The main aim of this study was to explore and describe the circumstances on the ground concerning employability of Environmental Science (ES) graduates in Botswana and to provide evidence that would either confirm or refute claims that graduates in Botswana, in general, are not employable. The second aim of this study was to describe whose role it is to enhance the employability of graduates. Furthermore it was also the aim of this study to investigate whether or not employability audits could be used as a quality assurance mechanism to ensure the employability of graduates in Botswana. These issues were investigated using the contextual framework of employability which explains the quality of higher education in relation to employability of graduates. This research reports on the findings of a case study of the Environmental Science programme offered by the Department of Environmental Science at the University of Botswana which was conducted in June 2012. The study revealed and confirmed gaps among ES graduates in the knowledge, skills and competencies required for the world of work. As a result of these gaps, ES graduates were found not be immediately employable without further on the job training. This created a lot of discontent among employers interviewed. The study concluded that higher education should go beyond providing education for the general development and well-being of individuals and address issues related to employability of graduating students. Conflicts in the possible roles of higher education and industry in enhancing the employability of ES graduates in terms of the changing expectations of the world of work were identified. The study highlighted the possible role of employability audits in enhancing employability not only of ES graduates but all other graduates in Botswana. Furthermore the study recommended that employability audits should be introduced in the tertiary education system of Botswana as a quality assurance mechanism. It further recommended collaboration and partnership with industry as key to the success of any measures put in place for the enhancement of the employability of graduates in Botswana. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / tm2015 / Science, Mathematics and Technology Education / PhD / Unrestricted

Imposing punishments on adults Abstract My diploma thesis deals with the issue of imposing punishments on adult persons. This thesis attempts to cover a very broad range of issues related to the topic and to provide readers with a clear and comprehensive overview. For this purpose, this thesis is presented in four main consecutive parts, each divided into several subchapters. The first chapter briefly introduces the history of punishment and the individual historical criminal codes used in the area of the present-day Czech Republic from 1787 to now. The second chapter begins with a definition of punishment. This term is closely associated with the purpose of punishment, which is harder to define due to the lack of a clear definition in currently applicable legislation. This is why this chapter also deals with the theory of punishment and its purpose. The cornerstone of this thesis comprises the explanation of the main principles governing the imposition of punishment that is provided in the third chapter. This part is rather extensive in scope as it explains general principles, determining the type and the scope of punishment, as well as mitigating and aggravating circumstances and the closely related exclusion of double punishment. Given the current circumstances, I also touched upon punishments imposed...

Syftet med uppsatsen är att utveckla och utvärdera en alternativ modell för hyressättning av statliga ändamålsfastigheter. Arbetet är avgränsat till att omfatta fem kulturinstitutioner i Stockholm som bedriver sina verksamheter i byggnader förvaltade av Statens Fastighetsverk. Dessa är Nationalmuseum, Naturhistoriska riksmuseet, Historiska museet, Dramaten och Operan. / This essay develops and evaluates an alternative rent-setting model for public special purpose properties. The report is limited to cover the relationship between the National Property Board and five of their tenants within the cultural sphere that are subject to cost-based rent.

South Africa has adopted a general anti-avoidance rule (GAAR) as one of the methods to combat the innovative tax avoidance schemes into which taxpayers may enter. Nevertheless, since its introduction it has undergone numerous amendments due to weaknesses highlighted by its failures in court. Yet, since its most recent amendment in 2006, the efficacy of the South African GAAR has not been established as it has not been tested in the courts. This study addresses this concern by employing a ‗structured pre-emptive analysis‘ to identify the weaknesses of the South African GAAR when compared to its New Zealand counterpart. This approach is essentially qualitative and combines the typical doctrinal or black letter law approach used in law with that of reform-oriented approaches. Firstly, the South African and New Zealand GAARs were analysed and compared using a doctrinal approach to gain an understanding of the interpretation and application of the two GAARs. This allowed for the identification of weaknesses in the South African GAAR, whilst also making suggestions for its improvement. Thereafter, the South African GAAR was applied to the facts of a case from New Zealand by making use of a reform-oriented methodological approach. In applying the South African GAAR to the facts of the case, a framework of the South African GAAR was used to enhance the reliability of the findings by reducing subjectivity and improving replicability. The findings from the doctrinal and reform-oriented approaches revealed the weaknesses in the current South African GAAR when compared to its New Zealand counterpart. These weaknesses may be addressed in three ways. Firstly, guidance should be provided in order to address uncertainties in the interpretation and application of the South African GAAR so as to prevent inconsistencies that may limit its efficacy. Secondly, the purpose requirement and tainted elements could be consolidated into one requirement, where the presence of one of the tainted elements informs the objective purpose of the arrangement. Thirdly, the purpose requirement should be amended so that it need not be the sole or main purpose, but rather should be one of the purposes, provided it was not merely incidental. It is acknowledged that while the South African and New Zealand GAARs are directed to achieve the same end, the proposals for amendment would arguably go some way towards improving the efficacy of the South African GAAR. / Mini Dissertation (MCom (Taxation))--University of Pretoria, 2020. / Taxation / MCom (Taxation) / Unrestricted

