<p>Functional impairment is increasingly prevalent among middle-aged and older adults, with 2 in 5 adults over the age of 65 having some form of disability, the majority being limitations on mobility. Many older adults are able to maintain functional capacity well into later life, but the factors that contribute to high levels of function and the mechanisms by which they operate are unclear, although prior work has demonstrated the importance of social relationships for health. Guided by principles from the life course perspective and perspectives on social connectedness, this dissertation examined the role of social connectedness across the life course as a predictor of functional capacity in adulthood. I used existing longitudinal data from the national Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) study to pursue three central aims.</p> <p><br></p> <p>First, Paper 1 compared theoretical and data-driven approaches to classifying life course relationships, including multiple dimensions of social connectedness at different time points across the life course. Results showed that the data-driven approach (i.e., latent profile analysis) was a stronger predictor of functional limitations than the theoretical approach and revealed relationship trajectories consistent with life course cumulative processes. Second, using the profiles obtained from Paper 1, Paper 2 probed the association between life-course social connectedness and functional limitations by examining the potential mediating role of candidate biological and behavioral mechanisms, and moderation by socioeconomic status (SES). Paper 2 findings suggested that observed differences in later-life functional limitations based on life-course social connectedness can be at least partially explained by physical activity, but do not vary by SES. Contrary to hypotheses, inflammation was not a significant mediator. Third, Paper 3 used monozygotic twin data and within-family analyses to sharpen the focus on potential causal associations between life-course social connectedness and adult functional status. Results suggested that the association is likely driven by genetic and/or shared environmental influences. </p> <p><br></p> <p>Taken together, these results add to our understanding of social connectedness and health and address important gaps in the literature. These findings are used to generate theory- and intervention-relevant insights into the successful maintenance of health, independence, and function across the lifespan.</p>

Artificial intelligence, AI, is widely acknowledged to have atransformative impact on various industries. However, thistechnology is not without its limitations. One such limitationis the potential reinforcement of human biases withinmachine learning systems. After all, these systems rely ondata generated by humans. To address this issue, theEuropean Union, EU, are implementing regulationsgoverning the development of AI systems, not only topromote ethical decision-making but also to curb marketoligopolies. Achieving fair decision-making relies on highquality data. The performance of a model is thussynonymous with high-quality data, encompassing breadth,accurate annotation, and relevance. Previous researchhighlights the lack of processes and methods guiding theeffort to ensure high-quality training data. In response, thisstudy aims to investigate the limitations and opportunitiesassociated with claims of data quality within the domain ofdata collection research. To achieve this, a research questionis posed: What factors constrain and enable the creation of ahigh-quality dataset in the context of AI fairness? The studyemploys a method of semistructured interviews withindustry experts, allowing them to describe their personalexperiences and the challenges they have encountered. Thestudy reveals multiple factors that restrict the ability tocreate a high-quality dataset and, ultimately, a fair decisionmaking system. The study also reveals a few opportunities inrelation to high quality data, which methods associated withthe research landscape provides. / Att artificiell intelligens är något som kommer vända uppoch ned på många branscher är något som många experter äröverens om. Men denna teknik är inte helt befriad frånbegränsningar. En av dessa begränsningar är att ett systemsom använder maskininlärning potentiellt kan förstärka defördomar vi människor besitter. Tekniken grundar sig trotsallt i data, data som skapas av oss människor. EU harbestämt sig för att tackla denna problematik genom att införaregler gällande huruvida system som tillämpar AI skallutvecklas. Både för att gynna det etiska beslutsfattandet menockså för att hämma oligopol på marknaden. För att uppnåett så rättvist beslutsfattande som möjligt krävs det data avhög kvalitet. En modells prestanda är således synonymt meddata av hög kvalitet, där bredd, korrekt annotering ochrelevans är betydande. Tidigare forskning pekar påavsaknaden av processer och metoder för att vägleda arbetetmed att säkerställa högkvalitativa träningsdata. Som svar pådetta syftar denna studie till att undersöka vilkabegränsningar och möjligheter som gör anspråk pådatakvalitet i delar av forskningsområdet Data collection.Detta görs genom att besvara forskningsfrågan: Vilkafaktorer begränsar och möjliggör skapandet av etthögkvalitativt dataset i kontexten rättvis AI? Metoden somtillämpas i studien för att besvara ovanstående ärsemistrukturerade intervjuer där yrkesverksamma experterfår beskriva sina personliga upplevelser gällande vilkautmaningar de har ställts inför. Studien resulterar i ett antalfaktorer som begränsar förutsättningarna för att skapa etthögkvalitativt dataset och i slutändan ett rättvistbeslutsfattande system. Studien resulterar även i att peka påett antal möjligheter i relation till högkvalitativa data, sommetoder associerade med forskningslandskapet besitter

