focused training, engaging them in collaborative networks, and developing gender-sensitive policies is crucial for promoting equity, breaking down barriers, and ensuring their academic and professional success.

This study applies explainable machine learning to identify which vocal attributes in a lecturer’s speech influence students’ views of a lecturer’s charisma, a key contributor to teaching quality. It further explores whether vocal qualities differ between male and female lecturers and how students of different genders respond to these differences, offering insights into voice-related factors that influence the impact of educators. Speech segments from YouTube videos featuring 200 native-English lecturers were evaluated by 900 students using charisma rating scales. A set of attributes related to three primary prosodic dimensions of voice - pitch, rhythm, and loudness - was computed. A random forest classifier was employed to predict the charisma level based on the speech attributes and to list and rank the attributes that contributed most to the prediction. The findings revealed prominent vocal attributes that achieved higher charisma scores in the students' ratings. Same-gender evaluations of charisma were mainly based on pitch, while cross-gender evaluations rely mostly on loudness or rhythm. The automated, interpretable method provides a reliable and efficient way to measure vocal charisma in academic lecturers. It can be adapted to examine additional individual factors that influence the perception of a lecturer’s charismatic presence. It may also be integrated into practice-based tools, designed to support instructors in improving their presentation skills. Our research bridges the fields of applied psychology and computer science to contribute to the development of educational technology.

Academic studies are an important stage in the development of professional identity and perceptions regarding a person’s future occupation. This study examined the relationships between experiences during college studies and professional identity and motivation to work in the studied field among female undergraduates from the Ultra-Orthodox sector. The study employed a cross-sectional survey design with a sample of 93 participants, who were all studying for B.A. degrees on an Ultra-Orthodox college campus. At the end of the 2023 academic year, participants completed anonymous, self-report questionnaires about their attitudes toward academic studies, professional identity, and motivation to work. The data from the questionnaires were analyzed using t-tests, ANOVA, correlation analyses, and multiple regression. The findings revealed significant, positive relationships between satisfaction with one’s studies and professional identity and between professional identity and motivation to work in one’s field of study. Contrary to what had been hypothesized, no relationship was found between the students’ satisfaction with their studies and their motivation to work in their field of study. In addition, the professional identity of students in the later years of their programs was no stronger than that of first-year students. This indicates that perceptions of one’s college studies are not directly related to occupation or motivation for work. The findings show that the year in one’s study program did not affect work motivation, suggesting that the link between academic experience and occupation is weak. In addition, the fact that professional identity did not act as a mediating factor in the examined model suggests that professional identity may develop before individuals begin their college studies.