O ensino superior brasileiro se configura, historicamente, como um espaço de formação elitista e excludente, destinado às classes dominantes. No entanto, esse cenário tem se alterado ao longo dos últimos 20 anos, a partir do processo de expansão e diversificação do acesso ao ensino superior, o qual possibilitou o ingresso de grupos antes pouco expressivos, por meio de políticas públicas como o Programa Universidade para Todos – Prouni. Frente a esse contexto de expansão no acesso ao ensino superior do país, essa pesquisa visa compreender como a origem social influencia o acesso, permanência e conclusão do ensino superior, assim como a posterior inserção profissional dos jovens egressos do Prouni, no momento em que essa se configura como uma política pública baseada em critérios de seleção socioeconômicos. A fim de compreender o peso da origem social no processo de formação e ingresso no mercado de trabalho, adotou-se o olhar da sociologia disposicionalista, suportado teórica e metodologicamente em autores como Bernard Lahire, Pierre Bourdieu e Jessé Souza. Para isso, foram realizadas entrevistas em profundidade com cinco egressos do Prouni – oriundos dos cursos de Direito e Administração de duas das melhores instituições de ensino privado do Rio Grande do Sul – as quais foram organizadas e apresentadas no formato de retratos sociológicos (LAHIRE, 2004). A partir da construção dos retratos, foram identificadas as disposições incorporadas ao longo da trajetória de cada um dos jovens, sendo analisadas a partir de suas ocorrências intra e interindividuais. Por meio das disposições compartilhadas, ou interindividuais, foi possível caracterizar os jovens egressos do Prouni como pertencentes a nova classe trabalhadora (SOUZA, 2010). Além disso, as diferenças nas disposições à nível individual permitiram identificar diferentes estratos dentro da nova classe trabalhadora, o que contradiz a ideia de um modo de conduta homogêneo entre aqueles pertencentes a uma mesma classe social. Percebeu-se que a identificação do sistema disposicional incorporado pelos indivíduos e a análise de sua influência ao longo da trajetória individual e coletiva dos egressos do Prouni contribuiu para desvelar o peso e influência da estrutura social sob a ação individual. Tal abordagem contribuiu para ressaltar as desigualdades existentes ao longo do processo de formação e inserção profissional, auxiliando no combate ao discurso meritocrático de responsabilização individual. Por fim, percebe-se no instrumento analítico de identificação das disposições um promissor caminho para aprofundar os estudos acerca da formação e inserção profissional no país e compreender as particularidades dos diferentes grupos de jovens que acessam o ensino superior, levando em conta suas trajetórias, que podem ser mais ou menos limitadas, a partir da origem de classe. / Brazilian higher education is historically an elitist field, destined to the highest social classes. However, this context has changed over the last 20 years, due to the process of expansion and diversification of higher education access. This allowed the entrance of minority groups at university, through public policies such as the University for All Program – in Portuguese called Prouni, which is based in social economic criteria. Based in this context of expansion in the access to higher education in Brazil, this research aims to understand the social origin influence on transition school-to-work process of young graduates from Prouni. In order to understand the social origin influence in higher education studies and transition school-to-work, a sociological dispositional view was adopted in this research, supported by authors such as Bernard Lahire, Pierre Bourdieu and Jessé Souza. In-depth interview were conducted with five graduated students from Prouni, enrolled in Administration and Law courses in two of the best universities of Rio Grande do Sul state. These interviews data were reconstructed and organized into sociological portraits (LAHIRE, 2004). From this material, some incorporated dispositions were identified, being classified based on their individual or collective occurrence. Based on these shared dispositions, was possible to identify this group of young Prouni students as part of the new working Brazilian class (SOUZA, 2010). Besides that, differences in the individual dispositions allowed the identification of distinctive social strata inside this social class, which contradicts the idea of a homogenous mode of conduct shared between members of a same social group. From the incorporated dispositional system analysis, was possible to identify some motivational factors which influence the decisions made by the individuals. Based on that, is possible to combat the meritocratic discourse of individual accountability, which make invisible the weight and influence of the social structure in agent’s life. Finally, the analytical instrument of dispositions identification seems to offer a promising alternative to deepen the transition school-to-work studies in Brazil. The individual analyses can help to understand the particularities in different young people groups that access the higher education, taking into account their trajectories and the divergent aspects they present, related to their social class origin.

