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Background: Studies that have been made in male-dominated organisations shows that only few women have succeeded in advancing to the higher positions in all businesses. Statistics shows that merely 4 % of the managers in all building companies are female. The manager role has earlier always been classified as most suitable for men resulting in barriers for women who strive for management positions. This problem is now very renowned and is called the glass ceiling. To improve the current situation, both the organization's structure and culture, have to be modernized for more women to succeed and get the courage to get into the industry. More women in the construction industry would enrich many companies and widely expand its competence. Purpose: The thesis of this paper is to provide an understanding of how the factors structure, culture, family, networking and leadership contributes to the few female managers in the production part of the construction industry. We are going to explore how women managers, based on their own experiences, believe that these barriers can be reduced. Delivery: To fulfill our purpose we have chosen to do a qualitative study with a deductive approach. We have conducted four interviews with female managers or previous female managers at different construction companies. Results: We have established that both women themselves and the companies can increase women's chances to advance in the construction industry. Women can more easily reach a management position in the construction industry by adapting to the male culture, achieving a balance between family and work and gain networking contacts. Companies in the construction industry can increase the proportion of female managers by focusing on recruitment, organizational structure, work climate, mentoring, and by taking into account the woman's family. We also found that it is important to keep the women who already work in the industry to attract more women to enter there. It is important to have female role models in companies that can guide and be good examples for new employees. Increasing the proportion of women in the construction industry requires that the interest in structural engineering is increasing in young girls. By this there will be more female applicants for structural engineering courses in the university. To reduce problems and create opportunities for women to work in the construction industry more women would be able to advance in the business. It also would lead to the glass ceiling becoming much thinner and that it could be broken completely in the future. / Bakgrund: Studier genomförda på mansdominerade företag visar att det finns ytterst få kvinnor som lyckats avancera till de högre positionerna inom samtliga företag. Statistik visar att endast 4 % av cheferna i alla byggföretag i Sverige är kvinnor. Chefskapet har tidigare alltid klassats som mest lämpligt för män vilket har lett till att kvinnor som strävar efter chefspositioner hindras från att ta sig upp i hierarkin. Detta problem är idag mycket omtalat och kallas för glastaket. För att förbättra dagens situation måste både organisationens struktur och kultur moderniseras för att fler kvinnor ska lyckas och våga ta sig in i branschen. Fler kvinnor i byggbranschen skulle berika många företag och i stor utsträckning utöka dess kompetens. Syfte: Syftet med denna uppsats är att skapa en förståelse kring hur faktorerna struktur, kultur, familjesituation, nätverk samt ledarskap bidrar till fåtalet kvinnliga chefer i den producerande delen av byggbranschen. Vi ska även undersöka hur kvinnliga chefer, utifrån egna erfarenheter, anser att dessa hinder kan reduceras. Genomförande: För att uppfylla vårt syfte har vi valt att göra en kvalitativ studie med en deduktiv ansats. Vi har genomfört fyra stycken besöksintervjuer, tre med kvinnliga chefer och en med en tidigare chef på fyra olika byggföretag. Resultat: Vi har konstaterat att både kvinnor själva och företagen kan öka kvinnors chans att avancera inom byggbranschen. Kvinnor kan lättare nå en chefsposition i byggbranschen genom att anpassa sig till den manliga kulturen, uppnå balans mellan familj och arbete och skaffa nätverkskontakter. Företagen i byggbranschen kan öka andelen kvinnliga chefer genom att fokusera på rekrytering, organisationsstruktur, arbetsklimat, mentorskap och genom att ta hänsyn till kvinnans familjesituation. Vi har även kommit fram till att det är viktigt att behålla de kvinnor som redan finns i branschen idag för att intressera fler kvinnor att söka sig dit. Det är viktigt att det finns kvinnliga förebilder i företagen som kan vägleda och vara goda exempel för nyanställda. För att öka andelen kvinnor i byggbranschen krävs det att intresset för byggteknik ökar hos unga tjejer för att sedan få fler kvinnliga sökande till byggtekniska utbildningar. Att reducera problemen och skapa möjligheter för kvinnor att arbeta i byggbranschen skulle göra att fler kvinnor kan avancera inom företagen. Detta skulle även leda till att glastaket blir betydligt tunnare och i framtiden skulle kunna brytas helt.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of North Carolina Wilmington, 2009. / Title from PDF title page (February 16, 2010) Includes bibliographical references (p. 38-42)

