Magister Bibliothecologiae - MBibl / The purpose of this study was to investigate plagiarism among undergraduate students at a higher education institution in South Africa. There is evidence from previous studies that plagiarism is increasing world wide among higher education students. The emergence of the Internet has made plagiarizing worse as students can easily copy and paste information from the World Wide Web. This study investigated the occurrence, causes and trends of plagiarism among students in the Faculty of Applied Science at a higher education institution. It also examines student awareness of institutional policies and guidelines regarding plagiarism. / South Africa

Submitted by Haroudo Xavier Filho (haroudo.xavierfo@ufpe.br) on 2016-04-08T16:38:22Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Dissertacao Germana 18-10-15 Revisado VF.pdf: 2048112 bytes, checksum: dd04d156d9d2639b2c07583f75448ee2 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-08T16:38:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Dissertacao Germana 18-10-15 Revisado VF.pdf: 2048112 bytes, checksum: dd04d156d9d2639b2c07583f75448ee2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-05-26 / Com a transição da Administração Pública Burocrática para a Administração Pública Gerencial, o setor público tem passado por mudanças que reforçaram a necessidade de estudos sobre seus servidores. O novo perfil destes servidores, constituído a partir da profissionalização da burocracia e da instituição da seleção meritocrática e universal, tem preocupado os gestores no que tange ao fenômeno da rotatividade de pessoal, principalmente em decorrência da motivação dos servidores em relação ao trabalho. Diante deste panorama, definiu-se como objetivo geral da pesquisa verificar os aspectos motivacionais que impactaram no desligamento voluntário dos servidores estatutários (docentes e técnicos administrativos) da Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, no período de 2010 a 2013. E para o alcance deste objetivo foram estabelecidos quatro objetivos específicos: a) traçar o perfil dos servidores que se desligaram voluntariamente da UFPE no período de 2010 a 2013, realizado a partir de dados disponibilizados pela Pró-Reitoria de Gestão de Pessoas e Qualidade de Vida da UFPE; b) calcular a taxa de rotatividade de pessoal nos setores da UFPE, a partir do número de desligamentos voluntários, no período de 2010 a 2013; c) identificar os principais fatores que influenciaram os servidores da UFPE a solicitar desligamento, a partir da análise de sua motivação para o trabalho, à luz da Teoria de Victor Vroom, realizado a partir de questionários aplicados a servidores que se desligaram da UFPE no período do estudo, com base na revisão de literatura e na Teoria da Expectativa; e d) verificar a percepção de gestores de pessoal da UFPE acerca da rotatividade de servidores na instituição, realizado a partir de questionários aplicados a gestores de pessoal da PROGEPE/UFPE. Trata-se de uma pesquisa de natureza quantitativa e qualitativa, que utilizou a estatística descritiva e a análise de conteúdo, tendo a UFPE como estudo de caso. A partir de seus resultados, foi constatado o baixo nível de satisfação com o trabalho dos servidores que se desligaram da UFPE, endossando a relação inversa entre satisfação e probabilidade de desligamento voluntário. Foi observado também que as principais causas para o desligamento de pessoal da UFPE são referentes às questões financeiras, quais sejam: salário e benefícios e plano de cargos e carreiras; entretanto, foram apontados alguns fatores que podem ser melhorados em decorrência de ações desenvolvidas pela UFPE, tais como: condições do local de trabalho; ambiente de trabalho/ clima organizacional; melhoria na alocação de servidores ingressantes na instituição; criação de canais de comunicação com servidores e candidatos a concursos da UFPE, entre outros. / With the transition of Bureaucratic Public Administration to Managerial Public Administration, the public sector has undergone changes reinforcing the need for studies about their government employees. The new profile of these employees, built from the professionalization of the bureaucracy and the institute of universal and meritocratic selection, has worried managers with regard to staff turnover phenomenon, mainly due to the motivation of employee in relation to work. With this conjuncture, it was defined as a general objective of the research verify the motivational aspects that impacted on voluntary resignation of statutory employees (teachers and administrative technician) of the Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, in the period 2010 to 2013. And to achieve this objective were established four specific objectives: a) to trace the profile of employees who left voluntarily the UFPE in the 2010 to 2013 period, held from data provided by the Pró-Reitoria de Gestão de Pessoas e Qualidade de Vida – UFPE; b) calculate the staff turnover rate in the sectors of UFPE, from the number of voluntary resignation in the 2010 to 2013 period; c) identify key factors influencing the UFPE servants to request resignation from the analysis of their motivation for the job, according to the Theory of Victor Vroom, held from questionnaires given to servants who left the UFPE in the period the study, based on literature review and Expectancy Theory; d) verify the perception of UFPE personnel managers about the turnover of servants in the institution, held from questionnaires given to personnel managers PROGEPE/UFPE. It is an exploratory research, quantitative and qualitative, which used descriptive statistics and content analysis, having UFPE as a case study. From their results, it was found the low level of satisfaction with the work of the servants who left the UFPE, endorsing the inverse relationship between satisfaction and likelihood of voluntary resignation. It was also observed that the main causes for personal shutdown of UFPE are related to financial matters, namely: wages and benefits and plan for jobs and careers; however, it was pointed out some factors that can be improved as a result of actions taken by UFPE, namely: workplace conditions; work environment / organizational climate; improvement in the allocation of incoming servers in the institution, creation of channels of communication with servers and candidates in competitions of UFPE , among others.

