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Psychology

How to improve company culture? It’s simple, make employees feel like they matter

How to improve company culture? It’s simple, make employees feel like they matter

David Yaden of the School of Arts and Sciences co-led research aimed at clarifying what it means to “matter” in the workplace. Their work found that “achievement was tied more closely than recognition to self-efficacy, which is a central construct in the organizational mattering framework. On the other hand, recognition tracked more closely with manager status, promotions, and raises than did achievement, a nod to the importance of ensuring one’s good work is noticed and appreciated by coworkers.”

Paideia’s spring course offerings highlight wellness, service, and citizenship
A group of students sit on the lawn under a cherry blossom tree on College Green.

Paideia’s spring course offerings highlight wellness, service, and citizenship

The first four courses offered to Penn undergraduates as part of the new Stavros Niarchos Foundation Paideia Program will focus on passion, civility, effective communication, and a deep dive into American Chinatowns.

Kristen de Groot

How does opioid exposure affect brain development in young children?
Two people standing in a building entryway. Windows are on their left, a yellow wall with a portrait are on their right. They're both looking into the camera and smiling.

The new NIH-funded work from researchers Dylan Tisdall of Penn Medicine and Allyson Mackey of the School of Arts and Sciences will work to develop an MRI method geared specifically to three- to five-year-olds and calculate how exposure to opioids can impede neurocognitive development of children in that age range.

How does opioid exposure affect brain development in young children?

That’s the question Allyson Mackey and Dylan Tisdall hope to answer, through a new grant from an NIH initiative focused on addiction research.

Michele W. Berger

Veterans with PTSD struggle to parent, but help is available

Veterans with PTSD struggle to parent, but help is available

Leah Blain of the Perelman School of Medicine spoke about the difficulties of parenting for veterans with PTSD. “That feeling being jumpy or on guard—you can imagine how that is going to translate with the kiddos. They have so much energy, which is wonderful, but it is a lot to process all the time if your symptoms are working all the time,” she said.