Entrepreneurship has played an important role in economic prosperity and social stability in many developed countries. Today South Africa as developing country is faced with massive challenges of high levels of unemployment among the youth, especially university graduates, due to lack of work experience, low skills base and education. The formal labour market in South Africa is currently saturated, unable to absorb the ever increasing number of labour force; hence, the decision by the government to prioritise the development and support of small medium enterprises. Beside all these interventions, South Africa is still ranked among the lowest of all developing countries participating in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM). Today entrepreneurship is offered in most of the universities as part of the curriculum but it is evident that levels of entrepreneurship are still not improving in the country. There has been an upward trend in the number of young South Africans entering higher education; this can be attributed to the poor market conditions for low–skilled workers and the high monetary benefits to education. The daunting observation is that while the graduate labour force is on the rise, a large number of graduates possessing diplomas and degrees are finding it difficult to find employment. Graduate unemployment in South Africa has been rising very fast since 1995 along with national unemployment. In this study the entrepreneur was used casually to refer to the owner or creator of a new business, small, growing, and successful business. This includes any person who sets up a small business, or changes from being an employee of an organisation to being self employed, even though neither needs any significant degree of innovation nor capital. Risk taking and risk tolerance is one component of entrepreneurship that is very critical, hence there is a need for more attention in the entrepreneurial education. In the discovery perspective, cognition has impact on the chance that some people will identify and seize the opportunity. Opportunity identification depends on prior awareness and knowledge, whilst exploitation depends on having the necessary ii capabilities. Entrepreneurs should be able to read and recognise patterns for them to recognise opportunities. Profile of an entrepreneur and skills required are technical skills, perseverance, communication skills, managerial skills, leadership skills, innovative skills, pro–activity, information seeking skills, and financial skills. The primary objective of this study was to assess the attitudes and perceptions towards entrepreneurship among students in a higher education institution in the Sedibeng District of the Gauteng Province. The empirical study was conducted among the population and recommendations on entrepreneurial education were compiled. The survey was conducted using a self–completion questionnaire method, whereby questionnaires are handed out to respondents for self–completion and returned to the researcher immediately. In an effort to encourage high response, the questionnaire was accompanied by a cover letter which assured the respondents of confidentiality. An attitude scale to test the prevalence of entrepreneurial attitudes and perceptions among the respondents was used. The Likert scale was used whereby the respondents were asked to rate a particular issue on a scale that ranged from strongly disagrees to strongly agree. The majority of the respondents are predominantly young Africans, from low income families with only few parents that made it to university level, and mostly not involved in entrepreneurship. The gap exists with regard to equipping the respondents with entrepreneurial education and training. The university and other stakeholders should create an environment that is supportive towards entrepreneurial activities. There are still many business opportunities that need to be explored in South Africa but the biggest challenge remains the access to knowledge and information with regard to available support structures. Tertiary institutions should: Develop start–up capital systems for students whilst studying. The curriculum design should support employability skills such as languages, starting your own businesses, presentation skills, creativity and leadership abilities, specific qualifications focusing on business creation should be developed, case studies should focus more on opportunity orientated ideas and business and lecturing staff should be empowered to support entrepreneurial activities in their respective fields. Databases of possible business ideas should be developed. A conceptual research model that will support accelerated youth entrepreneurship should be developed in the country and research institutions should be contracted to populate this research model. Furthermore, government regulations should be tested regarding their impact on youth entrepreneurship development as a standard item. Fresh approaches are thus needed to stimulate youth entrepreneurship in rural areas. Therefore, policies and programmes to encourage youth entrepreneurship in these areas should be researched. National competitions for youth entrepreneurs should be encouraged and visible events should be organised such as enterprise weeks at tertiary educational institutions. Tertiary institutions can also investigate the possibility of business hives for students or allowing students businesses to operate on campuses for the duration of their studies. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