Ethical, cheap, and scalable, purposeful games leverage player entertainment to incentivise contributors in language resourcing. However, discourse is scarce around the enjoyability of these games, whose playerbases are divided between a tiny minority of reliable contributors and a vast majority of inconsistent contributors. This study aims to deepen the discourse around design possibilities tailored to the unevenly contributing playerbases of such games by building on player-reported data to create three engaging personas and narrative scenarios. Using Pruitt and Grudin’s way of weighing feature suitability in persona-focused design, social incentives and majority voting are indicated as the most and least prominent features, respectively. Indeed, the weight of the primary persona, representing 3.5% of the playerbase, is 72%, more than double the combined weight, 56%, of the remaining 96.5% of the playerbase. Sticking to the original definition of purposeful games is essential for any gaming approach to crowdsourced data collection to remain ethical, cheap, and scalable.

The recent observed growth in the diffusion of Special Purpose Acquisition Companies phenomena on the U.S stock market may be analyzed from a mathematical standpoint, where different approaches of the Bass Diffusion Model might be utilized. The Bass diffusion model originates from analysis of product diffusion, where only a few applications have been seen by financial scholars. The thesis takes a multi analytical approach to examine the phenomena, where multiple regression analysis and Bayesian statistics are used in the parameter estimation processes. Estimated parameter are applied in three different scenarios of expressing the Bass diffusion model in a discrete time state. By utilizing these different approaches that arise, the study shows that the diffusion of Special Purpose Acquisition Companies Initial Public Offerings in fact can be analyzed from a mathematical standpoint utilizing the Bass diffusion model. Some approaches and scenarios indicate better results in terms of fitting the diffusion, while purposing practical actualities towards the reader and market practitioners. The study further purposes potential modifications that might improve the results of fitting the phenomena

Purpose of the study. This thesis deals with the role of sustainable purpose in the formation of sustainable start-ups. It aims to determine if sustainable purpose was a reason to start a company, what caused the emergence of sustainable purpose within the entrepreneurs, and how this purpose can benefit the enterprise. The study design. The study first defines sustainable purpose by juxtaposing selected concepts, models, and frameworks that aim to harmonize doing business and positive contribution to the planet and people. Based on that, we conducted semi-structured interviews with founders of sustainable start-ups (N=9). These were analysed via a qualitative content analysis and cross evaluation. Major findings. The findings were divided into six major categories. Interviewees contributed knowledge and opinion about their founding motivations, their source of sustainable purpose, how sustainable purpose benefits their business, what their view on sustainability is, what they criticise about today’s business world, and what the characteristics of themselves and their business are. Summary of interpretation. The collected data suggests that sustainable purpose was a reason for entrepreneurs to start a business that positively impacts society and the planet. Impactful life events influenced entrepreneurs to think critically about doing business and contributing to a better world. These impactful life events can be identified as the source of sustainable purpose within entrepreneurs. Lastly, entrepreneurs did identify benefits of having a sustainable purpose.

