Thesis (MComm (Psych))--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: An emerging perspective of workplace diversity proposes that a well-managed diverse workforce holds inherent advantages for organisational performance. Little empirical evidence exists to support this view, which may partly be due to a lack of operational frameworks for diversity management at the firm level. This study aims to address two research gaps through (1) the development of a diversity management competency (DMC) framework which can guide diversity management efforts, and (2) the evaluation of the relationship between DMC, different diversity management outcomes (DMO), and firm performance. A mixed method approach was followed, which entailed an initial qualitative phase to explore the DMC construct and to develop a DMC measure. Next, a quantitative phase followed that tested (a) the reliability and validity of the instrument, as well as (b) the hypothesised relationships between DMC and important firm outcomes. Data were generated in the qualitative phase through interviewing managers (N = 12), using the Critical Incident Technique (CIT). Content analysis of the transcribed interviews culminated in distinctive diversity management competencies (DMCs), which represent clusters of diversity management practices, and a DMC measure which was subsequently content validated through both the Content Validity Ratio (Lawshe, 1975) and Cohen's (1960) approaches. The DMC questionnaire was then pilot tested on managers (N = 25) from three large companies to make final modifications. The final questionnaire consisted of eleven subscales (DMCs) and 98 items. The data for the quantitative phase were collected by administering on-line questionnaires measuring the study variables (DMC, DMO and firm performance) to managers (N = 77) from different medium to large companies (k = 33). The measures were item analysed and the hypotheses tested through correlation analysis, using SPSS. The measures indicated high internal consistency. A firm-level analysis of the research data showed that DMC, DMO and firm performance were strongly and significantly correlated, as hypothesised. This study makes three major contributions. First, it develops a firm-level DMC framework that outlines specific clusters of diversity management practices expected to contribute to firm performance by means of enhancing key DMOs. Second, it develops and validates a DMC measure which, along with the DMC framework, has practical utility for diagnostic and developmental purposes. Last, the analyses revealed that DMC, DMO and firm performance are significantly and strongly correlated, which may indicate that diversity management has a significant influence on firm performance. Because of the limited sample size, the results of this study should be cross-validated in larger samples. However, the present research creates an agenda for further confirmatory and exploratory studies on the relationship between diversity management and important firm outcomes. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: ‘n Ontluikende perspektief van werkplekdiversiteit stel voor dat ‘n goed bestuurde werksmag inherente voordele vir organisasieprestasie inhou. Daar is egter weinig empiriese bewyse om hierdie siening te staaf, wat gedeeltelik onstaan as gevolg van ‘n tekort aan operasionele raamwerke vir diversiteitbestuur op die firma-vlak. Hierdie studie beoog om hierdie navorsingsgaping aan te spreek deur (1) die ontwikkeling van ‘n raamwerk vir diversiteitbestuursbevoegdheid (DBB) wat pogings tot diversiteitbestuur kan lei, en (2) die evaluering van die verwantskaptussen DBB, verskillende diversiteitbestuuruitkomste (DBU), en firmaprestasie. ’n Gemengde-metode benadering is gevolg bestaande uit ’n aanvanklike kwalitatiewe fase om die DBB konstruk te verken en om ‘n DBB metingsinstrument vir DBB te ontwikkel. Vervolgens het ‘n kwantitatiewe fase (a) die betroubaarheid en geldigheid van die meetinstrument bepaalen (b) die hipotetiese verwantskap tussen DBB en belangrike firma-uitkomste getoets. Data is in die kwalitatiewe fase gegenereer deur onderhoudvoering met bestuurders (N = 12) met gebruik van die Kritieke Insident Tegniek (KIT). Inhoudsanalise van die getranskribeerde onderhoude het in onderskeibare diversiteitbestuursbevoegdhede (DBB’e) gekulmineer wat groeperings van diversiteitbestuuurspraktyke verteenwoordig. ’n DBB metingsinstrument is gevolglik vir inhoudsgeldigheid getoets deur beide die Inhoudsgeldigheidverhouding (Lawshe, 1975) en Cohen (1960) se -benaderings te gebruik. Die vraelys het vervolgens‘n toetsloop by bestuurders (N = 25) van drie groot maatskappye ondergaan om finale aanpassings aan te bring. Die finale vraelys bevat elf subskale (DBB’e) en 98 items. Die data vir die kwantitatiewe fase is met behulp van aanlynvraelyste wat die konstrukte van DBB, DBU, en firmaprestasie meet, verkry, wat deur bestuurders (N = 77) van verskillende middelslag tot groot maatskappye (k = 33) ingevul is. Die metingsinstrumente het item-ontleding ondergaan en korrelasie-analise deur middel van SPSS is gebruik om die hipoteses te toets. Die metingsinstrumente het hoë interne bestendigheid getoon. ’n Firm-vlak analise van die navorsingsdata het getoon dat DBB, DBU, en firmaprestasie het sterk en beduidend met mekaar gekorreleer, ter ondersteuning van die navorsingshipoteses. Die studie lewer drie hoofbydraes: eerstens, ‘n firmavlak DBB-raamwerk is ontwikkel wat spesifieke groeperings van diversiteitbestuurspraktyke omlyn wat na verwagting tot die verhoging van belangrike DBU’e en uiteindelik ook firmaprestasie behoort by te dra; tweedens, ‘n DBB metingsinstrument is ontwikkel en gevalideer wat, tesame met die DBB-raamwerk, praktiese gebruikswaarde vir diagnostiese en ontwikkelingsdoeleindes het; en, laastens, het die analises getoon dat DBB, DBU en firmaprestasie beduidend en sterk met mekaar korreleer, wat moontlik aandui dat diversiteitbestuur ‘n beduidende invloed op firmaprestasie het. As gevolg van die beperkte steekproefgrootte, behoort die resultate van hierdie studie gekruisvalideer te word in groter steekproewe. Die belowende resultate van hierdie studie skep egter ‘n agenda vir toekomstige bevestigende en verkennende studies oor die verband tussen diversiteitsbestuurspraktyke en firmaprestasie.

