Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the Masters in Management Sciences: Tourism and Hospitality Management, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2017. / With the accelerating growth in the tourism industry and its anchorage in the service-industry, the utilisation of people is a valuable resource for a tourism organisation. There are increased pressures on educational institutions from the government and the tourism industry to produce employable graduates. Thus, it remains imperative that tourism organisations have access to a pool of human resources that possess the required knowledge, skills and attitudes. As a result, educational institutions build workplace learning (WPL) into tourism curricula to ensure the transferability of skills and a smoother transition for all stakeholders into the tourism industry. This study set out to determine the impact WPL has on a tourism student’s employability in the tourism industry. The literature highlights a number of key issues hindering the success of WPL for tourism graduate employability. These include, a lack of alignment of curriculum, supervision challenges and partnerships with the tourism industry. Using a mixed methodological approach comprising both quantitative and qualitative methodologies, comparisons among stakeholders’ perceptions and attitudes were conducted. The stakeholders are: tourism graduates from 2011-2014, academic supervisors and workplace supervisors in the tourism industry. Stakeholders’ perceptions of WPL structured the depth and sharpened understanding of the success as well as issues hindering the successful implementation of WPL and consequent unemployment. Among the main challenges were the placement of students and the inadequate feedback between stakeholders. The empirical findings underpinned effective communication as imperative in developing and maintaining quality partnerships for WPL. Among the many knock on benefits is the successful transfer of skills to tourism students. It is hoped that this research will contribute to the dearth of literature on tourism WPL and tackle salient gaps in tourism employability. / M

In this dissertation, I present an examination of the economics of education through three chapters. In the first paper, I study the overrepresentation of elite university graduates in senior positions in public administration. Using rich administrative data from Chile, I employ a stacked fuzzy regression discontinuity design to estimate the causal effect of attending elite universities versus non-elite institutions on the likelihood of working in the public sector and attaining top positions within it. The findings suggest that while the observed disparity in top positions within public administration is largely a result of selection rather than inherent advantages of elite education, attending elite universities may enhance social mobility for students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, particularly within specific majors. In the second paper, my coauthors and I propose an alternative approach using algorithms to predict college readiness and guide course placement. Drawing on experimental data from seven community colleges, the study shows that algorithmic placement increases placement rates into college-level courses without sacrificing pass rates. Moreover, algorithmic placement shows promise in narrowing demographic disparities in placement rates and remedial course enrollment, outperforming traditional placement tests in terms of predictive accuracy while mitigating discrimination. In the final chapter, I explore the relationship between school counselor availability and disciplinary outcomes in middle and high schools across the United States. Leveraging exogenous variations in student-to-counselor ratios driven by state recommendations and mandates, I employ administrative data from 26 states to estimate the causal impact of counselor availability on disciplinary actions such as suspensions, expulsions, and transfers. The results indicate that increased counselor availability reduces school disciplinary actions, with larger effects observed in high schools compared to middle schools. Moreover, speculative analyses suggest that the effectiveness of counselors in mitigating disciplinary issues may be complemented by the overall staffing levels in high schools. This dissertation contributes to our understanding of how educational policies and practices shape individual outcomes and societal inequalities, shedding light on avenues for promoting social mobility, improving educational access and equity, and fostering conducive learning environments.

鄭均杰. / "2013年8月". / "2013 nian 8 yue". / Thesis (Ed.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2013. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 120-123). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract in Chinese and English. / Zheng Junjie.

University education is ideally expected to significantly expand higher education capabilities among students. Yet, if left unchecked, university education processes can under-equip students in terms of higher education capabilities. In the last one and a half decades, public university education in Uganda has been rapidly growing in terms of student enrolment and course completion. However, the higher education capability levels among students and consequently new graduates (2001-2010) have apparently been declining, especially in terms of practical reason, sociality and participation, learning dispositions, and science and technology. The current study analyses why the new graduates of public universities in Uganda are seemingly deficient in higher education capabilities. Data for analysis were mainly collected from 221 stakeholders of two public universities, namely Makerere University and Mbarara University. The analysis focused on respondents’ perceptions of the three sub-variables of university education, namely curriculum content, teaching processes, and learning processes. Through regression analysis, it was established that these sub-variables jointly predict higher education capability expansion among students in Uganda by 81.2%. Meanwhile, results from qualitative analyses suggest that the curriculum content of public university education is at an acceptable standard and, therefore, a minor cause of higher education capability deficiency among students. However, the teaching processes are perceived as ineffective since lecturers mainly use non-participatory approaches, teach fewer sessions than timetabled, and engage ‘liberal’ quality assurance measures that are open to abuse. Moreover, the learning approaches of some students seem to be surface in nature and the students’ levels of research learning and practice are low. Hence, the study conclusions suggest that low levels of higher education capabilities among students or new graduates in Uganda are largely due to ineffective teaching and learning processes at the two public universities studied. Consequently, the study recommends that, in a bid to enhance higher education capability expansion among students, public universities should focus on improving teaching processes and learning processes, particularly on staff pedagogical skills, commitment, quality controls, and reducing the number of students enrolled in most university courses. / Development Studies / D. Litt et Phil. (Development Studies)