In a world replete with many views of education, it is perhaps easier to notice the differences amongst educational perspectives rather than the interconnections. The role of this thesis is to bring together some of these perspectives through a conceptual analysis of place and its links to education, self, and ESL. Place is a term used in environmental philosophy to refer to a particular space or region as experienced by a person, and to the relationships and responsibilities which connect that person to the world in which he or she lives. Environmental philosophers argue that the relationships bound up in place intimately shape who we are as individuals and the life choices that we make. I will differentiate further between four aspects of place, and address what it could mean to allow a sense of place to influence my life more deeply: what it means to be placeful. Investigation of the politics of place and the impact of race, class, power, and global inequalities on place experiences — areas I cannot explore deeply here - are important areas of research to continue to expand this conversation. The role of place in education is dynamic. I come to the classroom as an educator with two main passions: concern for the learners and concern for the environment. Through an understanding and awareness of place, environmental education and cornmunity/experience-based pedagogy can come together to develop an educational system which will address the needs of the learners, help them develop their understanding of self and place, and encourage care for and awareness of the environment. Jane McRae and Winnie Tarn, two educators of the Association for the Advancement and Promotion of Science Education (APASE), shared with me in a set of interviews their perspectives on place in ESL education. The discussion of APASE's Community Mapping Project which concludes the thesis is presented as an example of how one association has done this: a place-centred curriculum which incorporates feminist pedagogy, understanding and awareness of place, and the importance of addressing environmental issues.

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The practice of contracting out services to non-governmental organisations (NGOs) has spread worldwide during the 1990's, and has significantly reshaped the relationship between government and NGOs. Within this dissertation, I explore the trend towards contracting at the international and South African levels. I argue that with the outsourcing of support services becoming an important performance strategy at an international level, there is no reason why NGOs in South Africa cannot start to perform a similar role. However, conclusions drawn from the experience of developed countries in relation to contracting should be treated with caution in South Africa. The continuing reform of the public sector in South Africa since 1994 has opened the window of opportunity for NGOs which have a record of valuable achievement in undertaking development work, and can demonstrate their capacity to establish contractual relationships with government and communities. The case study of the Association for Rural Advancement (AFRA) suggests that the practice of contracting NGOs in South Africa is still relatively new and therefore imperfect, because of severe capacity constraints. The major finding of this research is that evidence is mixed on the effects and outcomes of involving NGOs in contracting, but if used carefully contracting is a viable palliative for the existing fundraising shortage facing NGOs and can, more importantly, extend services to the majority of South Africans. / Thesis (M.Dev.Studies)-University of Natal, Durban, 2002.

Persons with disabilities face several barriers in their everyday lives and are often unable to participate fully in society or to reach their full potential. They often have little or no exposure to formal schooling or education, which means that they can only be employed at entry-level positions in organisations. When employed, they are often not nominated to attend any training interventions because of the logistical arrangements that need to be made to accommodate them. The central problem investigated in this research study was whether persons with disabilities were equally exposed to training interventions and opportunities in the Department of Trade and Industry (dti) and the Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office (CIPRO) as persons without disabilities. In other words, were they equally advanced in terms of skills development as envisaged by the JobAccess Strategy (the Strategic framework on the recruitment, employment and retention of persons with disabilities in the public service) and does this empowerment help redress past discriminatory practices? If not, what can the dti and CIPRO do to change this situation (2008:2) The JobAccess Strategy was approved by the South African Cabinet in November 2008. This strategy wanted to create a public service that can not only accommodate persons with disabilities as employees, but also advance them in terms of skills development. This study therefore aimed to determine whether persons with disabilities were equally exposed to training interventions in the dti and CIPRO as persons without disabilities; and whether persons with disabilities were equally advanced in terms of skills development as envisaged by the JobAccess Strategic Framework. Furthermore, the researcher aimed to determine to what extent the dti and CIPRO develop employed persons with disabilities in order to address their disadvantaged position by virtue of the discrimination they suffered in the past and, finally, the researcher made some recommendations to the management of the dti and CIPRO regarding the empowerment of persons with disabilities through training and development opportunities. In an effort to study this topic and accomplish the aims of the research project, a comprehensive literature review of recent and relevant literature sources available on the researched topic was conducted. The literature review included reference sources and the relevant legislation, as well as relevant information identified by means of electronic search engines. Special attention was given to defining important terms, such as disability, education, training and development, as well as to understanding the concept of disability by looking at different types and causes of disability. The researcher then gathered specific data on the dti and CIPRO from the following source documents: annual reports, work place skills plans, and annual training reports; and from individual interviews with the identified participants. Qualitative data were collected through individual interviews with staff members with disabilities and observations recorded by the researcher during the interviews. This was done in an attempt to gather first-hand data in a confidential, safe environment where interviewees could be honest and at ease. Broadly considered, the findings of the study were that the participants with disabilities employed in the two entities studied, were mainly exposed to repetitive, low-level training that would lead to little or no career advancement. A comparison of the percentage of trained employees with disabilities with their trained colleagues without disabilities also showed an unequal distribution. Based on the research findings, various recommendations were made with a view to improve the training opportunities of employees with disabilities in the dti and CIPRO. These recommendations included changes to the relevant policies and practices to ensure equal employment practices and developmental opportunities for all employees. / MEd (Training and Development), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012

