MATEC Web of Conferences, open access proceedings in Materials science, Engineering and Chemistry

A topic that has been less researched on, especially in Romania, is the identification of gender differences in oral health. The present scientific research used an online survey to assess the attitudes (dental beliefs survey-R/R-DBS), the values (oral health values scale/OHVS), the behaviours (dental neglect scale/DNS), and the literacy (oral health literacy scale/OHLS) related to oral health and to dental professional services in the case of a sample of 600 Romanian adults (Mean_age = 30.84). The relation between the level of knowledge as a predictor of attitudes and values related to oral health was analysed by the means of a structural equation based on the partial least square method (PLS-SEM). The results show that women have more positive attitudes towards dental medical services, higher oral health values, better self-care behaviours, and higher oral health literacy than men. In the case of men, attitudes and behaviours related to self-care are influenced by their oral health literacy and level of education; in the case of women, the latter are influenced only by their level of oral health literacy. The impact that knowledge in oral health has on attitudes, values, and behaviours was highlighted. The differences in attitudes and values related to oral health between the two genders can be accounted for by the differences in formal and informal education (studies and oral health literacy, respectively).

The article sums up the results of a psychometric study carried out on a sample of Romanian students (N = 496; 193 females) in order to assess the psychometric qualities of Big Five Inventory-10 (BFI-10). The questionnaire measures the 5 factors of personality from the Five Factors model. The convergent validity is demonstrated by the fact that BFI-10 correlates with the measures for: subjective well-being like happiness, life satisfaction, positive and negative affect and psychological well-being and its dimensions. Internal consistency is acceptable given that we evaluated an extra-short scale with two items per factor, although much reduced in comparison with the instruments with a large number of items. The confirmatory factorial analysis revealed a five-factor structure similar to the original structure with the modification of the factors Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. We consider that the application of BFI-10 must be accompanied and correlated with other instruments when it comes to assessing personality. It is necessary that the instrument BFI-10 should be perfected by redefining the items it contains.

This study analyzes the entrepreneurial intention of Romanian engineering students. We had a sample of 700 students (mean age = 23.14; SD = 2.92; 378 males and 322 females) who belonged to three technical universities and completed an online survey between October and December 2023. This research extends the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to explore the factors influencing students’ entrepreneurial intentions. In addition to base TPB components, such as attitude, normative and perceived behavioral control factors, we considered curiosity and well-being. Three structural equation models were used, one after the other, through the method of partial least squares (PLS-EM). The results show that attitude, perceived control behavior and curiosity have a positive impact on entrepreneurial intention, whereas subjectivenorms, surprisingly, have a negative impact on it. Psychological well-being expressed through autonomy is not associated with entrepreneurial intention in our sample of students. This article contributes to a better understanding of entrepreneurial intention in engineering students.

BACKGROUND: The academic environment is a challenge for dental students due to the multiple sources of stress they face. For this reason, the present study analyzes the psychometric properties of the Dental Environment Stress (DES) questionnaire. The secondary objective was to identify the specific sources of stress perceived by dental students related to gender and years of study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among dental students (n = 340; M_age= 22.45) from the Romanian University of Medicine and Pharmacy in October– December 2019. The factorial structure of the questionnaire was performed by means of the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and the multi group-CFA. The convergent and divergent validities were measured by associating DES with scales that measure depression, anxiety, and tension/stress (Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21-R), perceived stress (Perceived Stress Scale-14), and life satisfaction (Satisfaction with Life Scale). RESULTS: New measure obtained supported a five-factor and thirty-item structure, which is gender invariant. All the factors within DES have a significant positive correlation with depression, anxiety, tension/stress, and perceived stress and a negative correlation with life satisfaction. The Cronbach's α coefficients are acceptable (range: 0.67–0.89). The female students perceive aspects related to performance, the relations with the faculty, clinical responsibilities, and personal life to be more stressful than males. Senior students perceive more stressed aspects related to personal life, while freshmen have higher scores on stress associated with clinical responsibilities. CONCLUSIONS: The present results show that DES has psychometric properties which are adequate for the assessment of dental stress in the case of Romanian students; nevertheless, it is necessary to extend the use of DES to students attending other universities and to dental practitioners.

The phenomenon “Think manager – think male”, which entails the correspondence between male characteristics and managerial positions, is a global one, especially among men. Taking into consideration this frame of thinking, the present paper researches into the attitudes towards female mangers, from the perspective of three samples of subjects; these samples consist in employees and non-employees (students): 46 employees working in a multinational company, 116 students studying management, and 131 students studying other domains. The results show that male employees and non-employees have less favorable attitudes towards the idea of female managers than women do. As for women, the female students studying management differ from the female employees, as well as from the female students in the control research population, and this difference consists in a more positive perception of women as managers