This study examined the relationship the television news sequence at four-year colleges and universities has with the employment marketability of those students who major in television news. Both vocational and academic approaches were examined. Three factors were taken into consideration: if the completion of any television news curriculum aids in the television news graduate's employment marketability, if the television news curriculum has merit when weighed against work experience without completion of such a discipline, and if another academic sequence might better prepare the aspiring television journalist. The study is significant in that the field of television news has been glutted in recent years by an influx of graduates who believe that the work is glamorous and exciting. Many graduates lack the basic verbal and mechanical skills to compete in the job marketplace. The first two chapters discuss the research problem and the factors comprising it. Details of the research design follow, dividing the study into an assessment of the problem and the analysis of the results of a questionnaire that was mailed to 213 television news anchors selected through a stratified random process. A background chapter on various television news curricula is included, with numerous books and periodicals cited. Educational profiles of selected network news anchors are also featured. Almost 60 percent of the local news anchors contacted completed and returned the questionnaires. The nominal data is discussed and presented in tabular form; the data is also analyzed through a series of cross-tabulations using specific demographical information and responses. Findings of the survey indicate that the television news sequence does not appreciably aid the graduate in securing employment, that practical experience outweighs the merits of completing such a sequence, and that the aspiring television journalist might benefit more from a concentration in the liberal arts.

Text in English / In its proposal of a communication strategy that will be of use as an enabling tool for increasing graduate employment potential, this study contributes uniquely to the discipline of communication. It envisages that communication takes into consideration the involvement of the key stakeholders, namely: government, labour market, education system, and media. Amid unemployment challenges that affect the majority of the population, media is regarded as a powerful tool to reach the majority of the population. With specific regard to graduate unemployment, media-driven interaction with unemployed graduates is not as efficient as it should be. Factors contributing to graduate unemployment are identified as career choices, skills shortage, job opportunities, career development, work experience, skills development, entrepreneurial skills, internships, and access to the labour market. It is also important to note that media is regarded as tool for disseminating information about such factors. In order to address this problem, the study establishes an integrated communication strategy that will be of use as an enabling tool for increasing the potential of graduate employment. The role of such communication could be applicable in various ways, such as organisational communication, business communication, public communication, personal communication, interpersonal communication, etc. This study locates itself in the domain of public communication because information about unemployment issues is a matter of public concern. This study adopts mixed research methodologies, with a survey research design—in order to gather data from the graduate students at a University of Technology. The study found that while social and print media are highly preferred and used due to their accessibility, there is a need to stress their use with regard to employment search. The main concepts that contributed to the establishment of the strategy included strategic communication, unemployment and media. It must be here noted that, for purposes of this study, strategic communication was informed by a confluence of the constitutive model of communication, systems theory, and situational theory of publics. The phenomenon of unemployment is informed by unemployment approaches, on the one hand, and the Maslow theory of needs, on the other. Furthermore, the understanding of the concept of media is informed by mass communication approaches and media richness theory. This thesis expects that, as an outcome, such a communication strategy would increase graduate employment potential. Public relations planning model is applied in the study in order to guide the implementation of the proposed communication strategy. / Communication Science / D. Litt. et Phil. (Communication Science)

Thesis (MComm)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / The fiercely competitive nature of South Africa’s skilled labour market has necessitated a degree of awareness, from employers and researchers alike, of factors that potentially attract skilled graduates. Drawing on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) (Ajzen, 1991) the present study explored the formation of intentions towards job pursuit activities (i.e., submitting an application form) of the South African graduate. The proposed model of applicant intention that was tested in the present study is based on salient beliefs — an applicant’s attitude towards behaviour, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control — that determine the development and strength of intentions to apply for a job. The study was conducted in two phases using a mixed method approach. The first phase employed a qualitative design on a sample (N = 32) of students in order to elicit salient beliefs associated with applying to a chosen organisation. Next, we conducted interviews, administered open-ended questionnaires and conducted content analysis to identify applicants’ salient behavioural beliefs about applying. The second phase of the study employed a quantitative design to test the hypotheses that behavioural beliefs (attitudinal beliefs, normative beliefs and control beliefs) would influence intention to apply. We administered belief-based measures to a convenience sample (N = 854) of students from a tertiary institution in the Western Cape. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) of the measurement and structural models found that the hypothesised models fit the data reasonably well and significant relationships between perceived behavioural control and intention to apply were confirmed. Latent variable correlation analysis showed that all three behavioural beliefs (attitude towards behaviour, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control) were significantly related to intention to apply, but only normative and control beliefs showed significant path coefficients when all the beliefs were considered jointly in the structural model. Following the confirmatory factor analysis, we further explored socio-demographic group differences in the levels of, and relationship between, behavioural beliefs and intention to apply to an organisation. The results showed that perceived behavioural control had a significant relationship with intention to apply. The study makes three important contributions to the literature. First, TPB can be a useful framework to explain graduate applicant’s intention to apply. Second, the significant role of perceived behavioural control and subjective norm in the formation of graduate applicant intentions was highlighted. Third, the diagnostic utility of the TPB framework for applicant intentions was established. Finally, the results suggest there might be group differences in behavioural beliefs and intention to apply – a finding that calls for more research on graduate applicant decision-making in the South African context.