The school counselor is the person who works with social work in the school. A school counselor's assignment is multifaceted, with duties playing a central role in health promotion and prevention work against for example mental illness, bullying and abusive treatment. The aim of this study has been to increase understanding of how school counselors and principals perceive the school counselor's assignment and the limitations that affect it. Our study emanates from eight semistructured qualitative interviews with school counselors and principals which were analyzed using sentence concentration. The results show that the assignment is perceived as vague where job descriptions are unclear. This in turn affects the school counselors' discretion. School counselors feel that their role is "fuzzy" and that there are unreasonable expectations from other professions. Furthermore, the results show that the main factors that control and limit the assignment are laws, regulations, guidelines, lack of resources such as time and finances, and the expectations of the principal and other professionals. Our conclusion is that school counselors need a clearer job description in order to clarify their assignment and their role at school. The school counselors described a desire to be able to devote more time to preventive work in order to be able to work more proactively than reactively.

We address the question of performance of large-scale networks with distributed feedback control. We consider networked dynamical systems with single and double integrator dynamics, subject to distributed disturbances. We focus on two types of problems. First, we consider problems modeled over regular lattice structures. Here, we treat consensus and vehicular formation problems and evaluate performance in terms of measures of “global order”, which capture the notion of network coherence. Second, we consider electric power networks, which we treat as dynamical systems modeled over general graphs. Here, we evaluate performance in terms of the resistive power losses that are incurred in maintaining network synchrony. These losses are associated with transient power flows that are a consequence of “local disorder” caused by lack of synchrony. In both cases, we characterize fundamental limitations to performance as networks become large. Previous studies have shown that such limitations hold for coherence in networks with regular lattice structures. These imply that connections in 3 spatial dimensions are necessary to achieve full coherence, when the controller uses static feedback from relative measurements in a local neighborhood. We show that these limitations remain valid also with dynamic feedback, where each controller has an internal memory state. However, if the controller can access certain absolute state information, dynamic feedback can improve performance compared to static feedback, allowing also 1-dimensional formations to be fully coherent. For electric power networks, we show that the transient power losses grow unboundedly with network size. However, in contrast to previous results, performance does not improve with increased network connectivity. We also show that a certain type of distributed dynamic feedback controller can improve performance by reducing losses, but that their scaling with network size remains an important limitation. / <p>QC 20160504</p>

This thesis aims to answer, if and what, limitations Jews experience in a secular state such as Sweden. To answer this question this paper was made through a qualitative method and through the theory about “the other” by Kevin Kumashiro. By applying article eighteen from the universal declaration on Human Rights and the theory of “the other” on actual experiences and limitations this thesis will critically unfold any discriminations and inequality. Main material has been the eight different interviews conducted in autumn of 2022. The following study therefore aim to contribute to increased research on Sweden's commitments and compliance with international conventions and agreements, knowledge, and tools for further work against hate crimes, increased discrimination and xenophobia in Sweden. The study highlights that the basic security affects the propensity for how free one feels to be open about one's identity which results in direct and indirect limitations upon Jewish identity and Jewish life in Sweden. / Denna studie syftar till att besvara, om och vilka, begränsningar judar upplever i en sekulär stat som Sverige. För att svara på denna fråga gjordes denna studie genom en kvalitativ metod och genom teorin om "den andre" av Kevin Kumashiro. Genom att tillämpa artikel arton från den allmänna förklaringen om de mänskliga rättigheterna och teorin om "den andra" på faktiska erfarenheter och begränsningar kommer denna studie att kritiskt synliggöra för diskriminering och ojämlikhet. Huvudmaterialet har varit de åtta intervjuer som genomfördes under hösten 2022. Följande studie syftar därför till att bidra till ökad forskning om Sveriges åtaganden och efterlevnad av internationella konventioner och överenskommelser, kunskap och verktyg för det fortsatta arbetet mot hatbrott, ökad diskriminering och främlingsfientlighet i Sverige. Studien belyser att grundtryggheten påverkar benägenheten för hur fri en känner sig att vara öppen med sin identitet vilket resulterar i direkta och indirekta begränsningar av judisk identitet och judiskt liv i Sverige.

