The gains derived from human capital can be affected by life –changing decisions. In my thesis I explore three of these decisions: the decision to migrate abroad (Chapter 1), the decision to migrate inside your own country (Chapter 2) and the decision to become an entrepreneur (Chapter 3). The three decisions involve a great deal of uncertainty that individuals express through expectations. I study these decisions by analyzing subjective expectations of future college graduate students. In chapter one I use the survey and data collection of Delavande and Zafar and for the second and third chapter I designed one survey and did the data collection in Bogotá, Colombia. Beyond the study of the determinants of individual migration and entrepreneurial expectations as strategies to allocate human capital, I contribute to the literature on subjective expectations. Chapter 1 investigates the role of subjective expectations and beliefs in the decision of migration of Pakistani college students to USA, Saudi Arabia and China. Findings suggest that students from different socioeconomic backgrounds and exposure to Western ideas react differently to the same potential migration destinations, not only in their preference for earnings but also in their individual preference for risks and amenities. Chapter 2 investigates what should be the incentives that a government must provide to promote the migration of future graduates from a developed urban centre to less developed ones in Colombia, as a strategy for regional development. The expected earnings, expectations about provision of schools, access to health and roads are the most important determinants to promote this specific type of migration in Colombia. Chapter 3 examines the role of earning expectations and personal characteristics on the subjective probability of becoming an entrepreneur of future graduates from Bogotá, Colombia. The expected earnings as an entrepreneur together with the preference for independence and having a previous entrepreneurial experience in the family affects positively the subjective probability of becoming an entrepreneur. These results are similar to other studies giving evidence that it is feasible to use subjective expectations as a measure of entrepreneurial intentions.

The argument that adult community learning (ACL) participation plays a part in influencing parents’ perceptions and practices with respect to schooling children is appealing but there is little evidence to show whether this is the case and, if so, what form it takes. Statistical studies have revealed mixed findings, ranging from no impact to some changes in behaviour when parents study at university. Yet, the mechanisms by which this process occurs are little understood. Considering the varied findings, this qualitative study aims to explore the nature and extent of ACL, and its influence on parents and children. Drawing on adult education theory and Bourdieu’s concept of ‘capital’, the study focuses on examples of parental ACL participation in Wales. Findings suggest that whilst all parents want the best for their children, some parents struggle to provide support, especially at secondary education stage. Parents typically draw upon a range of support mechanisms; they refer to the school, family and friends, the internet, work and volunteering, as well as hiring private tutors. Moreover, parents participating in multiple episodes of ACL, especially at the higher levels, draw upon and utilise their knowledge, skills, and resources to provide timely and effective support; this prevents slippage in the educational sense. Also, findings suggest that ACL participation stimulates and, in some cases, boosts children’s learning. In contrast, parents with low-level qualifications and parents who engage in fewer episodes of ACL, invariably have a far limited range of resources to call upon. Here, parents tend to rely heavily upon the school, family members, the internet, and if finances allow, private tutors. Consequently, when support is delayed or ineffective, this increases the risk of children falling behind at school. However, a solution to create a mutual mechanism of support in the home learning environment is put forward to overcome the problem.

This thesis explores the global governance of stowaways in the shipping industry involving multiple actors, and the implications for the dynamics between seafarers and stowaways on board ships. The governance of stowaways has only been marginally explored in studies of migration governance with much of the limited empirical focus confined to analyses of the policies and practices of states and institutions. An empirical investigation into the maltreatment of stowaways has also been lacking. For the purpose of exploring the global governance of stowaways more holistically and explaining why some seafarers maltreat stowaways, including casting them off on makeshift rafts or throwing them into the sea, a multi-method qualitative research design was used underpinned by an adaptive approach to data collection and analysis. The findings offer insights into how governing efforts by a range of actors impinge upon seafarers and stowaways. The global governance of stowaways is conceptualised in this study as an assemblage involving multiple actors whose asymmetric interrelationships lead to the emergence of the causes for the maltreatment of stowaways.

