Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1971. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2006. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 104-120).

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Illinois State University, 1994. / Title from title page screen, viewed March 27, 2006. Dissertation Committee: Robert Hemenway (chair), Jeffrey Hecht, Pamela Hardaway-Wheeler, Toni McCarty, Thomas Caldwell. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 123-134) and abstract. Also available in print.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Illinois State University, 1996. / Title from title page screen, viewed May 22, 2006. Dissertation Committee: Lanny Morreau (chair), Mack Bowen, Jeffrey Hecht, Toni McCarty, Robert Wazienski. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 145-177) and abstract. Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 1986. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 241-247). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of North Texas, May, 2007. / Title from title page display. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (MTech (Business Administration))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2017. / A steady decline in student enrolment at the Tshwane University of Technology’s Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment (TUTFEBE) was seen in recent years. Small numbers of South African pupils have been matriculating with Mathematics as a subject, and most of them have been underperforming. Since there has been no scientific evidence to date on which recruitment and guidance efforts work best for attracting quality learners for courses in engineering at the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), this study was conducted to identify the factors that influence learners’ choice of engineering as a career. This information could assist in the design of an evidence-based recruitment and marketing model. A single-case explanatory study design was used for this research, since it focused on the TUTFEBE. A quantitative and qualitative study was completed by means of inputs from first-year extended curriculum engineering programme students. The data was analysed using the Statistical Package for the Study of Social Sciences (SPSS). By studying the qualitative data from more than one viewpoint, the quantitative findings were verified and triangulated. The influences that played a role in learners’ career choices were identified. Thematic clusters emerged as stimulation or creation of an awareness of or interest in engineering, the influences of different people on learners’ career choices, relevant exposure to careers in engineering, the huge impact of Maths and Science teachers on learners’ career decision-making, method of teaching, employability and the image and reputation of an institution. It became evident that engineering faculties themselves need to assume responsibility for the recruitment of their students. Copying seems to be the main coping strategy in most institutions regarding marketing and recruitment engagements. Although many of TUTFEBE’s current marketing and recruitment actions were on par with the rest of the world, alternative actions were identified and implemented in the model. Informed consent in written format for both the quantitative and qualitative studies was obtained from the subjects after they had been informed what the purpose, risks and benefits were and which procedures would be implemented to ensure confidentiality. The subjects were informed of their right to withdraw at any stage, without any penalty or disadvantage, and were assured that withdrawal would in no way influence their continued relationship with the researcher or their academic progress at TUT.

The primary purpose of the study was to empirically explore the impact of internal and external variables on subject choices made by a group of Black South African government school pupils in Ga-Rankuwa circuit in the North West Province. From the literature point of view it was evident that there are different orientations which influence subject choice and academic achievement of learners. Learners who are mastery/learning-oriented want to develop their competence through the choice of challenging tasks and perform better. Ego/performance-oriented learners interested in demonstrating to others that they are capable, therefore turn to choose easy tasks and they do not perform as well. Mastery-oriented learners attribute their success to internal stable variables like ability or effort (an unstable but controllable cause), and experience high levels of self-efficacy and pride. Ego-oriented learners attribute both failure and success to stable but uncontrollable cause (such as ability or teaching methods), and experience shame and decreased self-efficacy in the event of failure. My ultimate conclusion is drawn from the study I examined by the HSRC differentiated education blueprint. Although the document emphasized the importance of meeting the needs of both the individual, and the manpower requirements of the country, findings in the present study implied that the sort of inhibitors operating in the subject choice context, were in no way contributing to the fulfilment of these aims. The organization of the school curriculum, school zoning procedures, gender and achievement stereotypes, all served to compromise pupils' subject preferences and subject choice differentially. These dictated both the academic bias and gender bias of the subject field choice, and therefore, the resultant social status of the choice. The educationally questionable subject choice criteria used by pupils, and the faulty guidance they received, did not assist much to maximize their unique potential. / Dissertation (MEd (Educational Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Educational Psychology / unrestricted

