M.A. (Counselling Psychology) / The aim of this study was to evaluate qualitatively career information as presented at the Careers 2000 exhibition held at NASREC, Johannesburg from 28 April to 6 May 1992. The major reason for doing the research was the lack of data collected in this area, with only one previous project covering such exhibitions in this country. Both qualitative and quantitative data regarding the career information exhibition was collected from 48 pupils and 33 exhibitors. The group of pupils was divided into English, Afrikaans and Black home language groups, with pupils being selected for each group irrespective of race or creed ...

M.Ed. / The importance of Career Counselling in secondary schools cannot be over-emphasized. In order to achieve the stated objective, our schools will require well trained and well qualified Career Counsellors who will execute this monumental task with great insight, distinction and knowledge. Differentiated education takes into account the fact that people are not the same and therefore their uniqueness will be considered and catered for by exposing them to career counselling. Learners need to be guided in order to make informed choices. This responsibility of guiding and informing learners should be shouldered by educators who are considered to be well-informed and more knowledgeable about the world of work and different courses. There are socio-economic and political changes that are taking place within the borders of our country and globally. Our learners must be multi-skilled or be exposed in order to brace themselves for this eventuality. The traditional way of doing things is rapidly giving way to modern operational techniques. Career Counselling is important in this instance in order to narrow the gap between tradition and the ever-changing world of occupation. For the Career Counselling to be meaningful and helpful to secondary school learners, educators are expected to assist them with the selection o fa major field, self-analysis, methods of career field analysis, establishment of short range career goals, analysis of employment environments, development of long-range career goals and support the learners in the job search campaign (Charles, 1976: 61). In the South African context a distinction is made between Career Counselling outside and within formal education. It seems that Career Counselling, particularly within formal education, experiences many problems, one of which is the inadequate training of Career Counselling educators and the insufficient provision for training such educators...

Thesis (M.A.)--University of the Witwatersrand, Arts Faculty (Industrial Psychology), 2002 / The aim of this research was to investigate the career paths of individuals working in an Information Technology (IT) environment. The focus of the study is on the career history, subjective career views and career expectations and aspirations of these individuals. The study is exploratory and involved in-depth semi-structured interviews with nine individuals working in an IT environment in one financial institution. Results indicate that the career paths of these individuals no longer follow the traditional approaches to Career Development (CD), but rather amalgamate aspects of the traditional with the less traditional CD approaches. The results also indicate that the emphasis of CD is increasingly becoming the responsibility of the individual themselves, thereby requiring a more proactive and self-directed Career Management (CM) style. The results are discussed and interpreted in light of the literature reviewed. / AC 2016

M. Tech. Food and Beverage Management / The South African labour market has been characterised by poor job creation over the past decades. As a result, the market has failed to absorb number of graduates. The purpose of this study was to determine the perceptions of the hospitality graduates when seeking employment in the hospitality industry. The study aimed to measure the number of hospitality graduates still pursuing a career in hospitality 3-5 years after graduation. The results indicated that most of the Tshwane University of Technology graduates were employed in the hospitality industry. The majority of those that had left the industry were employed by government. A large number of graduates were dissatisfied with their entry-level positions, career progression, working conditions and fringe benefits in the hospitality industry. Over 51% of hospitality graduates indicated that they would advise other person to study for a career in hospitality management. However, 64.8% of graduates said they would not consider studying a hospitality management if they were to undertake studies again. Working conditions in the hospitality industry need to improve so that graduates will be retained.

This study investigated a career education programme which was run with students enrolled in the Science Foundation Programme (SFP). The SFP is a one year bridging course at the University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, for black students with insufficient matric points to enter directly into the science faculty. The class comprised of 135 students who were divided into 16 groups with about eight students in each. These career groups met monthly over a three month period. The approach to career education was based on group discussion and exploration. This made it possible for the students to deal with material that was relevant to their being in a vocationally orientated programme. The career groups were aimed at assisting the students with increasing their self knowledge in relation to their career decision making, expanding their knowledge of work and careers, exploring issues of career planning, and developing social and group skills. Research on the above process was undertaken by means of questionnaires, genograms and written paragraphs completed by the students over the duration of the programme. The students' evaluation of the programme was also investigated. The nature of the data meant that there were some responses which could be coded numerically, however much of the data was of a qualitative nature . Thematic analysis was thus undertaken. The programme dealt primarily with the issue of contextualism, focussing on the students macro-and micro-contexts and the role that these play in shaping the students' careers. The developmental contextual approach of Vondracek, Lemer, and Schulenberg (1986) was used to organise and make sense of the contextual data. Findings demonstrated that career information given in isolation is not sufficient. It needs to be located in the participants' context. Participation in the career education groups seemed to diminish the chances of students foreclosing on career decisions prematurely, and increased their self awareness and knowledge about the world of work. Research findings also highlighted the value of discussion as an important adjunct to other careers education techniques. The group discussion provided opportunities for gaining information and also encouraged individuals to take a more active role in their career development and career decision making. The career education groups provided a powerful tool for a collaborative learning experience with the students. This study also highlighted the limitations of a Western, individualistic approach, particularly when one is working cross culturally. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1999.

