Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University

The careers that students pursue after graduating from engineering programs are a central component to engineering education. However, we lack perspective on how students, the main stakeholder of the engineering education system, describe the goals they have for their post-graduation careers and make choices related to those goals. As a first step in closing this gap, I explored the different types of career goals that students have, investigated how students connect different types of goals to choices they make in engineering programs, and developed a survey instrument for future research on career goals. My sequential mixed methods study consisted of three phases. In the first phase, I analyzed interview data via the constant comparative method to explore the different types of career goals that students described. In second phase, I used the types of goals identified in phase one to analyze how students described connecting their career goals to choices they made as undergraduates in longitudinal interview data. In the final phase, I adapted the ideas from phase one and phase two into a quantitative survey instrument, which I piloted for validity and reliability. My study produced four main outcomes. The first outcome was identifying two distinct types of career goals held by students including goals about the jobs students want post-graduation and goals relative to job attributes rather than specific jobs. The second outcome was that students connected both types of career goals to choices they make in the present academic context. The third outcome was that career goals and their connection to choices students make could be measured in a valid, reliable survey instrument. Finally, my results suggest that there may be differences in the ways that male and female students describe their career goals and the ways that career goals are connected to choices. These outcomes have broad implications for students, educators and researchers in the engineering education system. / Ph. D.

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Vanessa Calvaressi representante de la Universidad de Torrens en Australia expone sobre el futuro de la inteligencia artificial y la robótica. Además, informa respecto a las carreras que ofrece la Universidad de Torrens, ligadas a estos temas

This thesis studies the relationship between the careers of women in accounting in New Zealand in the twentieth century and their membership of, and contribution to, the major accounting association in this country, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of New Zealand. The relationship is placed within historical context. In recent decades there has been much research on the experiences of female professionals in their workplaces but little of this research has been on the involvement of these women in their professional associations. Yet these associations have an important role in defining, controlling and representing professions. This thesis argues, using accounting as an example, that there is a parallel between the careers of professional women and their participation in their professional associations. In New Zealand, as the social climate changed during the twentieth century so too did women's membership in the Institute and their employment as public accountants. The level and type of women's contribution in the Institute has reflected their participation in the wider profession.

This thesis is based on a longitudinal study of servicemen and their families, as they experience transition from careers in the Royal Navy to civilian life. The analysis is based on data derived from three sets of focused interviews with twenty couples, conducted in Plymouth over a period between November 1995 and October 1998, and the findings of a questionnaire survey of just over two-hundred leavers. It develops a theoretically distinctive approach, drawing on the literature of organisations, discourses and identity, in order to understand servicemen's relationships with naval careers, and the implications for adaptation to civilian life on leaving. The research examines the meanings that men attach to naval careers and organisations, and their symbolic significance for their experiences of both service and civilian life. The analysis addresses the effects of careers on identity, decision-making, personal relationships and friendship networks, families, domestic divisions of labour, career interplay, parenting and resettlement. Whilst general patterns of success or failure in resettlement have been the main focus of past interest, this thesis uncovers the differential experiences of leavers in all their complexity. The study identifies a relationship between quantitatively and qualitatively different levels of naval involvement and the personal and familial experiences of career change and resettlement. The main findings of the work relate to wider issues of organisations, cultures and discourses, and are relevant to current debates about the future of military cultures, as well as the more specific issues surrounding resettlement.

Thesis (M.S. in Management) Naval Postgraduate School, March 1997. / Thesis advisors, George W. Thomas, Kathryn Kocher. Includes bibliographical references (p. 93-95). Also available online.

PURPOSE. This thesis takes a contextualised stakeholder approach to exploring alignment between organizational talent management and individual career development. The contribution and nature of career conversations as an opportunity for alignment is considered. DESIGN. This qualitative study was conducted in two phases. Phase one involved semi-structured interviews with Human Resources and Organizational Development professionals (n = 30). Phase two involved semi-structured interviews using career narratives with line managers and individuals from five case study organizations which were also involved in phase 1 (n = 40). Data were analysed thematically by stakeholder group and within each case study. LIMITATIONS. The sample used within the study were not selected to be representative. The conversations described by participants may not be representative of all of the conversations they have experienced. The case study organizations were all UK based. FINDINGS. For most HR professionals, talent management was driven by organizational goals with little reference to individual needs, hence, alignment was not a priority for them. In contrast, individuals and line managers described a commitment to seeking overlap between organizational and individual goals, with some line managers describing their role as brokers . Career conversations were seen by all stakeholders as an important part of talent management and career development, with the potential to be a vehicle for alignment. Detailed analysis of the career conversations described by individuals identified a broad range of helpful conversations, the majority of which took place informally. Additional categories of career shaper (from Bosley et al, 2009) were also identified as collaborators and catalysts . A variety of contextual features were found to influence the enactment of talent management and career development. These were summarised as a contextual map indicating local, organisational and environmental dynamics. ORIGINALITY/VALUE. The research reinforced the value of taking a contextualised perspective of both organizational talent and individual career (e.g. Cohen et al 2004; Sparrow, 2014). It also captured the voices of different stakeholder groups (e.g. Collings, 2014; Thunnissen et al, 2013).

The thesis describes a study of the transfer from school to non-school of pupils from five schools in different areas of England. The study has focused on fifth year pupils in schools located in Leicester, Stevenage, Windsor, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Middlesbrough. Through a combination of both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods it has concentrated on many aspects of school leaving processes and careers education programmes. Within the context of the different local labour markets the study has given particular attention to the kinds of careers education provided by the schools and by the local authority careers services. The study is comparative in its approach, examining the influence of the local labour market on the organisation and content of careers education, the way in which it was received by the school leavers and its influence upon their aspirations and expectations in terms of employment and further education. The study has shown that in areas of high unemployment such as Middlesbrough and Newcastle, careers education may form part of the wider social education of the pupil. Furthermore, due to the lack of employment opportunities for young people in such areas, it may lose much of the instrumentalism which was apparent in the more prosperous areas of Stevenage, Leicester and in particular, Windsor. Differences between the schools in terms of fifth year perceptions of YTS, reasons for entering further education, the role of qualifications and the importance of occupational choice are also highlighted. The thesis concludes by giving consideration to the likely role of careers education in the context of the National Curriculum and to changing labour market demands for school leavers, in the light of demographic fluctuations.