The foundational principles of Holland’s (1985b, 1992, 1997) vocational theory state that career choice is an expression of personality, in that individuals with specific personality types seek out work or learning environments that match their personality types. Furthermore, interest inventories such as the Self-Directed Search (Holland, Powell, & Fritzsche, 1994) can be regarded as personality inventories and used to ensure that individuals find themselves in a working environment that is best suited to their interests and personality type. In addition to instruments that measure interests, Holland also developed dictionaries of occupations coded according to the characteristics and interests of different occupations and working environments, such as the Dictionary of Holland occupational codes (Gottfredson & Holland, 1996). The level of congruence between personality types and occupational types is linked to career satisfaction, stability and achievement. This premise only holds true, however, if the codes for the occupational environment suggested by Holland (1985c) are, in fact, valid. In other words, do the codes suggested by Holland match the personality types of individuals entering or who are already employed in a particular work or learning environment? There have been many studies conducted with regard to the validity of Holland’s prescribed interest typology codes. Spokane, Meier and Catalano (2000) located a large number of empirical studies published since 1985 that relate directly to the validity of Holland’s codes, many of which have suggested that the existing codes may not be valid. There is a scarcity of such research in South Africa, especially with regard to vital and growing occupational fields, such as the ecotourism industry, that are so important to the economic well-being of the country. Consequently, the overall aim of the present study was to explore and describe the interest codes of male and female South African student and working field guides in order to discuss the appropriateness of the occupational codes prescribed by Holland for the field guiding profession. The quantitative design of the study was exploratory-descriptive in nature and made use of the Self-Directed Search Questionnaire (Holland, Fritzsche, & Powell, 1994). The total sample consisted of 100 participants (68 male and 32 female), constituting 40 working field guides and 60 field guide students. Descriptive analyses were conducted with the use of frequency tables, charts, means and standard ix deviations. In addition, Independent sample t-tests were computed in order to describe and compare the mean scores of the interests for males and females, and to compare the mean scores of the interests for student and working field guides. The results of this study suggest that the prescribed occupational code (SRI; Social, Realistic, Investigative) for South African field guides may not be appropriate and that an interest profile such as SREI AC may be more appropriate. These results, in combination with the findings of the research review, suggest the need for a more extensive, cross-cultural study to determine the appropriateness of Holland’s occupational codes for South African occupations, which may lead to a revision of the South African Dictionary of Occupations (Taljaard & von Mollendorf, 1987).

Despite the acknowledgement of the developmental nature of careers, little attention has been focused on identifying shaping influences during childhood. This noticeable deficiency in the literature marked the start of the current longitudinal study which was designed to provide information on the career development of nine to twelve-year old South African children. In South Africa research focusing on preadolescent career development is limited with existing research indicating the need to further explore how children’s career choice process initially develops. The study aimed to explore and describe the changes that occur, if any, over a four-year period in terms of occupational interest typology, occupational status levels, occupational gender stereotypes and occupational gender traditionality. Both developmental and career developmental theories were used to provide a context for exploring this process of preadolescent career development. It was decided that quantitative research methods would provide the necessary structure needed to conduct the research. Although semistructured interviews and biographical questionnaires were used to record the verbal data, the data obtained was transposed into nominal data for analysis. Participants responded to questions within a semi-structured interview that focused on four broad areas of questioning. These questions explored participants’ occupational aspirations, how many occupations they knew about, how much they knew about the identified occupation, and the extent to which they held gender-role stereotypes about certain occupations. After the data was iv Key words: career development, children, longitudinal research, occupational aspirations captured it was coded according to Holland's (1985) classification system of occupational interest types. The occupational aspirations expressed by the participants were also coded in terms of their status levels. The coded data was then further analysed using descriptive statistics in the form of frequency counts and percentages. Results from the study support both child and career development theory which view childhood as a time of rapid growth with critical development in various competency areas (including occupational aspirations and perceptions). Although the current study found that most children aspired to Social occupations, the popularity of this typology decreased with increasing age as more children aspired to Investigative, Artistic, and to a lesser extent, Realistic typologies at age twelve. Furthermore, it appears that children, like adults, are aware of status differentials among occupations and that this awareness subsequently influences occupational aspirations. Lastly, the findings broadly provide support for both national and international research in that it was established that an increase in age reflects a decrease in gender-stereotypical perceptions of occupations. The present study gained valuable insight into how the process of career development occurs in preadolescent children. It is clear that there exists a need for the implementation of credible and sustainable career education programs in schools across South Africa in order to encourage and facilitate career exploration during the developmental stage of childhood.