Electrical contractors are evolving though a challenging phase in the maturing democratic South Africa. Government has allocated funding and has mandated skills development to the Sector Educational and Training Authorities (SETA), however, this strategy has lost its focus. With the golden thread lost in the maze of institutional bureaucracy. Implementation strategies at government and industry level should overlap each other, compliment and reinforce one another and form the core of South Africa’s Skills Development Strategy. Whilst it is true that there is a severe skills shortage in all technical fields, the reasons behind these shortages is not clear. The aim of this study was to determine what challenges electrical contractors in KwaZulu-Natal faced that prevented the development of skills in the industry. The lack of actual sector skills intelligence transfer from industry to government departments resulted in incorrect statistics of the electrical contracting sector. The objective of distributing the survey to all electrical contractors that were registered with the Electrical Contractors Association SA (ECA SA) in KwaZulu- Natal Durban and surrounding areas including Richards Bay was to conduct a study amongst the total population and then establish a simple random sample. An electronic questionnaire was mailed to all contractors registered with the ECA SA KwaZulu-Natal. A total of 540 respondents viewed the survey and 269 completed it. This translates to a 50% completion rate. It has been proven that 58% of electrical contractors were training electricians. Further analysis revealed that there was a relationship between the age of a business and the man hours invested in training. Older businesses conducted more training. There was also a relationship between the number of man hours invested in training and the number of qualified electricians employed. The greater the man hours of training the larger the number of qualified electricians employed. Whilst there was no relationship between man hours invested in training and accessing SETA funding, electrical contractors believed that the full reimbursement for training would accelerate the skills development processes. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.

Career counselling with women is not the same as with men because women’s career development is highly intertwined with their roles as mothers and wives (Sharf, 2002). The current study argues that career counselling with black South African women cannot be the same as that of men nor that of all women because their career development is intertwined with an Afrocentric and a relational view of the self. Career counselling with black South African single mothers is unique because their career development is intertwined with their roles as single parents coupled with their relational view of themselves. It argues that modernist approaches to career counselling are inappropriate and irrelevant when working with black South African single mothers. To support this argument the study explored the unique career development experiences of Black South African single mothers using a postmodernist framework. The narrative inquiry framework was used to explore the career experiences of nine black South African single mothers. The narratives were analysed using Doucet and Mauthner’s (2008) voice-centred relational method. It was found that the unique experiences of black South African single mothers include the need for flexible working hours, social support and the need to play the role of both parents to their children. Modernist approaches to career counselling are unable to take these relational and socio-economic dilemmas into account when working with black South African single mothers. A Post-modern approach such as the Relational Cultural Approach is recommended as an appropriate career counselling tool when working with black South African single mothers. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2014.

Women working in the Canadian Federal Public Service (CFPS) face complex issues and competing demands. However, despite challenges such as obtaining further education, managing home responsibilities, and dealing with workplace issues, some have also developed and managed successful careers. Problems highlighted within literature on career development for women relate to the nature of women’s lives with their many transitional points, in which personal and organizational factors inextricably intertwine. The purpose of this qualitative research study was to explore the career development and advancement of women towards and into entry executive level positions within the Canadian Federal Public Service (CFPS). Three research questions guided this inquiry: 1) How have personal factors influenced career development and advancement of women in the CFPS towards and into pre-executive and entry executive levels? 2) How have organizational factors influenced their career development and advancement? and 3) How have personal and organizational factors combined to influence their career development and advancement? This research was grounded in a social constructivist paradigm which guided the research both ontologically and epistemologically. Schwandt (1994) contends that “objective knowledge and truth is a result of perspective. Knowledge and truth are created, not discovered” (p. 125). The inquiry attempted, therefore, to understand women’s complex career development processes from a holistic perspective through their career life stories. Ten women at the pre-executive or entry executive level from various departments within the CFPS took part in the study. Data collection was carried out mainly through a series of three semi-structured interviews. The findings of the study describe how participants’ personal dispositions, formal education, and home lives (personal factors) influenced their career development and advancement. In addition, it was found that the organization’s culture of long hours, its support for learning, participants’ organizational networks, and superiors’ contributions (organizational factors) also influenced women’s careers. This study contributes to our understanding of women’s career development, thereby providing important insights for future research. The study may have implications for CFPS policymakers, career counsellors, universities responsible for educating future career counsellors, as well as for individual women themselves, and perhaps even men.

