This study focused on the experiences of undergraduate students with dependent children enrolled in university programs. A holistic approach was adopted to examine student parents’ experiences beyond the academic context. In particular, the research examined how student parents maintain their motivation to attend school despite significant strain and conflict added by taking on the student role. Three specific research questions were investigated exploring motivation to attend university, the influence of self-efficacy beliefs, and how student parents define their success as well as the strategies/supports they utilize to enable their success. Three theories were utilized to provide complementary approaches to explore the research questions: Self-Determination Theory, Possible Selves Theory, and Social Cognitive Theory. Student parent participants were recruited from four universities in southern Ontario as part of a larger study of mature students. Three hundred and ninety-eight students completed an online survey that consisted of a mixture of open- and closed-ended questions. A mixed methods approach was utilized to analyze these data. Qualitative analyses included a directed and a conventional qualitative content analysis. Quantitative analyses included structural equation modeling work to test for measurement invariance based on enrollment status and to evaluate two competing structural models investigating the impact of efficacy beliefs. The findings from this research provide evidence that student parents are quite self-determined in their motivations to attend university and that their motivation includes a strong future focus on their goal aspirations. Student parents’ self-efficacy beliefs and perceptions of school-family balance were found to be significant contributors to school, family, and life satisfaction. Measurement invariance was demonstrated for the study variables based on enrollment status and there were very few differences found between student parents studying on a full-time or part-time basis. Student parents defined success as encompassing multiple aspects, rather than a unitary focus on their student role. These broader definitions of success included success in terms of their individual development, their family relationships, and their workplaces in addition to their student roles. Practical implications of the work suggest ways that educational institutions, students, and others might support student parents’ success.

Limited research has been conducted to examine traditional female Mexican American gender role beliefs and its impact on depression. In order to address the research questions, this dissertation developed two manuscripts. The first manuscript is a literature review that examines research concerning depression, Mexican American female gender role beliefs, and Self-Discrepancy theory. The second manuscript is a quantitative study that investigates the impact gender role beliefs and partner status has on depression in Mexican American women. Furthermore, the second manuscript suggests variables that contribute to depression in Mexican American women and recommendations for clinicians. The aim of the second manuscript is to examine the literature concerning depression in Mexican American women and the ways in which traditional gender role beliefs and self-discrepancies may impact Mexican American women's mental health. This dissertation begins by examining the literature concerning depression in Mexican American women. It then explores Mexican American women's gender role socialization, including a review of the values that are taught through this process. This study then provides an in depth inspection of the ideal of marianismo, which guides traditional Mexican American women's gender role beliefs. Next it progresses to discuss Self-Discrepancy theory and possible mental health outcomes. Examples of possible self-discrepancies related to traditional Mexican American women's gender role beliefs are provided to illustrate how depression may occur when self-discrepancies are present. Finally, it provides recommendations for clinicians who work with depressed Mexican American women. The second manuscript examines the impact of traditional gender role beliefs and partner status on depression in a sample of 325 Mexican American women. It is hypothesized that an interaction effect between partner status and gender role beliefs will be found, whereas Mexican American women who are unpartnered and have traditional gender role beliefs will experience a greater amount of depression, due to the presence of a discrepancy. Contrarily, results from the analysis of variance (ANOVA) found no interaction between partner status and gender role beliefs on depression. The manuscript provides possible explanations for such findings. In addition, results from a hierarchical regression indicate that level of education and the family pillar aspect of marianismo significantly impact depression in Mexican American women.