Persons with disabilities face several barriers in their everyday lives and are often unable to participate fully in society or to reach their full potential. They often have little or no exposure to formal schooling or education, which means that they can only be employed at entry-level positions in organisations. When employed, they are often not nominated to attend any training interventions because of the logistical arrangements that need to be made to accommodate them. The central problem investigated in this research study was whether persons with disabilities were equally exposed to training interventions and opportunities in the Department of Trade and Industry (dti) and the Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office (CIPRO) as persons without disabilities. In other words, were they equally advanced in terms of skills development as envisaged by the JobAccess Strategy (the Strategic framework on the recruitment, employment and retention of persons with disabilities in the public service) and does this empowerment help redress past discriminatory practices? If not, what can the dti and CIPRO do to change this situation (2008:2) The JobAccess Strategy was approved by the South African Cabinet in November 2008. This strategy wanted to create a public service that can not only accommodate persons with disabilities as employees, but also advance them in terms of skills development. This study therefore aimed to determine whether persons with disabilities were equally exposed to training interventions in the dti and CIPRO as persons without disabilities; and whether persons with disabilities were equally advanced in terms of skills development as envisaged by the JobAccess Strategic Framework. Furthermore, the researcher aimed to determine to what extent the dti and CIPRO develop employed persons with disabilities in order to address their disadvantaged position by virtue of the discrimination they suffered in the past and, finally, the researcher made some recommendations to the management of the dti and CIPRO regarding the empowerment of persons with disabilities through training and development opportunities. In an effort to study this topic and accomplish the aims of the research project, a comprehensive literature review of recent and relevant literature sources available on the researched topic was conducted. The literature review included reference sources and the relevant legislation, as well as relevant information identified by means of electronic search engines. Special attention was given to defining important terms, such as disability, education, training and development, as well as to understanding the concept of disability by looking at different types and causes of disability. The researcher then gathered specific data on the dti and CIPRO from the following source documents: annual reports, work place skills plans, and annual training reports; and from individual interviews with the identified participants. Qualitative data were collected through individual interviews with staff members with disabilities and observations recorded by the researcher during the interviews. This was done in an attempt to gather first-hand data in a confidential, safe environment where interviewees could be honest and at ease. Broadly considered, the findings of the study were that the participants with disabilities employed in the two entities studied, were mainly exposed to repetitive, low-level training that would lead to little or no career advancement. A comparison of the percentage of trained employees with disabilities with their trained colleagues without disabilities also showed an unequal distribution. Based on the research findings, various recommendations were made with a view to improve the training opportunities of employees with disabilities in the dti and CIPRO. These recommendations included changes to the relevant policies and practices to ensure equal employment practices and developmental opportunities for all employees. / MEd (Training and Development), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012

In an atmosphere of declining support, rising costs, and an increasing emphasis on quality education, the need for effective fund-raising is important to American higher education. During the past decade, institutions of higher education, both public and private, faced difficult financial problems with no apparent end in sight. A growing number of colleges and universities have been threatened by the unstable economy and shrinking applicant pools and are faltering under this threat. Private higher education seems to be especially vulnerable to financial difficulty and has been historically dependent upon philanthropic support to complement traditional revenues in an effort to remain financially viable. As a result of this changing environment, the identification and development of enhanced and more diversified fund-raising strategies have emerged as one of the most significant and far-reaching needs presently confronting American higher education. This study investigated and analyzed academic leadership and management of advancement activities in American higher education with particular attention given to schools of dentistry. It focused on how American schools of dentistry may organize and manage their fund -raising programs to maximize voluntary financial support. With the prospect of declining support and rising costs, an aggressive and effective fund-raising program is arguably crucial to their survival. The study addressed the predominant organizational structure and management practices in the area of fund-raising at American schools of dentistry; the perceptions held by the deans and senior development officers in these same institutions as to the effectiveness of certain practices relating to fund-raising sources and constituencies, and methods and techniques used in their fund-raising programs; and the emerging pattern which might serve as a model for development programs at American schools of dentistry or other institutions of higher education. The study is composed of the entire population - a census of American schools of dentistry. Forty-five institutions (45/55) in thirty states, including Puerto Rico (30/34), participated in the survey and thirty-five deans (35/55) and thirty-five development officers (35/55) responded to the survey . The questionnaire is the principal means of data collection with a structured personal interview limited to the deans and development officers of the five California schools of dentistry. The deans and development officers cooperating in this survey give evidence that their major development-related functions are consistent with trends toward greater specialization in fund-raising. A high percentage (87.5 percent) of the dean respondents acknowledge affirmatively to making use of strategic planning as a management tool for the school's advancement activities. The dean respondents characterized the alumni as the most important giving constituency and the annual fund as the principal funding source. They also regard personal visits as the most effective method of soliciting funds for their institutions. The development officer respondents emphasized ideas, goals, and directions of their school's advancement program while being most aware of the specific mechanics of fund-raising. The guiding outlines of a model development program for American schools of dentistry appear to emerge from this exploratory study.