This research comprised of three studies designed to investigate the coping strategies utilised by high and low performing university students with non-academic stressors. Coping research has frequently focused on single stressors providing a distorted picture of coping. Utilising a combination of quantitative and qualitative methodologies, this research provides new insights into the dynamic and multi-dimensional nature of coping with long-term, multiple stressors. It extends our understanding of coping beyond traditionally individualistic conceptualisations where active coping is valued over prosocial relationship-focused coping. Conceptualisations of social support is broadened to view it in more complex interactional terms. In Study 1, 521 university students were surveyed using a standardised coping inventory, the Ways of Coping Checklist revised. Several demographic groups were identified as at academic risk. Having good health, along with the high use Social Support and Problem Solving and the low use of Self Blame strategies all predicted high GPA. Study 2 involved a content analysis of 179 Exclusion Appeal letters submitted by excluded students. When confronted with multiple stressors, poor performing students compartmentalised or amplified multiple stressors which resulted in patterns of reactive problem-focused or emotion-focused coping. Passive and uni-directional approaches to social support resulted in the depletion of such resources. Study 3 investigated adaptive coping patterns using an open-ended questionnaire and a semi-structured interview with twenty high performing students. High performers viewed multiple stressors as inter-related, which is termed cross situational appraisal and displayed a versatile coping pattern across stressors termed cross situational versatility. Proactive and prosocial coping are critical for the acquisition and maintenance of social support over a long-term period. Implications of these research findings for Student Services staff are discussed. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Adolescent subjective health and mental problems have become a public health concern, not only in Sweden but worldwide. When stress becomes a part of everyday life you tend to ignore it and disregard the fact that chronic stress is a severe disease. Education in the school system shall promote the development and learning of all pupils adapted to each of the individuals’ circumstances and needs. Research shows that high-performing students are especially at risk for chronic stress related malfunctioning.The overall aim of this thesis is to contribute to the understanding of the influence of mathematic education in developing stress among female high-performers in secondary school. Four 16-year-old girls were interviewed on their experience of math education,stress and the relations between the two. The findings show that how teachers carry out education has a great impact on the students’ well being, which in turn affects how they learn. The teacher holds the most important part. A growth mindset will push development from good to great. Skilled teachers can create rich mathematical problems for their students. Letting go of socio-mathematic norms focusing on fast-forward, are also important measures. Continued research should therefore focus on teacher-education. In pedagogical science there is a lack of psychology and the common approach of neuroscience to learning and child development. The subject of educational psychology is a mixture of neuroscience, psychology and pedagogy that is common in other parts of the world, but not in Sweden. Such knowledge, that is based on experiments linked to the brain functions, is important for understanding children's development and comparing methods for teaching. The two research fields need to learn more from each other. Didactics already provide perspectives to the student’s experiences and motivations and teachers need to use didactics as a useful tool in education. We face a real challenge; the group of high performing students’ long-term health is at risk. There might be a ticking bomb- Stress, and counting. / Våra ungdomars upplevda hälsa och psykiska problem har blivit ett folkhälsoproblem. Inte bara i Sverige utan världen över. När stress blir en del av vardagen finns en risk att vi ignorerar den och bortser från det faktum att kronisk stress är en allvarlig sjukdom. Vår utbildning i skolan skall främja alla barns och elevers utveckling och lärande. Den ska anpassas efter individens förutsättningar och behov. Forskning visar att högpresterande elever löper särskilt stor risk för kroniska stressymptom och åtföljande konsekvenser för bl. a. kognition, minne och inlärning. Studiens syfte är att bidra med kunskap om den roll matematikundervisningen spelar för stress bland högpresterande flickor.Fyra 16-åriga flickor intervjuades om sina erfarenheter av högstadiets matematikundervisning, stress och kopplingar mellan de två. Resultatet visar att hur läraren bedriver sin undervisning har en avgörande betydelse för hur studeterna mår, vilket i sin tur påverkar deras lärande. Läraren är den enskilt viktigaste framgångsfaktorn i klassrummet, även enligt internationell forskning. Ett dynamiskt synsätt kommer främja elevernas utveckling. Skickliga lärare kan konstruera rika matematiska problem som utvecklar elevernas matematiska förmågor. Att avskaffa socio-matematiska normer som fokuserar på att hinna längst fram i boken, är också en viktig åtgärd.Fortsatt forskning bör därför fokusera på lärarutbildning och vidareutbildning. Inom dessa utbildningar och pedagogiken saknas psykologins och neurovetenskapens gemensamma förhållningssätt till inlärning och barns utveckling. Det finns ett ämne, utbildningspsykolog,  som är vanlig i andra delar av världen. Här finns en fruktbar blandning av neurovetenskap, psykologi och pedagogik. Sådan kunskap baserad på experiment kopplade till hjärnans funktioner är viktig för att förstå barns utveckling och kunna jämföra metoder för undervisning och lärande. Didaktik och hjärnforskning behöver ömsesidigt lära av varandra.Vi står inför en viktig utmaning, i våra högpresterande ungdomars långsiktiga hälsa.  Tyvärr måste vi lära oss att Räkna med stress!

