Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Abstract This thesis examines the experiences of Korean migrant women (KMW) in the Australian labour market. A review of the extant literature leads to two propositions, both of which assert that KMW are likely to experience labour market disadvantage or barriers to entry. These propositions take into account two significant theories of the labour market: segmentation theory and human capital theory. Segmentation theory argues that unchangeable gender and racial / cultural differences have the greatest impact upon labour market value, human capital theory describes the labour market value of individuals as based upon apparently objective and attainable skills (here English language skills). Using narrative analysis and, more specifically, antenarrative analysis, the study examines the life stories of 33 Australian KMW. In so doing, it identifies hitherto unheard discourses concerning the experiences of KMW in relation to the Australian labour market — discourses that challenge established academic thinking regarding this issue. Identification and analysis of these new discourses generates a number of alternative understandings of the labour market experiences of KMW. These alternative understandings both demonstrate the limitations of, and go beyond, the existing two propositions. In particular, the research shows that the impacts of gender and culture (segmentation theory) vary over time for KMW, do not always prevent labour market participation, and are experienced in terms of identity within a gendered Australian labour market. The research also demonstrates that while many KMW are in fact sufficiently skilled in the English language (human capital theory) to enter the Australian labour market, they nevertheless experience a sense of inferiority about their English language capacity that discourages them from entering, and limits their opportunities to participate in, the labour market. This in turn contributes to their social isolation. The thesis concludes that within the Australian academic literature, KMW have either been given little space and voice or have been misrepresented, reflecting and contributing to an ongoing ignorance of the experiences of Asian women in Australian workplaces. The KMW examined in this study are subject to numerous forms of subordination in Australian workplaces and society that cannot be adequately explained in terms of their human capital or their gender and cultural differences. The covert nature of the politics of difference within the work place makes exclusionary practices more difficult to identify and discuss. The thesis argues that in order to overcome these problems new policies of multiculturalism and productive diversity need to be developed. It asserts that narrative analytic techniques are an important means by which to inform such policy development. Abstract This thesis examines the experiences of Korean migrant women (KMW) in the Australian labour market. A review of the extant literature leads to two propositions, both of which assert that KMW are likely to experience labour market disadvantage or barriers to entry. These propositions take into account two significant theories of the labour market: segmentation theory and human capital theory. Segmentation theory argues that unchangeable gender and racial / cultural differences have the greatest impact upon labour market value, human capital theory describes the labour market value of individuals as based upon apparently objective and attainable skills (here English language skills). Using narrative analysis and, more specifically, antenarrative analysis, the study examines the life stories of 33 Australian KMW. In so doing, it identifies hitherto unheard discourses concerning the experiences of KMW in relation to the Australian labour market — discourses that challenge established academic thinking regarding this issue. Identification and analysis of these new discourses generates a number of alternative understandings of the labour market experiences of KMW. These alternative understandings both demonstrate the limitations of, and go beyond, the existing two propositions. In particular, the research shows that the impacts of gender and culture (segmentation theory) vary over time for KMW, do not always prevent labour market participation, and are experienced in terms of identity within a gendered Australian labour market. The research also demonstrates that while many KMW are in fact sufficiently skilled in the English language (human capital theory) to enter the Australian labour market, they nevertheless experience a sense of inferiority about their English language capacity that discourages them from entering, and limits their opportunities to participate in, the labour market. This in turn contributes to their social isolation. The thesis concludes that within the Australian academic literature, KMW have either been given little space and voice or have been misrepresented, reflecting and contributing to an ongoing ignorance of the experiences of Asian women in Australian workplaces. The KMW examined in this study are subject to numerous forms of subordination in Australian workplaces and society that cannot be adequately explained in terms of their human capital or their gender and cultural differences. The covert nature of the politics of difference within the work place makes exclusionary practices more difficult to identify and discuss. The thesis argues that in order to overcome these problems new policies of multiculturalism and productive diversity need to be developed. It asserts that narrative analytic techniques are an important means by which to inform such policy development.