Ekologisk hållbarhet har på senare tid blivit alltmer framträdande i den globala medvetenheten, särskilt med tanke på den ökande befolkningen, industrialiseringen och konsumtionen av materiella resurser. Produktutvecklande företag inser alltmer att deras hållbarhetsarbete inte bara är en etisk skyldighet, utan även en strategisk nödvändighet för att bibehålla konkurrenskraft. I den konventionella produktutvecklingsprocessen är projektledaren en central roll och har en betydande möjlighet att påverka utvecklingsarbetets riktning. Denna studie fokuserar därmed på att undersöka projektledarens möjligheter och utmaningar när det gäller att främja hållbarhetsarbete inom produktutvecklande företag. Vidare analyserar studien hur externa faktorer, såsom kundkrav och lagstiftning, påverkar projektledarens benägenhet att initiera åtgärder för att minska miljöpåverkan. Den kvalitativa studien inleddes med en djupgående litteraturstudie, som utgör den teoretiska referensramen för arbetet. Därefter genomfördes semistrukturerade intervjuer med tre olika projektledare inom möbel- och inredningsföretag, vilket utgör den empiriska grunden för studien. Analysen, diskussionen och slutsatserna i studien baseras på resultaten från både den teoretiska och empiriska datainsamlingen. Genom att jämföra och sammanväga dessa två datakällor ges en mer omfattande förståelse och helhetsbild av ämnet. Resultaten av studien indikerar att projektledare har tre huvudsakliga kriterier att hantera under produktutvecklingsprocessen: budget, tid och kvalitet. Dessa faktorer sätter ramar som automatiskt begränsar projektledarens möjligheter att integrera hållbarhetsaspekter, särskilt om de riskerar att kompromissa med projektets övergripande mål och syfte. Att uppfylla dessa tre kriterier och samtidigt sträva efter ökad ekologisk hållbarhet utgör en paradoxal utmaning, då det kräver både tidskrävande processer samt betydande kapitalinvesteringar för Industriell ekonomi och organisation att effektivt minska miljöpåverkan. Denna utmaning förstärker den befintliga konflikten mellan hållbarhet och ekonomisk vinst. Kundens inflytande över företagens verksamhet är betydande. Dock råder det en brist på enhetliga mätstandarder för att kvantifiera det samlade miljöavtrycket från diverse företag. Denna brist på standardiserade mätningar hindrar kundernas förutsättningar att fatta informerade beslut och välja att stödja hållbara företag på ett rättvist och korrekt sätt. Det är även svårt att garantera att slutkunder i praktiken kommer att stödja organisationer som främjar hållbarhet, särskilt om det innebär ökade kostnader för dem. Därför är det avgörande att myndigheter inför lagar och regler som främjar hållbart företagande för att uppmuntra betydande förändringar och främja företagens hållbarhetsarbete. / In recent times, ecological sustainability has become increasingly prominent in the global consciousness, particularly considering the growing population, industrialization and consumption of material resources. Product-developing companies increasingly realize that their sustainability work is not only an ethical obligation, but also a strategic necessity to maintain competitiveness. In the conventional product development process, the project manager plays a crucial role and has a significant opportunity to influence the direction of the work. Thus, this study focuses on examining the opportunities and challenges for project managers in promoting sustainability within product-developing companies. Furthermore, the study analyzes how external factors, such as customer demands and legislation, influence the project manager's propensity to initiate actions to reduce environmental impact. The qualitative study was commenced with an in-depth literature review, which forms the theoretical framework of the work. Subsequently, semi-structured interviews were conducted with three different project managers within furniture and interior design companies, constituting the empirical basis of the study. The analysis, discussion, and conclusions of the study are based on the results from both the theoretical and empirical data collection. By comparing and weighing these two data sources, a more comprehensive understanding and overall picture of the subject is provided. The results of the study indicate that project managers have three main criteria to manage during the product development process: budget, time, and quality. These factors set boundaries that automatically limit the project manager's opportunities to integrate sustainability aspects, especially if they risk compromising the project's overall goals and Industriell ekonomi och organisation Industrial economics and management objectives. Meeting these three criteria while striving for increased ecological sustainability poses a paradoxical challenge, as it requires time-consuming processes and significant capital investments to effectively reduce environmental impact. This challenge reinforces the existing conflict between sustainability and economic profit. Customer influence over companies' operations is significant. However, there is a lack of standardized measurement standards to quantify the overall environmental footprint of various companies. This lack of standardized measurements hinders customers' ability to make informed decisions and choices to support sustainable companies in a fair and accurate manner. It is also difficult to guarantee whether end customers will practically support organizations that promote sustainability, especially if it entails increased costs for them. Therefore, it is crucial for authorities to introduce laws and regulations that promote sustainable business practices to encourage significant changes and support companies' sustainability efforts.

