University of Phoenix has published a new white paper, “Aligning Experience and Perception: A Predictive Framework for Improving Workforce Engagement, Wellness, and Career Optimism,” by Jeffery Rhymes, DMgt, MBA, faculty in College of Doctoral Studies and fellow with the University’s Center for Organizational Wellness, Engagement, and Belonging (CO-WEB). In the paper, Rhymes introduces the Employee Experience Perception Alignment Model, a leadership framework proposing that workforce outcomes are influenced not only by the experiences organizations intend to create, but also by how employees interpret those experiences and assess their own capabilities. The framework draws on organizational research and findings from the 2025 and 2026 Career Optimism Index® studies to examine a growing workforce challenge: Employees’ capabilities, confidence and expectations may be evolving faster than the organizational systems designed to support them.

The Human-Environment Connection and Interaction Atlas (HECIA) is a tool for designing habitats in space and other extreme environments, where crews can not just survive but thrive. Users can explore the relationships between aspects of a habitat’s design and an inhabitant’s mental, emotional, and social wellbeing.

A study by the Cluster of Excellence ECONtribute published in The Quarterly Journal of Economics shows why people often draw different conclusions from company news than financial economics would suggest and how much this has to do with the way they think markets work.