Entrepreneurship has played an important role in economic prosperity and social stability in many developed countries. Today South Africa as developing country is faced with massive challenges of high levels of unemployment among the youth, especially university graduates, due to lack of work experience, low skills base and education. The formal labour market in South Africa is currently saturated, unable to absorb the ever increasing number of labour force; hence, the decision by the government to prioritise the development and support of small medium enterprises. Beside all these interventions, South Africa is still ranked among the lowest of all developing countries participating in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM). Today entrepreneurship is offered in most of the universities as part of the curriculum but it is evident that levels of entrepreneurship are still not improving in the country. There has been an upward trend in the number of young South Africans entering higher education; this can be attributed to the poor market conditions for low–skilled workers and the high monetary benefits to education. The daunting observation is that while the graduate labour force is on the rise, a large number of graduates possessing diplomas and degrees are finding it difficult to find employment. Graduate unemployment in South Africa has been rising very fast since 1995 along with national unemployment. In this study the entrepreneur was used casually to refer to the owner or creator of a new business, small, growing, and successful business. This includes any person who sets up a small business, or changes from being an employee of an organisation to being self employed, even though neither needs any significant degree of innovation nor capital. Risk taking and risk tolerance is one component of entrepreneurship that is very critical, hence there is a need for more attention in the entrepreneurial education. In the discovery perspective, cognition has impact on the chance that some people will identify and seize the opportunity. Opportunity identification depends on prior awareness and knowledge, whilst exploitation depends on having the necessary ii capabilities. Entrepreneurs should be able to read and recognise patterns for them to recognise opportunities. Profile of an entrepreneur and skills required are technical skills, perseverance, communication skills, managerial skills, leadership skills, innovative skills, pro–activity, information seeking skills, and financial skills. The primary objective of this study was to assess the attitudes and perceptions towards entrepreneurship among students in a higher education institution in the Sedibeng District of the Gauteng Province. The empirical study was conducted among the population and recommendations on entrepreneurial education were compiled. The survey was conducted using a self–completion questionnaire method, whereby questionnaires are handed out to respondents for self–completion and returned to the researcher immediately. In an effort to encourage high response, the questionnaire was accompanied by a cover letter which assured the respondents of confidentiality. An attitude scale to test the prevalence of entrepreneurial attitudes and perceptions among the respondents was used. The Likert scale was used whereby the respondents were asked to rate a particular issue on a scale that ranged from strongly disagrees to strongly agree. The majority of the respondents are predominantly young Africans, from low income families with only few parents that made it to university level, and mostly not involved in entrepreneurship. The gap exists with regard to equipping the respondents with entrepreneurial education and training. The university and other stakeholders should create an environment that is supportive towards entrepreneurial activities. There are still many business opportunities that need to be explored in South Africa but the biggest challenge remains the access to knowledge and information with regard to available support structures. Tertiary institutions should: Develop start–up capital systems for students whilst studying. The curriculum design should support employability skills such as languages, starting your own businesses, presentation skills, creativity and leadership abilities, specific qualifications focusing on business creation should be developed, case studies should focus more on opportunity orientated ideas and business and lecturing staff should be empowered to support entrepreneurial activities in their respective fields. Databases of possible business ideas should be developed. A conceptual research model that will support accelerated youth entrepreneurship should be developed in the country and research institutions should be contracted to populate this research model. Furthermore, government regulations should be tested regarding their impact on youth entrepreneurship development as a standard item. Fresh approaches are thus needed to stimulate youth entrepreneurship in rural areas. Therefore, policies and programmes to encourage youth entrepreneurship in these areas should be researched. National competitions for youth entrepreneurs should be encouraged and visible events should be organised such as enterprise weeks at tertiary educational institutions. Tertiary institutions can also investigate the possibility of business hives for students or allowing students businesses to operate on campuses for the duration of their studies. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

