Studier har visat att det finns ett gap mellan de egenskaper som arbetsgivare eftersöker och de personliga attribut som studenter besitter. Generic skills är personliga förmågor hos en individ som är användbara inom alla yrkesroller och nivåer i karriären och det är en mycket relevant aspekt av begreppet anställningsbarhet. Anställningsbarhet definierades ursprungligen som förmågan att få ett arbete, behålla detta arbete, samt att kunna finna ett nytt arbete om det skulle krävas. Studier har visat att generic skills utvecklas via kontakt med arbetslivet, till exempel i form av deltids- och säsongsanställningar, men en annan viktig metod för att utveckla studenters generic skills är arbetsintegrerade insatser under utbildningen. Syftet med studien var att undersöka huruvida arbetsgivares syn på vilka egenskaper som är viktiga i rekryteringssammanhang stämmer överens med de egenskaper som studenterna tror sig besitta, samt om studenternas uppfattning överensstämmer med de egenskaper som arbetsgivare faktiskt värdesätter. Studien bestod av två datainsamlingar. I den ena datainsamlingen deltog 74 företag inom Trestadsområdet och i den andra undersökningen deltog 466 studenter vid Högskolan Väst. Det huvudsakliga resultatet visade att studenterna tror sig besitta två av de tre, av arbetsgivarna, högst skattade egenskaperna, nämligen ansvarstagande och arbetsmoral. Dessa två egenskaper var även de som studenterna antog att arbetsgivare skulle värdesätta. Resultatet från studien stämmer inte överens med tidigare forskning. Slutsatsen blev att generic skills värdesätts i olika mån beroende på sammanhanget. Avslutningsvis diskuteras det huruvida Högskolan Västs arbetsintegrerade insatser har lett till att studenterna tror sig besitta ett flertal av de egenskaper som arbetsgivare faktiskt eftersöker / Research has indicated that there is a gap between which skills employer’s seek and what attributes student’s actually possess. Generic skills are defined as personal attributes, which are useful in all kinds of professions, at all levels in the career. Generic skills is an inherent part of any discussion about employability. Employability was originally defined as the ability to gain, maintain and regain employment. Studies have shown that generic skills are developed by real world experience, and due to this, work-integration during the education is crucial in order to develop generic skills. The aim of the present study was to compare whether employer’s perception of generic skills are consistent with the skills that students actually possess and if the students perceptions are the same as the one’s that employers value the most. The present study consisted of two surveys. In the first study 74 employers participated, and in the second survey 466 students at the University West participated. The main result showed that students believed they possessed two out of three, by the employers, top-rated skills (responsibility and work ethic) and these two skills where consistent with the student’s perceptions of which skills employers would value. This was not consistent with previous research. The conclusion was that generic skills may be valued differently due to the context. 2 Finally, it was debated if the high level of work-integration at University West could have led to the fact that the students possess several skills that employers value

Higher education institutions are always directed through policy reforms to promote graduates employability by developing skills in students that contribute to human capital. This interest in employability through education system in the development of skills reflects is part of human capital theory. Considering this, underlying research investigates the expectation-performance gap in the development of generic skills for the purpose of employability offered by the accounting institutes of Pakistan. For the purpose of answering the research question, this research, adopted the theoretical framework of ‘expectation-performance gap’ by Bui and Porter and analysed it within the context of Pakistan. Adoption of this theoretical framework implies the evaluation of three constituent factors as research objectives; the ‘expectation gap’ (reflecting the differences in the expectations of accounting educators and employers), the ‘constraints gap’ (limiting factors to develop generic skills into the student learning process) and the ‘performance gap’ (reflecting the ineffectiveness of teaching activities). However, there is also a fourth objective, that is, to evaluate an outline of the ‘skills acquisition framework’ considering the context of Pakistan’s accounting job-market. Principally this research adopts the survey strategy of a questionnaire with closed-ended questions in order to collect the data. But for the purpose of refining the content of the questionnaire for relevance to the context of Pakistan there are also cognitive interviews. Thus, this research entails a mixed-method approach. The qualitative data from the interviews was analysed using content analysis, thematic analysis and textual analysis. Whereas the quantitative data from the questionnaires was analysed using numerous statistical techniques such as Mann-Whitney U-test, Independent sample t-test, Statistical mean and Principal Component Analysis. The findings related to the ‘expectation gap’ were that there are 19 skills where the accounting educators have dissimilar expectation from employers in terms of skill base education, such skills include decision making, economics, ability to analyse and reason logically, teamwork etc. The findings related to the ‘constraints gap’ were that there are 6 constraining elements which are prevailing within the context of professional accounting education, such constraints include ‘training organisations are not following standard procedures to develop skills in students’, ‘people (potential students) have misperception about accounting education’, 'enrolling students have weak academic background', ‘inadequate stipend offered by training organisations to trainees’, ‘accounting institutes are not appreciating teaching activities, and lack of training opportunities for academics’. The findings related to the ‘performance gap’ were that there are 24 skills where the accounting educators found to be ineffective in the development of skills in students as expected by employers for employment purpose, such skills include inter or multidisciplinary perspective, financial risk analysis, think and behave ethically, independent thinking etc. From the perspective of the ‘skills acquisition framework’, overall 6 skills components were identified from the perspective of Pakistan's accounting job-market, such skills components include appreciative skills, interpersonal skills, technical and functional skills, organisational and business management skills, personal skills and professional skills. Considering the novelty of the adopted theoretical framework (expectation-performance gap by Bui and Porter, 2010) there was a related paucity of literature employing it for empirical investigation using the questionnaire based approach. Therefore, this research provides such theoretical underpinning to this framework that now enables it to be used within the questionnaire based approach. Further this research has described all the generic skills used in this study from the accounting disciplinary perspective and highlights the constraining elements that are assumed to limit the ability of professional accounting institutes. This research also provides a skill acquisition framework which could be used as a reference point for new entrants to the accounting job-market.

