Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Technology (Discipline: Information Technology) in the Faculty of Informatics and Design at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology / Women in South Africa are under-represented in senior management positions in the Information technology (IT) sector — even with available incentives and directives to rectify the situation. The purpose of this research is to explore and understand the reasons for the imbalance in representation of women in senior management positions in the IT sector in South Africa. Seventeen women in middle to senior management positions from two of South Africa’s nine provinces — Western Cape and Gauteng — were interviewed for this study. The women were asked to relate their personal experiences and perceptions around organizational culture in IT environments and factors influencing their career advancements. A qualitative content analysis method was used to analyse the responses from the interviews. The findings of this study confirm the imbalanced representation of women in senior management positions. It was found that organizations are open and welcoming and provide opportunities to women, but women in the IT sector do not necessarily desire to advance to senior management positions. Factors such as the legacy in the IT industry where men held senior positions, career interruptions due to child bearing, and the absence of female mentor’s impact on the career advancement of women. The informal recruitment process for senior manager positions and the lack of emphasis on the need for women in IT when advertising senior management positions worsen the situation. Women lack self-confidence and are of the opinion that their skills set must be an exact match to the job requirements before applying for senior positions. Work life balance is not supported in the IT environment and no development programs aimed specifically at women are available. The paucity of women taking up technical careers — such as IT — limits the number of women available to develop and appoint in senior management positions. Guidelines for women to advance to senior positions and for companies to recruit and hire women are proposed. These guidelines will assist to correct the imbalance representation of women in senior management positions and promote IT as a career for women. A suggestion for future studies is to compare career advancement of women working in the software development environments, compared to women in the infrastructure and technical environments of IT, as well as those who have left the IT industry.

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Brytpunkten från gymnasiet kan förstås som ett avgörande vägskäl med ett överflöd avvalmöjligheter för ungdomar. Syftet med denna studie var att genom en kvantitativenkätundersökning kartlägga hur gymnasieelever i år tre på naturvetenskaps-,samhällsvetenskaps-, och ekonomiprogrammet i Stockholms län planerade och motiverade sittval inför tiden efter gymnasiet och att se hur detta skilde sig åt utifrån bakgrundsfaktorerna kön,etnicitet och bostadsort, samt att få en översikt för hur gymnasieeleverna upplevde brytpunktenfrån gymnasiet och hur de såg på sin egen handlingshorisont. Resultatet analyserades sedanutifrån Hodkinson & Sparkes Careershipteori (1997, 2008) och visade att etnicitet såväl sombostadsort till viss del gjorde skillnad i hur elever planerade sina studie- och yrkesval. Valen attstudera vidare, arbeta eller ta sabbatsår motiverades främst av intresse, behov av paus frånstudier och att fundera på nästkommande val. Resultatet av studien visade även att majoritetenav respondenterna upplevde brytpunkten som halvt osäker men med en majoritet som vartillfredsställda med sina planerade val. Den främsta begränsningen vid det planerade valet somrespondenterna uppgav var betyg. / The turning point from upper secondary school can be understood as a definitive crossroadswith an abundance of choices for young people. The purpose of this study was to, through aquantitative survey, study how students in year three of the science, social sciences andeconomics program in Stockholm County planned and motivated their choice for the next phasein life, and to see how this differed based on the background factors gender, ethnicity and placeof residence, as well as to get an overview of how upper secondary school students experiencethe turning point from upper secondary school and how they see their own horizons for action.The results have then been analysed based on Hodkinson & Sparkes Careership Theory (1997,2008). The results showed that ethnicity as well as the students' place of residence to someextent made a difference in how the students planned their educational and career choices. Thechoice to study, work or take a sabbatical was mainly motivated by interest, the need for a breakfrom studies and to further plan for their future. We also concluded from the results of the studythat the majority of respondents experienced high to some satisfaction with their plannedchoice. Grades were what the students experienced as most limiting in planning for their future.