This thesis explored the measurement of performance of New Zealand tertiary education institutions (TEIs) and the demand for their services. This involved analysing the research performance of New Zealand universities, analysing the productive efficiency of New Zealand TEIs and examining the choice of provider by bachelor’s degree starters. Bibliometric data was used to measure the research productivity of New Zealand universities. This showed that following a fall during the early 2000s, the research productivity of New Zealand universities increased following the introduction of the Performance-Based Research Fund (PBRF). A multi-dimensional analysis of university research performance between 2000 and 2005 showed that no individual university was top in all four of the performance measures assessed. The overall performance of three universities, Massey University, Lincoln University and Auckland University of Technology, were noticeably below that of the other five universities. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) was then applied to input and output data of New Zealand TEIs to analyse their productive efficiency. In 2006, polytechnics that had: low levels of bachelor’s degree provision, were not regionally based, had a high proportion of subcontracting and were larger institutions, achieved higher levels of pure technical efficiency. The analysis showed that several polytechnics could improve their technical efficiency by reducing their scale of operations. In polytechnics, higher technical efficiency was associated with better financial performance. A number of technically efficient polytechnics struggled financially, indicating that the overall efficiency of the polytechnic sector was not high, or the funding model they operate under is not appropriate. The analysis also showed that decreasing bachelor’s degree provision, poor financial performance in the previous year, an increase in provision of community education, was associated with higher growth in total factor productivity between 1996 and 2006. The application of DEA to Australasian university data between 1997 and 2005 showed that New Zealand universities performed relatively well in terms of relative pure technical efficiency, compared with their Australian counterparts. However, the total factor productivity of New Zealand universities increased at a lower rate, on average, than that of the Australian Group of Eight and newer Australian universities. The application of DEA to a dataset of the participating TEIs in the PBRF showed that polytechnics had lower technical efficiency, on average, than other TEIs. The choices of bachelor’s degree starters in 2006 were analysed for evidence of a lack of parity of esteem between university and polytechnic degrees. The results showed that a lack of parity of esteem between polytechnic and university degrees may be influencing student choices. Students from higher deciles schools, with higher secondary school qualifications, Asians, students who travel for study, were all more likely to enrol in a university to start a bachelor’s degree. There was less clear cut evidence of a lack of parity of esteem between selected groupings of New Zealand universities. However, there did appear to be a lack of parity of esteem between the four older metropolitan universities and the two newest universities, with signs the former were held in higher esteem.

This thesis explored the measurement of performance of New Zealand tertiary education institutions (TEIs) and the demand for their services. This involved analysing the research performance of New Zealand universities, analysing the productive efficiency of New Zealand TEIs and examining the choice of provider by bachelor’s degree starters. Bibliometric data was used to measure the research productivity of New Zealand universities. This showed that following a fall during the early 2000s, the research productivity of New Zealand universities increased following the introduction of the Performance-Based Research Fund (PBRF). A multi-dimensional analysis of university research performance between 2000 and 2005 showed that no individual university was top in all four of the performance measures assessed. The overall performance of three universities, Massey University, Lincoln University and Auckland University of Technology, were noticeably below that of the other five universities. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) was then applied to input and output data of New Zealand TEIs to analyse their productive efficiency. In 2006, polytechnics that had: low levels of bachelor’s degree provision, were not regionally based, had a high proportion of subcontracting and were larger institutions, achieved higher levels of pure technical efficiency. The analysis showed that several polytechnics could improve their technical efficiency by reducing their scale of operations. In polytechnics, higher technical efficiency was associated with better financial performance. A number of technically efficient polytechnics struggled financially, indicating that the overall efficiency of the polytechnic sector was not high, or the funding model they operate under is not appropriate. The analysis also showed that decreasing bachelor’s degree provision, poor financial performance in the previous year, an increase in provision of community education, was associated with higher growth in total factor productivity between 1996 and 2006. The application of DEA to Australasian university data between 1997 and 2005 showed that New Zealand universities performed relatively well in terms of relative pure technical efficiency, compared with their Australian counterparts. However, the total factor productivity of New Zealand universities increased at a lower rate, on average, than that of the Australian Group of Eight and newer Australian universities. The application of DEA to a dataset of the participating TEIs in the PBRF showed that polytechnics had lower technical efficiency, on average, than other TEIs. The choices of bachelor’s degree starters in 2006 were analysed for evidence of a lack of parity of esteem between university and polytechnic degrees. The results showed that a lack of parity of esteem between polytechnic and university degrees may be influencing student choices. Students from higher deciles schools, with higher secondary school qualifications, Asians, students who travel for study, were all more likely to enrol in a university to start a bachelor’s degree. There was less clear cut evidence of a lack of parity of esteem between selected groupings of New Zealand universities. However, there did appear to be a lack of parity of esteem between the four older metropolitan universities and the two newest universities, with signs the former were held in higher esteem.

