Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'STEM participation'

The purpose of this study was to describe the co-construction of three 4-H STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) learning by design programs by volunteer educators and youth participants in the 4-H Youth Development Program. The programs advanced STEM learning through design, a pedagogical approach to support youth in planning, designing, and making shareable artifacts. This pedagogical approach is a special case of project-based learning, related to the practices found in the science learning through design literature as well as the making and tinkering movements. Specifically, I explored adult volunteer educators’ roles and pedagogical strategies implementing the 4-H Junk Drawer Robotics curriculum (Mahacek, Worker, and Mahacek, 2011) and how that, in turn, afforded and constrained opportunities for youth to display or report engagement in design practices; learning of STEM content; strengthening tool competencies; dispositions of resilience, reciprocity, and playfulness; and psychological ownership. The curriculum targeted middle school youth with a sequence of science inquiry activities and engineering design challenges.

This study employed naturalist and multiple-case study methodology relying on participant observations and video, interviews with educators, and focus groups with youth within three 4-H educational robotics programs organized by adult 4-H volunteer educators. Data collection took place in 2014 and 2015 at Santa Clara with an educator and seven youth; Solano with three educators and eight youth; and Alameda with an educator and seven youth.

Data analysis revealed six discrete categories of pedagogy and interactions that I labeled as participation structures that included lecture, demonstration, learning activity, group sharing, scripted build, and design & build. These participation structures were related to the observed pedagogical practices employed by the educators. There was evidence of youth engagement in design practices, STEM content learning, strengthening of tool competencies, learning dispositions, and psychological ownership - however, their expression, manifestation, and opportunities were afforded and/or constrained by the various participation structures. Furthermore, conflicts were evidenced in the use of participation structures; emphasis of educators on formal reasoning and planning versus youth preference for hands-on tinkering; and tensions amongst youth peers while engaging in design teams. Two themes emerged regarding the educators’ pedagogy: adaptations in response to structural and curricular constraints and pedagogical approach influenced by self-identification with a professional field of engineering.

This study contributes to our understanding of STEM learning through design in out-of-school time. This research helps clarify the tensions among major co-actors, youth, educator, and curriculum, as the learning environment was co-constructed and how that, in turn, afforded opportunities for youth to learn and develop. This study illuminated the complex negotiations between these co-actors and explored questions about who can and does decide the nature of the activity structures. These co-actors were not without conflict, thus suggesting that these spaces and pedagogies do not exemplify STEM teaching on their own, but neither do they preclude practices that deepen young people's interest and motivation for STEM learning.

Though women’s participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields has greatly increased over the past 60 years, women’s participation in computer science peaked in the 1980s. The paper searches for key motivators for women entering computer science at the peak in order to isolate factors for the subsequent steep decline. A major finding of the paper is that having a computer at home is (weakly) statistically significant as a determinant for female students choosing to pursue computer science. This relationship is insignificant for students in other STEM and non-STEM fields. A final section of the paper examines employment in computing. There is some support to suggest that early exposure to computing is correlated with individuals, both male and female, subsequently using a computer at work.

Despite our awareness of the fascination modern humans have with the Internet, little is known about how and why colleges and universities create and maintain Websites. At the most general level, in this case study, I hypothesize that university Websites serve as communication and marketing tools in attracting students. At the most specific level, I postulate that civil engineering programs with Web pages depicting images of women and minorities would be more successful in recruiting and retaining women and students of color than civil engineering programs with Web pages displaying fewer or no images of women and minorities. The primary goal of this case study was to examine the relationships between Website information content and the recruitment and retention of women and minority pre-civil engineering students. The second, but equally important, goal was to investigate the reason(s) why, despite efforts to recruit and retain individuals from disenfranchised populations into STEM majors, students from these groups not only remain underrepresented in engineering, but leave this discipline at a much higher rate than their non-minority male counterparts. This case study focused on two Florida state university civil engineering programs and drew on ethnographic research methods. I used interviews, focus groups, Web pages, demographic sheets, and observations to examine the relationships between Website content and access to undergraduate civil engineering programs for women and students of color. The study sample involved 40 respondents, including pre-civil engineering students, civil engineering professors, and university administrators. Research findings suggested that Internet marketing has become a key strategy used by civil engineering programs in recruiting and retaining students from underrepresented groups. Additionally, the study revealed that both prospective and pre-civil engineering students use departmental Websites for communication and enrollment purposes. Last, but certainly not least, the study found that online climate is a significant factor in the recruitment and retention of women and students of color in civil engineering programs.

