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Abstract The purpose of this research is to examine the experiences of first-generation, highly educated Iranian women who came to Canada to pursue further education in a ‘just’, ‘safe’, and ‘peaceful’ place. The research has revealed that these women who were fleeing from an ‘oppressive’ and ‘unjust’ Iranian regime face new challenges and different forms of oppression in Canada. This dissertation examines some of the challenges that these women face at their place of work and/or at graduate school. The research findings are based on narratives of eleven Iranian women who participated in in-depth interviews in the summer of 2008. These women, whose ages range from 26 to 55 and are of diverse marital status, all hold an academic degree from Iran. They were also all enrolled in different graduate schools and diverse disciplines in Ontario universities at the time of the interviews. The research findings indicate that their presence in Canada became more controversial after the September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade centers in New York. Historically, the social images imposed on Middle Eastern women derive from the Orientalism that arose following the colonization of the Middle East by Western imperialists. The perpetuation of such images after the 9/11 attack has created a harsh environment for the participants in this research. After 9/11 most immigrants from the Middle East were assumed to be Muslim and Arab, which many North Americans came to equate with being a terrorist. In order to analyze the participants’ voices and experiences, I have adopted a multi-critical theoretical perspective that includes Orientalism, anti-colonialism and integrative anti-racist feminist perspectives, so as to be equipped with the tools necessary to investigate and expose the roots of racism, oppression and discrimination of these marginalized voices. The findings of this research fall under six interrelated themes: adaptation, stereotyping, discrimination, being silenced, strategy of resistance, and belonging to Canadian society/ graduate school. One of the important results of this research is that, regardless of the suffering and pain that the participants feel in Canadian graduate school and society, they prefer to stay in Canada because of the socio-political climate in Iran.

Abstract The purpose of this research is to examine the experiences of first-generation, highly educated Iranian women who came to Canada to pursue further education in a ‘just’, ‘safe’, and ‘peaceful’ place. The research has revealed that these women who were fleeing from an ‘oppressive’ and ‘unjust’ Iranian regime face new challenges and different forms of oppression in Canada. This dissertation examines some of the challenges that these women face at their place of work and/or at graduate school. The research findings are based on narratives of eleven Iranian women who participated in in-depth interviews in the summer of 2008. These women, whose ages range from 26 to 55 and are of diverse marital status, all hold an academic degree from Iran. They were also all enrolled in different graduate schools and diverse disciplines in Ontario universities at the time of the interviews. The research findings indicate that their presence in Canada became more controversial after the September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade centers in New York. Historically, the social images imposed on Middle Eastern women derive from the Orientalism that arose following the colonization of the Middle East by Western imperialists. The perpetuation of such images after the 9/11 attack has created a harsh environment for the participants in this research. After 9/11 most immigrants from the Middle East were assumed to be Muslim and Arab, which many North Americans came to equate with being a terrorist. In order to analyze the participants’ voices and experiences, I have adopted a multi-critical theoretical perspective that includes Orientalism, anti-colonialism and integrative anti-racist feminist perspectives, so as to be equipped with the tools necessary to investigate and expose the roots of racism, oppression and discrimination of these marginalized voices. The findings of this research fall under six interrelated themes: adaptation, stereotyping, discrimination, being silenced, strategy of resistance, and belonging to Canadian society/ graduate school. One of the important results of this research is that, regardless of the suffering and pain that the participants feel in Canadian graduate school and society, they prefer to stay in Canada because of the socio-political climate in Iran.