Teacher education in South Africa has had to be overhauled in line with the reform of the South African school curriculum since 1996. Both initial and continuous teacher qualification programmes are constantly being reviewed to improve impact on prospective and currently practising teachers. In addition, efforts are being made to scale up non-qualification continuous professional development programmes for better implementation of the curriculum. Despite these endeavours, there is evidence that continuous professional development programmes in particular, are not responding adequately to the needs of the teachers and the education system in general. This is partly due to the failure by the system to differentiate between the needs of different groups of teachers who received their initial teacher education in racially segregated teacher education institutions. This research study aims to determine what teachers of Life Sciences perceive as their development needs, and how these needs are addressed through various forms of in-service teacher education, both formal and informal. Life Sciences is the name of the subject called Biology in the pre-reform curriculum. It is offered only in the final three years of schooling, Grades 10 – 12. The Life Sciences curriculum has experienced at least three revisions in a period of six years since the implementation of the National Curriculum Statement in 2006. Data was gathered in two phases, using mixed methods approaches. During the first phase, data was collected using a teacher questionnaire. The questionnaire dealt with teachers’ content and pedagogical development needs; their participation in both qualification and nonqualification CPD programmes; their motivation (or lack of) to engage in CPD programmes; and the perceived benefits of CPD programmes. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with Subject Advisors dealing with similar themes. During the second phase of the study, intervention programmes in the form of teacher training workshops were conducted and data was gathered through documenting the workshop activities and by conducting evaluations. Findings revealed that whilst a large proportion of Life Sciences teachers were furthering their studies through formal qualifications, they were not necessarily choosing Biological Sciences specialisations. A considerable proportion of teachers in the study were teaching out of their field of specialisation. These limitations likely account for teachers’ low selfconfidence, articulated as a strong need for development in almost every area of the content and pedagogy. Teachers that choose Biological Sciences specialisations in formal in-service qualifications seem to be benefiting significantly. Life Sciences teachers also benefit immensely from ‘hands on’ training in practical work skills rather than using passive, demonstration methods of training. Cluster-based CPD programmes present an ideal opportunity for teachers to learn and share knowledge and expertise in content and pedagogy, yet this platform is constrained mainly to development of assessment activities. Filling vacant posts and increasing the number of Subject Advisors is critical to ensuring that teachers received adequate support from districts. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2014.

The purpose of this study was to empirically support and elaborate upon an integrative theory of career development by examining the worklife adjustment and career development experiences of new Canadian immigrant professionals. In focusing on the participants’ subjective views, the study provided an understanding of the lived experiences of this unique life-career transition, and in so doing, aimed to elaborate upon existing theories of career development towards the development and empirical substantiation of a comprehensive, diversity- and culturally- sensitive integrated meta-theory of the career development of immigrants in Canada. A qualitative methodology was employed and transcripts of in-depth interviews were analyzed using a grounded theory approach to data analysis. The central themes within the narratives that emerged were contrasted against an integrative career development theory and career development theoretical constructs, with the goal of elucidating the role and function of such constructs in immigrants’ Canadian career development. The study’s findings and contribution of a diversity- and culturally- informed, integrated, and enriched meta-theory of career development have implications for career counselling, cross-cultural, immigrant, and vocational psychology literature and practice.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 128-135). / Microfiche. / xii, 135 leaves, bound ill. 29 cm

THE PROFESSIONAL LIFE-CYCLES AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF ADULT TEACHERS OF ENGLISH TO SPEAKERS OF OTHER LANGUAGES (TESOL) This thesis focuses on the findings of a research study conducted in Geneva and Sydney to examine the career cycles of TESOLs. It explores many of the issues investigated in Huberman???s study of 160 secondary school teachers in Geneva (1989, 1993). Seventy-three in-depth interviews were conducted with teachers and trainers / administrators in adult TESOL, and professional development issues were examined in greater detail than in the Huberman study. The central purpose of the study was to test the universality of the Huberman model of career phases. TESOLs were found to have far more variations during their career cycles than school teachers, who were in a more stable and predictable situation. The study focused on particular moments in the career cycle, exploring TESOLs??? levels of satisfaction. TESOLs in the present study were found to have similar intrinsic satisfactions and concerns about working conditions as the findings of other TESOL studies. Although the occupation was reportedly becoming increasingly more professional, its unpredictable nature made it stimulating and rewarding. In spite of the instability of the TESOL career, TESOLs appeared to have more positive career experiences overall than many school teachers with more stable career paths. The study also examined professional development issues by comparing the perceptions of TESOLs and their trainers / administrators. They had many divergent opinions as to the professional development requirements of TESOLs. While there was no conclusive evidence that professional development could be linked to stages, TESOLs in a phase of diversification were found to have different professional development requirements from other phases. Personal, professional and environmental factors also affect the professional development requirements of TESOLs at any stage. In summary, it appears that the traditional career phase model is inappropriate when applied to TESOLs, and perhaps for other similarly unstable careers. With the recent changes in people???s professional lives, requiring increasing mobility and adaptability in the changing job market, other career path models to guide counselling, professional development and other staff management programs will need to be explored.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Nevada, Reno, 2007. / "May 2007." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 181-194). Online version available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Wollongong, 2002. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references: leaf 224-231.

Thesis (M.Sc.) (Hons.) -- University of Western Sydney, Hawkesbury, 2000. / A thesis presented to the University of Western Sydney, Hawkesbury, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science (Hons.), November, 2000. Bibliography : leaves 154-162.