Cette recherche se concentre sur les inégalités de genre rencontrées par les jeunes femmes chrétiennes mariées au Liban lors de leur transition vers l'âge adulte. L'objectif de cette étude est de comprendre les mécanismes qui contribuent à l'imposition de limites professionnelles à ces femmes, malgré leur niveau d'éducation et leurs qualifications. Le premier volet de la recherche explore les transformations de la famille, les évolutions du marché de l'emploi et la place des femmes au Liban. Bien que le pays ait connu des avancées positives en termes d'égalité des sexes et d'autonomisation des femmes par rapport à d'autres pays arabes, certaines restrictions persistent en raison de facteurs tels que la religion, les conflits régionaux, le système économique et une structure légale fondée sur un système patriarcal et conservateur. Cette recherche met en évidence le caractère genré de la transition à l’âge adulte et son impact spécifique sur les femmes libanaises. La question de la transition vers l’âge adulte y est abordée à travers les travaux d’Olivier Galland. Les expériences vécues par les femmes, quant à elles, sont approfondies au moyen de perspectives féministes. Les parents continuent d'exercer une influence sur les choix de vie et les orientations professionnelles de leurs enfants, même après leur départ du foyer, ce qui peut limiter leur autonomie et entraîner des tensions familiales. La méthodologie adoptée repose sur une approche qualitative. Des entretiens semi-dirigés ont été réalisés avec des travailleuses libanaises qui sont mariées et mères, ayant des enfants, afin de recueillir des données pour l'analyse. Les résultats de ces entretiens mettent de l’avant les attentes contradictoires des parents. Ceux-ci ont tendance à inciter leurs filles à adopter un mode de vie traditionnel et, à la fois, à soutenir leurs ambitions professionnelles. Le rôle clé qu’adoptent les mères des participantes dans la possibilité qu’ont les femmes libanaises de concilier travail, responsabilités familiales et foyer est également mis en évidence. Malgré l'opposition de la société traditionnelle, les femmes libanaises manifestent toujours une volonté de travailler et les conjoints témoignent d'un soutien envers leurs épouses. / This research focuses on gender inequalities faced by young married women in Lebanon during their transition to adulthood. The objective of this study is to understand the mechanisms that contribute to the imposition of professional limitations on these women, despite their level of education and their qualifications. The first aspect of the research explores family transformations, changes in the job market, and the position of women in Lebanon. While the country has made positive advancements in terms of gender equality and women's empowerment compared to other Arab countries, certain restrictions persist due to factors such as religion, regional conflicts, the economic system, and a legal structure based on a patriarchal and conservative system. This research highlights the gendered nature of the transition to adulthood and its specific impact on Lebanese women. It relies on the one hand, on the work of Olivier Galland to analyze the transition and, on the other hand, it integrates feminist perspectives to deepen the understanding of the experiences lived by these women. Parents continue to exert influence over their children's lifestyle choices and career paths, even after they have left home, which can limit their autonomy and lead to family tensions. The adopted methodology relies on a qualitative approach. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with married Lebanese women who are also working and have children, in order to gather data for analysis. The results underscore the contradiction between parents' encouragement to adopt a traditional lifestyle and their support for married, working women. The pivotal role of the participants' mothers in enabling Lebanese women to balance work, family responsibilities, and the household is also highlighted. Despite societal opposition, Lebanese women continue to express a willingness to work, and modern spouses demonstrate support for their wives.