This study aims towards high performing students’ perspective on motivation and how they consistently obtain high grades in English classes. Different characteristics from Skolverket’s study that were common for high performing students along with Reeve’s self-determination theory was used as background research. Qualitative interviews were used to analyse the high performing students’ perception of how they are challenged in English classes and how they motivate themselves. The results show that high performance in English classes is not so much an innate ability, which some are born with, but rather a question of motivation and character.

<p><strong>Datum: </strong>2009-06-30</p><p><strong>Författare: </strong>Rönnlund Josefin</p><p><strong>Nivå/utbildning: </strong>Master Thesis, Management</p><p><strong>Handledare: </strong>Owe R. Hedström</p><p><strong>Titel: </strong> How to keep with the War for talent? A comparative study between talent management in Company X and literature suggestions for identification of talent</p><p><strong>Problem: </strong>The need for talent management and a company's assets in form of Human Capital creates the demand of consultant firms and their services. The problem for companies today is to keep their up with the war for talented workers, and the way leadership talent is managed in the company is crucial for gaining competitive advantage. The research problem in my study is to identify how companies can manage talent within their organization successfully and by doing a research within a specific company, compare findings in their different organizational levels.</p><p><strong>Syfte:</strong> To investigate talent management processes in one company known for their success in the area of talent management and compare different views on talent management that might exist in different levels. My paper aims to value their talent management processes, and if there are gaps that could be filled and methods that could be developed.</p><p><strong>Metod: </strong>Qualitative method through six interviews and by doing a comparison between empirical findings and theory</p><p><strong>Resultat/slutsatser:</strong> talent management processes are very well developed in this business line in Company X, and in some areas they are even better than what literature suggests. They need to keep encouraging their personnel to take challenges and rotate. They also need to have a clear understanding of the roles in the organization, the responsibility of top recruitment and development. The areas that are in need of further development are leadership development, learning and training. Even if they have grasped the importance of these factors, they have some difficulties implementing right methods for reaching their targets. The company should encourage their employees to take challenges to be able to discover who can learn the most from them.</p><p><strong>Sökord: </strong>talent management, key personnel, high flyers, top performers, human resource and human capital management, identification of potential, talent development and high performers.</p><p><strong>Omfång, sidor:</strong> 82</p><p><strong>Antal ref/källor:</strong> 43</p>

Datum: 2009-06-30 Författare: Rönnlund Josefin Nivå/utbildning: Master Thesis, Management Handledare: Owe R. Hedström Titel: How to keep with the War for talent? A comparative study between talent management in Company X and literature suggestions for identification of talent Problem: The need for talent management and a company's assets in form of Human Capital creates the demand of consultant firms and their services. The problem for companies today is to keep their up with the war for talented workers, and the way leadership talent is managed in the company is crucial for gaining competitive advantage. The research problem in my study is to identify how companies can manage talent within their organization successfully and by doing a research within a specific company, compare findings in their different organizational levels. Syfte: To investigate talent management processes in one company known for their success in the area of talent management and compare different views on talent management that might exist in different levels. My paper aims to value their talent management processes, and if there are gaps that could be filled and methods that could be developed. Metod: Qualitative method through six interviews and by doing a comparison between empirical findings and theory Resultat/slutsatser: talent management processes are very well developed in this business line in Company X, and in some areas they are even better than what literature suggests. They need to keep encouraging their personnel to take challenges and rotate. They also need to have a clear understanding of the roles in the organization, the responsibility of top recruitment and development. The areas that are in need of further development are leadership development, learning and training. Even if they have grasped the importance of these factors, they have some difficulties implementing right methods for reaching their targets. The company should encourage their employees to take challenges to be able to discover who can learn the most from them. Sökord: talent management, key personnel, high flyers, top performers, human resource and human capital management, identification of potential, talent development and high performers. Omfång, sidor: 82 Antal ref/källor: 43