This essay is written with a background of interest in diversity in Swedish schools. One purpose of the study was to highlight teachers’ positions on the matter of diversity to better understand the term in their working life. The purpose was also to begin to outline the discourse on diversity that the teachers expressed verbally. A study of the Swedish school agency, Skolverket, was carried out to describe their representations of the term. Semi-structured qualitative interviews with four teachers were carried out to gather reflections and attitudes. The teachers worked at various secondary level schools with students aged 13-16. Empiric evidence was supported with sociocultural theory, postcolonial theory and dissertations from Swedish researchers. Discourse theory served as a basis for analysis. Polarizing views on the term diversity was presented as a result. The Swedish school agency emphasized its importance, while not adequately defining the word. Some interviewed teachers showed conflicting views on the word and were generally unsure about the definition. The essay lead to a number of conclusions, including a focus on the ethnic part of diversity and negative responses from the teachers. Several signs of the discourse on diversity were outlined.

Preparing teachers to teach in the diverse classroom has become one of the most important goals for universities and teacher training programs. The main purposes of this study included to examine what type of multicultural concepts were taught preservice teachers who sought certification in Grades 4-8 and how these preservice teachers understood and implemented multicultural concepts in their educational portfolios and coursework, field experiences, and student teaching. The population of the study consisted of 53 undergraduate, preservice teachers enrolled in the last two years of a 4-8 teacher certification program. A modified grounded theory methodology and interpretive approach was used in the analysis of the course syllabi, required readings and student coursework. The study found that this particular program exposed the preservice teachers to a significant number of multicultural concepts in preparation for teaching in the ethnically diverse schools in the area. In addition, the study looked at which of Grant and Sleeter's five multicultural approaches were found most often in the course syllabi and required readings, as well as the preservice teachers' portfolio artifacts, key assessments, and reflective writing samples. The research found the majority of the course syllabi and assigned readings covered concepts in the human relations and multicultural education approaches. The majority of the preservice teachers in this study identified most often with the multicultural education approach, although all five multicultural approaches were found in various portfolio artifacts, key assessments, and reflective writing samples. The study further indicates it was a combination of the multicultural courses, the field experiences, the student teaching, and the preservice teachers' adaptability to ethnic diversity that helped the preservice teachers experience successful opportunities with the students. The adaptability of the preservice teachers in the study also appears to match recent research that suggests that university students in general may be growing more accustomed to the ethnic diversity in the communities around them as the population demographics changes.

Prof. W. Backer

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the experiences of conservative orthodox Christian students attending public, secular, accredited counseling and counseling psychology graduate programs. Conservative orthodox Christian students who were attending public, secular, accredited counseling and counseling psychology graduate programs were recruited by email. A prescreening interview was conducted with each respondent. Seven respondents participated in three rounds of individual interviews. The overall research question was: What are the experiences of conservative orthodox Christian students attending public, secular, accredited counseling and counseling psychology graduate programs? Follow-up questions explored the participants' perceptions and experiences in depth. Data were analyzed through within case and cross case displays using a phenomenological approach. Emergent categories, themes, and descriptors were gathered from each round of interviews. Data were organized into three major categories: reflections on secular programs, experiences attending secular programs and Christian identity, and further organized into underlying themes and descriptors. Implications related to conservative orthodox Christian students attending public, secular, accredited counseling and counseling psychology graduate programs were discussed. Finally, suggestions for future research were provided.

