During the course of the last decade successive governments in the UK have placed young people’s aspirations at the core of their attempts to address poor outcomes within the education system and the labour market. An area-based approach to policy has come to the fore which links ‘low aspirations’ with particular community- and neighbourhood-level factors, in particular area-level deprivation. This area-based focus on the determinants of aspirations has faced intensifying critique from the academic research base. Responding to this policy and research debate, this thesis examines whether, and how, young people’s occupational aspirations are shaped by the areas they live in. The thesis is based on a mixed methods research design and has two sections: an extensive phase and an intensive phase. The extensive phase of the research consists of logistic regression analysis of data from the Understanding Society Youth Questionnaire, and considers whether the types of occupations young people aspire to vary between different types of area. The intensive phase of the research consists of phenomenographic analysis of semi-structured interviews conducted with young people in a deprived, outer-urban neighbourhood in Manchester, and considers how young people’s subjective orientations towards the area they live in produce different forms of aspiration. The thesis finds compelling evidence that young people’s occupational aspirations are shaped by the areas they live in, but does not corroborate the claim at the core of current government policy, that aspirations are lower in more deprived areas. The extensive phase of the research instead identifies area type, rather than deprivation, as the primary area-level factor shaping young people’s aspirations, with young people from particular inner city area types almost five times as likely as their peers from deprived outer-urban areas to aspire to ‘higher’ professional, managerial and technical occupations. Meanwhile, the intensive phase of the research finds evidence that experiences of neighbourhood and family life in an area of concentrated deprivation can lead young people to adopt particular forms of aspiration that require lower levels of skill and further training, but on closer examination of the motivations for these forms of aspiration, finds little evidence that these aspirations are straightforwardly ‘low’. Above all, the research demonstrates that young people produce multiple different senses of place, and myriad forms of aspiration, from within the same deprived spatial context: they do not simply reproduce what they see around them when imagining their futures. While there is compelling evidence that young people’s occupational aspirations are shaped by the areas they live in, these area effects demand more nuanced research alongside policy approaches that are more receptive to young people’s constructions of place.

Dyscalculia is a specific learning disability that’s affecting brain capacity of individuals, more specifically the ability to perform specific mathematical operations. Given that there is little research about how dyscalculia is supposed to be treated teachers are faced with these students anyway. This study aims at how math teachers view and handle students in dyscalculia in the upper secondary school. Data were collected through 66 random picked math teachers who answered a web based survey.The teachers generally perceive the concept of dyscalculia in various ways. It turns out that the female teachers perceive dyscalculia to a greater extent from a cognitive perspective than the male teachers. Analytics also show that most of the teachers work in a school that doesn't have any systematic work to detect or manage students with dyscalculia. / Dyskalkyli är en inlärningssvårighet som påverkar hjärnkapaciteten hos individer, mer detaljerat påverkas förmågan att utföra specifika matematiska operationer. Lärare möter elever i dyskalkyli trots att kunskap om begreppet kanske saknas och den tunna forskningen som finns gör inte uppgiften enklare. Studiens syfte är att undersöka hur matematiklärare på gymnasiet uppfattar och hanterar dyskalkyli. Datan samlades in genom en webbenkät där 66 slumpmässigt utvalda matematiklärare svarade på enkätundersökningen.Lärarna uppfattade generellt begreppet dyskalkyli på olika sätt. Det visar sig att de kvinnliga lärarna uppfattar dyskalkyli i större utsträckning ur ett kognitivt perspektiv än de manliga lärarna. Analysen visar även att majoriteten av lärarna arbetar på en skola som inte har ett systematiskt arbetssätt för att upptäcka och hantera elever i dyskalkyli.

The purpose of the present study is to investigate teachers' perceptions of students' construction of gender in the music classroom at lower secondary schools in Sweden, as well as their methods of avoiding normative positions. To study this, gender theory is used, as it was felt to be the most suitable theory for what the essay intends to investigate. The essay is based on a qualitative method, specifically phenomenography, which is based of qualitative semi-structured interviews. Four music teachers at lower secondary school were interviewed for the study. The essay's results demonstrate that boys' and girls' behavior reenforces different gender roles in teaching, but the teachers narrate that they do see an improvement. However, the teachers believe that a pedagogical responsibility is required to further prevent these gender-normative positions to form.

The purpose of this study is to investigate music teachers’ perceptions of digital tools. It also aims to investigate aspects that might be relevant in how music teachers describe their education. The nature of this study is qualitative and in order to collect data for this study the method of interviewing was chosen. The number of teachers that was interviewed was four. The theoretical perspective that is used throughout this study is phenomenography. Because of this the method for analyzing data was derived from a type of phenomenographic analysis method as described by Dahlgren and Johansson (2019). A central concept in phenomenography is that of perceptions, phenomena and variation. These three concepts were used throughout the course of this study. The result of this study shows that music teachers in one way or another limits their perception of what a digital tool is in relation to a digital audio workstation (DAW). Furthermore, music teachers using digital tools in their education was often seen in contrast of using instruments. This aspect was described as digital tools not being able to replicate the same feel of playing an instrument. A positive aspect shows that digital tools was easier to use and students could then start making music before actually learning an instrument. Male students that had differing sociocultural standings that related to being of immigrant descent often had an easier time making music with digital tools than instruments. This was because their perception of what music making really is about was connected to their taste in music which according to the music teachers was hiphop.