This study focuses on student support service quality with particular reference to an Open Distance Learning (ODL) environment. Taking student support services as anchors in mainstreaming ODL, the aims of the study are to develop an instrument that can accurately measure student support service quality in an Ethiopian ODL environment. Simultaneously, it is to investigate an alleged gap between students’ expectations and experiences of service quality in the Ethiopia-UNISA context. In doing so, an attempt is made to determine the students’ level of satisfaction with the student support services provided. The study relies on quantitative methods and a design-based research strategy, which involves iterative and step-by-step processes of investigation. The theoretical framework employed in this study is Gaps Model by Parasuraman, Ziethaml and Berry (1985). Using an instrument of which the possible level of external and internal validity has been ensured, data are collected and quantitatively analysed using a standard Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The data suggest that there are five dimensions that play a cardinal role in the measurement of student support service quality in an ODL context, namely supervision support, infrastructure, administrative support, academic facilitation and corporate image. In the Ethiopian context, there appears to be a discrepancy between students’ expectations and their experiences of the quality of student support services. More than often their expectations exceed their actual experiences of quality service provision. Students’ satisfaction levels are negatively affected by the quality of four of the support services provided by UNISA as measured through expectations and experiences. In contrast, the students’ responses show that they are highly satisfied with the corporate image UNISA holds both in Ethiopia and internationally. From among the five dimensions, however, corporate image and supervision support stand out to be the most important dimensions in contributing to the students’ satisfaction and dissatisfaction, respectively. As a recommendation, this study highlights that these two dimensions must be focal areas by UNISA as more effort must be exerted to build the image of UNISA in Ethiopia and to improve the supervision support provided to students. / Educational Leadership and Management / D. Ed. (Education Management)

Industrial design is recognised for the value-oriented benefits it offers to businesses. Industrial design ensures that new products are more efficient, usable, convenient and safe to use within the evolving business environment. One of the important factors for the continuous achievement of high product quality and general economic growth and stability in countries such as West Germany, Korea and Japan is their sound industrial design base. Industrial design programmes can be instrumental to ignite an entrepreneurial and innovation spirit to assist in curbing the high unemployment rate and very low levels of entrepreneurial intentions in South Africa. The core of tertiary industrial design students has unique capabilities that can assist the South African economy to stimulate manufacturing, job creation and economic growth. The purpose of this study was to investigate the entrepreneurial intentions among industrial design students enrolled for the programme in Three-Dimensional Design, at Universities of Technology in South Africa. In addition, this study investigates the relationship between entrepreneurial intentions and actual business formation by graduates of the programme. Studies have been carried out in South Africa on entrepreneurial intentions, but not on the formation, occurrence and implementation of entrepreneurial intentions amongst industrial design students, specifically. To test the links between business education and entrepreneurial intentions, a research model based on Ajzen’s (1985) Theory of Planned Behaviour was adopted and tested using quantitative empirical data collected from students in industrial design at two Universities of Technology. Quantitative data were collected from a sample of 161 participants using a validated self-administered questionnaire. IBM SPSS and STATA were used to conduct descriptive statistics, Chi-square tests, factor analysis, reliability and structural equation modelling on the primary quantitative data. The empirical evidence partially supports the effectiveness of the Theory of Planned Behaviour in predicting entrepreneurial intentions. Although perceived social norms and self-efficacy is positively related to entrepreneurial intentions, results failed to reach statistical significance. However, personal attitude was found to mediate the relationship between these variables and entrepreneurial intention. Whilst business education is positively related to self-efficacy, entrepreneurial knowledge is positively related to higher levels of personal attitude and self-efficacy. The transformation of entrepreneurial intentions into actual business start-ups were investigated using qualitative empirical data collected from past graduates of the Three-Dimensional Design programme. Qualitative data were collected from a sample of 22 graduates through structured interviews. ATLAS.ti version 7.5.9 was used to analyse the qualitative data. The researcher provided evidence that there is a relationship between entrepreneurial intentions and the actual start-up of a business, as 45.5 per cent of graduates started businesses. Furthermore, business education positively influenced the actual start-up of businesses. However, graduates experienced many challenges to business start-up, with implications for the teaching of business subjects and for policy makers. / Business Management / D. Com. (Business Management)