Although schools and industrial organisations have historically been, and in some cases still are, considered completely different entities, there is nevertheless an increasing awareness that similarities also exist. It can be a determining factor for the roles and competencies of school principals as leaders if indeed there is truth in the conception that schools ought to be led and managed as businesses (industrial organisations, companies). The aim of this study was to determine which comparisons (similarities and differences) can indeed be drawn between the environments in which school principals as leaders of education on the one hand and leaders of industrial organisations on the other operate. For this purpose the nature of a school and that of an industrial organisation were investigated. Furthermore, it was attempted to draw a comparison between the roles and competencies of leaders in both environments with the expectation that the roles which successful leaders fulfil in the industrial organisation and the competencies they should have at their command, can provide important guidelines for nurturing more efficient and more successful leaders in schools. In order to reach the afore-mentioned goal, a literature study was done on the nature of an industrial organisation and of a school and on the roles and competencies of leaders of organisations and leaders of education. Subsequently, as second objective, a quantitative investigation was undertaken, based on a questionnaire which was forwarded to school principals in the Gauteng Province. A representative sample of 400 school principals from all schools in the province was drawn for this purpose and the responses were statistically analysed with a view to establish which of the roles and competencies indicated by the literature study are indeed considered important and which of these roles and competencies are prominent among school principals. The first research objective was to determine the roles and competencies of managerial leaders, and it was found that they must have command over visionary thinking, be capable of planning strategically, be motivators and change agents, be able to communicate well and be capable of working with people, be able to manage and be adaptable themselves, be able to lead, be able to empower people and to evaluate them. Subsequently common orientations for industrial leaders and leaders of education were determined. Here, dealing with personnel was very evident, especially with regard to staff development., sound relationships with members of staff, acknowledgement of staff performances, teamwork, the integrity of the leader, as experienced by the staff, the climate within and culture of the organisation, how energetic the leader is and his/her abilities to organise, and to which extent standards are maintained. The information obtained by the research led to reaching the third objective, namely designing a model for improving the efficiency of the leader of education regarding his/her roles and competencies. The model recommends intervention from the part of the Department of Education as well as ways in which the school principal him/herself takes responsibility for improving the efficiency of school principals. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Education))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

Hegemonic Masculinity informs every aspect of a man’s life regardless of whether they conform to the standards or reject them. Although masculinity informs occupational roles, it can also be seen as an occupation in its own right. Illnesses and injuries can challenge masculine status and result in loss of identity, as well as changing men’s abilities, transforming their occupational roles and providing a challenge to their self-perception of masculinity. There are significant gaps in the literature; particularly regarding the impact health status has on masculine perceptions within a New Zealand context and the idea of masculinity as an occupation. This study goes someway to address these gaps. A qualitative descriptive methodology was employed to understand and describe the stories of 12 men living with the ongoing effects of illness or injury. A general inductive approach to content analysis was undertaken to identify the key themes. The study’s findings show illness and injury and the subsequent changes in occupational roles had a significant impact on participants’ masculine perceptions. Study participants experienced loss in many areas of their lives and described being occupied in recreating and renegotiating their masculinity in varying areas such as work, personal relationships and social activities. Further research, conducted within a New Zealand context, will be invaluable in validating the current findings in this area. The application of this knowledge is an area requiring extensive exploration and research. There is significant scope for healthcare professionals to gain understanding of men’s relationship to, and their self-perceptions of, masculinity and to utilise and incorporate these findings into therapeutic settings, therefore gaining more valuable outcomes for their clients.

This thesis investigates the background, activities, and motivations of German women who provided administrative support for Nazi institutions and agencies of the Third Reich. It compares women who specifically chose to serve the Nazi cause in voluntary roles with those who took on such work as a progression of established careers. Using a variety of sources, including post-war testimony in criminal cases, it shows how much they knew about the repressive and genocidal aspects of the regime and evaluates the role that ideology, as against other factors, played in their loyalty to their employers. Secretaries, SS-Helferinnen (SS female auxiliaries) and Nachrichtenhelferinnen des Heeres (female communication auxiliaries of the army) held similar jobs: taking dictation, answering telephones, and sending telegrams. Yet their backgrounds differed markedly. While secretaries were habitually recruited on the basis of their prior experience and competencies, the Helferinnen predominantly volunteered, sometimes motivated by ideology and the opportunity to serve their country, sometimes enticed by the prospect of foreign travel or the lure of the uniform. The thesis sheds light on these women's backgrounds: their social status, education, career patterns. It seeks to explain the situations and motives that propelled them into their positions and explores what they knew about the true nature of their work. These women often had access to information about the administration of genocide and are a relatively untapped resource. Their recollections shed light on the lives and work of their superiors, the mundane tasks that contributed to the displacement, deportation and death of millions of people across Europe, and the extent to which information about these atrocities was communicated and comprehended. Attention is paid to the specific role played by gender amongst perpetrators of the Holocaust. The question of how gender intersected with National Socialism, repression, atrocity and genocide forms the conceptual thread linking the separate chapters on these three groups of women who had varied backgrounds and degrees of initial commitment to Nazi ideology.