This case study of the Salvation Army Visby (SAV) describes the theoretical concepts of a Christian narrative and sustainable action within a local organizational context. As a result, one of the main contributions of this research is the consideration of narratives within a Christian organization from the angle of current ecotheological debates. While there can hardly be a single definition of what a Christian narrative of sustainability would be, we have summarized two conflicting views — an anthropocentric and a biocentric one. Our use of narrative theory has helped us understand in what ways such an overarching narrative can have influence into a local organizational context. We found that the SAV is deeply influenced by a Christian narrative putting more emphasis on social work rather than on ecotheological notions. We argue that the SAV’s actions are therefore more in line with social sustainability. We conclude by exploring how sustainability, and notably from an environmental perspective, can further be put in place within Christian organizations such as the SAV.

Thesis advisor: Belle Liang / Ethnic racial identity (ERI) is a developmental model that recognizes that individuals with an ethnicity (e.g., Jamaican, Puerto Rican) and race (e.g., Black, White) will have attitudes, beliefs, and actions influenced by their ethnic and racial group membership which represents an important aspect of their identity (Umana-Taylor et al., 2014). Research on people of Color (POC) who positively identify with their own ethnic and/or racial group and academic outcomes has been mixed, with studies documenting no associations (Guzman, 2002; Ivory, 2003), negative associations (Sellers, Chavous, & Cooke, 1998), and positive associations (Rivas-Drake, Seaton et al., 2014). Moreover, there remains little research on examining the underlying mechanisms explaining the link between ethnic and/or racial identity and student engagement. Research in related fields suggests several potential mechanisms that may help explain the relationship between ERI and student engagement. For example, Sumner and colleagues (2018) posited that marginalization experiences likely shape youth purpose; POC, given their marginalization experiences, may be more purposeful than non-POC. Additionally, research suggests that positive feelings towards one’s ethnic or racial group are associated with positive mental health outcomes (Rivas-Drake, Syed et al., 2014) which in turn are associated with student engagement. The current study investigates the underlying mechanisms for the relationship between ERI and student engagement. Specifically, the study examined associations between either an assimilation (i.e., attitudes in which individuals define identities in nationalistic rather than ethnonationalist terms) or multiculturalist inclusive (i.e., positive attitude towards one’s ethnic-racial group as well as other ethnic-racial groups) ERI status and student engagement. Path analysis was employed to test the mediating role of purpose and mental health on the relationship between ERI and student engagement. The study also examined whether the relationship between ERI and mental health was different across ethnic-racial groups. The results indicate that ERI status was not directly related to mental health. Nor was ERI status indirectly related to student engagement through mental health. However, ERI status was directly related to purpose and indirectly related to self-regulation through purpose. Further, the association between ERI status and mental health differed across ethnic-racial groups. That is, ERI status, both assimilation and multiculturalist inclusive, was more highly associated with psychological wellbeing for POCs than for non-POCs. For White students, there was a positive association between a multiculturalist inclusive ERI status and depression. Youth purpose may explain additional relationships between ERI status and other outcomes. Implications of these findings for research, assessment, and intervention are discussed. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2021. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Counseling, Developmental and Educational Psychology.

Thesis advisor: Rebecca C. Schendel / Increased student mobility has been one of the most significant developments observed in the global landscape of higher education. Yet, research on student mobility often takes an individualized perspective on the benefits learners possess through internationalization. Meanwhile, the last two years were marked by the emergence of a new direction in internationalization - the Internationalization of Higher Education for Society (IHES). The surge in studies on how institutions can contribute to society through their internationalization strategies and efforts has proven that the phenomenon which for a long time was focused on individual gains and institutional branding, can evolve and address the larger purpose it serves. However, while many of these works highlight the directions IHES should follow and present good practices, still little is known about international students' perspectives of these dimensions. As a group that was identified as one of the vivid actors of IHES, it is not only reasonable but crucial to gain insight into their understandings, experience, and valorization of this topic. The primary objective of the study is to investigate how students understand the sense of global identity and community engagement through education abroad. By listening to their voices, it makes a methodological contribution in terms of extending the understanding of student mobility as an inherent part of the internationalization discourse in the globalized world. Furthermore, analyzing these voices and deducting their meanings serves towards the materialization of ill-defined concepts of global citizenship and International Higher Education for Society. Finally, the study aims at building a more complex understanding of the current state of international higher education phenomena by exploring connections between internationalization and its missions to society. / Thesis (MA) — Boston College, 2021. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.