The aim of this study was to determine the quality of work-life (QWL) of nurse educators at South African universities. The objectives of the research was to describe the demography, home, and work factors of these nurse educators, and its effect on their experience of QWL. It also entailed triangulation of these experiences with the perceptions of the heads of nursing departments (HODs) for a thorough understanding, and designing guidelines to address the situation. A mixed methods methodology was followed, with a partly mixed sequential equal status sampling design and equal weight to the first quantitative and second qualitative phases. The population for the first phase was all the nurse educators teaching at South African universities, who on invitation completed an electronic questionnaire. The data obtained was analysed by utilising both descriptive and inferential statistics. The population for the second phase was all the HODs of the nursing departments of the 22 South African universities. The qualitative data obtained in the second phase was analysed with the Atlas.ti 8 program. The results of the study indicate that nurse educators’ QWL is influenced by meso, macro and micro environmental factors, with work, home and individual situations that are contextual to the African and specifically South African positioning on the globe. A conceptual framework improving on Easton and Van Laar ‘s (2007) model are v proposed for the African higher education edcuation (HEI) context, to better understand these influences. Recommendations to address the situation include: • Mitigation of international, national and provinical influences through attention to curriculisation and improved governance and funding • Strengthening the structure across the HEIs by improved governance, consideration of salaries and benefits of all staff to be fair and equal, investing in good technology for better output, developing methods to distribute the workload fairly, and support to staff for research • Support of nursing departmental output by addressing the needs of HODs, line managers, the nurse educators themselves, supportive staff and students, with the focus on personal and individual factors that influence physical, mental and social health, inclusive of the support of family life The developed guidelines flows from application of industrial psychological principles to propose improving both the QWL and symbiotically, the output for HEI nursing departments. / Health Studies

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / This research project explored the learning experiences of two groups of first-year students in the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, University of the Western Cape during the course of 2009/2010. The aim was to obtain insight into the learning challenges that these students encountered and the reasons why some of them were less successful in the learning process, while others were successful. The perspective of this study was therefore student centred. The project was undertaken against the backdrop of a higher education institution that caters mainly for so-called 'disadvantaged' and 'underprepared' students. Such students come predominantly from marginalised and poorly resourced education environments and socio-economic backgrounds, which suggests that they would find higher learning challenging and, as a result, would most likely experience failure in the learning process. The objective of the research project was two-fold: firstly, to identify and determine which factors have an impact on failure or successful completion of the first year of study in this faculty; and secondly, to derive from the data a socially situated, supportive and holistic learning approach that could assist more students to be successful in the learning process. The argument in the study was that learning is socially situated and constructed. To realise the objective, Vygotsky's social cultural theory and Bandura's social cognitive theory were used as theoretical orientation of the study. This qualitative, interpretive inquiry was characterised by multiple data collection methods. Qualitative data concerning the perceptions of the participants were generated via written reflective pieces, a questionnaire and individual interviews and content analysis. In addition, quantitative data were collected and this further contributed to the triangulation of rich, in-depth data. An 'open coding' strategy for the content analysis was used, but the approach for the analysis was not purely inductive. A student-centred analytical framework based in part on theories and findings of five studies conducted on student learning, failures and dropouts, and the context of UWC as HSU served as a framework for the analysis but new subthemes also emerged from the data collected The results of these two Case studies revealed that some of the students experienced multiple learning challenges simultaneously which increased in severity during the course of the academic year, and that, in Case 1, these challenges became too overwhelming and severe for the students and that was why they were less successful; while in Case 2, the students managed to overcome and deal with these challenges successfully. The findings of this project, while specific to the context in which it was undertaken, contribute to the growing body of knowledge in the field of higher education and in the identification of enabling factors that could assist more students to be successful in their first year of study at a higher education institution. The findings provide guidelines for a socially situated, supportive and holistic learning approach that could help higher education institutions to mitigate the cumulative effects of learning on students' personal, academic and social lives.