Undersökningen handlar om att lyfta fram årskurs 9-elevers syn på vägledning under sin tid i grundskolan. I skollagen står det att elever i alla skolformer utom förskolan och förskoleklass ska ha tillgång till personal med sådan kompetens att deras behov av vägledning inför val av framtida utbildnings- och yrkesverksamhet kan tillgodoses. Skolinspektionen har undersökt att insatserna fokuserats till årskurs 8 och 9. Syftet med undersökningen är att höra hur nöjda eleverna är med sin vägledning under grundskoletiden, när eleverna skulle vilja att insatser sätts in, samt vilka insatser som de skulle vilja ha mer av. Frågeställningarna är; Hur tycker eleven att deras vägledning varit under grundskolan? När skulle eleverna vilja att insatserna av vägledning sätts in i grundskolan? Vad skulle eleverna vilja ha mer av i grundskolan för att kunna göra ett så underbyggt val som möjligt inför gymnasiet? Teorin som används är Patton och McMahons teori The Systems Theory Framework och underökningen genomförs som en kvalitativ metod. Resultaten var att eleverna inte gör val i ett vakuum, utan de blir påverkade utifrån av vårdnadshavare, lärare, samhälle och oförutsägbara händelser. Alla elever blir inte nöjda med vägledningen, utan den skulle behöva bli individanpassad för att nå varje elev.

This research was undertaken to determine factors causing career indecision of schoolleavers in Kwandebele. Literature study indicates that factors such as interest, sex, dependency, vocational immaturity, the economy and politics have a direct influence on career indecision. Literature study further indicates that parties involved in career decision-making also contribute to career indecision. 424 Kwandebele school leavers answered questionnaires. The schoolleavers were requested to indicate the importance and contributions of five categories, namely personal aspects, family, school, guidance teacher and society to his career choice making process. Most of the personal aspects were regarded as important and also the other four categories showed a significant difference between school leavers who have made a choice and those that have not made a choice. This research could not cover the implication of career education at all levels of the child, recommendations for future research have been made. / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

Titre : La médecine familiale vue par des jeunes omnipraticiens : rejet de la vocation et de la continuité des soins. Alors qu’une proportion préoccupante de québécois et canadiens n’a pas accès à un médecin de famille et que les efforts se multiplient pour résoudre cette situation problématique, les jeunes omnipraticiens optent de plus en plus pour des profils de pratique spécialisés, délaissant la continuité de soins. Nous avons interviewé 18 jeunes médecins de famille présentant un profil de pratique surspécialisé et analysé leur propos avec une méthodologie qualitative. Ce mémoire propose, à l’aide d’une approche de théorisation ancrée, une théorie empiriquement fondée permettant de mieux comprendre ce phénomène, ses origines et ses conséquences. Nos observations nous amènent à proposer la théorie suivante : les jeunes omnipraticiens urgentistes sont des professionnels autonomes dynamiques et changeants : ils sont non-fixés personnellement et non-fixés professionnellement. Leur système de valeur (qualité de vie et liberté, compétence, performance, valorisation et satisfaction) constitue l’argument principal de leurs choix professionnels et de leur conception de leurs rôles et responsabilités : ils sont donc mus primairement par des intérêts individualistes. À ce stade-ci de leur vie et de leur carrière, la responsabilité sociale et le sens du devoir envers la population ne figurent pas parmi leurs valeurs fondamentales. Cette théorie novatrice qui propose que leurs choix professionnels se basent d’abord et avant tout sur leurs valeurs permet de mieux comprendre pourquoi les efforts actuels de valorisation de la médecine familiale ne génèrent pas les résultats escomptés. Nous proposons une nouvelle compréhension du sens, de l’origine et des implications des choix professionnels des jeunes généralistes tant aux plans pédagogique, professionnel que de santé populationnelle. / Title: Young GPs' View of Family Medicine: Rejecting Vocation and Continuity of Care. Despite multiple attempts by medical authorities and faculties of medicine across Canada to remedy the acute shortage of family physicians in Canada, such a shortage is currently aggravated by the career choices of young family physicians that choose more and more to practice in subspecialized disciplines. We interviewed 18 young family physicians and analysed their views using a grounded theory approach to better understand this phenomenon, its origins and its consequences. Young generalists are autonomous professionals constantly engaged in a dynamic redefinition of their personal and professional ties. Their conception of the role they play and the responsibilities that are incumbent upon them, as well and the choices they make are based on certain core values. Those values include liberty, competence, performance/efficiency, valorisation and satisfaction. Their interests and goals are therefore primarily individualist ones. At this moment in their lives and careers, social responsibility and the sense of duty towards the population are simply not among their core priorities. This innovative theory sheds light on young generalists' values and the perception they have of their roles and responsibilities. Our analysis offers therefore a new understanding of their career choices. It helps grasp why current attempts to value family medicine are not successful and proposes new pedagogical and organisational ideas for addressing this issue.