A presente dissertação trata de um estudo exploratório que visa identificar os principais fatores que levam os estudantes a decidirem sobre um curso de nível superior (3º grau). A amostra foi composta dentre quatro Instituições de Ensino Superior da cidade de Caxias do Sul/RS e totalizou 655 estudantes regularmente matriculados e de ambos os sexos, focando, preferencialmente, alunos do 1º ou do 2º semestre de seus cursos. As questões empregadas visaram identificar conclusões para o tema central da pesquisa – o processo de escolha de um curso de graduação. O instrumental teórico baseia-se na Teoria do Capital Humano e na Teoria da Sinalização. Os resultados revelaram que os fatores que determinam as escolhas são: a realização pessoal, aptidão ou vocação para o curso pretendido; as oportunidades no mercado de trabalho; a qualidade e o prestígio da Instituição e a possibilidade de ascensão financeira. Identificou-se também que a maioria dos estudantes escolheu o curso no último ano do ensino médio e às vésperas do vestibular e, além disso, eles têm certeza de que fizeram a escolha certa. / The present dissertation deals with an exploratory study that aims to identify the main factors that take the students to decide on a course of a college. The sample was chosen among four institutions from the city of Caxias do Sul/RS and totalized 655 students regularly registered and of both genders, focusing, preferentially, on students that were attending the 1st or 2nd semester of their courses. The employed questions were directed to identify conclusions to the central subject of the research – the process of choice of a graduation course. The theoretical instrument is based on the Human Capital Theory and the Signaling Theory. The results revealed that the factors that determine the choices are: the personal realization, aptitude or vocation for the intended course; the job opportunities; the prestige of the institution and the income perspectives. There was also identified that the major part of the students has chosen the course in the last year of the high school and very close to the vestibular and, furthermore, they are sure that they have made the right choice.

Foster care youth face significant challenges to postsecondary educational success, especially while enrolled at four-year institutions. Foster care youth are absent of family support that their non-foster peers receive throughout the college experience. Without family support, foster care youth encounter greater challenges to persevere through college and reach graduation. Postsecondary education provides a fundamental opportunity for foster care youth to achieve positive life outcomes. Policy makers, social welfare agents and educators continue to advocate on behalf of foster care youth and have made it possible for them to attend college; however, lack of preparedness and support prevent foster care youth from staying in college. Skills necessary for college success are often gained in early stages of life. For many foster care youth it is in this early stage of life that they have been separated from biological family and placed in the foster care system. This research sought to answer the question: how does the family milieu influence postsecondary educational success for foster care youth? According to research, parents play a significant role in the accrual of educational, social and cultural skills needed for children to have success in later stages of life. Additionally, research supports that schooling becomes increasingly complex as life success becomes increasingly dependent on college success.

A presente dissertação trata de um estudo exploratório que visa identificar os principais fatores que levam os estudantes a decidirem sobre um curso de nível superior (3º grau). A amostra foi composta dentre quatro Instituições de Ensino Superior da cidade de Caxias do Sul/RS e totalizou 655 estudantes regularmente matriculados e de ambos os sexos, focando, preferencialmente, alunos do 1º ou do 2º semestre de seus cursos. As questões empregadas visaram identificar conclusões para o tema central da pesquisa – o processo de escolha de um curso de graduação. O instrumental teórico baseia-se na Teoria do Capital Humano e na Teoria da Sinalização. Os resultados revelaram que os fatores que determinam as escolhas são: a realização pessoal, aptidão ou vocação para o curso pretendido; as oportunidades no mercado de trabalho; a qualidade e o prestígio da Instituição e a possibilidade de ascensão financeira. Identificou-se também que a maioria dos estudantes escolheu o curso no último ano do ensino médio e às vésperas do vestibular e, além disso, eles têm certeza de que fizeram a escolha certa. / The present dissertation deals with an exploratory study that aims to identify the main factors that take the students to decide on a course of a college. The sample was chosen among four institutions from the city of Caxias do Sul/RS and totalized 655 students regularly registered and of both genders, focusing, preferentially, on students that were attending the 1st or 2nd semester of their courses. The employed questions were directed to identify conclusions to the central subject of the research – the process of choice of a graduation course. The theoretical instrument is based on the Human Capital Theory and the Signaling Theory. The results revealed that the factors that determine the choices are: the personal realization, aptitude or vocation for the intended course; the job opportunities; the prestige of the institution and the income perspectives. There was also identified that the major part of the students has chosen the course in the last year of the high school and very close to the vestibular and, furthermore, they are sure that they have made the right choice.