D.Ed. / During the past decade there have been far-reaching changes in the social and political structure in South Africa. As South Africa has entered the global stage, many companies are now competing internationally. There has been a rapid rise in the technological development which has often meant that people have outdated skills and can no longer be employed. Consequently, young people who wish to make a decision concerning their future careers, are presented with a host of new challenges. The reality of today's world of work demands an individual who can anticipate and adjust to change. The postmodem identity of the multiple selves, is in constant flux in order to maintain position in a rapidly changing world. Sunter (1999), Burr (1995), Mazarr (1999) all refer to the way metanarratives of the past have, in today's world, been called into question. All the old certainties of the past have evaporated. These changes have led to a lack of stability and a sense of hopelessness for the older generation. As a result, there has been an increasing lack of guidance both from parents and from those involved in educating the young people of the country, especially in terms of career choice. Subsequently, our young people are not empowered and many of them fall victim to unemployment and a sense of non-agency. The realities of people living and making meaning of life under very different social, cultural and economic conditions has profoundly important theoretical implications for career counselling (Donald, 1995). There are so many new options open in the world of work, that these confound the process of career decision making. Savickas (1993;1995;1997), suggests that the new work ethic for the 21" century will be one of self-development, changing the goal of career counselling from supporting careerism to fostering self-affirmation and improved decision-making. There is an urgent need to develop an approach which facilitates the process of career decision-making which suits the "spirit of the age" and which is discourse sensitive, but which also incorporates aspects of universal significance. The challenges which are faced by this need are: How can the career seeking adolescent be assisted to search for his/her own identity and recover his/her own voice? How can the adolescent be empowered to challenge and overcome the disempowering discourses which invite career "indecision*? Which way of working could assist the career seeking adolescent to position him/herself and enable him/her to exercise personal agency with regard to the dynamic world of work in the South African context, so that s/he can make a meaningful career decision? The intention of this study is to describe and explain the use of narrative ways of working to facilitate career decision making. This study was set in a postmodem South African context and used narrative ways of working in both career decision making and in the research process. Narrative ways of working use ideas which encompass aspects such as social construction of knowledge through language (Burr, 1995: Gergen, 1991), the power/knowledge relations (Foucault, 1980), and the "not-knowing" approach (Anderson & Goolishian, 1992). Career seeking adolescents took part in the study. The participants drew a lifemap and then they told their stories. I questioned the participants using the inner landscape of action, the outer landscape of consciousness and the experience of experience (Bruner, 1986; White, 1991) framework of questioning. All the participants wrote a reflection of the effect of the lifestory conversation. Other relevant knowledge was gathered from documents, such as school reports. I listened to each conversation which had been recorded. I transcribed the conversations and listened to them again several times. Each listening provided an opportunity to listen for themes which might have been missed. The participants listened to the retelling of the story which the researcher had written and themes which emerged, were co-constructed. Then the participants and the reseracher had a reflexive group conversation using the reflections of the process and further questions as stimulus. This conversation was transcribed and after multiple listenings the researcher wrote a retelling of this conversation. I asked reflexive questions about the career decision making process and each participant was invited to asked me questions about the process. These reflexive conversations were transcribed after multiple listenings. A reflection was written about the effects of the process. Other data collected was used to provide coherence with the knowledges elicited in the conversations. This research report follows a recursive rather than a linear structure. I avoided the objectification of knowledge as it is in direct contrast with the fundamental principles of narrative ways of working. Accountability for this study lies within the multiple reflexive conversations. The authenticity of the data was checked by the participants themselves and a peer researcher who is well versed in narrative ways of working. The retellings of the tellings, allow the reader to make meaning of the participants' and the researcher's stories of the experiences.

Diploma thesis analyzes the process of school-to-work transition in theory and practice. The practical part focuses on the specifics in the Czech Republic and the Karlovy Vary region. The aim is to assess the links between high schools and their students / graduates and employers in the region and the environment in which they interact. The main contribution of this work is to analyze the problem on the example of the Karlovy Vary region through pilot verification and define the main characteristics and deficiencies in the school-to-work transtition process. The main weaknesses of this process are insufficient work habits and working experiences of graduates, improperly selected field of study, lack of interest in studying and low motivation to work. To improve the situation should help to strengthen the links between secondary schools, students / graduates and employers and increasing the involvement of employers in education as is the case in the dual education system.