The flexibilisation of labour in the global labour market has been a bone of contention among scholars from different disciplines over the past four decades. On the one hand, such employment is seen as a detrimental practice to employees, who might lose their occupational identity as well as constantly experience job insecurity and uncertainty. On the other hand, flexible employment is perceived as the pillar of freedom, enabling individuals to fulfil their potential through increasing labour market opportunities. In an attempt to assess these competing views within the context of a global industry where flexible employment is commonplace, the shipping industry has been chosen as the basis of an investigation to answer the following research questions: 1. To what extent are flexible employment arrangements perceived as beneficial to employers? 
 2. What are the perceived implications of flexible employment arrangements for employees? 
 3. What is the relationship between the flexibility of employment and the occupational identities of seafarers? 
 To answer these research questions, qualitative research methods were used to speak to over 70 participants. The methods included mostly semi-structured in-depth interviews and informal conversations conducted aboard a cargo ship. The findings of the thesis can be largely divided into three main aspects. First, the thesis sheds light on the complexities of flexible employment in the shipping industry (i.e. the perceived negative and positive implications of such employment) for employers and employees. Secondly, using the shipping industry as an example, the thesis challenges current widespread views about the benefits of flexible employment to employers. Thirdly, the thesis presents the idea of a ‘double occupational identity’ to describe the often-complex occupational identity of seafarers related to differences in perceived labour market power. Several strengths, limitations, and recommendations for policy and also for major stakeholders in the shipping industry are raised at the end of the thesis. Key words: Career; Employment; Flexible Labour; Global Labour Market; In-Depth Interviews; Job; Occupational Identity; Precarious Work; Qualitative Research Methods; Seafarers; Seafaring Career; Shipping; Work.

Shipping is one of the most globalised industries and is central to the world economy. It is estimated that over 50,000 ships (ICS 2017), manned by over 1.2 million seafarers, carry about 90 percent of world trade (ILO 2017). The seagoing workforce needed to operate these ships are drawn from the pool of the global shipping labour market. The safe and efficient operation of ships depends on the competence of the merchant ship officers who need to undergo diverse training in order to obtain the necessary knowledge and skills to perform shipboard tasks. In order to ensure the safe operation of ships and to harmonise the maritime education and training of the seafarers globally, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) introduced the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW), which stipulates the minimum standard of competence prescribed for the seafarers. Although the STCW Convention set out to standardise seafarers’ education and training, there is evidence that indicates the Convention has not been uniformly implemented and subsequently seafarers are not being uniformly trained and certified across countries. Furthermore, there is also evidence that suggests the stakeholders in the industry, particularly ship owners and ship operators, perceive a gap between the training being provided to officers and the actual skills the officers need to perform their shipboard duties. Although the voice of seafarers is largely missing in the literature, there is anecdotal evidence that indicates this perception is also shared by the officers themselves. Hence, this research examines the perceived ‘gap’ in the skills and competency of merchant ship officers, based on a detailed investigation of key industry stakeholders. The research also examines the nature of the skills and competency gap and the underlying reasons behind the emergence of such a gap. The study adopts a qualitative research design to conduct the investigation in which a total of 61 informants, including ship owners, officers and trainers, across five countries, are interviewed. In addition, a documentary analysis is undertaken that includes policy documents, the STCW Convention, shipping companies’ training procedures and training institutes’ curricula, to complement the data from the semi-structured interviews. As a result of the STCW Convention undergoing a major revision during the course of the investigation, further interviews are conducted to examine whether the provisions of the revised Convention address the perceived skills and competency gap. The empirical study of stakeholder perceptions, along with documentary analysis of the industry’s literature, reveals that the skills and competency gap of the merchant ship officers in the global labour market is indeed a prominent issue that needs to be addressed. Through applying relevant learning theories to the research data, the competency gap is categorised into a gap in theory, or the ‘knowing’ gap, and a gap in practice, or the ‘doing’ gap. The findings show that while there is a ‘knowing’ gap in the education of the officers, the gap in ‘doing’ or the practical skills of the merchant ship officers is more salient. The underlying reasons for such a gap are found to be largely rooted in two major phenomena. One pertains to the globalisation of shipping that led to practices such as flagging out, the emergence of a global labour market for seafarers and the shifting of maritime education and training from Traditional Maritime Nations (TMNs) to newly emerging labour-supplying nations with varying socio-economic contexts. Findings include inconsistencies in implementation of the training standards across different countries, declining commitment of the shipping companies towards the training of the workforce, as well as shortcomings to the training institutions’ resources and practices. The second phenomenon relates to advances in technology and equipment, which have led to a reduction in the number of crew and also caused significant changes to the nature of the work on board, leading to a requirement for new skills and also affecting the process of learning. In other words, advances in technology and equipment on board introduce limitations to the traditional apprenticeship model of training as these new technologies call for a more cognitive approach to the learning process. This thesis concludes by recommending measures through which the gap can be addressed.