My study is a sub-study of the Resilient Youth in Stressed Environments (RYSE) Project (ethics clearance UP17/05/01). RYSE aims to develop a more in-depth understanding of the resilience of youth who live in environments challenged by the petrochemical industry and associated risks, specifically the community of eMbalenhle. In particular, the purpose of my qualitative sub-study is to explore which resilience-enabling factors in social ecologies (SEs) of tertiary education institutions (TEIs) shape the resilience of older adolescents from the eMbalenhle community who are engaged in tertiary education. Despite the common assumption in current South African literature that students who come from backgrounds challenged by disadvantage (the disadvantages that challenge them are often a variety of stressors in their immediate surroundings, with few public resources or services where help can be accessed) are doomed to failure at TEIs, some students from backgrounds challenged by disadvantage progress to TEIs and succeed in completing their studies. However, only a few such students succeed in completing their studies. Research shows that TEIs are not sufficiently prepared to accommodate students coming from backgrounds challenged by disadvantage. Therefore, my study of limited scope might potentially give voice to the perspectives of older adolescents from communities challenged by disadvantage regarding resilience-enabling factors in the SE of TEIs. Phenomenology was the epistemological assumption of my study and a qualitative methodological approach was used. I made use of a phenomenological research design, purposefully selected my six participants (with an average age of 20), and made use of photo-elicitation with conversational interviews to generate data. To analyse the data I made use of Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six-step guide to inductive thematic content analysis. The main themes that emerged from my study were that university structures, a sought-after qualification (underpinned by a certain view of the future), and fellow students (with the subthemes same course and different course) were resilience-enabling factors. The usefulness of these themes to resilience theory is that older adolescents entering TEIs might potentially demonstrate resilience when experiencing the identified resilience-enabling factors in the SE of their TEI, and, therefore, my suggestion would be for TEIs to consider prioritising these protective factors. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2019. / Educational Psychology / MEd / Unrestricted

The tertiary education environment has become known for its stressful working conditions. Factors such as high work demands (i.e. work overload, excessive time demands and work pressure) and insufficient resources (i.e. limited developmental possibilities, poor performance feedback, lack of support, etc.) all contribute to these stressful circumstances. As a result, these circumstances can cause employees to experience negative interferences between their work and nonwork roles. In addition, employees do not have adequate time to invest in their nonwork domains, hence nonwork roles are neglected (such as being a parent, being a spouse, spending time on domestic activities and spending time on religious/spiritual activities). To decrease these negative interferences, it is important for employees to recover from strains that were activated at work. The objectives of this study were to determine 1) which demands and resources significantly predicted work-nonwork interference among employees working in a tertiary education institution; and 2) which recovery strategies were significant in dealing with high levels of work-nonwork interference caused by high demands and a lack of resources. A random sample of 366 married parents was taken from a tertiary education institution in the North-West Province. A list was obtained of all the married parents of the institution. All of these employees were given the choice to participate in the research. A measuring battery measuring job demands (i.e. work pressure, emotional demands and cognitive demands), job resources (i.e. autonomy, social support and developmental possibilities), work-nonwork interference (i.e. work-parent, work-spouse, work-domestic and work-religion/spirituality) and recovery strategies (psychological detachment, relaxation, mastery and control) respectively was utilised in this study. Descriptive and inferential statistics, Cronbach alpha coefficients, Pearson product-moment correlations and stepwise multiple regression, using the enter method, were used to analyse the data. The results indicate that work pressure and emotional demands significantly predict interference between all four nonwork roles. Additionally, autonomy and developmental possibilities significantly predicted work-parent and work-religion/spirituality interference respectively. Furthermore, all of the recovery strategies decreased specific worknonwork interference. Psychological detachment decreased the interference between the workspouse relationship and the work-religion/spirituality relationship. Relaxation predicted the decrease of interference between the following relationships: work-parent, work-spouse, and