Thesis(M.Com.(Human Resource Management)) -- University of Limpopo, 2019 / The general aim of this study is to determine the relationship between organisational culture, job satisfaction and turnover intention at an institution of higher education in South Africa. A quantitative, cross-sectional survey design was used in which self- administered questionnaires were utilised to collect data from a convenience sample of 198 participants. The respondents comprised mainly of the academic employees of the institution. Descriptive and inferential statistics including correlation and regression analyses were conducted. The data was collected using three different structured questionnaires. The findings indicated that there is a positive relationship between the dominant organisational culture and job satisfaction. There is a significant negative relationship between job satisfaction and turnover intention. This study recommended that every institution should figure out the effective retention strategies which may have the most impact on their employees and find ways to improve employee job satisfaction. / National Research Foundation (NRF)

Magister Bibliothecologiae - MBibl / The purpose of this study was to investigate plagiarism among undergraduate students at a higher education institution in South Africa. There is evidence from previous studies that plagiarism is increasing world wide among higher education students. The emergence of the Internet has made plagiarizing worse as students can easily copy and paste information from the World Wide Web. This study investigated the occurrence, causes and trends of plagiarism among students in the Faculty of Applied Science at a higher education institution. It also examines student awareness of institutional policies and guidelines regarding plagiarism. The methodology used to achieve the desired outcomes of this study was a quantitative research method. It involved the distribution of questionnaires to undergraduate students to gain information about certain aspects of student plagiarism. The participants were first, second and third year students of the departments of Chemistry and Mathematical Technology within the Faculty of Applied Science. The results of the study confirm that student plagiarism is fairly common within the departments of Chemistry and Mathematical Technology. The study shows that 41% of undergraduate students think that plagiarism is very serious, but plagiarism is still being practiced within these departments. It was also found that 73% of students admit to using the Internet to compile their assignments. This implies that the Internet is the most possible source of plagiarism. Students also used books and journal articles as possible sources to plagiarise. The study made recommendations regarding how a higher education institution can reduce incidences of plagiarism and make students more aware of the implications and penalties involved. Immediate responses that this higher education institution can do to prevent plagiarism, includes teaching students to be information literate, teaching referencing techniques and academic writing. Students must be assisted in understanding plagiarism by being made aware of the different forms of plagiarism and how to avoid being accused thereof. The institution must also fight technology with technology by investing in plagiarism detection software that will help academic staff to identify copied pieces of information. It is the responsibility of any higher education institution to create policies and guidelines regarding plagiarism and to ensure students are aware of their existence. Students should be informed about the procedures that will be implemented when dealing with cases of plagiarism

Employees who choose to leave employment cause significant challenges for organizations. Compounded challenges exist when employee retention strategies are not effective, affecting job satisfaction and personnel replacement costs as the organization continues to lose qualified and valuable staff. This single case study, built on a psychological contract theory framework, was focused on effective employee retention strategies to reduce voluntary turnover in a for-profit, higher education institution located in the Midwestern United States. The population consisted of 12 employees, 6 Student Success employees and 6 Student Success managers, who shared their unique perspectives. Methodological triangulation was achieved through semistructured interviews with the 12 participants, review of the institution's archival data, and examination of the institution's mission statement. The data analysis process consisted of a manual and systematic coding procedure for the 3 sources of inquiry. Three strategies emerged in the findings: relationship management, work environment, and career development. Moreover, participants agreed that the employee-employer relationship was critically important to job satisfaction and developing effective retention strategies. The study has implications for positive social change, in that higher educational institutions may apply the findings to create a more enjoyable work environment and retain happier employees, thereby promoting financial, economic, and social improvements for communities.