The study presented in this thesis explores how professional sociologists view the nature and function of their discipline. Specifically, the research has developed as a result of findings from a series of previous studies demonstrating the relative absence of quantitative methods in British sociology and further ad-hoc studies which have highlighted sociology students’ resistance toward learning quantitative methods. It was hypothesised that sociologists in Britain are increasingly relying on qualitative techniques to explore micro-sociological topics. A realist approach was adopted in the study to enable some discussion of the potential mechanisms leading to the reported marginalisation of quantification in British sociology. An online survey was distributed to professional sociologists in the UK and 1024 responses were received. A shortened version of the survey was also distributed to sociologists in the Netherlands and New Zealand to help contextualise the findings from the UK. In line with previous literature, the minority of the participants in the UK identified as ‘quantitative researchers’ and respondents most frequently reported using semi-structured interviews in their research. Moreover, the majority of the respondents listed researching micro-sociological research areas and reported that sociological research was more akin to the arts and humanities as opposed to the natural sciences. The study also found an association between age or seniority and research practices in the UK, with older or more experienced researchers being more likely to identify as ‘mixed methods researchers’. This finding has implications for the research methods training sociologists receive throughout their careers. Finally, comparing the place of quantitative methods in British sociology and the two comparator countries revealed that the discipline is more diverse, fragmented and often viewed with greater inferiority in the UK, compared to elsewhere. High-quality methodological training was deemed necessary by participants to create or foster ‘world-leading’ sociological research. With this in mind, calls are made for the narrowing of the scope of sociology to ensure that future generations are able to answer social questions posed by external agencies on both the micro and macro levels. It is argued that this will enable academic sociology to maintain its relevance alongside the rise of ‘big data’ and independent social research centres.

This thesis reports on an ethnography of a hospital social work team in Wales. The aim of this study was to explore the nature of the statutory social work role within hospitals, to examine how hospital social workers do their work, and to shed light on how social work fits into the hospital context. My findings indicate that hospital social workers face constant pressure from managers and clinicians to expedite patient discharges, and exclude almost all other tasks from their role. Their daily work is a sequence of bureaucratic tasks, focused on management of the failing body, often to the exclusion of considering the wider social or psychological needs of the patient. Drawing on the work of Bauman, I argue that the bureaucratic and managerial systems in which hospital social workers operate produce dehumanising practices and distance decision makers from the human consequences and moral dimensions of their decisions. Even within these systems, however, some levels of discretion are maintained and hospital social workers use their discretion in a variety of ways. The hospital social workers in this study consistently expressed values derived from anti-discriminatory practice and, despite the constraints they encountered, were able to perform work that showed a concern for social justice, human rights and empowerment at the individual’s level. Thus, I argue that hospital social work in the UK is driven by liberal, rather than radical values, and is largely unconcerned with addressing wider issues of structure, social disadvantage and oppression. The hospital social work role involves the co- ordination of knowledge provided by clinical professions, which must then be processed to match the needs of the patient to the services that are available. Social workers are outsiders within the hospital setting and there is a considerable amount of distrust between them and the clinical professionals, which occasionally manifests in open conflict. I draw on Goffman’s dramaturgical insights to analyse how social workers manage their position within the hospital and draw on his theory of frame analysis to understand the way conflicts arise. Hospital social workers maintain a distinct identity within the hospital that is tied to their liberal values. I argue that their practices can be interpreted both as arising from the zeitgeist of liquid modernity and as adapting to the human need brought about by liquid modernity. I suggest that social work must either pursue individual liberation further, following the liberal values currently underpinning these hospital social workers’ practice, or adopt a more radical or critical approach in seeking to influence government policies around social care.

