This PhD explores women's move from employment to self-employment, examining their experiences and perceptions of this transition. In particular, it focuses on the following five central research questions: <ol><li>How does the move from employment to self-employment fit in with a woman's career pattern more generally?</li> <li>How can a woman's decision to leave her organisation be understood theoretically?</li> <li>Why did the women in the study choose to embark on self-employment and what were their expectations in doing so?</li> <li>What factors most influenced a woman's experience of self-employment?</li> <li>To what extent did the women in the study identify themselves as entrepreneurs and what factors impacted on this identification?</li></ol> Implicit in the first question is an assumption that a woman's career transition can not be understood as a discrete moment or an isolated event; rather, it must be examined within the context of her developing career. The analysis illustrates that the move involves more than a "simple" change between career forms; rather, it is a much more complex transition, involving the balancing of often incompatible career discourses. In seeking to understand women's Career transition and development, the analysis emphasizes the importance of occupational identity, the focus of question 5 above. As regards the second question, in seeking to understand respondents' decisions to leave their organisations, it is necessary to examine both personal and organisational factors, not as a dichotomy, but as integrally related. Notably, gender emerges as significantly impacting on these decisions: in particular the implications of the ideology of the family for women's perceived roles and responsibilities. Turning to question 3, while for some the move to self-employment was experienced as a single decision, for others it was seen as two distinct, though related choices. Central to this analysis is the significance of family background, and gender. As regard women's fears and expectations, the analysis explores the notion of "risk", and examines the ways in which women's understandings of concepts such as "freedom" and "control" changed through their experience of self-employment. Considering question 4, those factors which respondents identified as having a significant impact on their experiences of self-employment, their previous organisational experience was seen as central. Also highly relevant were women's social networks: not only professional relationships and business partners, but also the important role played by husbands and families. Finally, permeating this analysis is the importance of both structural and agentic dimensions of experience in women's career transition. These dimensions, however, must not be seen as a dualism, but as a "duality" (Giddens, 1976, 1979, 1984; Bhaskar, 1975,1979, 1983). The thesis thus proposes a theoretical model for understanding women's move from employment to self-employment based on this dynamic interplay between structure and agency. Central to this model is the construction of occupational identity.

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In South Africa, the importance of computing and information technology (IT) is increasing. Yet, there is an under representation of women IT employees, this may be due to the low percentage of women obtaining IT degrees. South African women are already seriously underrepresented in the IT field and represent an untapped resource. Therefore attention needs to be directed to factors which effect women’s intentions to pursue IT careers. This study drew on two theoretical perspectives, namely the Theory of Planned Behavior, and Social Cognitive Theory to derive a model of how two important factors, computer selfefficacy, and computer anxiety influence women’s feelings about the impact of computers on their daily lives and society, as well as their understanding of computers (i.e. computer attitude). The model further depicted the direct effect of computer attitude. Women’s computer attitudes were also expected to improve once they have received computer training. Although the main focus of the study was towards women’s computer attitude and intention to select an IT career, the study also compared the extent to which gender influences computer self-efficacy, computer anxiety, computer attitude and intention to select an IT career, as well as the relationships that exist between these variables. Hypotheses were thus derived from the model, and uses prior research to argue the validity of the hypotheses. Quantitative data was collected from a sample of 263 first year students from a leading South African University. Statistical analyses of the data revealed that female students intention to select an IT career consisted of two factors namely, IT career interest and perceived tangible rewards. Pearson correlation and multiple regressions were used to test hypotheses. Results revealed that factors such as computer training, computer self-efficacy, computer anxiety, and positive computer attitude influenced IT career interest and perceived tangible rewards. Amongst female students, computer training, computer self-efficacy and perceived tangible rewards impacted IT career interest. This means that if females received computer training, they were more confident towards computers and aware of IT careers prospects, and thus they would be more likely to select an IT career. The study results also detected gender differences which indicated that females are more computer anxious than males, while males are more computer confident and like computers more than females. In addition females are also less likely to select IT careers than males. These results provide important guidance to educational institutes, the IT industry, IT managers, human resource professionals, and other individuals’ interested in career development issues and the gender gap in South African IT.

Previous research into the supply-side causes of gender segregation in the workplace, i.e., career aspirations and choices, has identified that gender, particularly masculinity, can explain some of the variance in aspirations. However, there are several flaws with this line of research, including the measurement and conceptualisation of gender, and in that it does not explain how or why gender is related to career aspirations and choices. Here, I propose a process of ‘dynamic fit’ to explain the relationship between gender and careers, in which individuals choose careers that ‘fit’ with their gender, but gender can also be changed to ‘fit’ with gendered careers. In this thesis, I aimed to examine: a) how contextual information influences the relationship between gender and careers, b) how gender influences careers, and c) how careers influence gender. Over five studies, I found that good ‘fit’ between gender and organisational culture can promote women’s aspirations and expectations, gender norms around work and home can vary this fit, and gender can be influenced by careers-based information. Altogether, this provides some support for the process of ‘dynamic fit’. Therefore, these findings highlight that there is a need for a new theory that explains the process by which gender and careers are linked, and I propose elements that need to be incorporated into this theory, such as a ‘doing’ gender approach, and a reciprocal relationship between gender and careers.

