Thesis (M.A. (Social Work)) --University of Limpopo, 2018 / This paper examines factors militating against social workers’ endeavours to undertake postgraduate studies. The model of Maintaining Professional Competence was considered to guide the study with a sample of ten (10) participants who were all interviewed face-to-face in Driekop (Sekhukhune District), Limpopo Province (RSA). An interview guide was utilised in the foregoing. Content Thematic Analysis was used to make sense of the findings. The findings indicate that social workers’ aspirations to improve their qualifications are hampered by the following impediments: heavy workloads and family commitments; financial constraints due to meagre remuneration; lack of motivation and poor prestige of the profession fueled by little or no consideration of postgraduate qualifications by employers; and poor reading habits and lack of information on postgraduate sponsors. Despite the aforementioned barriers, social workers acknowledged the value of postgraduate education in their lives. Given these findings, the researcher recommends that: • Postgraduate qualifications in social work need to be incentivised. • Social work salaries need to be improved/commensurate with qualifications, and competitive incentives provided as well. • Social workers’ heavy workloads need to be reviewed. • Social workers need to make efforts to inculcate reading habits amongst themselves. • Social workers must strive to balance work and family commitments to make time for further studies. • Social workers as well as their employers should seek or source scholarships for post-graduate studies.

This thesis examines the complex power structures that underscore the migration and employment of Indonesian women as foreign domestic workers (FDWs) in Singapore. The main objective is to highlight the power of individual Indonesian FDWs and the collective power of these women in negotiating these structures of power in the context of a migration study as well as a `resistance' study. I argue that Indonesian FDWs are active agents who exercise individual agency and collective `resistance' in the migration system. As labour migrants they exert power in shaping the nature of the migrant institution. One of the means in which they do so is by perpetuating the informal networks of migration. Individual Indonesian FDWs are also capable of exerting power in circumventing elements of exploitation and domination they encounter during their migration process and employment in Singapore. Crucial to this capability is the ability to have access to a network of agents within the migrant institution. Some Indonesian FDWs are also active in exerting power as a group to present a collective resistance against negative stereotyping of their identities as the immigrant other in Singapore. They do so via a formal religious based social group. This group encourages other Indonesian FDWs to portray the image of the disciplined worker couched within the moralising discourse of Islam by participating in productive activities on rest days. The aim of this is so that Indonesian FDWs can be treated with respect and dignity in Singapore. In general, my data show that Indonesian FDWs as active agents of the migration system do not attempt to challenge the overall structures that underscore their subordination and domination as overseas contract workers (OCWs) in Singapore. / The power exerted by individual Indonesian FDWs is focused at ensuring their continued employment as FDWs under more desirable employment conditions. Their individual agency aimed at improving their work conditions is at a personal level and is based on personal goals that are thus too fragmented to challenge the institutionalised structures of employment. Moreover, my case studies reveal that some Indonesian FDWs endure more restrictive work conditions in order to achieve desirable aspects of working in Singapore. Their collective `resistance' against condescending treatment by the host society project an image of the disciplined FDWs desired by employers, maid agents and Singaporeans. Their subjective ambivalence and the ambivalence in their individual and collective acts of `resistance' in challenging aspects of subordination and domination show the complexity of the power relationships in which they are caught. I draw upon two bodies of theory to provide a framework for my analysis and argument. First, I draw upon the `migrant institution' framework espoused by Goss and Lindquist (1995) that is based on Giddens' structuration theory to illustrate the power exerted by individual Indonesian FDWs within the field of migration studies. I also draw upon Foucault's notion of power as a framework to examine collective ,resistance' displayed by Indonesian FDWs in Singapore. The data presented in the thesis are drawn from two sources, ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Singapore as well as relevant newspaper and other media accounts.

This thesis highlights the importance of workers’ perceptions of and attitudes to sexual harassment. Past researchers have found that a variety of individual factors (age, gender, gender role, and past experiences of sexual harassment), and organisational factors (gender ratio, sexual harassment policies and the role of employers), correlate with the incidence of sexually harassing behaviours. Two studies presented in this thesis extend this research and were designed to investigate how these factors relate to workers’ attitudes towards and perceptions of sexual harassment. Study one investigated 176 workers from a large, white-collar organisation. Study two sampled 75 workers from a smaller, blue-collar organisation. By comparing two different workplaces the effect of the organisational climate was investigated. Individuals from Study two experienced more sexual harassment, were more tolerant of sexual harassment and perceived less behaviour as sexual harassment compared with individuals from Study one. The organisational context was found to affect the way in which organisational and individual factors related to workers' attitudes to and their experiences of sexual harassment. However, the factors that influenced workers’ perceptions of sexual harassment were stable across both studies. Although workers’ attitudes to and their perceptions of sexual harassment were significantly correlated, they were influenced by different factors. Overall, workers’ perceptions of sexual harassment were influenced by their attitudes, the behavioural context, and the gender of the victim and perpetrator. In contrast, attitudes to sexual harassment appeared to be more strongly influenced by individual factors, such as age, gender, gender role, past experiences of sexual harassment, and perceptions of management’s tolerance of sexual harassment. The broader implications of these findings are discussed and recommendations for future research are suggested.

Thesis (M. Soc. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2003.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Utah, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references.

In the mid 1980s, national enterprises started to hire illegal foreign workers without the official introduction in Taiwan. Following with the soaring national economic growth, wage and income and the popular trend in stock, lottery and gambling games in 1985, workers were less willing to work. Industries, such as the 3K or 3D industry (dirty, dangerous and difficult), were less favored. In addition with the delaying participation of youth in job market due to the rising educational level, the supply for grassroots workers faced decreasing. Meanwhile, the national birth controlling policy also led to low birth rate, slow population growth and aging population, which triggered a serious labor shortage in Taiwan and enterprises also started calling for solving the labor shortage problem by introducing foreign workers. When Taiwanese government had first initiated the 14 major infrastructures project, the deadline of the project was kept postponing due to labor shortage. Therefore, the government set up a ¡§mechanism of workers demanding for14 major infrastructures project¡¨ by executive order, allowing entities to introduce foreign workers for the project. 3 years had gone, a ¡§mechanism for temporary labor shortage¡¨ was enforced. This mechanism allowed domestic industries to introduce foreign workers officially, announcing it can be applied to 15 jobs in 6 major industries. Through legislative procedure, the Employment Service Act had been passed on 3rd reading in 1992. Thus, a formal source of law can be found for introducing foreign workers. A riot started by Thai workers at Kaohsiung MRT in August 2005 not only revealed problems, such as foreign workers management and human rights, but also affected Taiwan¡¦s international reputation by large. Some foreign workers have received maltreatments, such as forced labor or involuntary labor. Moreover, the amount of foreign workers who are unaccounted for has kept increasing, too. In 2012, more than 30 thousand are missing. For researching the core problem, based on the 5 major frameworks of administration law, including the administrative principles, administrative organization, administrative authority, administrative remedy and administrative supervision, this study aims at examining the legal system of missing foreign workers prevention for national police to redress the deficiency of the legal system with researching by reference, historical analysis, comparative analysis and induction analysis. By comparing current management manners in Hong Kong, Singapore, Austria and Switzerland, I wish some valuable lessons can be learnt with more significant and concrete suggestions for related regulations to the missing foreign workers prevention and to protect human rights.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Birmingham, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 298-347).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Trinity International University, 2002. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 214-222).

Thesis (M.B.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1986.