Denna studie syftar till att utforska och utvärdera framtida befäls upplevelser av automooring inom sjöfarten med fokus på säkerhetsaspekter och effektiviteten. Genom strukturerade intervjuer har användarupplevelsen analyserats för att få en förståelse för hur automooring påverkar säkerheten och effektiviteten ombord på fartygen.   Resultaten av intervjuerna visar att majoriteten av respondenterna ser automooring som ett säkrare och mer effektivt alternativ till traditionell förtöjning. De noterar fördelar såsom minskad manuell hantering av trossar och ökad effektivitet vid förtöjning. Trots detta finns det även vissa bekymmer kring tillförlitligheten hos automooring, särskilt under olika väderförhållanden och för olika fartygstyper.   Respondenterna uttrycker övervägande positiv inställning till införandet av automooring, även om vissa uttrycker oro och tveksamhet. Förslag på framtida förbättringar inkluderar ökad tillförlitlighet hos automooring, anpassning till olika fartygstyper och väderförhållanden samt etablering av standarder och riktlinjer för användning i hamnar.   Slutsatserna visar att automooring har potential att vara ett säkrare och mer effektivt alternativ till traditionell förtöjning, men ytterligare utveckling och förbättringar krävs för att möta de identifierade problemen och utmaningarna.

La dialectique de l’ordre public et des libertés sillonne la pensée juridique depuis le XVIIIème siècle. Généré par de nouvelles formes de délinquance et de criminalité, le renforcement des exigences de l’ordre public impose de s’interroger sur la limitation des droits fondamentaux constitutionnels. En dépit de la place névralgique qu’il occupe entre ordre public et libertés, le processus de limitation demeure indéterminé en droit français. Cette recherche, organisée autour de la détermination des limites aux droits garantis, de l’identification des « limites aux limites » aux droits fondamentaux, puis de la redéfinition des droits fondamentaux par les limites, permet de préciser ce mécanisme, mais aussi de cerner les restrictions apportées à l’exercice des droits et libertés. L’autolimitation du Conseil constitutionnel marque un infléchissement progressif de la protection des droits fondamentaux. Ce constat invite à réfléchir sur l’encadrement supra-législatif de la limitation des droits garantis, et conduit à se positionner en faveur de l’insertion d’une clause de limitation des droits fondamentaux dans la Constitution. / The dialectics of public order and freedoms has been traveling throughout legal thought since the 18th century. Sparked by new forms of delinquency and criminality, the strengthening of public order requirements leads to questioning the limitation of fundamental constitutional rights. Despite its crucible place between public order and freedoms, the limitation process remains undetermined in French law. This research, which aims at determining the limitations to protected rights, identifying the limitations to those limitations themselves, and then redefining fundamental rights through those limitations, not only helps to specify this mechanism, but also to identify the restrictions brought to the enjoyment of rights and freedoms. The Conseil constitutionnel self-restraint reveals a gradual shift in the protection of fundamental rights. Acknowledging the former leads to considering a supra legislative framework to the limitations to protected rights, and advocating in favor of the constitutional entrenchment of such a clause.

The profession of chartered accountancy (CA) is critical to the economic, social and cultural development of South Africa. It has the potential to play a broader leadership role in the development of the financial skills the country needs so desperately. Extensive research has shown that South Africa has far too few CAs to satisfy the needs of the economy. The profession itself is, however, facing numerous challenges especially given the high expectations of employers of newly qualified CAs and the image of the profession in South Africa in regard to transforming professional demographics, a vestige of the apartheid regime. Many commentators agree that the fundamental flaw in accounting education is that it has remained static while the profession has changed. There is growing consensus among accounting professionals that recent accounting graduates do not adequately meet the standards set by potential employers in the modern, globalised business environment. One university that offers an accredited CA programme is the North-West University (NWU) which is perfectly placed to draw students from rural and urban areas alike; it has the potential to make a significant contribution to the accountancy skills shortage of the country and, hence, contribute to the economy and broader society. However, being newly formed as a result of government‟s merger of various historic institutions, the NWU faces some tough challenges in its endeavours to contribute to the delivery of CAs. The NWU must identify and break down the barriers, limitations and weaknesses that prohibit its students from achieving optimal results, especially the barriers that can, at least partly, be controlled or influenced by the university. The various studies reported on in this thesis are all built around this pivotal theme, i.e. they all endeavour to reveal the hurdles the institution needs to overcome or the areas that require improvement to ensure that the NWU successfully delivers as many as possible CA graduates of the highest quality and to the optimal benefit of employers and broader society. Ultimately, this study wishes to provide the NWU with the information it needs to reform its CA programme in line with this goal. In broad terms, this study, therefore, aims to establish the extent of the barriers to success of the CA programme at the NWU and to make recommendations on appropriate interventions to address such issues. To address the broad aim of this thesis, it is divided into five