published_or_final_version / Social Service Management / Master / Master of Social Sciences

This thesis reports a five year longitudinal study of 300 Scottish school leavers. The research used quantitative and qualitative techniques to intensively investigate the relationship between personality type and achievement and explore the transition from adolescence to adulthood. The researcher devoted considerable effort to ensuring that participants and schools could benefit from involvement in the study. The thesis includes the researcher's reflection on the role of her own subjectivity within the research process. The distribution of personality types was ascertained using the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) based on Carl Jung's Theory of Types. The MBTI was administered to 298 4th year pupils and 72 teachers from two schools. The research findings indicate that extraverted participants were more likely to leave school earlier and with poorer qualifications than those who were introverted. Sensates were also more likely than intuitives to leave school at the end of their period of compulsory education with poorer qualifications. Thus the educationally most vulnerable group consisted of the young people who were both extraverted and sensing. A subgroup at particular risk was subjected to closer scrutiny and a case study provided. No type group was more likely than any other to become employed or unemployed. Participants were occupationally oriented even at the age of 14 with the young people in general fearing unemployment but still aspiring to a work identity. However, stable employment or unemployment were seldom reported after leaving school. Rather young people tended to report moving frequently between jobs, training and unemployment. 80 depth interviews conducted at 18 years indicated that the majority still did not regard themselves as adults, which was seen as characterised by assumption of responsibilities and the end of "fun". The thesis ends with recommendations for enhancement of the educational process.

Under de senaste åren har det blivit tydligt att de ungas övergång från skola till arbete, “school-to-work transition”, har förändrats. Det innebär att övergången idag är längre och mer komplex jämfört med tidigare. Samtidigt som en del har svårt att träda in på arbetsmarknaden finns det andra som har möjlighet att få anställningstrygghet men som själva väljer en längre övergång bestående av flera olika sysselsättningsstatus och arbeten. I denna studie har vi valt att fokusera på målgruppen som själva valt en längre övergång för att få en inblick i hur de upplever den förändrade övergången mellan skola och arbete. Syftet med studien är att beskriva hur övergången mellan skola och arbete skildras av personer som av eget val haft flera olika sysselsättningsstatus samt undersöka vad de upplever som ett attraktivt arbete. Vi har utifrån en kvalitativ metod intervjuat tio kvinnor 30–35 år för att ta del av deras berättelser. Studien har sökt svar på hur intervjupersonerna upplever sina erfarenheter och värderar sina val, vilka faktorer som har påverkat valen samt vad som är viktigt för att ett arbete ska upplevas som attraktivt. Det har resulterat i en fördjupning av valmöjligheter, upplevelser av övergången och attityder till arbete. Studiens resultat visar att målgruppens övergång till stor del har präglats av olika sysselsättningar, brytpunkter och val som påverkats av både inre och yttre faktorer. Respondenterna upplever att de själva har kunnat påverka sina val även om andra faktorer såsom; personer i omgivningen, utbildning- och arbetsmarknad, ekonomi, sjukdom, intressen och personliga egenskaper samt tidigare arbetslivs- och studieerfarenheter också har haft en påverkan.
 Respondenterna har till stor del haft positiva upplevelser av övergången men även tuffare perioder med osäkerhet och tvivel har präglat deras övergång.
 Trots att respondenterna upplevt intensiva perioder där de hoppat runt mellan flera olika sysselsättningsstatus kan de ändå blicka tillbaka och se en “röd tråd”. Viktiga faktorer för att trivas på en arbetsplats är kollegor, arbetsuppgifter och flexibilitet. Även bra chefer, ett gott ledarskap, god kommunikation och att visa uppskattning är av stor betydelse. Få av respondenterna upplever att de har nått sina yrkesmål trots att majoriteten av respondenterna idag arbetar med det yrke som de utbildat sig till.