With the world amidst globalization and economic flux affecting business, industry, and communities the need to work together becomes increasingly important. Higher education serves an important role in developing the individual teaming capabilities of the workforce. This environment is the time and place - opportunity for student personnel to develop these capabilities. This multiple case study utilized the analysis phase (learner, setting and job) of an instructional design model to analyze learner characteristics, the higher education environment/undergraduate experience, and the job/skills associated with individual teamwork knowledge, skills, and abilities of students from a senior cohort of the TRiO - SSS Project at a public student-centered research institution. The results yielded themes to promote the development of target populations individual teamwork KSAs which should increase their readiness to meet the teaming demands of today's employers. With an engaging undergraduate experience, inclusive of interaction with faculty members and collaborative learning with their peers, structured opportunities to practice individual teamwork KSAs in a work setting or internship, these underrepresented students may be an asset that is needed to meet the global workforce needs and fill civic capacities in their home communities.

The purpose of this project is to develop a classroom handbook explaining the process and standards, necessary in developing an employability portfolio.

Vocational educators are reexamining methods of preparing students for the transition from school to the workplace as employers from business and industry are looking to schools for help in meeting their human resource needs. The School-to-Work Opportunities Act (1994) has stimulated a number of approaches to link school-based learning and work-based learning to help students transition to the workplace. Research has been conducted in school settings and work settings but little is known about how the two link together. Thus, little is known about the ways that situated learning contributes to the linkages between school-based and work-based learning.To address this concern, the overall purpose of this study was to determine how work-based and school-based experiences of students enrolled in cooperative education are linked. More specifically, details of students' school-based experiences that they, their teachers, and their workplace supervisors perceive as linked to the workplace were sought. Additionally, details of students' work-based experiences that they, their teachers, and their workplace supervisors perceive as linked to school-based experiences and activities were examined. Participants were ten students enrolled in cooperative education, their cooperative business or marketing education teachers, and their workplace supervisors from ten school sites in southwest Virginia. Individual interviews were used to collect data for the study. The interview data was used to ascertain perceptions of instances in the students' work experiences that reflect how school-based learning gives context to their work-based learning and how work-based learning gives context to their school-based performance. Emphasis was on detailing situated learning experiences, where school-based learning and work-based experiences were interlinked.The interview protocols were designed to answer the following three research questions:1.What school-based experiences do students, teachers, and workplace supervisors perceive have provided learning in the context needed for the work-based experiences of students enrolled in cooperative education?2.What work-based experiences do students, teachers, and workplace supervisors perceive as providing context to school-based learning experiences of students enrolled in cooperative education?3.What additional school-based learning experiences can students, teachers, and workplace supervisors identify that would help students who are enrolled in cooperative education relate their school learning to the workplace?The findings of the study indicated that the foundational skills and the competencies identified in the Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (1991) report as necessary for workers were, also, identified by interviewees as school-based experiences that provided learning for the students in the context needed for work-based experiences. Further, they were identified as work-based learning activities that linked work with school.Based on the findings in this study a number of implications for school-based and work-based instruction were developed that focus on the importance of providing students experiences and activities in the context needed for the workplace. Implications for further research are also provided. / Ph. D.

Esta dissertação objetivou compreender percepções de estudantes universitários sobre a transição entre os papéis de estudante a trabalhador / profissional, investigando a influência dos processos de adaptabilidade de carreira e das experiências acadêmicas, especialmente o estágio, para a transição de identidade. O Estudo 1 consistiu em um levantamento quantitativo, mapeando percepções sobre a formação e avaliando aspectos do desenvolvimento de carreira. Participaram 62 alunos de Engenharia Civil que estavam cursando o último ou penúltimo semestre. O Estudo 2, qualitativo, aprofundou a partir de entrevistas semi-estruturadas o tema investigado. Participaram 6 estudantes selecionados da amostra do Estudo 1. Os principais resultados sugeriram que as experiências de estágio influenciam o desenvolvimento de dimensões da adaptabilidade de carreira, bem como a adaptabilidade influencia o aproveitamento das vivências de estágio. Tais experiências mostraram-se fundamentais no processo de transição do papel de estudante para o papel profissional. Conclui-se com implicações para a prática e a pesquisa. / This dissertation aimed to understand university student’s perceptions of the transition from the role of student to worker and professional, investigating the influence of career adaptability processes and academic experiences, especially internships, to identity transition. Study 1 used a quantitative and exploratory method in order to identify perceptions about the graduation experiences and assess career development variables. The sample was constituted of 62 Civil Engineering students in the last or penultimate semester. Study 2 used a qualitative design to produce deeper understandings about this theme through semi-structured interviews. Six students selected from Study 1 took part on Study 2. The main results suggested that internship experiences influence career adaptability development, as well as adaptability influences how the students benefit from internship experiences. Those experiences were found to be essential in the process of transition from student to professional role. Conclusions set directions for future research and practice.