subordinate research projects, each designed to identify areas in the NWU‟s CA programme that necessitate amelioration. The first project has the primary objective of comparing and critically analysing differences in curriculum, teaching and learning methods, and assessment between the NWU CA programme and the professional accountancy department of a comparable university in the United Kingdom (UK) (so as to identify possible interventions for the NWU programme). It would be imprudent for any organisation not to look first towards international best practice in search of interventions, and a comparable UK institution is an obvious choice given the similarities in degree structures, the South African higher education framework having originally developed from the UK framework. The method employed is a case study involving the comparison of the qualification frameworks of the two countries involved and of two specific accounting degrees in regard to curriculum, teaching and learning, and assessment, including the inspection of institutional documentation and an analysis of focus group transcripts involving academic staff from either institution. The remainder of the projects delve into more specific internal concerns regarding the NWU‟s CA programme. The second project has the objective of identifying and gauging the strength of possible barriers to student achievement (as identified in the literature) in the NWU‟s CA programme and, with a view to gaining insight into transformation constraints, the third project aims to assess whether there are differences in the perceptions of the NWU‟s CA students from different campuses and different ethnic backgrounds regarding the efficacy of various students achievement drivers. Both these projects involve a written survey on student perceptions on achievement barriers affecting the NWU. The participants to these projects were 790 CA students and the results are analysed statistically. The strength of achievement barriers and transformation constraints indicated in the accounting education literature might not reveal the complete picture of the reasons why students fail, especially at the first-year level where failure and dropout are often of great concern. To, therefore, determine the full range of barriers, the fourth research project has the objective of diagnosing any possible reasons for student failure (that are not necessarily addressed in the literature) and, more specifically, failure to complete the first year of CA studies at the NWU successfully. This project is approached in a wholly qualitative manner through a discursive analysis of four separate focus group interview transcripts involving a total of 29 randomly selected failed CA students. The first four research objectives reveal a number of weaknesses in the NWU‟s CA programme in need of amelioration, and various recommendations are made in this regard. A major theme arising is the lack of skills development and assessment opportunities afforded to students in the NWU CA programme. The thesis then explores the use of integrated case studies and business simulation assignments as educational tools to address this problem. Faithful to the fifth research objective of developing and evaluating a prototype of the most needed tool recommended as an educational intervention, an actual inter-disciplinary integrated case study and business simulation assignment is developed to enhance students‟ professional skills. The success of the assignment is evaluated by having 56 third-year CA students actually complete the assignment and then testing their experiences thereof utilising an adapted questionnaire designed for this purpose, followed by statistical analysis of the data. The contributions of this thesis are manifold including, but not limited to, the identification of a variety of areas for amelioration in accounting education practices, being one of very few comprehensive studies that investigates many achievement barriers holistically. This thesis sheds new light on some themes that have not yet been sufficiently researched in prior literature, including the value of career-oriented communication, transformation in accounting education, student failure in South African accounting education and the usage of inter-disciplinary integrated case studies or simulations in accounting. It further contributes a new empirical questionnaire, the reliability of which has been confirmed, making further research possible in various other settings. It benchmarks South African accounting education to that of at least one developed country; such international comparisons are scarce in the accounting education field, especially involving Africa. Moreover, it offers explanations for the drivers of pedagogical approaches in accounting education with reference to various forces rooted in institutional theory and education theory. The author, however, believes that the most practical contribution of this thesis is the actual inter-disciplinary case study and business simulation assignment which can be used or adapted by accounting educators to develop and assess professional skills and which provide some evidence of students‟ experiences of such an assignment that can inform the development of future assignments. Inter-disciplinary integrated tools are scarce in this field. The thesis is of managerial value for the NWU, but its findings are not confined to the domain of this institution, as they should provide useful insight for other institutions and accounting educators, as well as government(s) and professional bodies as the guardians of the profession. Delivering a higher quantity of better qualified CAs, especially from the designated population groups, are to the benefit of the whole country. Most of all, this thesis provides evidence of efforts to make a difference in the continuous quest to ameliorate accounting education one step at a time. / PhD (Accountancy), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014