This study examined the impact of the National Science Foundation's Research Experience for Teachers (RET) in engineering at University of North Texas on students after their teachers' participation in the program. Students were evaluated in terms of self-efficacy, knowledge of engineering, perceptions of engineering, and interest in engineering. A 22-item Likert pre/post survey was used for analysis, and participants included 589 students from six high schools, one middle school, and one magnet school. Paired surveys were analyzed to determine if there was a statistically significant difference in attitudes and knowledge after teachers implemented lessons from their time at the RET. Surveys were also analyzed to determine if there was a statistically significant difference in student response based on gender or student school type. Results showed no statistically significant difference in the self-efficacy of students, however there was a statistically significant difference in knowledge, perceptions, and interest in engineering. In addition, there was a statistically significant difference between genders on an isolated question, and seven out of the 22 Likert questions showed a statistically significant difference between student school types.

Although calls for a more diverse workforce in biomedical fields have been widespread, racial and ethnic gaps in biomedical degree attainment persist. In order to succeed, URM STEM students must persevere despite numerous challenges and stay continuously motivated on the long road to degree attainment in biomedical disciplines. Past higher education research has identified two key self-appraisals, a sense of belonging and self-efficacy, as crucial for student success. These beliefs, which can serve as motivational resources for students, include students' convictions about whether they are a valued member of their academic community and whether they have what it takes to succeed in their discipline. This study explored how participation in an undergraduate research training program and students' motivational resources may be shaping their academic performance and thus contributing to their successful completion of undergraduate biomedical degrees. The study also dissected program participation into five components and explored whether a sense of belonging or self-efficacy played a mediational role in the relationship between program participation and academic performance for URM STEM students. Single and multiple linear regression analyses were used and results indicated significant links between overall program participation and both motivational resources as well as significant connections between various program components and these self-perceptions. No significant relationship surfaced between overall program participation and academic performance but in a multiple regression analysis, research dosage was linked to performance for students in the study. Additionally, no significant connection was found between the motivational resources and academic performance and thus, the mediational role of a sense of belonging and self-efficacy in the relationship between program participation and performance could not be tested.

After situating my interest in issues of women’s participation in technoscience, starting withmy experiences in the 1970s, this thesis turns to consider women’s visibility in more recenttechnoscience, in the light of European Commission figures indicating a slower progressionfor women into the more prestigious positions in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineeringand Mathematics) than the Commission had hoped.Two media case studies are presented focusing on the visibility of women in the EuropeanUnion (including the United Kingdom). One case study considers the media campaign whichinitiated the public promotion of a European Commission campaign to encourage women intoscience. The campaign-launch taster video was “Science it’s a girl thing! The other casestudy involved an analysis of media from a ‘Day in the technology news’ drawn from theBBC TechNews website on the 7th January 2018.The analysis of the social imaginary draws upon still images clipped from the short videoclips. The discussion is set within the context of the ‘woman question’ in science and ‘thescience question in feminism’ and both the notion of the gaze, and also Deleuzian notions offaceicity and affect. This analysis then reflects upon the research question: “Dorepresentation and visual modelling, visual encounters, or some less tangibleaffective factors, play a role in continuing an androcentric focus in science andtechnology, and how might this impact on the on-going exclusion or disincentivisingof technology and research careers for women, even if narratives havechanged and initiatives have tried to entice more women into STEM and research inthe UK and European Union?” Ultimately the underlying interest is “What can bedone about the woman question in science and technology in these areas if we are to try and redress the imbalance in women’s participation?”

The purpose of this qualitative research methods study with empirical phenomenological research design was to explore the lived experiences of the African American females compared to other populations entering engineering or other Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) program in colleges. Although African American females have made some strides in educational achievements, there continues to significantly less progress in engineering and other STEM disciplines. Many occupations in the science, technology, engineering, and math fields require degrees in STEM to be considered for interviews and eventual employment. The African American female population in order to be more successful in engineering or other STEM programs it will be necessary to understand what barriers may exist that hinder positive results on an ongoing basis. The general problem of low numbers of female minority college students in STEM programs continues to create concerns for administrators and instructors. Proper evaluation and recommended improvements are needed to improve success rates for the African American female students. The goal of this research was to interview approximately 20 – 25 African America female college students in engineering and other STEM programs to identify what obstacles may exist that might hinder their success in these programs and make recommendations for improvements in the future.

