Thesis (Ed. D.)--Graduate School of Education, Oral Roberts University, 2004. / Includes abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 128-142).

One challenge facing graduate education is the preparation of future faculty members across disciplines to assume faculty positions (Wulff & Austin, 2004). This qualitative study explored the socialization process of doctoral students in education and engineering fields committed to a career as a faculty member. Specifically, this study attempted to understand what knowledge, skills, and understandings (Weidman, Twale, & Stein, 2001; Van Maanen & Shein, 1979) are acquired during the research collaborations some doctoral students have with their faculty mentors and how this relationship prepared doctoral students for a future as a faculty member. Core elements of the Graduate and Professional Student Socialization model (acquisition of knowledge and skills, investment, and involvement) were used to explore doctoral student socialization (Weidman et al.). Semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with forty doctoral students (20 education, 20 engineering) from four predominately White research institutions (PWRIs). Five themes emerged from the data regarding the role research collaboration played in socializing doctoral students in education and engineering to faculty careers. First, the research collaborative process with mentors aided doctoral students in learning how to communicate research to different audiences, the realities of research, how to conduct problem solving research, and the competitive nature of research. Second, participants identified learning about the complexity of a faculty role, particularly responsibilities that extend beyond teaching and research for faculty members. Third, doctoral students reported learning about the requirements of the tenure process. There were ways the collaborative experience positively or negatively contributed to an interest in a faculty role. Positive factors included enjoyment of research and the perceived autonomy and flexibility of research. Negative factors included the perceived low priority given to teaching and the demands placed on faculty members. Participants reported varying levels of commitment to the research collaborative relationship depending on whether they had competing interests. Exposure to the research collaborative process with a faculty mentor allowed doctoral students to conceptualize the entire research process from beginning to dissemination and to get an intimate idea of the realities of faculty life. Implications for practice, research, and theory are outlined. / Ph. D.

no / Graduate employability has become an issue since there are broad mismatches between the acquired graduate skills from university and the required skills by employers. While previous researches have outlined the salient skills that need to be embedded in graduate education, to date no studies have attempted to methodically identify and synthesize the literature on graduate attributes. In this paper a total of 39 relevant studies on graduate skills and attributes in the subject areas of business and management, accounting, and computer science were extracted from Scopus® (database). This revealed a total of 53 graduate attributes, with some being highly used, such as communication, teamwork, problem solving, technological skills, creativity, interpersonal skills, leadership skills, self-management and flexibility/adaptability. The majority of studies used a quantitative survey method to collect and rank graduate attributes, and Australia emerged as the most active country in researching the domain. / Qatar National Research Fund

Background and Aim: South Africa is currently experiencing serious challenges relating to youth and graduate unemployment. Some of the reasons cited for t his problem are the inability of Higher Education to produce graduates that meet employer needs. As a result there is a great need for higher education institutions (HEIs) to develop approaches to address the issue of graduate employability skills. The main aim of this study is to investigate the perceptions of desirable graduate workplace skills for commerce graduates. Method: A cross-sectional research design was followed with data collected by means of surveys. The survey drew responses regarding the topic from a broad cross-section of respondents at one point in time, making the approach practical and reasonable for pursuing the exploratory and descriptive aims of the study. A sample of 244 final year students, 94 postgraduates and 21 academics participated in this study. Results: The research findings indicated that graduate employability is significantly dependent on the soft and technical skills required in the workplace and that the university does provide some of the skills as part of its commerce programmes. The following specific results were obtained: • The results showed that in general all three groups of respondents perceived that the higher education institutions equipped them to a large extent with the soft skills needed in the workplace. The findings indicated that the skills which final year students perceive to be the most important are not as the same at the one rated most important by academics and postgraduates. • The findings reflected a significant gap between current soft skills training and the desirable soft skills • Based on the study findings, the three stakeholders mentioned one common technical skill (computer literacy) which they gained throughout their studies • Generally, results showed that undergraduates, postgraduates and academics perceive that students have gained some technical skills during their studies which will prepare them to a large extend for employability • The respondent's results from chapter 5 indicated that there is a great need for HEis to provide technical skills training relevant to one's career that will help graduates to be prepared for the workplace • Based on the study find ings from chapter 5, the results showed a high need for WIL programme to be part of the undergraduate student's curriculum Practice Relevance: Studies in the related field of graduate employability skills have been previously conducted by different researchers globally. Despite the previous studies, the topic "perceptions of desirable graduate workplace skills for commerce graduates" have not been researched before. The study attempts to identify if Higher Education Institutions provide graduates with the necessary soft and technical skills required to enhance their employability. This study contributes to the literature where the benefits of conducting it can be experienced by students, HEis, employers and the country in general through determining what skills are required for being employable. / Thesis (M. Com (HRM) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2012

Published Article / The issue of Generic Skills has received considerable attention over the past few years as universities, in their response to calls for accountability, need to articulate and demonstrate the achievement of these (Barrie, 2005: 1). In recent years, employers and their representatives consistently demand that their employees must possess a range of personal and intellectual attributes. These include attributes beyond those traditionally made explicit in programmes of study in higher education institutions (Harvey, 2000:7). Universities describe these graduate qualities differently, resulting in a variety of terms used to target the same attribute (Barrie, 2006:218). This diversity of descriptions prompts questions as to the extent to what stakeholders in the Radiography programme understand by the term generic graduate skills. One of the major goals was to explore what the stakeholders involved in academic and work-based learning as well as radiography students identified as generic graduate skills radiography students must obtain during their studies to prepare them adequately for the world of work. Findings from this study agreed on the importance of higher education to be informed of expectations from employees in order to respond to the need of preparing students adequately for future job tasks and contributions to society. In addition to this. the study also identified the particular generic skills stakeholders regard essential for students entering the profession.

In my clay, mixed media, and photographic work I present vignettes of my life and aspects of my heritage to the viewer. While working with clay, I create houses that personify different aspects of my personality, depending on what was happening in my life at the time. I also make pots that reflect elements of my environment. My mixed media and digital photography work is a more intimate look at my Middle Eastern heritage from belly dancing to snapshots of my family.

I am a painter and a printmaker. My imagery consists of houses, barns, birds, trees, hands, and gloves. On the surface these items represent home, nature, and female identity. On another level they symbolize an inner world of dreams, wishes, and losses. My paintings contain aspects of collage, they combine paint, paper, and low relief. I paint layers of transparent and opaque images and colors in order to achieve a dreamy and ethereal effect. In printmaking, I combine my imagery in layers by printing small plates and stencils next to and on top of one another until a dense, multifaceted image is achieved.

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