Honouring the Journey to the Eighth Fire: Educating to Create Common-Unity Many directions people turn to today there is dissension: bombings, riots, shootings, famine and even genocide. There is an increasing awareness that change is required to create a more peaceful world, but how can we create common-unity and integrate it into educational systems? This narrative enquiry research explores the ways Maxwell International Baha’i School (MIBS) attempted to create an inclusive community that was founded on the principle of the oneness of humanity. It was through MIBS’s conscious attempt to create community that people felt accepted, safe and learned to connect. This research, through a focus group of primary stakeholders, explored the way community was intentionally built. The findings in this research revealed that from its inception, MIBS accepted diversity as a means to create unity, leading to members feeling a sense of belonging, connected to a greater purpose and a desire to serve humanity. With a conscious desire, schools could replicate this type of inclusive community. It is with this knowledge that I have been asked to create a more inclusive community at my current school. Education for a globally inclusive world must not be merely a separation and honouring of diversity, but must instead weave together the diverse elements through ritual and ceremony in a manner that creates an integrated tapestry. It is time to consciously and fully educate people to see that “the earth is but one country and mankind its citizens.” (Baha’u’llah, 1990, p. 346) / Graduate / mcleod.kristy@gmail.com

Faculty of Humanities School of Literature and Language Studies 8703354e kate.skinner@mweb.co.za / The dissertation tracks the media development and diversity policy positions of the South African government with a particular focus on the establishment of the Media Development and Diversity Agency. It tracks the reasons for the reduction in the Agency’s funding and the curtailing of its mandate. The dissertation argues that a powerful coalition of forces including the commercial media sector and the Department of Finance (now National Treasury) impacted on the policy process to drive government thinking in a more market-driven direction. It explores the implications of this market thinking for the deepening of media development and diversity in the country. Further, the research looks at an alternative critical political economy of the media vision – firstly, in terms of how this vision was scuppered in the policy process, but also how it might be resurrected. The critical political economy of the media school argues that development and diversity issues are not unproblematically served by the market and commercially driven media systems. Critical political economists of the media call for a number of state intervention including anti-monopoly legislation, subsidies for struggling more marginalised media sectors and so forth. Also, they call for the development of a core non-commodified, citizenship-orientated and inclusive public service media sector.

The experience of 'being with difference' is becoming an increasingly important worldwide phenomenon. The transnational movements of people across the globe, as well as tensions arising from religious and political differences, are highlighting the urgent need for people to learn to recognize and negotiate their being with difference. In recent years the Australian media has reflected growing interest on issues concerning identity and national values. These issues are invariably translated into the educational system and then into the classroom. In this context there arises the tension between recognizing and responding to individual difference yet, on the other hand, a push for sameness under the rubric of social equality. Diversity as an objective phenomenon has received much attention in the educational literature however the experience of a teacher being with difference in the classroom and what a teacher experiences as 'being different' has been assumed and the meanings they make of their experiences largely ignored. The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to reveal and interpret the lived experiences of teachers being with difference, as they construct the phenomenon, in the context of the primary classroom. Data sources predominantly included extended face-to-face multiple interviews with thirteen teachers from primary schools situated in Melbourne, Australia. Personal experiences, as well as perspectives derived from a range of literature, were also employed. The collated texts revealed six dominant themes: [1] Disrupted by difference [2] Stimulated by difference [3] Engineering for difference [4] Labelling for difference [5] Awakened by difference; and [6] Sensitized by difference. Each theme was explicated using a variety of textual approaches to better understand the structures of meanings. Essentially, the phenomenon, as revealed by the participating teachers, suggests that difference in the classroom is constructed through teachers' own cultural and experiential lenses and interpreted according ly. Two particular implications arising from the study are discussed. The first concerns teachers 'growing children to be like me' and the second, the magnetism of difference and its implication for children perceived as 'ordinary'. The implication of these findings suggests that 'being with difference' presents fundamental challenges for teachers who must not only accommodate novel experiences within their own teaching and personal lifeworlds and address those challenges within the procedural expectations of an educational system, but are also in a position to facilitate a literacy of being with difference.

<p>In the latest development in the field of telecommunications it has been observed that a lot is expected from the mobile systems. All kinds of communication standards such as Bluetooth, 3G, W-LAN etc. should be present in the same handset. This requires higher data transmission rates and low bit error probability. One of the major problems in achieving this is fading and multi path environment. The other problem is the growing trend of decreasing size of the electronic devices specially handsets. The handsets are getting smaller and thinner. Due to this the antennas in the device come very close to each other which causes high coupling between the antennas resulting in bad diversity gain. Antenna diversity is considered to be one of easier solution to overcome these problems. This thesis presents an implementation of receiver antenna diversity and suggests different optimised networks between the antenna ports for better diversity gain keeping in view the antenna efficiencies. The thesis involves the following steps: simulating the structures, suggesting different networks between the two antenna ports, optimisation and hardware implementation of the networks and finally measurements in reverberation chamber.</p>

Today’s business world is facing a continual increase of globalization that opened the borders of nations. Organizations see in multicultural teams and cultural diversity a way to respond to this phenomenon. Cultural diversity in multicultural teams is a new challenge for leaders. Indeed, they need to develop new strategies and skills to include individuals coming from different cultures in order to ensure the proper functioning of the team and achieve effectiveness. The purpose of our thesis – labeled “Leading Cultural Diversity: Strategies and Skills” – is to find out, through interviews and conversations with actual leaders, which strategies and skills are necessary in global organizations. The findings might be applied in other fields where cultural diversity plays an important role.