Female mentoring success was investigated as an undergraduate intervention utilizing career development practices to reduce dysfunctional career thinking and STEM major retention in first year freshmen females within a living-learning community. Repeated measures MANOVAs and canonical correlations in the causal comparative research design evaluated mentoring's influence on first year females. Male voluntary participants (n = 126) formulated the comparison group, and female voluntary participants (n = 75) filled the treatment group. Repeated measure multivariate analyses of variances compared differences between the interaction of mentoring and gender over time on dysfunctional career thinking using two assessments: Career Thoughts Inventory (CTI) and Career Decision Scale (CDS) and their five subscales (decision-making confusion, commitment anxiety, external conflict, certainty and indecision). Canonical correlations analyzed the effect participation rates had on student change scores on the CTI and CDS, indicating mentoring intervention effects on reducing dysfunctional career thinking and decidedness. Conclusions included: (a) females had higher levels of dysfunctional career thinking than males; (b) overtime both groups decreased dysfunctional thoughts,and solidifying their STEM career choices; (c) females had reduced levels of career decidedness compared to males; (d) both groups increased certainty overtime, solidifying their STEM career choice, and (e) when the STEM career choice was made, female certainty was more solidified than males. The study adds to the career development research within STEM at the undergraduate level providing colleges and universities with a structured first year female mentoring program in STEM. The GEMS model may be ideal for colleges and universities utilizing living-learning communities to increase underrepresented female retention and those without STEM career planning courses.?
Ph.D.
Doctorate
Education and Human Performance
Education; Science Education

The number of robotics competitions has steadily increased over the past 30 years. Schools are implementing robotics competitions to increase student content knowledge and interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Companies in STEM-related fields are financially supporting robotics competitions to help increase the number of students pursuing careers in STEM among other reasons. These financial supporters and school administrations are asking what the outcomes of students participating in competitive robotics are. Few studies have been conducted to investigate these outcomes. The studies that have been conducted usually compare students in robotics to students not in robotics. There have not been any studies that compare students to themselves before and after participating in robotics competitions. This may be due to the lack of available instruments to measure student outcomes. This study developed an instrument to measure the self-efficacy of students participating in VEX Robotics Competitions (VRC). The VRC is the world’s largest and fastest growing robotics competition available for middle and high school students. Self-efficacy was measured because of its importance to the education community. Students with higher self-efficacy tend to persevere through difficult tasks more frequently than students with low self-efficacy. A person’s self-efficacy has major influence over what interests, activities, classes, college majors, and careers he or she will pursue in life. The self-efficacy survey instrument created through this study was developed through an occupational and task analysis (OTA), and initial content and face validity was established through the OTA process. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were also conducted to assist in instrument validation. The reliability was calculated using Cronbach’s alpha. Face validity was established through the OTA process. Construct validity was established through the factor analyses. The processes of the OTA and factor analyses have created an instrument that results indicate is reliable and valid to use in further research studies.

The Two-Step Flow of Communication suggests that opinion leaders have a greater impact on consumers' product choices and decisions than marketers. With the advent of the Internet and e-commerce, many consumer researchers expanded the study of opinion leadership to incorporate electronic Word-of-Mouth behavior (eWOM) into the Two-Step Flow of Communication. Yet, with the recent and increasing prominence of social media, there appears to be a gap within the opinion leadership literature. Several studies have examined how the Internet and social media empower opinion leaders to instantaneously influence large crowds with eWOM. Marginally few studies, however, have considered how the production of user-generated content (UGC) among opinion leaders can further expand their peer influence. Furthermore, emergent research illustrates that social media is transforming into an enclave for celebrity culture, wherein celebrities use social media to invoke gossip and fantasy in consumers. These technological and cultural shifts within the Internet and social media necessitate an understanding of how UGC, social media and celebrity culture fit within the Two-Step Flow of Communication. In order to address these gaps, the current study probed the relationships amongst parasocial interaction, opinion leadership and willingness to participate in UGC and eWOM. Specifically, parasocial interaction is a history of interactions between a consumer and celebrity that manifest into a fantasized, personal relationship. Relevant hypotheses were developed and used to construct a theoretical model. Data were collected from a nationally representative sample (n = 555) and a Structural Equation Model was subsequently run to test the hypotheses. The findings suggest that social values, knowledge and parasocial interaction are positively related to opinion leadership. In turn, opinion leadership is positively related to willingness to participate in UGC and eWOM. Parasocial interaction, too, is positively related to willingness to participate in UGC and eWOM. A mediation effect was supported whereby opinion leadership significantly mediates the relationship between parasocial interaction and UGC, but not eWOM. The production of UGC is shown to be dependent upon parasocial interaction and opinion leadership. Nonetheless, eWOM does not seem to necessitate opinion leadership and can be produced directly from parasocial interactions.