A developmental paradigm was adopted as a theoretical base from which the effectiveness of the Natal Education Department Career Education lesson-guide in promoting career maturity amongst high school pupils was investigated. It was argued that careers education embodies a distinctive approach to careers work. This approach is described. South African Careers Guidance practices are evaluated in terms of fit, and are compared to American and British ones. To investigate the outcomes of the NED lesson guide, 160 predominantly white, male and female pupils in Standards 6 - 10 were randanly divided into control and experimental grotps and underwent a six session classroom based careers education programme. In addition to the NED material,alternative materials (CRIC - Std. 7 and CRAC - Std. 9) were used on a second experimental group in two standards. The Career Maturity Inventory Attitude Scale was used to measure the outcomes. Analysis of variance and t-tests for the difference between means were used to analyse the data. The results were significant only in Standard 8. For all the other standards with all the materials, they were insignificant. Reasons for and implications of these findings are discussed.

The advent of democracy in South Africa has brought about fundamental changes in the spheres of governance. One of these changes is the transformation of the public service. One of the constitutional imperatives of the country requires all government departments to be representative. The Department of Defence and in particular, the South African Navy (SA Navy) as part of the public service, is also expected to transform to ensure representivity. The SA Navy is not yet representative, specifically in terms of the African composition. The study seeks to establish the extent and knowledge of black youth about careers in the SA Navy. To achieve this, a questionnaire was circulated to various schools for completion. The findings indicate that black youth, specifically those from rural areas are unaware of the available career opportunities in the SA Navy. This could be a major cause of the current equity situation within the department. / Public Administration and Management / M. Admin. (Public Administration)

[Editor's Letter]: Study South Africa over time provided an annual overview of the South African Higher Education landscape as well as a forecast of some of the issues that could influence higher education in general and higher education internationalization in particular in South Africa for the year ahead. The 2016/17 issue being the 16th edition of Study South Africa provides an overview of the sector and a short description of all South African Public Higher Education institutions. This year, the Study SA Guide provides information about the system as well as articles that begin to address critical issues influencing the sector. It is foreseen that this would become a general feature in editions to come. The article that introduces a fundamental change in operations of South African Universities, beginning in 2016 and continuing into 2016 is the issue of the student protests on high tuition fees in South Africa. The #FEESMUSFALL movement introduced a topic that is fundamental to the internationalization of South African Higher Education. This event that began as a reaction to the increase in student fees for the 2016 academic year mutated into a social movement on university campuses throughout South Africa that challenged the way Universities function. Although not a mass based movement, but rather a movement driven by a desire to change the current social order in South Africa by a radical fringe, its focus is to use the plight of insufficient funding within South African Higher Education and in particular, focusing on funding of the poor. For a large part the issues raised by students is not in the domain of Higher Education, but a competency of Government and broader society. The influence of the constant disruption of academic activities on all South African University campuses resulted in a tendency to be an inwardly focused system where most of the energy is spent on local issues. South African Higher Education is known for its international connectedness and the way the international world accepted it into their fold as a critical player in a variety of fields, bringing a different voice to global debates. The hosting of Going Global by the British Council in May 2016 in Cape Town and the hosting of the Global Conference in August 2016 by IEASA in the Kruger National Park clearly demonstrated that South African Higher Education is globally an important player. The current situation in South Africa should be seen by the outside world as a process of internal re-evaluation. It is also a struggle to bring together the global and the local. It is a process that is currently driven by South African Higher Education institutions. Although the issues that triggered the revolt is local, the roots are global and our solution to the problem could become a guide to global higher education. It is thus necessary that all the partners of the South African system believe in South Africa as the carrier of goodwill and a message that is worth listening to. It is also necessary to rather engage with South African Universities to understand the issues and not to abandon them at this critical stage. This issue of Study South Africa should remain the connector with the global higher education system and the information provided will hopefully assist all those interested in keeping and building on this connection.