This mixed method study sought to explore the perceptions of key stakeholders in education, on the role and contribution of ICT in Scottish secondary schools towards generic skills development among pupils for post school transitions. The timing of this study coincided with a period characterised by contextual pressures globally, marked with technology changes, youth unemployment and curriculum reviews. A review of literature was conducted systematically to evaluate the explicit permeation of ICT in Scottish schools. A sequential mixed method design was adopted for the two phased study commencing with a convenience sampling technique for the first phase, involving 1364 upper secondary school pupils from all eight schools, 64 teachers and the 17 employers in one local Council in Scotland. A purposive sampling technique was applied to select two sample schools for the second phase, based on best use and practices of ICT. Questionnaires were administered online and in person at the first phase, followed by a semi structured interview at the second phase. SPSS was used for descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and one way Anova, while Nvivo 10 software was used for thematic analysis from the interview transcript. The study offers a framework for personalisation starting with identification of pupils’ ability and ICT skill level at inception classes, followed by a personalised learning design incorporating pupils’ interest, ability and post school destination. The study also proposes separate roles for teachers and policy makers in order to maintain teachers’ autonomy, as policy makers’ interference has been identified to have an impact on teachers’ professionalism, effectiveness and confidence necessary for imparting generic skills in pupils. A series of recommendations are provided for future research, including a longitudinal evaluation of generic skills acquired from individual school subjects through the upper school years to post school destination, to ascertain effective transfer and sustainability of generic skills.

Regional accounting firm leaders face challenges with employees who possess strong technical skills, but lack nontechnical communicating and teamwork skills. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies regional accounting firm leaders use to train technical staff on soft skills. The human capital theory was the conceptual framework supporting the study. Data were collected from semistructured interviews with partners, leaders, managers, and human resource personnel with 5 years or more of experience who participated in the hiring, training, and professional development process at 3 regional CPA firms. The review of company documents and company website postings triangulated the semistructured interviews. Data analysis entailed coding, conceptualizing concepts and ideas, identifying themes, and member checking to ensure the trustworthiness of interpretations. Based on the data collected, 3 themes emerged after the analysis including soft skills needed for success, mentoring and leadership programs, and team building initiatives. Findings from this study may contribute to social change by providing strategies regional accounting firms could use to provide soft skills training and mentoring initiatives to technical staff. Improvement in soft skills training may improve employees' lives by increasing their employability, career progression, and transition within the workplace, which may improve the economic wellbeing of local communities.

This thesis explores the relationship between information literacy and learning. In formal education, students are frequently required to independently find and use information to learn about a topic, and information literacy is often claimed to be a generic skill and graduate attribute. However, to date; the experienced relationship between information literacy and learning has not been investigated. In order to investigate this experience, I have based this research on interviews with 19 students enrolled in third year music composition courses, and 18 students enrolled in a third year tax law course at an Australian university. My primary research question was 'What is the experienced relationship between information literacy and learning?' The secondary research question was "What are the generic and situated aspects of information literacy?' In this study, I have used phenomenography to describe the qualitatively different ways that students in two distinct disciplines experience the relationship between information literacy and learning. I have suggested curriculum implications of this description based on a relational approach to learning and teaching. The outcomes of the study include two related sets of categories which map the experience of students in music composition and tax law, and the theoretical GeST windows model for information literacy which is based upon literacy models and theories. The key findings of this study include: * A description of the nature of the experienced relationship between information literacy and learning in music composition and tax law as 1) Applying, 2) Discovering and 3) Expressing (music) or Understanding (tax law); * the theoretical GeST windows model and alignment of the model with the empirical study; * the presentation of curriculum implications in music and tax law, and * an exploration of the nature of information as-it-is-experienced. The findings may be used by teachers, students, librarians, academic skills advisors, academic developers and policy makers in higher education.