Bakgrund: Barnet som föds prematurt genomgår en stor omställning från livet i magen till livet utanför, och behöver anpassad omvårdnad.  Det prematura barnets familj hamnar i en omvälvande situation som kan kännas ovan och skrämmande. Vårdpersonalens bemötande av familjen är avgörande för familjens delaktighet, vilket ställer krav på personalens kompetens. Samskapande omvårdnad handlar om samspel mellan personal och förälder för att ge barnet så bra vård som möjligt. Syfte: Studiens syfte är att beskriva barnsjuksköterskans erfarenheter av att göra föräldrarna delaktiga i vården av sitt prematurfödda barn. Metod: Kvalitativ design användes och data samlades in genom fokusgruppsintervjuer med barnsjuksköterskor på neonatalavdelningar. Intervjuerna analyserades med kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultat: I resultatet beskrivs kommunikationens betydelse för föräldrarollen genom vikten av stöd och anpassad information till den enskilda familjen. Föräldrarna behöver information, stöd och vägledning för känna sig trygga och delaktiga. Vidare beskrivs den psykosociala och fysiska miljöns betydelse för föräldrarollen och hur även miljön påverkar föräldranärvaron. Slutsats: Familjecentrerad och samskapande omvårdnad uppnås med fördel genom att familjen får en patientansvarig sjuksköterska (PAS), där en förtroendefull relation bidrar till att kommunikationen och informationsflödet fungerar optimalt. Strategier och modeller behövs för att lättare kunna applicera kunskapen om PAS-relationen i verksamheterna.
Background: Premature babies undergoes a major adjustment from the womb into life at the neonatal ward with special care. The family ends up in a new and frightening situation. Nurse´s treatment of the family is crucial for parental participation, which demands competent nurses. Co-productive care is about a parent-nurse partnership to provide the best possible care for the baby. Aim: The aim of the study is to describe the pediatric nurses experiences of making the parents involved in caring for their premature baby. Method: A qualitative design was used, data was gathered through focus group interviews with pediatric nurses at neonatal wards, and analyzed with qualitative content analysis. Result: The result describes the importance of communication for the parental role through support to the individual family and personalized information. Parents need information, support and guidance to become confident participants in their baby's care. The result also describes how the psychosocial and physical environment affects the parental role and parental participation. Conclusion: Family centered and co-productive care can be reached by providing an accountable nurse where a trustful relationship with the family contributes to good communication. Strategies and models are needed to apply the knowledge of the family-nurse relationship in the neonatal care.

Many tools have been developed to assess global, national or regional sustainable development policies. However, as governments develop sustainable policies, individuals must also feel empowered to affect their personal impact on the planet. This thesis integrates three sustainability concepts that lend themselves to individual sustainability: The natural step, life cycle assessment, and the ecological footprint. TNS serves to provide the meaning and substance toward sustainable development. LCA helps provide the framework for assessing sustainability. The EF calculator determines the driving components and measures the qualitative decisions made through TNS and LCA. From the analysis of the household footprint calculator a simplified footprint calculator was developed to assist individuals and communities in setting benchmarks and goals as they move away from over-consumption and towards a sustainable lifestyle.

abstract: This is a qualitative study about sources of self-efficacy and roles of assistive technologies (AT) associated with the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) choice and participation of STEM professionals and graduate students with sensory and orthopedic disabilities. People with disabilities are underrepresented in STEM, which can be traced back along the STEM pipeline to early undergraduate participation in STEM. Little research exists, however, about pathways and factors associated with successful STEM participation for people with disabilities at any point along their trajectories. Eighteen STEM professionals and graduate students with sensory and orthopedic disabilities were interviewed for this study. Sources of self-efficacy were sought from interview transcripts, as were emergent themes associated with the types, uses and roles of AT. Findings suggest that people with sensory and orthopedic disabilities weigh sources of self-efficacy differently from white males without disabilities in STEM and more like other underrepresented minorities in STEM. Social persuasions were most frequently reported and in far more detail than other sources, suggesting that this source may be most impactful in the development of self-efficacy beliefs for this group. Additionally, findings indicate that AT is critical to the successful participation of people with sensory and orthopedic disabilities in STEM at all points along their STEM pathways. Barriers center around issues of access to full engagement in mainstream STEM classrooms and out of school opportunities as well as the impact of ill-informed perceptions about the capabilities of people with disabilities held by parents, teachers and college faculty who can act as gatekeepers along STEM pathways. Gaps in disability specialists' knowledge about STEM-specific assistive technologies, especially at the college level, are also problematic. The prevalence of mainstream public school attendance reported by participants indicates that classroom teachers and disability-related educators have important roles in providing access to STEM mastery experiences as well as providing positive support and high expectations for students with disabilities. STEM and disability-based networks served to provide participants with role models, out of school STEM learning experiences and important long-term social connections in STEM communities.
Dissertation/Thesis
Doctoral Dissertation Curriculum and Instruction 2014

Parents play a major role in the choices their children make regarding academics, leisure activities, and college and career preparation. Parent outcome expectations and behaviors are informed by their parenting self-efficacy in a specific subject or task. Parenting self-efficacy is the confidence parents have in their abilities to influence their children’s motivation, environments, and behaviors that could result in positive youth development. Parenting self-efficacy is informed by personal factors and experiences. Parenting self-efficacy can help to describe why or why not a parent engages in certain activities with their child.