[Extract from article by Ms Merle Hodges]: A recent article points to the feeling of alienation that students feel when studying away from home. It seeks to address the problem by establishing a range of fora where foreign students can feel more ‘at home’. It encourages host students to be more willing to accommodate these ‘outsiders’ in order to boost the reputation of the institution. Most of these initiatives are slightly patronising, but obviously well-meant. The overriding sense behind the article is that international students, within higher education institutions, are a benevolent burden. International students should be looked after, because universities are generally maternal (they are someone’s alma mater after all), places of kindness (they literally give away knowledge) and generally care for others (community outreach is fundamental to most universities). More importantly, international students – in places like the USA and UK – generate additional funding in an environment where government and federal funding is drying up. But what if four out of every ten students in the world who graduated were from China and India? In the next eight years? That genial inconvenience now becomes an imperative. These are the predictions by such august organisations as The British Council and the education branch of the OECD. It is also anticipated that these countries will not be in a position to educate this number of students internally. Which, in turn, suggests that there will be mass outflows at the undergraduate level and, by sheer dint of numbers, also means that internationalisation is heading towards a compounding acceleration in numbers. Where then does internationalisation stand? It will no longer be an altruistic add-on, but core business to the lifeblood of the universities across the globe. As far back as 1994, Jane Knight understood internationalisation as a phenomenon that would have a profound impact on the functions and structures of the university. “Internationalization,” she points out, “is the process of integrating an international, intercultural, global outlook into the major functions of a university – teaching, SRC, and service functions.” Over the past year arguments have been made that suggest that global shifts in student demographics are not the ‘province’ of South African higher education and that our obligation is to focus internally, on poverty alleviation and job creation. This argument misses the point. The free flow of academics and students – especially the large number of postgraduate students from other countries already at our institutions – are working with our academics on solving exactly these kinds of problems. IEASA is no longer only about the 60 000 students who migrate to our shores annually. It’s about what they learn and the diverse experiences that they will go through; experiences that will change them for life and will inevitably bring them to a different understanding of the world that we, collectively, are presently fashioning.

[Extract from article by Ms Merle Hodges]: Over the past year there have been numerous conferences dealing with one general topic. How is it possible for higher education, globally, to produce the same quality in its graduates, research and community outreach when the financial resources entering into the system are radically declining? The conclusion is overwhelmingly despondent. ‘Universities have to do more with less, academics and academic research will increasingly be pressurised by lower salaries internally and career temptations from the corporate world – the impact of which is the greater commodification of universities, and the inevitable decline in academic freedom.’ This global negativity is predicated on inter–related factors. The first, the long tail of the economic recession, is continuing to bite all sectors and higher education is no exception. Secondly, higher education is a little like marketing – when the pressure is on government, sectors like higher education are de–prioritised. In light of this, the position of internationalisation in higher education might seem to fade into the background. Interestingly, the inverse is true. While the zeitgeist of higher education generally appears dismal, the prospects of internationalisation appear rosy in comparison. I believe this is true because of two overlapping issues. Firstly, students are not going to give up on university because of a lingering economic downturn. What they are doing, however, is deciding to travel and study at destinations that would have been perceived as implausible a few years ago. Venezuela, Chile, South Korea and South Africa are all drawing US students more than ever before. This is partly because, I sense, the quality of qualifications is achieving parity across the globe; and also, because students who are prepared to travel realise that cultural specificity – the ability to learn new and unique aspects of a different culture while gaining the same core ingredients of a degree – sets it apart from the degree gained locally. A one semester course in Russian anthropology might appear entirely redundant when applying for a job. However, the very interconnectedness of global business means not only that the course is never a waste of time, but that it might mean the difference between landing a contract and failing to do so. The international student has the benefit of developing in ways that traditional (home-grown) higher education may not yet fully understand. Secondly, development in South Africa at least, has an additional meaning. Our universities are not only focused on developing graduates for multicultural or global competitiveness. Over the past five or so years our universities have been focused on development of the country itself. As an emerging power, the impetus has been on creating universities that address the fundamental needs of the people. Poverty, HIV, sustainability and innovative solutions to global problems are the very sap of South African universities in the 21st Century. How to create a sustainable environment, how to preserve marine and wildlife, how to create jobs, reduce poverty, and maximise innovation – these are the concerns that are preoccupying the minds of the country’s best academics.