In this thesis, I am concerned with the language of advertising. By analyzing advertising from a discourse perspective, this paper further examines the context of communication and the participants’ roles in the context. This study focuses on commercial advertising, based on the assumption that the intended meaning of the advertiser is to persuade the viewer to perform a purchase. Therefore this study observes persuasive messages and how they are presented in advertising. To analyze and compare real texts from a discourse perspective present an opportunityto examine social changes that might have taken place in a society due to different temporal settings. The social changes are examined by comparing assigned gender roles in advertisements published in 1956 and advertisements published in 2014. The material consists of a total of eleven transcripts description of printed advertisements collected from The New Yorker. The examples used for this study have been hand picked to illustrate theories described in the background, such as those provided by Leech (1966), Hermerén (1999), Romaine (1999), Cronin (2000) and Hillier (2004). The framework for the analysis is based on Leech’s (1966) concept of primary and secondary situations with corresponding primary and secondary participants. The findings suggest that advertisers can persuade the viewer by addressing the viewer directly and by using exophoric references, or by inserting secondary participants to convey the message. In addition, the assigned role of women seems to have changed more than the assigned role of men in advertising discourse.

This thesis is a result of a Minor Field Study with the purpose to examine the transnational labour migration by women in the Philippines who seek temporary employment abroad but plan to return to the Philippines after their contracts expired. The thesis is based on three months of anthropological fieldwork primarily in Manila between January and March 2013, using interviews and observations as my main methodological tool. I will reflect over the way in which women labour migration affect the women individually and socially by leaving one context and entering another. Migration places the Filipina outside the domestic sphere within their home country and increases their income-earning power. The Filipina has taken the role as the family’s breadwinner and is thereby challenging dominant gender roles within the Philippine society. The experience being a female migrant enhances their status, makes them stronger, more confident and provides them with the opportunity to make decisions independent of their male partners. Filipinas are being praised by their own society as ‘modern day heroes’, but at the same time blamed for leaving their obligation as dutiful daughters, nurturing mothers and caring wives. Ideas from state and society do not correspond to the reality, namely a reality where women have taken the position as their family’s main breadwinner. Which complicates the ability to induce a change in ideas regarding gender roles for men and women. Conclusively, the female migration has not resulted in a change regarding gender roles within the Philippine society.

The intention with this research was to investigate the challenges facing School Governing Bodies (SGBs) in historically disadvantaged schools with regard to their roles and responsibilities. The investigation departed from the premise of prescriptions of the South African Schools Act and other relevant legislation. From the literature review, it became clear that school governance would not be an easy task for schools, based on the precedence set by the apartheid school governance system. Indeed, it was found that SGBs in previously disadvantaged schools experienced numerous challenges. Decentralisation, stakeholder participation in school governance, SGB membership, determination of school policies requiring specialised knowledge and expertise, and policy-making and implementation were found to encapsulate most of the challenges facing SGBs in their roles and responsibilities. This research, being qualitative and phenomenological, used interviews to focus on some definitive school governance roles and responsibilities. Findings largely confirmed earlier research findings and included challenges such as a poor understanding of the school governance role of promoting the best interests of the school by school governors, the execution of roles and responsibilities being inhibited by poor training and poor capacity building, parent governors lacking knowledge and school governance skills, school governance functions requiring specialised knowledge and skills, a lack of trust, and the influence of suspicion and poor teamwork among school governors. The main recommendation relates to the review of the Schools Act in terms of specialised functions and who should perform them, and increasing the terms of office of school governors to derive maximum benefit from continuity before new members are elected and another cycle of capacity-building is needed. It is further recommended that the roles and responsibilities of school governors be well explained to stakeholders, even before nominations and elections are conducted, so that potential governors know exactly what is expected, and that continuous capacity-building becomes a regular feature at school level, including a school cluster-based programme addressing local school governance challenges. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2009.