<p>Föreliggande uppsats utgår från ett potentiellt problem för Försvarsmakten att i det nyligen införda tvåbefälssystemet omhänderta den högskolemässigt utbildade officeren som sannolikt generellt innehar en högre utbildningsnivå och mer uttalad karriärambition än de äldre yrkesofficerarna från det tidigare enbefälssystemet NBO.</p><p>Uppsatsens syfte är att tydliggöra vilka förutsättningar på arbetsplatsen som gäller för tvåbefälsystemets högskolemässigt utbildade officerare vid officersprogrammet ur ett anställningsbarhetsperspektiv. Anställningsbarhetsbegreppet kommer att utgöra det redskap som jag applicerar på det avgränsade empiriska materialet för att se vilka förutsättningar, som gäller på arbetsplatsen i jämförelse med kraven i examensbeskrivningen för de högskolemässigt utbildade officerarna då de tagit examen sommaren 2010. Är de anställningsbara? Genom en dokumentgranskning tolkas och jämförs de dokument som ligger till grund för officersutbildningen och de strategiska styrdokument som definierar Försvarsmaktens verksamhet.</p><p>Resultatet visar utifrån ett anställningsbarhetsperspektiv att Försvarsmaktens dokument och officersprogrammets utbildningsplan samt examensbeskrivning i stort sett stämmer väl överens vilket borgar för en hög anställningsbarhet hos officeren.</p> / <p>Present thesis raises a potential problem for the Swedish Armed Forces to care for its academically trained officers of the newly imposed all rank system. They will generally hold possession of a higher level of education and also generally express a greater concern for their advancement than their predecessors of the old rank system.</p><p>The object of the thesis is to illustrate what conditions that applies on the workplace for the academically trained officers of a employability perspective when commissioned. The employability definition will be used as the tool applied on the empirical material to see what conditions that is applicable on the workplace in comparison with the demands of the examination requirements for the academically trained officers when they get commissioned in the summer of 2010. Are the employable? Thru a qualitative study of documents regarding the education of officers and the Armed Forces strategic activities it’s contents are interpreted and compared.</p><p>The result shows from a employability perspective that the Armed Forces documents and the officers programme’s examination requirements and education plan mainly correspond which is a guarantee for a high level of employability for the officer.</p>

Föreliggande uppsats utgår från ett potentiellt problem för Försvarsmakten att i det nyligen införda tvåbefälssystemet omhänderta den högskolemässigt utbildade officeren som sannolikt generellt innehar en högre utbildningsnivå och mer uttalad karriärambition än de äldre yrkesofficerarna från det tidigare enbefälssystemet NBO. Uppsatsens syfte är att tydliggöra vilka förutsättningar på arbetsplatsen som gäller för tvåbefälsystemets högskolemässigt utbildade officerare vid officersprogrammet ur ett anställningsbarhetsperspektiv. Anställningsbarhetsbegreppet kommer att utgöra det redskap som jag applicerar på det avgränsade empiriska materialet för att se vilka förutsättningar, som gäller på arbetsplatsen i jämförelse med kraven i examensbeskrivningen för de högskolemässigt utbildade officerarna då de tagit examen sommaren 2010. Är de anställningsbara? Genom en dokumentgranskning tolkas och jämförs de dokument som ligger till grund för officersutbildningen och de strategiska styrdokument som definierar Försvarsmaktens verksamhet. Resultatet visar utifrån ett anställningsbarhetsperspektiv att Försvarsmaktens dokument och officersprogrammets utbildningsplan samt examensbeskrivning i stort sett stämmer väl överens vilket borgar för en hög anställningsbarhet hos officeren. / Present thesis raises a potential problem for the Swedish Armed Forces to care for its academically trained officers of the newly imposed all rank system. They will generally hold possession of a higher level of education and also generally express a greater concern for their advancement than their predecessors of the old rank system. The object of the thesis is to illustrate what conditions that applies on the workplace for the academically trained officers of a employability perspective when commissioned. The employability definition will be used as the tool applied on the empirical material to see what conditions that is applicable on the workplace in comparison with the demands of the examination requirements for the academically trained officers when they get commissioned in the summer of 2010. Are the employable? Thru a qualitative study of documents regarding the education of officers and the Armed Forces strategic activities it’s contents are interpreted and compared. The result shows from a employability perspective that the Armed Forces documents and the officers programme’s examination requirements and education plan mainly correspond which is a guarantee for a high level of employability for the officer.