In a rapid changing environment mining companies have to change the way in which they do business, while employees have to manage their careers and ensure they are multi-skilled. Organisations are looking to employ individuals who are career driven, highly adaptable and flexible and display the necessary employability skills. The main purpose of this study was to determine if any relationship exists between the different factors of graduate employability and work performance in the mining industry in South Africa. A cross-sectional quantitative research approach was followed. A simple random sample was drawn from graduate male and female employees between the ages of 18 – 30 years with any post-matric qualification employed in the mining industry in South Africa. Through the process of exploratory factor analysis, six graduate employability factors and four work performance factors were identified. The graduate employability factors included career self-management drive, cultural competence, career resilience, emotional literacy, career literacy and self-efficacy. The work performance factors included the supervisor role, employee role, recognition and organisation support. Correlation and regression analyses were conducted. The results indicated a relationship between graduate employability and work performance. Strong, positive correlations were found between graduate employability and work performance with career self-management drive being the strongest predictor of work performance. Recommendations for the mining industry focused on how employability could be enhanced to improve work performance. / Human Resource Management / M. Com. (Human Resource Management)

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for the degree MAGISTER TECHNOLOGIAE in Quality Faculty of Engineering CAPE PENINSULA UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, 2012 / Post apartheid South Africa experienced major economic turbulence with poverty, unemployment and skills shortage, with most manufacturing and other key economic sectors affected by poor productivity and a subsequent downsizing of their labour work force. At the same time, many economic opportunities arose, including the full impact of globalisation, the emergence of China and Africa as economic partners and becoming a full member of the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) economic development group by the year 2010. The government and business communities at large realised the necessity for skills augmentation in order to expedite economic development and alleviate the scarcity of employment opportunities and growth across the major economic sectors. The backdrop of the economic upheaval of 2008 and 2009 placed manufacturing firms under pressure to reconsider their current operational strategies by streamlining their organisations and adopting aggressive lean and cost saving approaches in order to remain competitive. There is a perceived lack of alignment between industry and institutions alike, sometimes resulting in a perception that graduating industrial engineers do not entirely match industry expectations. Thus, it is imperative to explore the articulation and relationship between those industries that rely on the skills of industrial engineering technologists and the graduate industrial engineers with emphasis on the skills expectations as stressed by the national priorities and the academic capacity to meet these skills expectation in today’s competitive professional arena. This perceived lack of alignment between end user requirements and the service provided falls within the ambit of the field of quality management. This study focuses on two main sample groups within two areas of interest: • The industrial engineering student community and their respective academic environments; and • the relevant industrial engineering industry and its working environment. A self-administered questionnaire coupled with a number of interviews is employed in order to gather the required data. Grouped samples, involve the relevant industry employers, students and academic institutions. The research explores the pertinent roles and responsibilities expected of industrial engineers and industrial engineering technologists on entry into the working environment, as compared to the current level of training offered by various institutional bodies as expressed by the South African qualifications authority (SAQA) and the national qualifications framework (NQF). The validation of the analysis and outcomes of the study culminates through the exploration of the following: • The influence of skills levels on productivity within the relevant industrial engineering industries. • The demand and supply of industrial engineering skills. • Skilling industrial engineering graduates for their required roles and responsibilities. • Governing bodies responsible for the curriculation of industrial engineering programmes, offered by institutions of higher learning. The study aims to proffer valuable knowledge by identifying better opportunities for employment in the industrial engineering field, the addition of value towards better industrial engineering schooling and output quality of students emerging from institutions, and lastly superseding earlier misconceived perceptions of industrial engineering.