Syfte: I ett snabbt föränderligt och konkurrensutsatt företagsklimat är det viktigt att prestera på topp för att göra karriär och klättra snabbt inom en organisation. Ett område där forskningen kommit lång vad gäller prestation på topp är inom elitidrotten, där idrottarna behöver kunna prestera på begäran och klara av att hantera press och stress för att lyckas med detta. Viktiga faktorer för att klara av det är de s.k. sekundära kompetenserna, mentala kompetenser och förmågor som kan underlätta prestation. Syftet med denna studie är att belysa hur individer kan nå framgång i sin yrkesutövning genom att arbeta med att förbättra sekundära kompetenser och utveckla sin verktygslåda för prestation med hjälp av lärdomar från individuella idrottare och därigenom utvecklas till att bli företagsatleter.   Metod: Ämnet har studerats utifrån ett hermeneutiskt perspektiv och aktörssynsättet varit det grundläggande synsättet. Studien har en abduktiv ansats och ämnet har studerats med hjälp av en fallstudie. Arbetet inleds med en teoretisk överblick, följt av en empirisk undersökning. Denna fallstudie har haft en kvalitativ ansats och intervjuer har genomförts med tio respondenter från idrottsvärlden. Det material som tagits fram i den empiriska undersökningen har transkriberats och sedan analyserats tillsammans med tidigare forskning för att skapa en så tydlig bild som möjligt över området.   Resultat &amp; slutsats: Genom studien har en ökad förståelse för vilka faktorer som är viktiga för en företagsatlet nåtts. Dessa kompetenser, och teknik för användning av kompetenserna har utvecklats med utgångspunkt i hur elitidrottare arbetar med dessa.   Förslag till vidare forskning: I denna studie berördes endast ett fall och en typ av idrottare. I vidare forskning behöver flera olika fall och flera olika typer av idrottare studeras, för att till fullo utveckla ämnesområdet.   Uppsatsens bidrag: Studien visar på ett antal kompetenser och färdigheter som kan användas av företagsatleter för att nå större framgång och prestera bättre på arbetet, samt hur dessa ska användas. Dessa kompetenser har samlats i en verktygslåda för prestation i slutet av arbetet.   Nyckelord: Företagsatlet, sekundära kompetenser, maximal prestation, elitidrott, prestera på begäran. / Aim: In an ever changing and more competitive business climate, it is important to perform on maximal level to get ahead and climb to the top of the organization. The research on how to get to the top has come very far in the area of elite sports, the athletes have to perform at maximum levels and handle pressure well to win the medals. Important factors to be able to do this are the so-called secondary competencies, mental competencies that will make performing easier. The aim of this paper is to show how individuals can improve their work by learning from athletes in individual sports and how they, at the workplace, can work with development and improvement of the secondary competencies and thereby become corporate athletes.   Method: The subject has been studied from a hermeneutic perspective, where the operator approach has been the basic view. This study has an abductive attempt and the subject has been studied by a case study. A theoretical framework of the topic, followed by empirical research, starts the paper.  The case study had a qualitative approach, ten interviews has been made with respondents from the world of elite sports. The material from the empirical research has been transcribed and analyzed together with the theoretical framework to create a clear view of the research area.   Result &amp; Conclusion: This paper aims to give the reader a better understanding over mental abilities and factors that affect a corporate athlete. These competencies and abilities, and technique for using them have been developed from the base of elite athletes and their work with the abilities.   Suggestions for future research: This study were based on one case only, it would be interesting to look into another case and another type of athletes, as well as testing the tools in the corporate world.   Contribution of the thesis: This study show a number of competencies and abilities that can be used by a corporate athlete in order to be more successful and perform better at work. In the end of the paper, these competencies and user techniques has been collected in a toolbox for performance.   Key words: Corporate athlete, secondary competencies, maximal performance, elite sport, perform on demand, high performers.