University education is ideally expected to significantly expand higher education capabilities among students. Yet, if left unchecked, university education processes can under-equip students in terms of higher education capabilities. In the last one and a half decades, public university education in Uganda has been rapidly growing in terms of student enrolment and course completion. However, the higher education capability levels among students and consequently new graduates (2001-2010) have apparently been declining, especially in terms of practical reason, sociality and participation, learning dispositions, and science and technology. The current study analyses why the new graduates of public universities in Uganda are seemingly deficient in higher education capabilities. Data for analysis were mainly collected from 221 stakeholders of two public universities, namely Makerere University and Mbarara University. The analysis focused on respondents’ perceptions of the three sub-variables of university education, namely curriculum content, teaching processes, and learning processes. Through regression analysis, it was established that these sub-variables jointly predict higher education capability expansion among students in Uganda by 81.2%. Meanwhile, results from qualitative analyses suggest that the curriculum content of public university education is at an acceptable standard and, therefore, a minor cause of higher education capability deficiency among students. However, the teaching processes are perceived as ineffective since lecturers mainly use non-participatory approaches, teach fewer sessions than timetabled, and engage ‘liberal’ quality assurance measures that are open to abuse. Moreover, the learning approaches of some students seem to be surface in nature and the students’ levels of research learning and practice are low. Hence, the study conclusions suggest that low levels of higher education capabilities among students or new graduates in Uganda are largely due to ineffective teaching and learning processes at the two public universities studied. Consequently, the study recommends that, in a bid to enhance higher education capability expansion among students, public universities should focus on improving teaching processes and learning processes, particularly on staff pedagogical skills, commitment, quality controls, and reducing the number of students enrolled in most university courses. / Development Studies / D. Litt et Phil. (Development Studies)

The problem with which this study is concerned is that of determining the possible differential effects of the alternative training patterns of handcrafted textile design students in universities and polytechnics in Nigeria on the scores in courses for their final-year training as well as the type of first employment that students secure after graduation.

Recent studies have shown that graduates from historically White universities (HWUs) experience better labour market outcomes than graduates from historically Black universities (HBUs). This is a result of the legacy of apartheid which promoted racial inequality in all spheres of South African society, more especially in higher education and the labour market. Post-1994, government dedicated large amounts for the restructuring of the higher education sector of South Africa in order to level out the playing field. However, graduates from HWUs still experience better labour market success than graduates from HBUs. That said, there is limited information about the labour market outcomes and experiences of graduates from a former White university (especially graduates from Rhodes University). Therefore, the central aim of this dissertation is to show that graduates from a historically White university (Rhodes University) experience varying and unequal outcomes in the South African labour market on account of (among other factors) their chosen fields of study, race and sex. This study is informed by the heterodox labour market approach, which is partly inspired by the critical realist account of the labour market. As a result, this theoretical framework allowed the researcher to use the Labour Market Segmentation (LMS) theory as a tool to inform this analysis. The study has adopted a quantitative survey design and has incorporated some of the key methodological lessons learned from the collection of international graduate tracer studies. The findings from this study indicated that ‘field of study’ is a strong determiner of the outcomes of Rhodes graduates in the labour market. This was visible in the persistence of a skills bias towards commerce and science graduates. Evidently, even when we controlled for race and sex, graduates from the commerce and science faculties experience better labour market outcomes than humanities graduates. This is a result of a skills biased South African economy, which has a higher demand for certain skills over others. However, the findings from this study also show evidence of pre-labour market discrimination and inequality (based on race and sex) in the supply-side institutions such as the family, schooling and university. The findings also show continuities and discontinuities of labour market discrimination (based on race and sex) in the outcomes of Rhodes graduates in the South African labour market. More importantly, this dissertation indicates that Rhodes graduates experience varying outcomes in the labour market as a result of (among other factors) their chosen fields of study, race and sex.