The intention with this research was to investigate the challenges facing School Governing Bodies (SGBs) in historically disadvantaged schools with regard to their roles and responsibilities. The investigation departed from the premise of prescriptions of the South African Schools Act and other relevant legislation. From the literature review, it became clear that school governance would not be an easy task for schools, based on the precedence set by the apartheid school governance system. Indeed, it was found that SGBs in previously disadvantaged schools experienced numerous challenges. Decentralisation, stakeholder participation in school governance, SGB membership, determination of school policies requiring specialised knowledge and expertise, and policy-making and implementation were found to encapsulate most of the challenges facing SGBs in their roles and responsibilities. This research, being qualitative and phenomenological, used interviews to focus on some definitive school governance roles and responsibilities. Findings largely confirmed earlier research findings and included challenges such as a poor understanding of the school governance role of promoting the best interests of the school by school governors, the execution of roles and responsibilities being inhibited by poor training and poor capacity building, parent governors lacking knowledge and school governance skills, school governance functions requiring specialised knowledge and skills, a lack of trust, and the influence of suspicion and poor teamwork among school governors. The main recommendation relates to the review of the Schools Act in terms of specialised functions and who should perform them, and increasing the terms of office of school governors to derive maximum benefit from continuity before new members are elected and another cycle of capacity-building is needed. It is further recommended that the roles and responsibilities of school governors be well explained to stakeholders, even before nominations and elections are conducted, so that potential governors know exactly what is expected, and that continuous capacity-building becomes a regular feature at school level, including a school cluster-based programme addressing local school governance challenges. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2009.

This research is concerned with investigating reengineering teams in the context of business process change, or more widely known, business process reengineering (BPR). Business Process Change, on the one hand, is still considered as being an approach that is required in recent times. Reengineering teams (teams that are involved with the planning, analysis and design of the approach) on the other hand, have been viewed to be essential for the development and implementation of BPR. Bearing these points in mind, it was discovered that although the reengineering teams area warrants attention, there has been little attention paid to it. In the reengineering area, specifically, this research aims to address two main issues: first, the role of reengineering teams in business process change and second, the human and organisational aspects that surround the teams. For this, the research applied several steps and they are described in the following paragraphs. To discover the role of the reengineering teams in the context of business process change, it was initially assumed that the foundations of the BPR lie in organisational change. Using this assumption, it became simpler and clearer to determine the exact role of teams. With regards to the human and organisational aspects, a strategy unique to the topic was adopted. At the outset, some human and organisational aspects that are more commonly found in the organisational behaviour and psychology areas were revealed and research with regards to these particular aspects was described. Whilst that was the theoretical side of the research, the research then had to determine whether the deductions formed from the theoretical side were evident in practice. For the empirical results, the research used a combination of approaches in order to obtain the desired results. A qualitative approach that has its foundations in Interpretivism was the methodology used in the research. The ontology assumed then that subjective meanings could be assumed to reconstruct reality. Evidence from practice was obtained using initially, two pilot studies. Further, a multiple case study strategy and the research techniques of mainly, interviews and referring to archival documents were utilised. Once the data was analysed, a theory that could be used for future research in the reengineering teams area was developed. This was arrived at using a combination of certain grounded theory techniques, particularly, the forming of categories and coding. The findings suggested that reengineering teams are imperative for BPR and that some of the selected human and organisational aspects are evident in the newly formed theory.