nÃo hà / Historically, we can verify the educational duality in which we have a formation oriented to the ruling Ãlite and another one oriented to the workers who act in the capitalist production process. However, the expansion of the capitalism in the last four decades, we identify, as Karl Marx had already previewed, the intensification of the substitution of the living work (the human being) for the dead work (machines), causing crisis, because the market doesnât absorb so many workers in the production process. Therefore, the unemployment, is a reality that scares even the international organizations, like the United Nations (UN). In this context, the employability, in a world without jobs and the human capital theory emerge as new forms of social domination, internalizing in the individual the idea that he is the responsible for his precarious economic situation. In this regard, in this research we analyzed the formation of workers released by Centro Vocacional TecnolÃgico (CVT) â Technologic Vocational Center â through means of initial formation courses or professional qualification in the community of Umarizeiras, in Maranguape, town in the Metropolitan Region of Fortaleza, pointing contradictions imposed by the contemporary capitalism which limit that performance. The investigation took place with oral sources, through interviews with thirteen dwellers; and documents: booklets of the courses available by CVT and Estatuto da AssociaÃÃo de Moradores de Umazeira, which let us highlight the contradictions between the official speech and the reality lived by the subjects involved in that formation. The available courses by CVT to that community were fruit pulp process, chicken raising, E.V.A., computing, fruit sweets. All the interviewed subjects had already participated in one or more courses, motivated by the immediate objective of getting a job, fact that doesnÂt really happen; about the knowledge acquired in the courses, itâs rare to find someone who uses it in the daily life. We conclude, therefore, that the offer of the courses achieves rather an ideological objective, targeting to blame the individuals for their economic situation than a whole formation of the human being, having work as the educational principle. / Historicamente, verificamos a dualidade educacional em que temos uma formaÃÃo voltada para as elites dirigentes e outra para os trabalhadores que atuam no processo de produÃÃo capitalista. No entanto, na expansÃo do capitalismo nas Ãltimas quatro dÃcadas, identificamos, assim como jà tinha antecipado Karl Marx, a intensificaÃÃo da substituiÃÃo do trabalho vivo (o ser humano) pelo trabalho morto (as mÃquinas), ocasionando uma crise, pois o mercado jà nÃo absorve tantos trabalhadores no processo produtivo. O desemprego, portanto, à uma realidade que assusta atà mesmo os organismos internacionais, como a OrganizaÃÃo das NaÃÃes Unidas (ONU). Neste contexto, a empregabilidade, em um mundo sem emprego, e a teoria do capital humano surgem como novas formas de dominaÃÃo social, internalizando no indivÃduo a ideia de que à ele o responsÃvel por sua situaÃÃo econÃmica precÃria. Neste sentido, analisamos nesta pesquisa a formaÃÃo de trabalhadores desencadeada pelo Centro Vocacional TecnolÃgico (CVT), por meio de cursos de formaÃÃo inicial ou qualificaÃÃo profissional na comunidade de Umarizeiras, distrito de Maranguape, municÃpio da RegiÃo Metropolitana de Fortaleza (RMF), apontando as contradiÃÃes impostas pelo capitalismo contemporÃneo, que limitam aquela atuaÃÃo. A investigaÃÃo foi realizada a partir da articulaÃÃo de fontes orais, atravÃs de entrevistas com 13 (treze) moradores; e documentais: apostilas dos cursos disponibilizadas pelo CVT e o Estatuto da AssociaÃÃo de Moradores de Umarizeiras, o que nos permitiu colocar em evidÃncia as contradiÃÃes entre o discurso oficial e a realidade vivenciada pelos sujeitos envolvidos naquela formaÃÃo. Os cursos ofertados pelo CVT Ãquela comunidade foram: processamento de polpas, criaÃÃo de galinha caipira, E.V.A., informÃtica, doces de frutas e associativismo. A maioria dos entrevistados jà havia participado de um ou mais cursos, motivados pelo objetivo imediato da conquista de um emprego, fato que constatamos nÃo se realizar; sobre os conhecimentos adquiridos nos cursos, raros sÃo os que afirmam utilizarem em seu cotidiano. Conclui-se, portanto, que a oferta dos cursos cumpre mais um objetivo ideolÃgico com a funÃÃo de culpar o indivÃduo pela sua situaÃÃo econÃmica do que uma formaÃÃo integral de ser humano, tendo o trabalho como princÃpio educativo.