The purpose of this study was to explore and describe how the motivation of parents of urban middle school students plays a role in their child’s interest in agriculture or STEM-related activities. The convenience sample for this study were parents of urban middle schools in Indianapolis, IN (N = 53) who’s children participated in afterschool programs. Quantitative data were collected using a parenting self-efficacy questionnaire, which included items related to participants’ parenting self-efficacy (PSE) as it pertains to their child’s academics, STEM and agricultural activities; parent outcome expectations (POE) as it pertains to their child’s college and career preparation, and discussing STEM and agriculture activities with their child; and, parents’ perceptions of their child’s post-secondary career and educational options and intended career field. Descriptive statistics including means, standard deviations, frequencies, and percentages were used to analyze the data. Correlations were computed to explore the relationships between the variables.

There were four conclusions for this study. First, urban parents were self-efficacious regarding their child’s academic performance and STEM activities, and had positive outcomes expectations regarding their child’s college and career preparation and engaging their child in agriculture and STEM activities. Second, on average urban parents reported participating in four different types of activities with their child, and recreational sports, visiting museums, computer games, and visiting the zoo were most popular. Third, urban parents agreed that their child would most likely pursue an associate or bachelor’s degree in arts, humanities, and social sciences as their post-secondary options. Finally, urban parents’ parenting self-efficacy for academic performance, STEM, and agriculture were positively related to parents’ outcome expectations regarding agricultural activities. Moreover, parenting self-efficacy regarding agricultural activities was positively related to the number of activities parents did with their children. Implications for practice and recommendations for future research were discussed.

Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
The underrepresentation of girls in senior secondary mathematics is a longstanding social justice and economic concern across many Western nations. However, several decades of agendas seeking to increase girls’ engagement with mathematics have largely failed to generate tangible change. Girls continue to opt out of mathematics in greater numbers than boys, beginning from the first moment they are given the real choice to do so. In this thesis-by-publication, I examine why girls’ underrepresentation in senior secondary mathematics is seemingly so intractable in the Australian landscape. The investigation is carried out in the context of the New South Wales (NSW) education system. This is a rich context for such an investigation, given that both declining and gendered high-level mathematics participation have been documented in this state for as long as enrolment statistics have been collected. Framed by a feminist sociopolitical perspective, the thesis conducts both quantitative and qualitative analysis, with data collected as part of a larger two-year (2017–2018) study on gender and mathematics participation. The quantitative data consist of subject enrolment statistics from 1991–2018, which I compiled to examine boys’ and girls’ senior secondary subject selection patterns over time. The qualitative data consist of interviews on subject selection, conducted in 11 different government schools, with students in Years 7–12 (n = 85) and their mathematics teachers (n = 22). These qualitative data illuminate comprehensive reasons why the quantitative trends persist, and challenge taken-for-granted assumptions about girls as being ‘the problem’ in mathematics participation. The results are reported in five publications which examine: (1) Year 12 subject selection trends over time; (2) junior secondary grouping practices in relation to students’ preparation for senior secondary mathematics; (3) teachers’ expectations of high-level mathematics students; (4) the reasons girls provide for opting out of high-level mathematics; and, (5) the similarities that exist between boys and girls in ‘doing’ mathematics. Collectively, these publications deliver multiple significant contributions to reconceptualising dominant individualistic understandings of girls’ underrepresentation in mathematics, which have positioned girls who opt out as lacking in either knowledge or certain dispositions. First, girls’ underrepresentation in mathematics is but one symptom of a broader, gendered senior secondary school system. I found that enrolments in almost every senior secondary subject in NSW are profoundly gendered. In line with traditional gender roles, girls still predominantly enrol in arts, humanities, and English courses, rather than traditionally masculine subjects, such as mathematics. These patterns are produced, at least in part, by gendered subject binaries within the education system that serve to confine patterns of subject choice within traditional gender boundaries. The systemic juxtaposition of mathematics and English (or rationality and creativity), producing these subjects as challenging opposites, is especially pertinent to maintaining gendered enrolment patterns. Second, the subject culture of mathematics is exclusionary and masculinised. I found that many students cannot exercise the choice to participate in high-level mathematics by the time they reach Years 11 and 12. A streamed NSW mathematics curriculum and grouping practices locate and label students as low, mid or high ‘ability’ during junior secondary school, resulting in inadequate preparation for high-level mathematics among a sizable proportion of the student population. A further source of exclusion comes from dominant discourses of mathematics which: (a) marginalise girls through the location of mathematics ability within the brains of nerdy male bodies and; (b) represent high-level mathematics as ‘real mathematics’ that is only useful for those wishing to study higher mathematics after school. Together these practices and discourses position the study of high-level mathematics as difficult and irrelevant to a majority of students. Third, the marginalised position of femininity in the high-level mathematics context prevents many girls from undertaking mathematics identity work that is both desirable to them and legitimate to others. My analysis demonstrates that the girls who rejected high-level mathematics have sensible reasons for doing so; indeed, they often choose not to participate on the advice of their teachers. These sensible reasons are bound to the subject culture of mathematics and include: the competitive nature of university entry, advice that high-level mathematics attracts considerable workload, advice that high-level mathematics is not relevant to their future, and recognition that mathematics identities are often positioned as socially undesirable. The choice of girls to opt out therefore reflects the positioning of high-level mathematics as difficult and irrelevant to a majority of students. Taken as a whole, the multifaceted, multi-methodological evidence I provide on student participation in mathematics calls attention to the need for new targeted efforts to open mathematics up to more diverse students. I argue that these efforts need to move beyond simply raising girls’ interest and confidence – a popularly perceived ‘key’ to increasing girls’ participation in the subject – and focus rather on changing the culture of mathematics. This will involve complex work, such as challenging taken-for-granted understandings and disrupting established discourses of mathematics as: (1) the domain of male superiority; (2) as too hard for many; and (3) irrelevant to most. We must also re-examine common practices, such as grouping, which help exclusionary discourses to function as true, and develop new tools for students and teachers to resist and query the gendered status quo. That is, we must keep troubling gender if we are serious about opening up mathematics participation to more diverse students.