Magister Educationis - MEd / In this paper, I focus on the issue of student perceptions and experiences of a 3rd generation academic development programme in higher education. I set out to explore the issue from two perspectives: firstly from the perspective of the higher education institution’s approach to academic development, namely, a learning skills programme and a first year sociology course, and secondly from the perspective of students’ intentions, expectations and experiences of such a programme. The research questions focused on the learning priorities embedded in the curriculum of a learning skills programme at Monash University, South Africa and the learning experiences of students in this programme.The methodology used in this study includes a case study which focused on the responses of six participants from a number of African countries completing their BA degrees. Semistructured interviews held and the content analysis method was used to analyse the data. The study concludes: that the main priority of the learning skills programme is to prepare students for their university learning rather than to prepare students for the world of work i.e. it falls within Street’s (2004) academic socialization model and that the Learning Skills programme can be seen as an example of Boughey’s (2007) 3rd generation academic development programmes.The study also suggests that there is a need to explore Volbrecht’s (2003) argument on the limitations of discipline-based models of academic development, the need to examine how academic literacy is constructed and how identity and power relations intersect in this construction. It further highlights the importance of the idea of multi-literacies as put forward by Street (2004) and suggests that as practitioners we should include a consideration of these literacies in academic development programmes to improve the quality of students’ learning and meaning making.

The purpose of the study was to determine the developmental needs of HRD practitioners in selected departments of the South African Public Service. Developmental needs as an independent variable and the role of HRD practitioners – marketing HRD interventions, conducting training needs analyses, designing and developing HRD interventions, implementing HRD interventions, and monitoring, evaluating and giving feedback on HRD interventions - were investigated. A sample of seventy (70) HRD practitioners working in seven public service departments was drawn. The developmental needs to market HRD interventions, conduct training needs analyses, design and develop HRD interventions, implement HRD interventions, and monitor, evaluate and give feedback on HRD interventions were determined within and between HRD practitioners and public service departments to establish differences and similarities. Results averred that HRD practitioners have developmental needs to perform the abovementioned functions. However, compared to Blacks and Whites, Coloureds and Indians seem to have more developmental needs in marketing, conducting training needs analysis, implementing HRD interventions and generic HRD skills. HRD practitioners from the departments of Health and Transport seemed to have more developmental needs in conducting training needs analyses and designing and developing HRD interventions when compared to other public service departments. Females need more development in marketing and implementing HRD interventions than males. HRD practitioner developmental needs in implementing, monitoring, evaluating, and giving feedback on HRD interventions were the same for all age groups. HRD practitioners in the department of Health and Transport need more development in generic skills compared to other departments. However developmental needs on generic skills are the same for all age groups. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Human Resource Management / unrestricted

Magister Educationis (Adult Learning and Global Change) - MEd(AL) / The main objective of the research is to analyze critically how the curriculum at a Community College in the Western Cape prepares young adults for the world of work in the fields of Travel and Tourism and Small Medium and Micro Enterprise (SMME) and develops their capabilities to become functioning members in society. I was guided by concepts such as knowledge and skills necessary to enhance employability as well as people‟s wellbeing and capability development. The data was gathered through interviews and analysis of national and institutional policy documents. The analysis of documents helped me to understand the curriculum‟s orientation to the world of work and its responsiveness to personal and social needs of young adults. The interview data helped me to reflect on the main research question, “What are the perspectives of academic staff, industry/sector representatives and young adults themselves on the knowledge and skills needed in the curriculum to prepare young adults for the world of work?” My research shows that the curriculum of the ABET Level 4 programme has become more vocationally oriented. It prepares students for the world of work in a general way; but there are some limitations. There is no practical work experience or work exposure as in the curricula of programmes at TVET colleges and universities. The research also found that the formal curriculum in combination with the extra-curricular activities had benefits for students in terms of personal development and equipping them to function better in their social environments. However, offering these activities depends on efforts made by lecturers over and above their normal duties and on donations from various sources. Extending or sustaining this combination of activities requires adequate staffing and resources. Finally the research highlighted various barriers students encountered and suggested that many of these barriers arise from structural constraints in the world of work and society. The research suggests that it is necessary but not sufficient to focus on the employability of young people and to equip them with knowledge and skills to prepare them for the world of work; it is also necessary to look beyond employability and consider the wellbeing of students (Powell, 2012; Jackson, 2005; Baatjes and Baatjes, 2008; Ngcwangu, 2019; Motala and Pampallis, 2007). Therefore my research suggests that education should not have a narrow focus and that the curriculum should integrate vocational and general education (Young, 1999). Furthermore, there should be a holistic approach in the curriculum which responds to multiple objectives including preparation for work and for functioning effectively in other areas of one‟s life. This implies that the curriculum should prepare students for the world of work AND take into account their well-being, dreams and aspirations for a better life.