Syftet med studien var att undersöka sjuksköterskors uppfattningar av handledning av sjuksköterskestudenter. Frågeställningarna som författarna ville få besvarade var: vad handledning innebar för sjuksköterskan och vad hon ansåg påverka handledningen. Metoden som författarna valde att använda var en fenomenografisk ansats. Fenomenografin var lämplig då författarna ville undersöka sjuksköterskornas olika uppfattningar kring det valda fenomenet. Datainsamlingen utfördes genom semistrukurerade intervjuer med sex sjuksköterskor på en kirurgavdelning på UMAS. Resultatet redovisas i tabellform och i flytande text i fem kategorier med tillhörande underkategorier. Dessa kategorier och underkategorier har författarna utformat baserat på informanternas uttalanden. Resultatet visar att sjuksköterskorna uppfattar handledning som en pågående process som påverkas av en rad olika faktorer. De faktorer sjuksköterskorna uppfattade som mest väsentliga var även de som författarna valde att använda som kategorier. Dessa var vägledning och stöd, kommunikation, erfarenhet och kunskap, personkemi mellan handledare och student och slutligen arbetsklimat på avdelningen. / The aim of this study was to examine nurses’ perceptions of precepting nurse students. The questions at issue the authors wanted answered were what precepting meant to the nurse and what she considered had an influence on the preceptorship.. The method used was a phenomenographical approach. Phenomenography was appropriate as the authors wanted to examine the nurses’ different perceptions of the chosen phenomenon. The collection of data was performed by semi structured interviews with six nurses at a surgical ward on UMAS. The result is shown as a table and in narrative text as five categories with belonging subcategories. These categories and subcategories were by the authors designed based on the informant’s statements. The result shows that the nurses perceive precepting as an ongoing process which is affected by different factors. Factors that the nurses thought of as most essential were the same as the authors used as categories. These were guidance and support, communication, experience and knowledge, personal chemistry and finally working climate in the ward.

The aim of this study was to describe how the concept of everyday rehabilitation (ER) is perceived in municipal elderly care. Data was collected through individual interviews with nurses assistans, occupational therapists, department managers and politicians, five to six respondents in each group of professionals. The study design was qualitative and based on content analysis inspired by phenomenography. The analysis resulted in two categories: 1) ER implies communication, co-operation and resources, and 2) ER implies that in all situation enable and support training by activity. All respondents stated that the concept of ER means that the elderly within municipal long-term care should have the opportunity to perform activities according to their own ability. Other significant aspects were that ER is considered to imply good communication and be an obvious approach not in need not be discussed. Finally, education is considered important but not a prerequisite to be able to work according to everyday rehabilitation. / <p>Validerat; 20120613 (anonymous)</p>

This essay examines how teachers perceive youth language in schoolwork. We look into what the teachers believe youth language to be, when it is used and how often it is used, as well as for what purpose it is used. This essay also examines the teachers’ attitudes towards youth language, as well as their response to the presence of youth language in schoolwork. The study follows a phenomenographic approach, which means that the teachers’ perspective is the focus of the study as a whole. The research methodology used was mixed methods, as well as a thematic analysis method. This conveys that both qualitative and quantitative means have been used to gather the data, in the form of semi-structured interviews and an online survey, the latter of which was sent out to numerous schools in the Northern part of Sweden, and that the empirical data was thematically sorted and analysed. The results show that there is a shared understanding of what youth language entails, however, the attitude towards it varies depending on the purpose of the task. The teachers have different expectations depending on what programme the students attend and the gender of the students. The results also show that the perceived frequency of the use of youth language varies between programme and gender, and the teachers’ responses to the presence of youth language also varies depending on these same factors.

The present thesis aims at exploring and analyzing elementary school music teachers’ work from a perspective of gender equality. Previous research shows differences between boys’ and girls’ choice of musical instruments, school performance and claiming of space in a music classroom. The purpose of the study is to investigate these gender-related phenomena that occur in elementary school music education, how music teachers perceive these phenomena and their methods for integration of gender equality. The theoretical framework of the research is based on gender theories and phenomenography. Qualitative semi-structured phenomenographic interview was applied as the methodological approach for collecting data. In order to fulfill the purpose of the study, two female and two male music teachers from four different elementary schools in southern Sweden were interviewed. The results reveal that the participants perceive the gender-related phenomena differently. The majority of the respondents point out that boys prefer louder music instruments, such as drums and electric guitar, while girls choose piano and singing, which confirms the conventional gender norms. Some of the respondents assert that girls earn better grades in the subject of music because of their faster neurological development. Regarding claiming of space, two of the interviewed music teachers utter that boys tend to dominate in the classroom soundscape, which seems to be a consequence of their masculine and attention-seeking behavior. Additionally, the results of the research expose that the music teachers experience difficulties in applying the national policy documents concerning gender equality. However, the study discovers various methods for integration of gender equality in the interviewed teachers’ work.