A presente dissertação trata de um estudo exploratório que visa identificar os principais fatores que levam os estudantes a decidirem sobre um curso de nível superior (3º grau). A amostra foi composta dentre quatro Instituições de Ensino Superior da cidade de Caxias do Sul/RS e totalizou 655 estudantes regularmente matriculados e de ambos os sexos, focando, preferencialmente, alunos do 1º ou do 2º semestre de seus cursos. As questões empregadas visaram identificar conclusões para o tema central da pesquisa – o processo de escolha de um curso de graduação. O instrumental teórico baseia-se na Teoria do Capital Humano e na Teoria da Sinalização. Os resultados revelaram que os fatores que determinam as escolhas são: a realização pessoal, aptidão ou vocação para o curso pretendido; as oportunidades no mercado de trabalho; a qualidade e o prestígio da Instituição e a possibilidade de ascensão financeira. Identificou-se também que a maioria dos estudantes escolheu o curso no último ano do ensino médio e às vésperas do vestibular e, além disso, eles têm certeza de que fizeram a escolha certa. / The present dissertation deals with an exploratory study that aims to identify the main factors that take the students to decide on a course of a college. The sample was chosen among four institutions from the city of Caxias do Sul/RS and totalized 655 students regularly registered and of both genders, focusing, preferentially, on students that were attending the 1st or 2nd semester of their courses. The employed questions were directed to identify conclusions to the central subject of the research – the process of choice of a graduation course. The theoretical instrument is based on the Human Capital Theory and the Signaling Theory. The results revealed that the factors that determine the choices are: the personal realization, aptitude or vocation for the intended course; the job opportunities; the prestige of the institution and the income perspectives. There was also identified that the major part of the students has chosen the course in the last year of the high school and very close to the vestibular and, furthermore, they are sure that they have made the right choice.

Bakgrund: Att kvinnor har svårare att göra karriär jämfört med män är något tidigare forskning menar kan bero på det som definieras som glastaket. Frågan är om detta glastak finns inom fler faktorer än kön? Syfte: Syftet med vår uppsats är att ta reda på om kön, ålder, nationalitet, informella nätverk, samhällsklass och hemmabild påverkar individers möjlighet till att göra en högre karriär. Detta vill vi göra genom att studera hur faktorerna påverkar individers möjlighet till högre karriär efter att ha läst en MBA eller EMBA utbildning. Vi ämnar studera detta med hjälp utifrån de tre teorierna, sociala identitetsteorin, homosocialitet och human capital teorin, samt fenomenet glastak. Metod: Vi har använt oss av deduktiv ansats där vi utgår från teorierna den sociala identitetsteorin, homosocialitet och human capital teorin. Vi har valt att utgå från fenomenet glastak. Med hjälp av teorierna försöker vi besvara våra ställda hypoteser. Studien och informationen är insamlad och utförd under år 2017 genom en enkätundersökning. Materialet analyserades utifrån en bivariat korrelation samt regressionsanalyser. Slutsatser: Vi kan i vår studie påvisa att det finns ett glastak för variabeln ålder. De resterande variablerna (kön, nationalitet, informella nätverk, samhällsklass och hemmabilden) har vi inte funnit att ett glastak existerar för individerna som har genomgått en MBA/EMBA-utbildning.