Despite having made significant strides in the overall labor market, women continue to lag behind men at the senior and executive C-suite levels. The gap is even more striking in organizations within the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). Although women-only leadership trainings have gained recent popularity as a strategy to address this, scholarship on the efficacy of such programs is still fairly scant. This study aimed to fill this gap in the research by looking into how graduates of such a program used the tools and knowledge gained during the training, to determine if and how it has impacted, in their view, their identity as leaders. Eighteen senior-level Information Technology (IT) leaders, graduates of the same in-house women-only leadership program were interviewed using a narrative inquiry approach. Data gathered during the interviews revealed which strategies participants put into practice, how they applied them, as well as the perceived outcomes that they derived. The narratives revealed women’s perspective of their leadership trajectory and their understanding of the training’s impact. Interviews were analyzed using content and thematic coding. Analysis of the participants’ accounts pointed to the training’s ability to facilitate leadership identity development through the following means: (1) the promotion of practical skills, (2) increased self-awareness and realization of others’ perceptions, (3) feeling a sense of belonging and connectedness, and (4) feeling recognized and empowered. It was also clear that context plays a significant role on the impact that the training can have. Three themes related to this emerged; (1) the availability of advocates, (2) executive visibility, and (3) fit with the organization’s leadership culture and ability to lead authentically. Participants’ stories also revealed the ways in which the training affected their ability to deal with a male-dominated organization, which ultimately depended on how much of an effect they believed that being a woman has on their workplace experience. Findings suggest that women-only leadership trainings can have a positive impact on senior-level leaders’ leadership identity, yet careful consideration must be paid to the contextual factors identified. Findings also provided concrete evidence pointing to the perceived effectiveness of specific program components.

The purpose of this study was to develop the i-STEM programme, an awareness initiative that would improve the participation of young women in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields in South African universities. That would serve as an intervention measure to young women’s significantly low numbers in the STEM fields, causing a gender disparity in those fields. Young women are said to be overrepresented in the fields that are at a lower level, the so-called soft disciplines and of short-term duration at tertiary level. The STEM fields, on the other hand, are well-remunerated and high-status careers, perceived as the main solution for the unprecedented socioeconomic challenges that the world is experiencing, as a result of, mainly, climate change and lack of food security. The literature reviewed was focused on the participation of young women in the STEM fields in South Africa, Africa and globally, assisting the study to investigate the reasons for low numbers of young women in the STEM fields. The mixed method approach was of benefit to the nature of this study, a quantitative and qualitative enquiry. The study was conducted at two universities with completely different profiles, contact sessions and modes of content delivery. The third institution was the government department relating to higher education. For research design, data was collected from 111 participants who were involved with the STEM fields and/or university education. Two (2) lecturers, two (2) government officials and two (2) young female students were interviewed and 105 other participants completed the questionnaires. Some data were collected from participating institutions’ documents. Interpretation and analysis of such data, was done through concurrent, triangulation design, where data collection was done concurrently, i.e. in the same phase, in both the quantitative and qualitative manner. The main findings blamed the different ways in which boys and girls were socialised in their communities. Girls were more exposed to matters pertaining to food and caring while boys were more exposed to cars and machines, resulting in girls preferring socially orientated careers and the boys, mechanical ones. Those findings were used as the impetus to construct Phases 1, 2 and 3 of the developed awareness programme, i.e. ‘Identification’, ‘Induction’ and ‘Implementation’, whereby the departments of Basic Education and Higher Education and Training, together with universities, would identify learners and students as mentees and mentors, who will become the advocates for breaking the above stereotypes. Another discovery was that there is an element of cultural stereotyping in society, that the STEM fields were difficult and therefore meant for men, since they are supposed to be more demanding and not for women as soft targets; hence the environment was unsupportive of women. It also related to the classification of certain jobs as men’s and others as women’s territory. That theory was further extended through the finding that the STEM fields were more-costly than the social sciences and that most of them require a longer study period. As a result, young women who anticipate becoming mothers and wives, avoid them as careers, in consideration of their future cultural roles. Those findings influenced the last four phases of the i-STEM programme, i.e. ‘Impression’, ‘Integration’, ‘Intensification’ and ‘Ignition’, whereby cultural and classist stereotypes would be determined through baseline information and rooted out by synergy in terms of resources, research and effort by local, national and international stakeholders, as guided by the programme.
Curriculum and Instructional Studies
D. Ed. (Curriculum Studies)