Job creation remains a critical challenge for South Africa. Despite strong achievements in macro-economic stability and increases in employment, the growing labour force has outstripped the capacity of the labour market to absorb young people. The state of the country’s skills base, rendered inadequate by the legacy of apartheid, contributes to sustained inequalities in the labour market. This impacts on the capacity of the economy to grow in an increasingly competitive global environment. In this context, Vocational Education and Training (VET) is viewed as an important mechanism for building the necessary intermediate technical skills to support key sectors of the economy. However, international experience demonstrates that expanding the VET system and developing human capital more broadly will not in itself lead to increased job creation. The alignment of skills supply and demand can only be achieved through a well-developed understanding of the factors that support or inhibit the transition of young people into the labour market. This study investigates these factors through the lens of social capital theory. Through tracing 1,532 individuals who graduated from FET Colleges in the Gauteng province in 1999, the study interrogates the role of bonding and bridging social capital in supporting the transition into colleges and from colleges into the labour market. The findings show support for the three hypotheses: 1) Poor socio-economic family contexts appear to offer little information from which to make effective educational choices. Young people generally make such choices on the basis of perceived long-term value of post-school education rather than short-term economic considerations. 2) FET colleges are ineffective agents of bridging social capital and therefore have limited impact on the rate of employment, in particular the rate of relevant employment. 3) Personal networks are critical, but in impoverished environments are ineffective for finding meaningful employment on initial entry into the labour market. Therefore, restricted social networks have the potential to further entrench social inequality. The study contributes to a greater understanding of the challenges facing youth in navigating through the transition from school to work and the implications for FET policy in pressurising colleges to create access to effective social networks for their students and thereby meaningfully contribute to job creation.

Thesis advisor: Laura M. O'Dwyer / As the nature of work continues to evolve and diversify in the 21st century, issues related to the attainment of high-quality work are paramount. Initially defined by the International Labour Organisation [ILO], Decent Work exists as a standard for the expected quality of work to which all should have access in modern society. Central to the definition of Decent Work is the guarantee that “women and men enjoy working experiences that are safe, allow adequate free time and rest, take into account family and social values, provide for adequate compensation in case of lost or reduced income, and permit access to adequate healthcare” (ILO, n.d.). While issues of work quality are relevant to all members of the workforce, young adults are at heightened risk of not securing work that is Decent, if they are able to secure work at all. Using nationally representative data from the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002 [ELS:02], this study investigates Decent Work attainment among young adults through the lens of their experiences as high school students ten years prior. The Psychology of Working Theory (Duffy et al., 2016) guides this investigation, explicitly accounting for both individual (student-level) and contextual (school-level) characteristics in the prediction of future Decent Work attainment and overall employment status. Results from a series of multilevel analyses indicate that most of the variability in Decent Work attainment and employment status exists at the individual level, as opposed to the high school level. Structurally, this suggests that schools are not the primary drivers of students’ contextual influences when it comes to their work outcomes. Furthermore, the collection of school- and student-level predictors found to be significantly associated with the various facets of Decent Work and employment status varies widely from model to model. This suggests that the Psychology of Working Theory is far from a one-size-fits-all theory, and that the predictors of work attainment are highly complex. Implications for education policy and future research are discussed in Chapter 5. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2019. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Research, Measurement and Evaluation.

This study aimed to determine if the Department of Behavioral and Mental Health at a local school district is improving the academic outcomes of the students it provides services to. The purpose was to evaluate its effectiveness in order to improve and expand services. This is important since schools have become a primary setting to address the mental health needs of children and youth. The research design consisted of a quantitative, one-group pretest-posttest as students’ outcomes were assessed before and after treatment. The data was analyzed using a paired samples t-test. The findings from this study demonstrated no statistical significance in students’ grades and attendance, thereby demonstrating the need for further research on this topic.

