Despite the feminisation of the workplace as one of the key developments of this domain, the meaning of work for women is little understood. A phenomenological approach was adopted in this study to gain in-depth understanding of the meaning ascribed to work by a sample of ten South African, women graduates. Literature was used to generate three models - a male-centred, stereotyped and contemporary conceptualisation. Unstructured interviews were conducted and the protocols analysed using the modified Stevick-Colaizzi-Keen method (Creswell, 1998; Stones, 1985; 1986). Themes illustrated that the meaning of work for women is multifaceted and comprises a number of components including sense of identity and self-worth, meeting instrumental needs, social relatedness, serving others, intrinsic satisfaction and the exercise of power and authority. Findings suggested that the meaning women ascribe to work changes when they experience autonomy. Recommendations were made for future research and organisational practices. / Indust and Org Psychology / MA(IND AND ORG PSYCHOLOGY)

The theoretical part of this presented text specifies circumstances of social exclusion of caring families and the system of supportive measures in the Czech republic that should prevent the above mentioned social event. In compliance with the title of the work there has been a goal set: to identify the risks causing social exclusion of families caring for children with a disability.. To get the most complex view of the said problems the author undertook a partial inquiry by both social workers, by whom she was assessing the limits of their knowledge and skill potential, and by political representatives of municipalities, by whom she concentrated on the causes of limited application of municipal policy determining social exclusion of families caring for children with a disability. The above mentioned goal of this research was carried out by means of sociological qualitative and quantitative methods. The investigator was at the same time interested in how the caring families themselves used the means of civilian participation relating to improvement of their life situation.

(in English): The thesis focuses on the quality of life of carers of people with dementia being cared for at home. The theoretical section describes the concept of quality of life in general terms, but also considers carers accounts of their own personal experience. This section then outlines the various stages of dementia and how they impact the quality of life of caregivers. To complete the picture, this is followed by an assessment of care burden but also the various positive aspects arising from caring for dementia patients. By conducting semi-structured interviews, this work aims to investigate how excarers assess and value their experience of caring and whether, either while they were caring or retrospectively, they were aware of any positive aspects of caring for dementia patients and if so, specify what they were and if caregivers found personal meaning in their caregiving experience. Hence, the core area of interest is whether positive aspects of caregiving, finding meaning and cognitive restructuring could form the basis of a successful intervention, which may positively impact quality of life of current caregivers of dementia patients. While excarers mentioned numerous positive aspects associated with caregiving, some also referred to the meaning that they have found through caregiving....

Stakeholder involvement in strategic planning: a strategy to mitigate the effects of HIV and AIDS on secondary education in Botswana. This study explores the involvement of stakeholders in strategic planning to mitigate the effect of HIV and AIDS in secondary education in Botswana. The prevalence of HIV and AIDS-related illness and deaths is high in Botswana and affects both teachers and learners. Education provision has been affected through increased mortality and morbidity and increased absenteeism which affect education-related personnel and the demand for education has been reduced due to growing numbers of orphaned and vulnerable children as a consequence of parent/guardian mortality and morbidity related to HIV and AIDS. The problem was investigated by means of a literature review and an empirical inquiry which combined quantitative and qualitative data collection. Based on the findings, in addition to medical and other interventions, an education management approach is required to mitigate the effects of HIV and AIDS on secondary education in Botswana. The strategies of coping, caring and preventing have been effective in this regard. Some internal stakeholders of the Department of Secondary Education (DSE) are not meaningfully involved in strategic planning. Similarly, most of the selected external stakeholders were not involved in the DSE HIV and AIDS strategic plan. Both external and internal stakeholders should be involved at all stages of planning. Furthermore, inducement-contribution exchanges and teacher credibility should be considered in a strategic plan. To improve the current DSE strategic plan, a stakeholder involvement model to involve internal and external stakeholders was designed. Based on this model and the above findings, recommendations for practice and suggestions for future research are made. / Educational Studies / D.Ed.(Educational Management)

Stakeholder involvement in strategic planning: a strategy to mitigate the effects of HIV and AIDS on secondary education in Botswana. This study explores the involvement of stakeholders in strategic planning to mitigate the effect of HIV and AIDS in secondary education in Botswana. The prevalence of HIV and AIDS-related illness and deaths is high in Botswana and affects both teachers and learners. Education provision has been affected through increased mortality and morbidity and increased absenteeism which affect education-related personnel and the demand for education has been reduced due to growing numbers of orphaned and vulnerable children as a consequence of parent/guardian mortality and morbidity related to HIV and AIDS. The problem was investigated by means of a literature review and an empirical inquiry which combined quantitative and qualitative data collection. Based on the findings, in addition to medical and other interventions, an education management approach is required to mitigate the effects of HIV and AIDS on secondary education in Botswana. The strategies of coping, caring and preventing have been effective in this regard. Some internal stakeholders of the Department of Secondary Education (DSE) are not meaningfully involved in strategic planning. Similarly, most of the selected external stakeholders were not involved in the DSE HIV and AIDS strategic plan. Both external and internal stakeholders should be involved at all stages of planning. Furthermore, inducement-contribution exchanges and teacher credibility should be considered in a strategic plan. To improve the current DSE strategic plan, a stakeholder involvement model to involve internal and external stakeholders was designed. Based on this model and the above findings, recommendations for practice and suggestions for future research are made. / Educational Studies / D.Ed.(Educational Management)