The main objective of the doctoral thesis was to analyze the features of one’s vocational path during the time of undergraduate studies. Undergraduate studies can be treated as a pathway of transition from school to the world of work. Therefore, it is especially important to identify what makes vocational choice successful during this period of time. In the study, several psychological success indicators of vocational path choice were distinguished. Moreover, the following factors were analyzed as their possible predictors: internal-cognitive factors (self-efficacy and vocation-related expectations), internal-personality factors (Big Five trait dimensions), external factors (situational-demographic characteristics). The study was conducted in the framework of Social Cognitive Career Theory. 625 undergraduates representing various Lithuanian universities took part in the main study. The results provide a basis for distinguishing the most important factors of vocational path choice during the transition period, i.e., those factors that most strongly relate either to vocational choice success indicators or to the adequacy of its planning. In the discussion, both theoretical implications and practical recommendations are provided. / Disertacijoje nagrinėjami profesinio kelio ypatumai bakalauro pakopos studijų metu – pereinamuoju laikotarpiu tarp mokyklos baigimo ir įėjimo į darbo pasaulį. Darbe buvo siekiama išskirti psichologinius sėkmingo profesinio kelio pasirinkimo rodiklius bei įvertinti, kokie veiksniai jiems turi daugiausiai reikšmės. Remiantis socialine kognityvine karjeros teorija ir pereinamojo laikotarpio tyrimų apžvalga, nagrinėti vidiniai kognityviniai (įvairūs saviveiksmingumo aspektai, profesiniai lūkesčiai), asmenybės (Didžiojo Penketo asmenybės bruožai) ir išoriniai (situaciniai-demografiniai) veiksniai. Tyrime dalyvavo 625 įvairių Lietuvos universitetų bakalauro pakopos, 1–4 kurso studentai. Gauti rezultatai leidžia išskirti svarbiausius vidinius ir išorinius profesinio kelio veiksnius – tuos, kurie pereinamuoju laikotarpiu labiausiai sietini su sėkmingu profesinio kelio pasirinkimu ar adekvačiu jo planavimu. Aptariant tyrimo rezultatus, diskutuojama tiek jų reikšmė teorine prasme, tiek pritaikymo galimybės profesinio orientavimo ir konsultavimo praktikoje.

The purpose of this study was to explore and gain a greater understanding of senior university students' perceptions of their readiness to enter the work force following program completion, as well as their perceptions of the availability and helpfulness of career-related resources and services. Due to the exploratory nature of this research, no a priori hypothese were generated. A sample of 324 undergraduate students attending the University of Lethbridge in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada was surveyed using the Comprehensive Career Needs Survey Post-Secondary Form, a revision of the Comprehensive Career Needs Survey developed by Magnusson and Bernes (2001). The resulting data analysis provided an overview of student perceptions of readiness to enter the work force, their thoughts about the availability and usefulness of career-related services and resources, as well as their actual use of those services and resources. This research supports previous findings regarding the benefit of experiential learning as part of the university experience and contributes information regarding the resources that students feel would be most helpful as they make the transition from school to work. / xi, 135 leaves ; 29 cm.

Experiential learning is an integral part of most programs offered at the M.L.Sultan Technikon because of the technical nature of the programs. This study focuses on learning from experience when students from the technikon are placed in work-based settings. It considers how successful workplace experience are from the perspective of staff involved with the Dental Assisting program, students registered for the program that are placed for in-service learning and employers that are involved with these placements, in the light of student learning. With transformation and restructuring within the present higher education system, currently more emphasis is being placed on experiential learning at both universities and technikons. The primary objectives of this study therefore were: (1) to examine the link between education, work and personal development, (2) to document experiences which students lived through during their placements (3) to evaluate how successful workplacements were from the perspective of staff, students and employers in the Dental Assisting program. Two models of experiential learning, Kolb's Model (1984) as a learning cycle and Boud and Walker's model (1991 ) provided a framework for examining and strengthening the critical linkages among institution, the learner and the workplace supervisor. The study looks at student preparation before the placement; it considered thoroughly the environment in which students found themselves; the difficulties students faced in the workplace and reflection during and after the event. The study provides a holistic integrative perspective on learning and the total educational experience of students. A small sample was selected to afford the opportunity of assessing a lot of information through interviews. Data was analysed by identifying patterns of responses or embedded themes from the interviews. As a qualitative and ethnographic research project the results and recommendations made from the analysis can be utilised to improve my practice. Although student placements were successful in terms of their learning, there needs to be adequate pre-placement preparation for both students and employers in order to enhance the success of the placement. There is also a need to encourage students to reflect on their experience in order to make their learning more meaningful. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of Natal, Durban, 2000