Knowledge workers build their career capital through learning experiences throughout their careers. How this occurs for the R&D knowledge worker has not been previously documented. The loss of key R&D personnel in the hightechnology (high-tech) industry contributes to a loss of tacit knowledge and increased costs. A greater understanding of why and how career capital is accumulated by R&D knowledge workers will facilitate the design of career management practices that could reduce voluntary employee turnover. A qualitative investigation into the applicability of eight widely recognised career capital components revealed a new component that is relevant to the high-tech R&D environment. These applicable career capital components and associated accumulation methods were used to build a quantitative questionnaire that measured the perceptions of 59 knowledge workers in the R&D environment. This research has, for the first time, explicitly defined tangible career capital constructs that are relevant to knowledge workers in the high-tech R&D environment. The findings have been used to develop a model to help organisations understand the career needs of the R&D knowledge worker within the context of the business environment. Recommendations are presented to allow organisations and R&D knowledge workers to leverage off this research. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Class of 2008 / Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine factors that influence the career aspirations of first and third year pharmacy students from the University of Arizona. We hypothesized that greater than 50% of first year Doctor of Pharmacy students from UA will plan on pursuing residencies upon graduation, more first year students will prefer clinical practice when compared to third year students, and the factor that contributes most to pharmacy students going into community practice is compensation. Methods: Surveys were administered during regularly scheduled classes to first and third year students. The questions contained in the data collection form consisted of demographic information and motivating factors that were implemented into the survey in the format of the Likert scale. Results: Questionnaires were completed by 83 1st year pharmacy students and 58 3rd year students. Seventeen students (29%) from the Class of 2009 and 19 students (23%) from the Class of 2011 stated that they would like to pursue a residency. First year students felt that applying clinical knowledge was the most important factor, while the third year students considered ideal geographical location to be the most important. However, the data was not statistically significant when the two groups were compared. Conclusions: The data demonstrated that pharmacy students’ preferences do not change drastically as they progress through pharmacy school. The similarity in responses from both groups may suggest that the students have not had adequate exposure to a variety of pharmacy practice settings. Both groups of students gave similar responses on their plans to pursue a residency, therefore, it did not support our hypothesis that a majority of the first year students would focus on this career path. The data does support our hypothesis of first year students’ preference of a clinical setting when compared to third year students. Salary compensation was not ranked in the top 4 most important factors, therefore, we concluded that it is not a significant aspect for students regardless of what career setting they would pursue.

The study explored the career change made by a population of 37 tradesmen enrolled in a teacher education program. A semi-structured interview schedule was constructed and face-to-face interviews were tape-recorded. The four areas of investigation included positive propositions put forward in the social learning principles of career decision making, facilitators and barriers to career change, the career histories and expectations of participants and their socio-demographic backgrounds. Responses tended to support propositions dealing with former instructional experiences and interactions with people, but gave little indication, that exposure to print or visual media had influenced the career change decision. The importance of having sufficient finances and personal support of participants' wives was stressed. Potential barriers most readily identified were lack of support or finances. There was little evidence of frequent career change in the work histories of participants. The most common pattern was a series of short term jobs followed by several years in one career path. Future career plans indicated an intent to remain in the teaching field. All the men were employed prior to entering the program. Socio-demographic information indicated that just over half of the participants were around 30 years of age and over two-thirds were married. Wives tended to be not only more highly educated (64%) but in higher status occupations (76%) than their husbands. Over 80% of the men had entered tertiary education prior to current involvement and five men had completed bachelor's degrees. By entering a trade, 57% of participants were in lower status jobs than their fathers. Their entry into teaching resulted in a rebound movement rather than direct upward inter-generational mobility. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

M.Comm. / Changes in society, the nature of work, workplaces and employer-employee relationships have made traditional approaches to career development in organizations inadequate with powerful impacts on the employees. New concepts of career and life planning will be needed if such changes continue to take place. This study aims to obtain an overview of how career development is related to traditional human resource systems in organizations, discuss the protean career as a contemporary approach to careers and to explore the implications of the prQtean approach to career development for organizations. The study comprises an analysis of the literature relevant to the protean career concept, career development practice and human resource systems. In order to understand the implications of the protean career, an overview of how career development relates to traditional human resource systems is first undertaken. The fundamental interdependence between an individual's career plans and an organization's human resource plans is illustrated by considering the essential career-oriented human resource systems characteristics, namely organizational-level activities, the individual-level activities and the matching process. The study focuses in particular on the features of the protean career concept as a contemporary approach to career development in organizations. The protean person's own personal career choices and self-fulfilment are the unifying and integrative elements in the person's life. This implies a relational approach to the career development practice in human resources systems. Pursuing a protean career means, therefore, the development of a new psychological contract. Whereas in the past, the contract was with the organization, in the protean career, the contract is with the self. The protean career is therefore a process that the person and not the organization is managing with the criterion for success being internal (psychological) and not external.

Carl Schurz, appearing on the American political stage during a period of great change, felt the influence of human events as he formulated his political thinking. He also was affected by his German birth, education, and revolutionary activity before his immigration to the United States. Indeed, it appears that much of his political thought was reaction to existing circumstances or events rather than pure contemplative thinking.

The competitive nature of the world of work today and the resultant opportunities in global career mobility for knowledge workers is gaining momentum across industries. This emergence of the global economy has prompted the need to investigate the differences or similarities of career capital components and methods of acquisition and accrual across industries.The research was conducted in two phases. The first quantitative phase was set out to investigate career capital components and methods of acquisition in the manufacturing industry. The results obtained on phase 1, were used together with the secondary data previously obtained through three pieces of research done on career capital in three different industries, to ascertain the differences in career capital components and methods of accrual across four different industries. The total sample size representing the four industries was 200.The research has defined specific career capital components and methods used to acquire career capital that are relevant to knowledge workers in the manufacturing industry. The findings have been used to develop a model to help organisations understand the career needs of the manufacturing knowledge worker with specific enablers and core career capital highlighted. The research further helped draw conclusions on the differences and similarities of career capital components and methods used by knowledge workers across industries. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

The purpose of my study is an exploration of the extent to which an intervention programme, based on career and self-construction, helps learners from diverse backgrounds manage career-related transitions. Two groups from two contrasting educational settings participated in a career intervention programme that is based on career and self-construction, and another two groups continued to participate in the standard, traditional Life Orientation lessons offered by their schools. A multilinear approach, with constructivism as the main theoretical framework, is utilised in developing the overall theoretical framework that underpins my research. A mixed method design that collects, analyses and reports on quantitative and qualitative data is used to provide in-depth answers to the questions I ask in my study. More specifically, in terms of the former data, a quasi-experimental, pre-test-post-test comparison group design using the results of the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale (CAAS) (Savickas, 2011d; Savickas & Porfeli, 2012), is employed. Responses from focus group interviews and reflective journals constitute the qualitative data. In terms of the quantitative data, the results suggest that the intervention programme did not improve participants’ career adaptability compared to the standard, traditional Life Orientation lessons as measured by the CAAS (Savickas, 2011d; Savickas & Porfeli, 2012). However, the qualitative findings indicate that my intervention programme enhanced the career adaptability skills in participants in the experimental groups from both schools. Overall findings suggest that participants from both schools benefitted from taking part in my intervention programme in terms of managing career transitions. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Educational Psychology / Unrestricted

0 / SPK / specialcollections@tulane.edu

No description available.

No description available.