Thèse numérisée par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

Titre : La médecine familiale vue par des jeunes omnipraticiens : rejet de la vocation et de la continuité des soins. Alors qu’une proportion préoccupante de québécois et canadiens n’a pas accès à un médecin de famille et que les efforts se multiplient pour résoudre cette situation problématique, les jeunes omnipraticiens optent de plus en plus pour des profils de pratique spécialisés, délaissant la continuité de soins. Nous avons interviewé 18 jeunes médecins de famille présentant un profil de pratique surspécialisé et analysé leur propos avec une méthodologie qualitative. Ce mémoire propose, à l’aide d’une approche de théorisation ancrée, une théorie empiriquement fondée permettant de mieux comprendre ce phénomène, ses origines et ses conséquences. Nos observations nous amènent à proposer la théorie suivante : les jeunes omnipraticiens urgentistes sont des professionnels autonomes dynamiques et changeants : ils sont non-fixés personnellement et non-fixés professionnellement. Leur système de valeur (qualité de vie et liberté, compétence, performance, valorisation et satisfaction) constitue l’argument principal de leurs choix professionnels et de leur conception de leurs rôles et responsabilités : ils sont donc mus primairement par des intérêts individualistes. À ce stade-ci de leur vie et de leur carrière, la responsabilité sociale et le sens du devoir envers la population ne figurent pas parmi leurs valeurs fondamentales. Cette théorie novatrice qui propose que leurs choix professionnels se basent d’abord et avant tout sur leurs valeurs permet de mieux comprendre pourquoi les efforts actuels de valorisation de la médecine familiale ne génèrent pas les résultats escomptés. Nous proposons une nouvelle compréhension du sens, de l’origine et des implications des choix professionnels des jeunes généralistes tant aux plans pédagogique, professionnel que de santé populationnelle. / Title: Young GPs' View of Family Medicine: Rejecting Vocation and Continuity of Care. Despite multiple attempts by medical authorities and faculties of medicine across Canada to remedy the acute shortage of family physicians in Canada, such a shortage is currently aggravated by the career choices of young family physicians that choose more and more to practice in subspecialized disciplines. We interviewed 18 young family physicians and analysed their views using a grounded theory approach to better understand this phenomenon, its origins and its consequences. Young generalists are autonomous professionals constantly engaged in a dynamic redefinition of their personal and professional ties. Their conception of the role they play and the responsibilities that are incumbent upon them, as well and the choices they make are based on certain core values. Those values include liberty, competence, performance/efficiency, valorisation and satisfaction. Their interests and goals are therefore primarily individualist ones. At this moment in their lives and careers, social responsibility and the sense of duty towards the population are simply not among their core priorities. This innovative theory sheds light on young generalists' values and the perception they have of their roles and responsibilities. Our analysis offers therefore a new understanding of their career choices. It helps grasp why current attempts to value family medicine are not successful and proposes new pedagogical and organisational ideas for addressing this issue.

Thèse numérisée par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal

This research was undertaken to determine factors causing career indecision of schoolleavers in Kwandebele. Literature study indicates that factors such as interest, sex, dependency, vocational immaturity, the economy and politics have a direct influence on career indecision. Literature study further indicates that parties involved in career decision-making also contribute to career indecision. 424 Kwandebele school leavers answered questionnaires. The schoolleavers were requested to indicate the importance and contributions of five categories, namely personal aspects, family, school, guidance teacher and society to his career choice making process. Most of the personal aspects were regarded as important and also the other four categories showed a significant difference between school leavers who have made a choice and those that have not made a choice. This research could not cover the implication of career education at all levels of the child, recommendations for future research have been made. / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Psychology of Education)