The objective of this research is to test human capital theory via the earnings announcements through the returns within the for-profit education and training services industry. This theory posits that enrollment levels would rise during recessionary periods and this should be reflected in better earnings announcements of the education firms. Data was retrieved from the Compustat, CRSP, Thompson IBES, Google Finance, and Yahoo! Finance databases spanning the recessionary years of 2008 through 2010. The first hypothesis utilized a price index weighted by the education firms' market capitalization and the Russell 3000 Index as a proxy for the market to assess the daily returns of the education industry relative to the market. The second and third hypotheses involved assessing the quality of the earnings announcements within the education industry on a Friday vs. non-Friday report basis. The fourth hypothesis explored the actual EPS vs. forecasted EPS in consecutive quarters to test for differences in the earnings of that are better-than and those that are the same-or-worse than expected. The final hypothesis utilized the cumulative abnormal returns and cumulative excessive returns methodologies to compare the performance of the periods before and after the announcements. No support for the first four hypotheses was found. Consistent with expectations established by other research using CAR and CER methodologies, the fifth hypothesis was supported. Support for human capital theory was not found because four hypotheses were unsupported. This study was limited to U.S. education firms that were publicly traded on major U.S. exchanges. No private for-profit or non-profit firms were included in this study. Knowledge was gained by exploring the earnings announcements of the education industry for evidence of human capital theory. The absence of support for the theory within the industry during a recession could be an indicator of other issues affecting the industry that need to be researched further before any conclusions can be reached. This study extends the research in earnings announcements by examining the relationship the education industry has with the market. It also contributes to the work in human capital theory by testing the education industry's performance during recessionary years.

Thesis advisor: Vincent Cho / Oftentimes, during the transition of key leadership positions in the public school district setting, multi-year initiatives and core values are disrupted as a new leader assumes their role. The purpose of this research is to examine how district leaders leverage a proactive approach to planning for transitions in key leadership positions. This dissertation used a case study of an urban district with a stated core value of equity to examine the approach of assessing, selecting, developing, and promoting future leaders. Through document reviews, meeting observations, and 14 interviews, this study examines the transition of key leadership positions within the district by addressing the following research question: How do the practices of district leaders foster equity through planning for future changes in leadership? Using the framework of succession planning, findings of the study included the complexities of the district’s approach to planning for future human capital needs in alignment with the values of equity, through both existing strategies and the goals of a new superintendent. Additionally, the bar was raised for initiatives to develop talent from within the organization as pipeline programs were re-emphasized and meeting the needs of students and families were prioritized. Finally, the district aspired to sustain these efforts through systemic equity and a recommitment to ensuring linguistic, cultural, and ethnic diversity among leadership positions. This case study suggests the complex nature of organizational change and the importance of coherence in supporting the vision of the district during periods of leadership transition. / Thesis (EdD) — Boston College, 2020. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

This thesis studies the role of the third sector organisation [TSO] in highly skilled refugees' employment integration in Sweden. It attempts to contribute to the migration studies literature and nonprofit sector studies by focusing on the underresearched highly skilled refugees and several TSOs in Sweden, one of the major receiving countries in Europe during the refugee crisis. It discovers the challenges faced by the highly skilled refugees and the TSOs' solution to help them overcome the obstacles using Bourdieusian capital theory. In doing so, the TSOs are also shaping the integration concept of the nation, which is proven to be ambiguous. On the one hand, they preserve the construction of refugees as needing care and their difference from Sweden as weakness. On the other hand, they challenge the idea that integration is primarily refugees' responsibility and attempt to change employers' unwillingness to hire with the concept of diversity as a strength. Despite that, the TSOs do not significantly challenge the dominant integration concept in Sweden and the state. This thesis argues that it may be explained by the strong trust between the government and civil society stemmed from the nation's historical development as an egalitarian welfare state.