The purpose of this study was to identify, examine, and validate the various components and systems in agriculture while investigating three objectives related to Careers, Industries, and Systems using the Delphi technique over three rounds. Three similar but different instruments were used to gather information from the expert panel. The following questions were considered: 1) What are the different Careers associated with agriculture? 2) What are the Industries that play an important role in the input segment of agriculture? and 3) What are the System components needed to depict the industry of agriculture? Twenty-one expert panelists from nine states with varied backgrounds such as Church/Religion, Education, Government, Insurance, Manufacturing, Natural Resources, Pharmaceutical, and Public Policy participated in this study. The expert’s years of service total 370 years in their respected occupations with a mean of 17.6 years of experience. Raw data submitted by the expert panelists in round one identified 477 Career items, 157 Industry items, and 130 System items, totaling 764 pieces of initial information. Over the course of the subsequent two rounds, duplicates were eliminated, items were categorized, and consensus was reached for 317 Careers associated with agriculture. There were 30 Industries recognized and validated to play an important role in the input segment of agriculture and 21 System components depicted in agriculture. In all, 368 items reached consensus and were confirmed in the study. Findings indicated: 1) It is difficult to find a comprehensive diagram that visually conveys the different Careers, Industries, and Systems to assist in recruiting efforts by colleges and universities; 2) Not all websites found in the literature convey an accurate distinctiveness of what agriculture is today; 3) More research is needed regarding the impact of agriculture on career education used in agricultural literacy initiatives; and 4) The information found in this study can be used to begin further development of models to aid in the visualization of how Careers, Industries, and Systems are interconnected in order to help the public better understand the complex and diverse agricultural sector and challenges facing the agricultural industry in all its dimensions.

The purpose of this study was to identify, examine, and validate the various components and systems in agriculture while investigating three objectives related to Careers, Industries, and Systems using the Delphi technique over three rounds. Three similar but different instruments were used to gather information from the expert panel. The following questions were considered: 1) What are the different Careers associated with agriculture? 2) What are the Industries that play an important role in the input segment of agriculture? and 3) What are the System components needed to depict the industry of agriculture? Twenty-one expert panelists from nine states with varied backgrounds such as Church/Religion, Education, Government, Insurance, Manufacturing, Natural Resources, Pharmaceutical, and Public Policy participated in this study. The expert’s years of service total 370 years in their respected occupations with a mean of 17.6 years of experience. Raw data submitted by the expert panelists in round one identified 477 Career items, 157 Industry items, and 130 System items, totaling 764 pieces of initial information. Over the course of the subsequent two rounds, duplicates were eliminated, items were categorized, and consensus was reached for 317 Careers associated with agriculture. There were 30 Industries recognized and validated to play an important role in the input segment of agriculture and 21 System components depicted in agriculture. In all, 368 items reached consensus and were confirmed in the study. Findings indicated: 1) It is difficult to find a comprehensive diagram that visually conveys the different Careers, Industries, and Systems to assist in recruiting efforts by colleges and universities; 2) Not all websites found in the literature convey an accurate distinctiveness of what agriculture is today; 3) More research is needed regarding the impact of agriculture on career education used in agricultural literacy initiatives; and 4) The information found in this study can be used to begin further development of models to aid in the visualization of how Careers, Industries, and Systems are interconnected in order to help the public better understand the complex and diverse agricultural sector and challenges facing the agricultural industry in all its dimensions.

New emerging career paths for professionals are often non-linear, dynamic, and boundary-less (Baruch, 2004) and have resulted in undefined professional advancement opportunities for managers and employees in a variety of contexts. Career paths help individuals make meaning in their job contexts and provide avenues to meet intrinsic and extrinsic rewards, including economic and social status (Adamson, 1997; Callanan, 2003). As a result, individual perceptions of career paths may impact job satisfaction, career commitment, and performance. The purpose of this study was to test a career development model examining the path of relationships amongst autonomy/prestige, career path, training and learning, job satisfaction, career commitment, and performance for moderately defined career professionals. Based on a systematic categorization of careers, from well defined to less well defined, project managers were determined to have moderately defined careers. The researcher employed a survey resulting in 644 project manager respondents. Path analysis was effectuated as a modeling technique to determine whether there was a pattern of intercorrelations among variables. A career development model framing the relationship between project managers’ perceptions of their career paths on their respective performance was explored. The direct path relationships included: (a) frequency of participation in training and learning activities was negatively related to performance, (b) career path was positively related to performance, (c) autonomy/prestige was positively related to performance, and (d) career commitment was negatively related to performance. The indirect path relationships included (a) autonomy/prestige was mediated by career commitment and performance; (b) the connection between career path and performance was mediated by frequency of participation in training and learning (c) career path to performance, was mediated by job satisfaction and career commitment, and (d) career path to performance was mediated by job satisfaction, career commitment, and autonomy/prestige. Study findings supported the tested model and contributed to increased understanding regarding the importance of career paths to individual job satisfaction, career commitment, and performance. Opportunities for new research and implications for individuals and organizations are outlined.

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Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University