This study investigated the management of information and communication technologies (ICTs) at academic libraries in selected public universities in Ghana. The purpose for this study was to investigate the managerial processes and challenges in terms of conceptualization, policies, planning, implementation and strategies involved in ICTs adoption in order to formulate strategies for their management in Ghanaian academic libraries. Specifically, the objectives of the study were to review and explore the status and level of ICT diffusion in Ghanaian university; audit the procedures, processes and factors that influence ICT adoption and implementation in Ghanaian university libraries; establish the institutional policies, strategies and human resource that is in place and available for the adoption; determine the factors that hinder the adoption and management of ICTs in Ghanaian university libraries; and design a framework for effective and efficient management of ICTs in Ghanaian public university libraries. The study adopted mixed-method research design approach combining both quantitative and qualitative approaches through the pragmatic worldview to achieve the main purpose of the study. Adopting a survey study design, data was collected from five selected Ghanaian public universities by interviewing the five university librarians/directors, using questionnaires on 313 library staff and making observations within the five libraries. The findings of the study established that the managerial tools/instruments required for effective ICTs management in Ghanaian university libraries include the availability of library ICT policies, a library ICT strategic plan, library ICT installation and maintenance manuals, library ICT integration plans, and standard operations manuals. In addition, adequate funds, skilled manpower, adequate and standard ICT infrastructures among others. However, the study also revealed that there are absence of library ICT policies, lack of processes and procedure guidelines, inadequate funds, lack of management support, inadequate ICT skills among libraries and staff ICT training policies in the academic libraries in Ghana. The study recommends the formulation of ICT policies and strategic plans purposely for the comprehensive management of library ICT systems. Furthermore, the university top management should support their libraries by providing the required resources and motivation for the library managers including the development of stakeholder partnership and collaboration. To galvanise these recommendations, the study proposes a framework for the ICTs adoption and management in Ghanaian university libraries. / Information Science / D. Litt. et Phil. (Information Science)

Text in English with abstracts in English, Zulu and Sotho / Social media have taken a lead in academic libraries; however, there are still questions on how libraries are using social media tools to enhance their service delivery. The aim of this exploratory study was to investigate the use of social media tools by library staff working in the University of South Africa’s (Unisa) main library on the Muckleneuk Campus. Since it was realised that not all staff members use social media tools in the execution of their daily tasks, the first objective was to establish which staff members do use social media tools and for which purpose the tools are being used. A further objective was to learn about the potential advantages of social media tools to improve service delivery. The study also endeavoured to acquire an understanding of the challenges that social media tools present to its users. Based on the literature review, it could be established that libraries, and specifically academic libraries, utilise social media for marketing, dissemination of information, reference services, and communication with users and to answer student queries. The reported findings of this study concur with the findings reported in the literature review. The empirical data, which were collected through a qualitative survey questionnaire and interviews with library staff who use social media tools, revealed that only staff who communicate with library patrons, namely information processors and marketing staff, use social media tools. The findings also showed that the Unisa Library has specific guidelines and policies that guide the use of social media tools to interact with users, market the library and communicate events and service delivery changes. / Izinkundla zokuxhumana komphakathi sezihamba phambili emitapweni yolwazi yasemanyuvesi, kodwa kusanemibuzo eminingi maqondana nokuthi imitapo yolwazi iwasebenzisa kanjani amathuluzi ezinkundla zokuxhumana komphakathi ukuthuthukisa ukuhlinzekwa kwezidingo. Inhloso yalolu cwaningo oluhlola kabanzi kwakungukubheka ukuthi abasebenzi basemtapweni