Social sciences approaches to the study of Armed Forces Veterans and their capacity to cope with social reintegration, have tended to focus on medicalised accounts of post-service trauma, characterized by Veteran mental health, homelessness, and suicide amongst our Short Service Leavers. Whilst the findings of these largely quantitative projects continue to present new and compelling data, they have a tendency to neglect key aspects of observable phenomenon and often fall-short in representing the broader experience of Veterans transitioning from martial to civilian space. By contrast this study drawns on a mixed-methods approach to reveal a more authentic picture of resettlement, indeed the project proposes that resettlement is better understood when viewed as a component of a much broader occupational life-story; one that has a past, a present and importantly a future. With few notable exceptions (Ashcroft, 2014; Walker 2012; NAO, 2007) research into the British experience of Armed Forces resettlement is extremely difficult to locate, in a sense the process is hindered further by the outsourcing of Resettlement to Right Management Limited in 2015 and delivery, at a cost of £100 million, of the ‘Career Transition Partnership’ (CTP). And whilst the CTP claim to have helped thousands of veterans into sustainable employment within six months of leaving the Armed Forces; beyond such un-evidenced claims made in their own literature, neither UK government nor CTP has published any evidence based research representative of the degrees of success claimed by the CTP, in delivering cost effective programmes of resettlement. Moreover in the absence of empirical data, and on the basis of this analysis, an alternative account of resettlement is proposed, one that tests the assumption that the MoD’s approach to the resettlement of Armed Forces personnel is either fit for purpose or relevant to the contemporary Armed Forces Veteran. Whilst aspects of the martial life-course have been explored, knowledge of the broader journey that carries the schoolchild to the point of being a veteran has not. Nor have notions of transitioning into and out of the Armed Forces been articulated as public and profoundly sociological issues, as opposed to the medical and psychiatric accounts that dominate this field of study.

This thesis explores the health, safety and well-being experiences of seafarers in relation to the organisation of work and employment at sea. Work at sea entails many features – such as long working hours, scheduling uncertainty and social isolation – which have been shown in other industries to be associated with a deterioration in workers’ health, safety and well-being. Moreover, the structure of the seafaring industry has changed beyond recognition in recent decades with the vast majority of today’s seafarers employed by third-party agencies on a temporary basis, and in shore-based industries the organisation of employment in this manner has also been associated with poorer occupational health, safety and well-being outcomes. This study used a mixed-methods approach, including both semi-structured interviews with seafarers onboard four ships and the secondary analysis of three shipping companies’ safety data. Seafarers’ health, safety and well-being experiences were related to the structure and organisation of their work and employment and fluctuated in relation to specific time periods within a tour of duty. In particular, the most substantial adverse well-being outcomes were apparent at both an early and late stage of a tour of duty, whilst safety outcomes were seen to significantly improve during the last week of a tour of duty for seafarers onboard offshore vessels. Further qualitative analysis revealed some strong associations between poor occupational health, safety and well-being experiences and the ways in which employment is organised at sea, and indicated a failure to address such associations in the arrangements in place to manage the health, safety and well-being of seafarers during their periods of employment. In particular, it indicated that there were substantial mismatches between the experiences of seafarers and the requirements of them determined by their shore-side management, and found that the reporting mechanisms that might demonstrate this were inadequate.

The focus of this research is probation practitioner reaction and adaptation to change. Previous studies have shown probation core values to be resilient, practitioners managing to react and adapt to change whilst remaining committed to traditional humanistic values. However, predictions emerging as the latest programme of change, brought about by ‘Transforming Rehabilitation: A Strategy for Reform’ suggest these changes could result in the end of probation as it had come to be known. This research is a case study of Durham Tees Valley Community Rehabilitation Company the only not for profit Community Rehabilitation Company in England and Wales. The study follows a cohort of practitioners through the first 15 months of implementing a new operating model. The research argues that in some ways the flexibility afforded by Transforming Rehabilitation allowed practitioners to regain professional discretion and work in ways that reflected probation’s original purpose and values. However, it is also argued that this flexibility came at the cost of fragmentation of the service and a subsequent loss of trust within and between different parts of the service. The mixed methods case study design allowed for in-depth exploration and tracking of a cohort of practitioners as they negotiated the process of change. Analysis and interpretation of the data revealed significantly different practitioner reactions to the changes, dependent mainly on the length of time practitioners had worked in probation and to a lesser extent on their level of qualification. Practitioners appeared to move through the process of adaptation at different rates, with qualified probation officers, trained during the height of national standards appearing to find the process of change most difficult. The thesis concludes by critically evaluating earlier predictions for the future of probation in light of these findings and information emerging about other Community Rehabilitation Companies.