Background Stroke is associated with a significant disease burden across the world (1). Ischaemic stroke accounts for over 80% of the total number of strokes and specifically refers to central nervous system infarction accompanied by overt symptoms (2). Cell therapies (CTs) represent a composite of different cell types being investigated in different phases of stroke, with use of different dose and delivery regimens (2). Preliminary evidence for meaningful clinical translation is now available with CTs in stroke, as early studies have demonstrated safety and a trend towards functional improvement over a longer time window of application (2). Research Aims This research aimed to analyse study design, regulatory policy, ethical and economic considerations, as well as to describe their impact on the quality of execution of early-phase clinical CTs studies in stroke Methods The thesis is a compendium of subprojects that evaluated these considerations for efficient implementation of early phase CTs studies, using a mixed methodology approach. Results Study design considerations: a systematic review of early phase clinical studies with CTs in ischaemic stroke indicated a trend towards improvement across varied domains of functional impairment and reasonable safety and feasibility, in patients with stroke receiving CTs (2). A high level of heterogeneity was observed, in terms of differences in cell types used and route, dose and time of administration, use of randomised control design and selection of trial endpoints. Most studies reported temporal changes in global endpoints such as those measured by the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), Barthel Index (BI) or Modified Rankin scale (mRS). Regulatory considerations: a narrative review examined different national regulatory provisions and described standardization of research terminology and access to expertise in manufacturing as the key determinants critical to the execution of early phase studies with CTs in stroke. Ethical considerations: a qualitative study was undertaken to understand the perspective of stroke survivors on the research design of a proposed early phase clinical study with adult human dental pulp stem cells in chronic ischaemic stroke. The study found that patients considered outcomes such as recovery in social participation and decreased dependence on carers as most meaningful to them. Whilst improved motor function was important, the impact on cognition, memory, mood, pain and fatigue were bigger determinants of their perception of benefit. The perception of risk versus benefit was influenced by the time elapsed since stroke. Health economic considerations: a systematic review reported that there is limited evidence for economic evaluation at early stage of research in CTs. Only three studies have been published to date. All studies undertook a cost utility analysis of CTs versus current standard of care using decision analytical modelling and reported that CTs could provide meaningful cost savings in terms of direct costs of disease management accrued to the government (healthcare bodies and social services). Discussion Successful clinical translation of CTs in stroke requires efficient development strategies potentially comprising the use of adaptive trial designs and the use of domain specific endpoints for efficacy evaluation (8, 9). Addressing regulatory requirements and patients’ preferences in research design can significantly improve the eventual clinical relevance of data generated within these trials (11, 12). Collection of data on cost-effectiveness of their use from the early phase of research is critical, as these therapies are likely to be expensive (13). Conclusions Development of a practical framework comprising key elements of study design and regulatory policy, as well as ethical and health economic considerations that is available to different research groups can potentially accelerate clinical translation of CTs in stroke.
Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, Adelaide Medical School, 2019