[pt] O presente estudo convida o leitor a refletir sobre importantes recursos organizacionais: as rotinas. Frente ao debate acadêmico envolvendo o constructo, esta investigação procurou identificar como os profissionais de consultoria buscam compreender as rotinas organizacionais em suas experiências com o fenômeno. Por meio de uma abordagem fenomenográfica, foram coletados, tratados e analisados os relatos de 20 consultores de uma firma multinacional, situada na cidade do Rio de Janeiro, no período de 23/07/2015 a 12/02/2016. Os resultados apontaram para quatro diferentes modos, mediante os quais, esses profissionais buscam compreender as rotinas organizacionais em suas experiências de campo: o fundamento em artefatos; o questionamento ao agente; a observação da prática; e a construção coletiva. As seguintes dimensões foram identificadas relacionando essas categorias: o aspecto das rotinas; os artefatos envolvidos; a perspectiva dimensional; o nível de acesso; o mecanismo de intermediação; e o horizonte temporal. Os achados indicaram que os profissionais de consultoria estão em sintonia com pesquisadores das rotinas organizacionais, no que se refere a abordagem de entendimento por artefatos, entrevistas com os agentes e acompanhamento do desempenho. Adicionalmente, as evidências empíricas apontaram para o estabelecimento de relações de poder e confiança como mecanismos de intermediação para a compreensão das rotinas. Por fim, verificou-se que os consultores buscam compreender as rotinas considerando a sua construção conjunta com vários indivíduos envolvidos, sugerindo, então, que a compreensão das rotinas organizacionais é socialmente construída. / [en] This study invites the reader to reflect on important organizational resources: the routines. Front of the academic debate involving the construct, this investigation sought to find out how consulting professionals seek to understand the organizational routines on their experiences with the phenomenon. Through a phenomenographic approach, were collected, processed and analyzed reports of 20 consultants from a multinational firm, located in the city of Rio de Janeiro, in the period from 7/23/2015 to 2/12/2016. The results pointed to four different modes by which these professionals seek to understand the organizational routines in their field experiences: the foundation in artifacts; the questioning to the agent; the observation of the practice; and the collective construction. The following dimensions were identified relating to these categories: the aspect of the routines; the artifacts involved; the dimensional perspective; the level of access; the intermediation mechanism; and the time horizon. The findings indicated that consulting professionals are in line with researchers of organizational routines, as regards the approach of understanding by artifacts, interviews with the actors and performance monitoring. In addition, the empirical evidence pointed to the establishment of relations of power and trust as intermediation mechanisms for understanding the routines. Finally, it was found that the consultants seek to understand the routines whereas your joint construction with several individuals involved, suggesting, then, that the understanding of organizational routines is socially built.

The value of diversity in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) fields has long been a leading topic of discussion among campus administrators and government officials. However, the number of African American women in STEM, and the engineering field in particular, has seen little growth over the past twenty years. To change this trend, there must be enhanced efforts to provide an environment and resources to support the retention of these women, and mentoring can play a key role. To gain a better understanding of the mentoring needs of these women, this research investigates the mentoring experiences of 16 current senior African American female engineering students. What is clear is that African American women have a unique set of experiences based on the multiple sets of identity groups that they claim membership in. Intersectionality emphasizes the implications of the multiplication of these identities and how that multiplication impacts experiences. This research, addresses the intersection by exploring faculty mentoring relationships, with particular focus on the implications of having a matched (same race and gender) or an unmatched mentor. Current research is inconsistent on the benefits of each type. Using phenomenography, this investigation of the various aspects of mentoring relationships that are salient to 16 African American women in engineering uncovered seven categories of mentoring: Guide, Proactive Supporter, Reactive Listener, Nurturer, Just in Time, Caring, and Role Model. Variation across these mentoring categories were reflected in the mentoring aspects that participants perceived. This set of interpersonal (listen, invested, and shared experience) and professional (development, opportunity, advice, and example) aspects depicted a set of mentoring types that varied in comprehensiveness. Additionally, variation in the race and gender of each mentor across each category suggested some trends surrounding the mentor characteristics that most frequently provided certain aspects. However, all of the categories that emerged were perceived to be effective. It is desired that the results of this research will impact the ways in which faculty understand the needs of African American women in engineering. / Ph. D.