There has been an increase in literature involving female academic staff on precarious employment contracts and how they balance their work and family lives. However, research involving male academic staff on insecure contracts with children is limited, particularly within the South African context. My thesis addressed this gap by exploring how precariously employed men in higher education institutions in Cape Town understand the concepts of fatherhood, their own practices of fathering, and what influence their employment has on their involvement with their children. Given that precarious employment in higher education institutions is a salient problem in South Africa, this study investigated the ways in which such employment conditions in higher education shape fathering practices. This study was informed by a broader study, which aimed to understand (a) how men in precarious employment in the formal and informal employment sectors define fatherhood, (b) what practices they associate with fathering, and (c) how, if at all, their employment conditions shape their fathering practices. I conducted a qualitative research study using purposive and snowball sampling methods to procure a sample of seven men aged 34 to 57 years old. Data was collected through individual, semi-structured interviews. I used Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis to understand the fathers' experiences. Findings from the study show that fatherhood is constructed through the participants' ability to provide for their families and be responsible role models to their children. Having a good relationship with their children is important for the men, and they establish these relationships by spending time with their children. The findings also show that participants perceived HEIs as exploitative, relying on PhD students who are in the process of establishing their academic careers for teaching purposes. The income received by the men on these non-permanent contracts is not sufficient for them to provide for themselves and their families, and they therefore work multiple jobs so that they can receive a better income. The fathers' experiences also show that precarious employment conditions in higher education institutions enable some fathers to be involved in their children's care due to flexibility in their working hours. However, for some of the men, father and child co-residence was prohibited by migration, resulting in reduced contact with their children.

Business decisions are increasingly being made in the higher education institution (HEI) based on their impact to university rankings, sometimes to the detriment of the HEI mission. HEIs are not homogenous, and rankings are inadequate on their own in capturing HEI excellence. This dissertation took a three-pronged approach in addressing quality and excellence in the HEI. First, a case study adapted the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) for a Financial Aid office in a public HEI, illustrating that, with a few modifications, the BSC is an appropriate and holistic approach to addressing quality in the HEI. The primary modification was to place mission at the top of the BSC, reflecting that each of the strategic objectives should be made with mission in mind. Next, survey methods were used to gain insight from upper administrators at public four-year HEIs regarding perceived quality factors. According to survey results, respondents rated Graduation and Retention as the most important indicator of quality. These results were further used to calculate weights of importance for each quality factor, further comparing these weighted factors to methodologies of three rankings systems, and found that the perceived quality factors identified by the respondents did not align with rankings methodologies. Finally, historical data was used to consider which HEIs moved most in their U.S. News and World Report (USNWR) rankings and peer scores. Higher-ranked HEIs were found to have less movement, and lower-ranked HEIs had more movement. Peer scores were found to be variable, although only by incremental amounts. Multiple regression analysis was used to compare USNWR rankings and objective data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and Top American Research Universities (TARU) publication, finding graduation rate to have the strongest relationship with rankings. Ultimately, the wise HEI will find an appropriate mix of aiming for higher rankings and a focus on its mission, and ideally both would be in alignment.

Earnings by women in dual income families account for a significant portion of a household’s income, which sustains the financial well-being of their families. Cultural expectations and gender role stereotypes around a woman’s role in the family, pose challenges to career growth and retention. The social perception still occurs that women ought to be main caregivers of family members and households, and are more likely than men to have part-time jobs. The aim of the study was to determine the relationships between flexible work, financial well-being, work-life balance, productivity and job satisfaction of employed women. A cross-sectional survey was used with a convenience sample (n = 252) of female support employees, employed in a higher education institution in the North-West province. Findings of the study indicated statistically significant relations between the variables. Another objective was to determine the impact of flexible work, financial well-being, and work-life balance on productivity and job satisfaction. Results indicated that financial well-being, work-life balance and productivity were statistical significant predictors of job satisfaction, and in addition, subjective experiences of productivity serve as partial mediator in the relationship financial well-being and work-life balance on the one hand and job satisfaction on the other hand. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015