Key stakeholders in schools must be educated about the importance of increasing access to mental health services in schools. School-based mental health services are designed to increase children's competence and help them meet the societal expectations of school success. The present study examined types of mental health services provided to students in school districts throughout Florida; the extent to which those services were provided to children and families; the beliefs of student services directors and supervisors regarding qualifications of school mental health service providers to provide mental health services; and their beliefs about the impact of mental health services on student academic and behavioral outcomes. Participants in this study included 90 student support services administrators (student services directors, supervisors of psychology, social work, and counseling). Descriptive analyses revealed that the three most commonly provided mental health services were consultation, normative assessment, and authentic assessment. Interestingly, no mental health service providers (school psychologists, school counselors, school social workers) were considered by student services directors and supervisors as qualified to highly qualified to provide intervention services with minimal to no supervision. Results of this study suggest that student services directors and supervisors have significantly different perceptions about the level of qualifications of mental health providers to provide mental health services. Specifically, the type of credential (teaching only vs. student support) which the director or supervisor held impacted their beliefs about the school psychologists level of qualification to provide mental health services. Finally, directors and supervisors, combined, had significantly different ratings about the types of mental health services which impacted academic and behavioral outcomes. Directors and supervisors ratings of impact of mental health services on academic and behavioral outcomes were moderated by the type of credential held. Implications of such results may be that mental health providers are only encouraged to provide those services which they are perceived to be qualified to provide; training programs may need to develop models which promote collaboration and partnership amongst mental health professionals to increase shared skills; and administrators may place an emphasis or de-emphasis on mental health services based on credential and training background.

<p>Tron på den egna förmågan (self-efficacy) och upplevelsen av kontroll (locus of control) påverkar människors agerande och bedömningar av sina möjligheter. Syftet med undersökningen var att öka förståelsen för hur studenter från psykologlinjen i Stockholms Universitet bedömde sina chanser att få ett arbete direkt efter utbildningen. Fyra studenter deltog i undersökningen och data samlades genom kvalitativa halvstrukturerade intervjuer. Resultatet visade att möjligheterna till att få arbete efter examen ansågs vara goda men att den praktiska tjänstgöringen för psykologer, PTP, sågs som en flaskhals. Erfarenhet, kontakter, ålder, kön och utbildningsinriktning ansågs kunna påverka möjligheterna till att få en PTP-tjänst och påverkade också deltagarnas bedömning av sina chanser. Vidare visade resultatet att studenterna upplevde glädje för att börja arbeta med sitt yrke men också osäkerhet inför att lämna det trygga studentlivet. Med teorierna om self-efficacy och locus of control ökades förståelsen för deltagarnas bedömning av sina möjligheter. Med den kognitiva strategin optimism tolkades deltagarnas känslor inför övergången till arbetslivet.</p>

<p>The purpose of this study was to examine how Swedish high school students view school staff members, in general, but in particular school counselors. The research questions focused on getting the students descriptions of the staff members roles and functions within the school. The study was conducted using focus group interviews. The answers were divided into themes and then analyzed using role theory and previous research. The results showed that the students relationships with family, friends and previous knowledge about the staff members in school, affects their willingness to seek the support of school staff members. For a student in need of support to approach a school counselor, it's important that the student has previously been acquainted with them. There is no general consensus among students on what a school counselor's tasks consists of. It is also rare that a student will voluntarily contact a school counselor themselves if they don't feel they know them well. The experience students get when interacting with staff members at school affects the students decisions regarding who to approach when in need of support.</p>

The purpose of this study was to examine how Swedish high school students view school staff members, in general, but in particular school counselors. The research questions focused on getting the students descriptions of the staff members roles and functions within the school. The study was conducted using focus group interviews. The answers were divided into themes and then analyzed using role theory and previous research. The results showed that the students relationships with family, friends and previous knowledge about the staff members in school, affects their willingness to seek the support of school staff members. For a student in need of support to approach a school counselor, it's important that the student has previously been acquainted with them. There is no general consensus among students on what a school counselor's tasks consists of. It is also rare that a student will voluntarily contact a school counselor themselves if they don't feel they know them well. The experience students get when interacting with staff members at school affects the students decisions regarding who to approach when in need of support.