wolwazi omkhulu waseNyuvesi YaseNingizimu Afrika (i-Unisa) ekamu laseMuckleneuk bawasebenzisa kanjani amathuluzi ezinkundla zokuxhumana komphakathi. Njengoba sekwabonakala ukuthi akuwona wonke amalungu angabasebenzi asebenzisa amathuluzi ezinkundla zokuxhumana komphakathi ekuqhutshweni kwemisebenzi yawo yansuku zonke, injongo yokuqala kwakungukubheka ukuthi yimaphi amalungu omphakathi asebenzisa amathuluzi ezinkundla zokuxhumana komphakathi futhi awasebenzisela ukwenzani. Enye injongo kwakungukufunda mayelana nokuhle okungadalwa ngamathuluzi ezinkundla zokuxhumana komphakathi ukuthuthukisa ukuhlinzekwa kwezidingo. Lolu cwaningo lwaluqonde nokuqonda izingqinamba abantu abasebenzisa amathuluzi ezinkundla zokuxhumana komphakathi ababhekana nazo. Kuncike ekuhlaziyweni kwemibhalo ekhona, kwatholakala ukuthi imitapo yolwazi, ikakhulukazi leyo yasemanyuvesi, isebenzisa izinkundla zokuxhumana komphakathi ukukhangisa, ukusabalalisa imininingwane, ukubheka imithombo, ukuxhumana nabayisebenzisayo kanye nokuphendula imibuzo yezitshudeni. Okwatholakela okubikiwe mayelana nalolu cwaningo kuyahambisana nokubikiwe okwatholakala ngokuhlaziya imibhalo. Imininingwane eyatholakala ngokubheka okwenzekayo, eyaqoqwa ngokusebenzisa iphephamibuzo lenhlolovo eqoqa imininingwane yamaqiniso kanye nezingxoxo ezabanjwa nabasebenzi bomtapo wolwazi abasebenzisa amathuluzi ezinkundla zokuxhumana komphakathi yaveza ukuthi abasebenzi abaxhumana nabasebenzisi bomtapo wolwazi, abaziwa ngokuthi ngama-information processors kanye nabasebenzi abakhangisayo yibona kuphela abasebenzisa amathuluzi ezinkundla zokuxhumana komphakathi. Okutholakele kuphinde kwaveza ukuthi uMtapo Wolwazi Wase-Unisa unemihlahlandlela kanye nezinqubomgomo okulandelwayo ukuze kusetshenziswe kahle amathuluzi ezinkundla zokuxhumana komphakathi, ukuxhumana nabasebenzisi bawo, ukukhangisa ngomtapo wolwazi nokwazisa ngemicimbi ekhona kanye noshintsho ekuhlinzekweni kwezidingo. / Marangrang a leago a thomile go šomišwa kudu ka makgobapukung a thuto, efela go sa na le dipotšišo ka ga ka fao makgobapuku a šomišago dithulusi tša marangrang a leago go kaonafatša kabo ya ona ya ditirelo. Maikemišetšo a nyakišišo ye ya phetleko e be e le go nyakišiša tšhomišo ya dithulusi tša marangrang a leago ka bašomi ba go šoma ka bokgobapukung bjo bogolo bja Yunibesithi ya Afrika Borwa (Unisa), Khamphaseng ya Muckleneuk. Ka ge go lemogilwe gore ga se bašomi ka moka ba go šomiša dithulusi tša marangrang a leago tirong ya mešongwana ya bona ya letšatši le letšatši, nepo ya mathomo e be e le go hwetša gore ke bašomi bafe bao ba šomišago dithulusi tša marangrang a leago le gore dithulusi di šomišetšwa morero ofe. Nepo ye nngwe e be e le go ithuta ka ga mehola ye dithulusi tša marangrang a leago di kago kgona go ba nayo go kaonafatša kabo ya ditirelo. Nyakišišo gape e lekile go hwetša kwešišo ya ditlhohlo tše dithulusi tša marangrang a leago di di bakelago bašomiši ba tšona. Go ya ka tshekatsheko ya dingwalo, go lemogilwe gore makgobapuku, kudu makgobapuku a thuto, a šomiša marangrang a leago go bapatša, go phatlalatša tshedimošo, go fa ditirelo tša referentshe, go kgokagana le bathekgi le go araba dipotšišo tša baithuti. Dikutullo tše di begilwego tša nyakišišo ye di dumelelana le dikutullo tša tshekatsheko ya dingwalo tše di hweditšwego. Datha ya go lemogwa (emperikale) yeo e kgobokeditšwego ka lenaneopotšišo la nyakišišo ya khwalithethifi le dipoledišano tša bašomi ba bokgobapuku bao ba šomišago dithulusi tša marangrang a leago, di utulotše gore ke fela bašomi bao ba boledišanago le bathekgi ba bokgobapuku, e lego basepetši ba tshedimošo le bašomi ba go bapatša bao ba šomišago dithulusi tša marangrang a leago. Dikutullo gape di laeditše gore bokgobapuku bja Unisa bo na le dipholisi le melawana ye itšeng ya go hlahla tšhomišo ya dithulusi tša mekgwa ya leago go kgokagana le bašomiši, go bapatša bokgobapuku le go tsebiša ditiragalo le diphetogo tša kabo ya ditirelo. / Information Science / M.A. (Information Science)

The MA Social Behaviour Studies in HIV and AIDS as a postgraduate degree requires students to work and conduct research independently. The purpose of the study was to gauge the perceptions, attitudes and experiences of second year students and key personnel concerning student support. A mixed methods research design was used. It was found that students and staff regarded support in a positive light, although concerns about insufficient resources were expressed. Students expressed needs for specific academic and research support. Staff tended to romanticise the reasons for students enrolling for the degree. Possible conflicting expectations of the degree and the amount and type of support offered were found between the staff and the students and also among various staff members. / Social Work / M.A. (Social Behaviour Studies in HIV-AIDS)