work-domestic. Mastery and control only significantly predicted the decrease of interference between the work-parent relationship and between the work-domestic activities respectively. Various recommendations were made for tertiary education institutions as well as for future research. Tertiary education institutions should manage high job demands by examining employees’ workload and job descriptions. Managers could possibly diminish work pressure and emotional demands by means of courses/workshops pertaining to self-management, time and organisational skills, emotional intelligence and/or coping with emotions. Tertiary education institutions should also focus on supporting employees who experience work-nonwork interferences and manage it effectively. In addition, the awareness of recovery and various recovery strategies should be promoted. Recommendations for future research include expanding the research to other occupational groups, longitudinal research designs, obtaining various opinions and perspectives of individuals also involved in the work-nonwork dyad and the study of the positive interaction between the work and nonwork roles. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011

The tertiary education environment has become known for its stressful working conditions. Factors such as high work demands (i.e. work overload, excessive time demands and work pressure) and insufficient resources (i.e. limited developmental possibilities, poor performance feedback, lack of support, etc.) all contribute to these stressful circumstances. As a result, these circumstances can cause employees to experience negative interferences between their work and nonwork roles. In addition, employees do not have adequate time to invest in their nonwork domains, hence nonwork roles are neglected (such as being a parent, being a spouse, spending time on domestic activities and spending time on religious/spiritual activities). To decrease these negative interferences, it is important for employees to recover from strains that were activated at work. The objectives of this study were to determine 1) which demands and resources significantly predicted work-nonwork interference among employees working in a tertiary education institution; and 2) which recovery strategies were significant in dealing with high levels of work-nonwork interference caused by high demands and a lack of resources. A random sample of 366 married parents was taken from a tertiary education institution in the North-West Province. A list was obtained of all the married parents of the institution. All of these employees were given the choice to participate in the research. A measuring battery measuring job demands (i.e. work pressure, emotional demands and cognitive demands), job resources (i.e. autonomy, social support and developmental possibilities), work-nonwork interference (i.e. work-parent, work-spouse, work-domestic and work-religion/spirituality) and recovery strategies (psychological detachment, relaxation, mastery and control) respectively was utilised in this study. Descriptive and inferential statistics, Cronbach alpha coefficients, Pearson product-moment correlations and stepwise multiple regression, using the enter method, were used to analyse the data. The results indicate that work pressure and emotional demands significantly predict interference between all four nonwork roles. Additionally, autonomy and developmental possibilities significantly predicted work-parent and work-religion/spirituality interference respectively. Furthermore, all of the recovery strategies decreased specific worknonwork interference. Psychological detachment decreased the interference between the workspouse relationship and the work-religion/spirituality relationship. Relaxation predicted the decrease of interference between the following relationships: work-parent, work-spouse, and work-domestic. Mastery and control only significantly predicted the decrease of interference between the work-parent relationship and between the work-domestic activities respectively. Various recommendations were made for tertiary education institutions as well as for future research. Tertiary education institutions should manage high job demands by examining employees’ workload and job descriptions. Managers could possibly diminish work pressure and emotional demands by means of courses/workshops pertaining to self-management, time and organisational skills, emotional intelligence and/or coping with emotions. Tertiary education institutions should also focus on supporting employees who experience work-nonwork interferences and manage it effectively. In addition, the awareness of recovery and various recovery strategies should be promoted. Recommendations for future research include expanding the research to other occupational groups, longitudinal research designs, obtaining various opinions and perspectives of individuals also involved in the work-nonwork dyad and the study of the positive interaction between the work and nonwork roles. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011

CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeiÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / Fundamentado nas teorias da gestÃo de instituiÃÃo de ensino superior e da competÃncia gerencial, este trabalho tem como objetivo investigar o modelo de gestÃo institucional predominante e grau de utilizaÃÃo e de importÃncia das competÃncias gerenciais nas instituiÃÃes privadas de ensino superior â IPES na cidade de Fortaleza-CE, segundo a percepÃÃo dos coordenadores de curso de graduaÃÃo. Utilizou-se da metodologia quadripolar de De Bruyne, Herman e De Schoutheete (1977), abordando as temÃticas em questÃo de diferentes perspectivas atravÃs de um amplo projeto que envolveu os eixos epistemolÃgico, teÃrico, morfolÃgico e tÃcnico. A epistemologia crÃtica de Bachelard (1968), a resenha histÃrica das competÃncias e da educaÃÃo superior no Brasil, alÃm de suas origens, teorias e perspectivas crÃticas preenchem os campos epistemolÃgico e teÃrico deste trabalho. No eixo morfolÃgico, apresenta-se os principais modelos de gestÃo de instituiÃÃes de ensino superior e de competÃncias gerenciais que se apÃiam na teoria antes esboÃada no pÃlo teÃrico. Trata-se, portanto, de uma pesquisa de abordagem predominantemente quantitativa, de carÃter descritivo e exploratÃrio. A coleta dos dados foi realizada por meio de 02 instrumentos, o questionÃrio e a entrevista estruturada. O primeiro foi submetido ao tratamento estatÃstico por meio de tÃcnicas descritivas e multivariadas, enquanto o segundo foi analisado atravÃs da tÃcnica de anÃlise de conteÃdo (AC). Os principais resultados deste estudo apontaram que as IPES investigadas sÃo relativamente jovens quanto ao seu tempo de atuaÃÃo no mercado e que estas fazem uso de diversas caracterÃsticas dos modelos de gestÃo institucionais investigados, mas, em geral, nÃo se pode determinar a preponderÃncia de nenhum deles, pois as respostas nesta seÃÃo se revelaram homogÃneas. Quanto Ãs competÃncias gerenciais, a grande maioria obteve um alto grau de utilizaÃÃo e de importÃncia, segundo a percepÃÃo dos coordenadores de curso. As competÃncias gerenciais que mais se destacaram nestes dois itens foram: ter conhecimentos das exigÃncias legais do MinistÃrio da EducaÃÃo - MEC, relacionar-se com pessoas, identificar e resolver problemas, gerir e executar o projeto polÃtico-pedagÃgico do curso, colaborar com o desenvolvimento dos alunos, manter uma atitude de disponibilidade, orientar e elogiar pessoas e desempenhos e gerenciar e priorizar o tempo. A grande utilizaÃÃo e importÃncia das competÃncias gerenciais revelam indÃcios do ânovoâ mundo capitalista (GAULEJAC, 2007), no qual o poder gerencialista requer do profissional um alto desempenho (a utilizaÃÃo de um nÃmero ilimitado de competÃncias), impossÃvel de ser sustentado sem nenhuma conseqÃÃncia para o indivÃduo. / Based on the theories of tertiary education institutional management and theories of managerial competence, this work aims to investigate the predominant institutional management model and the degrees of usage and importance of the managerial competences in private tertiary education institutions - I.P.E.S. in the city of Fortaleza-, according to the perception held by the coordinators of graduate courses. The quadripolar methodology by De Bruyne, Herman & De Schoutheete (1977) approaching the subjects involved from various angles in a comprehensive project which encompassed the epistemological, theoretical, morphological and technical axises. BachelardÂs critical epistemology (1968), the historical summary of competences in Brazil, besides its origin, theories and critical perspectives occupy both the epistemological and theoretical fields of this work. On the morphological axis, the main tertiary education institution management models and managerial competences founded on the theory beforehand sketched on the theoretical axis are shown. This is a quanti-qualitative approach survey with a descriptive and exploratory character. The data were collected by means of two instruments: a questionnaire and a structured interview. The questionnaire underwent a statistical treatment when various descriptive techniques were used. The interview was analyzed with a content-analysis technique (AC). The main results of this study showed that the investigated IPES are relatively young regarding their time of work in the market and that they use many characteristics from the investigated managerial models, but, in general, the preponderancy of any of them cannot be determined, as the answers in this section were homogenous. About managerial competences, the vast majority obtained a high degree of use and importance according to the perception of the course coordinators. The managerial competences that stood out the most in these two items were: to have knowledge of the legal demands by the Ministry Of Education-MEC, to deal with people, to identify and solve problems, to manage and execute the pedagogic and political project of the course, to collaborate with the development of the students, to keep an availability attitude, to guide and praise people and performances, and to manage and prioritize time. The wide use and importance of the managerial competences reveal features of a" new" capitalist world (GAULEJAC, 2007), in which the managing power requires from the professional a high performance (the use of a limitless number of competences) impossible to be sustained without any consequence to the individual.