Educational robotics is an innovative approach to teaching and learning a variety of different concepts and skills as well as motivating students in the field of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education. This especially applies to educational robotics competitions such as, for example, the FIRST LEGO League, the RoboCup Junior, or the World Robot Olympiad as out-of-school and goal-oriented approach to educational robotics. These competitions have gained greatly in popularity in recent years and thousands of students participate in these competitions worldwide each year. Moreover, the corresponding technology became more accessible for teachers and students to use it in their classrooms and has arguably a high potential to impact the nature of science education at all levels. One skill, which is said to be benefitting from educational robotics, is problem solving. This thesis understands problem solving skills as engineering design skills (in contrast to scientific inquiry). Problem solving skills count as important skills as demanded by industry leaders and policy makers in the context of 21st century skills, which are relevant for students to be well-prepared for their future working life in today’s world, shaped by an ongoing process of automation, globalization, and digitalization. The overall aim of this thesis is to try to answer the question if educational robotics competitions such as the World Robot Olympiad (WRO) have a positive impact on students’ learning in terms of their problem solving skills (as part of 21st century skills). In detail, this thesis focuses on a) if students can improve their problem solving skills through participation in educational robotics competitions, b) how this skill development is accomplished, and c) the teachers’ support of their students during their learning process in the competition. The corresponding empirical studies were conducted throughout the seasons of 2018 and 2019 of the WRO in Germany. The results show overall positive effects of the participation in the WRO on students’ learning of problem solving skills. They display an increase of students’ problem solving skills, which is not moderated by other variables such as the competition’s category or age group, the students’ gender or experience, or the success of the teams at the competition. Moreover, the results indicate that students develop their problem solving skills by using a systematic engineering design process and sophisticated problem solving strategies. Lastly, the teacher’s role in the educational robotics competitions as manager and guide (in terms of the constructionist learning theory) of the students’ learning process (especially regarding the affective level) is underlined by the results of this thesis. All in all, this thesis contributes to the research gap concerning the lack of systematic evaluation of educational robotics to promote students’ learning by providing more (methodologically) sophisticated research on this topic. Thereby, this thesis follows the call for more rigorous (quantitative) research by the educational robotics community, which is necessary to validate the impact of educational robotics
Die Robotik stellt einen handlungsorientierten („hands-on“) Zugang zur Bildung in Mathematik, Informatik, Naturwissenschaften und Technik (MINT) dar. Dabei fördert sie das Lernen von Schülerinnen und Schülern nicht nur auf kognitiver Ebene, sondern trägt auch zu einer erhöhten Motivation und erhöhtem Interesse bei (affektive Ebene). In den letzten Jahren erfreuen sich gerade Roboterwettbewerbe als außerschulisches Lernangebot steigender Beliebtheit und verzeichnen weltweit jährlich wachsende Teilnehmerzahlen. Beispiele dafür sind die FIRST LEGO League, der RoboCup Junior und die World Robot Olympiad. Zudem steigt auch die Verfügbarkeit der nötigen Robotersysteme für Schülerinnen und Schüler sowie Lehrkräfte, um sie in der Schule einzusetzen und damit verschiedenste Lerninhalte in allen Jahrgangsstufen zu vermitteln. Ein Lerninhalt, der durch die Robotik besonders gefördert werden können soll, ist das Problemlösen. Problemlösen wird in dieser Arbeit als ingenieurwissenschaftliche Denk- und Arbeitsweise verstanden (im Gegensatz zu naturwissenschaftlichen Denk- und Arbeitsweisen). Das Problemlösen gilt dabei als eine wichtige Fähigkeit im Kontext von sog. 21st century skills. Diese beschreiben wichtige Fähigkeiten für die Arbeitswelt von morgen. Sie resultieren aus einer fortschreitenden Automatisierung, Globalisierung und Digitalisierung unserer Welt und werden regelmäßig von Vertretern von Industrie und Politik gefordert. Eine Forschungslücke stellt aber weiterhin die unzureichende systematische wissenschaftliche Forschung und Evaluation hinsichtlich des positiven Einflusses der Robotik auf das Lernen dar. Die fehlende Systematik geht dabei vor allem die Verwendung wenig aussagekräftiger Methodik (z.B. deskriptive Erfahrungsberichte von einzelnen Lehrkräften) zurück. Das übergreifende Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es, zu untersuchen, ob eine Teilnahme an der World Robot Olympiad (WRO) (als Beispiel für einen beliebten Roboterwettbewerb) einen positiven Einfluss auf die Problemlösefähigkeiten (als Teil der 21st century skills) der Schülerinnen und Schüler hat. Dabei wird im Detail untersucht, a) ob die Problemlösefähigkeiten der Schülerinnen und Schüler durch eine Teilnahme an Roboterwettbewerben verbessert werden können, b) wie diese Verbesserung zustande kommt und c) wie die Team-Coaches die Schülerinnen und Schüler während ihres Lernprozesses unterstützen. Die dazu durchgeführten empirischen Studien fanden in den beiden Jahren 2018 und 2019 im Rahmen der WRO in Deutschland statt. Die Ergebnisse dieser Arbeit zeigen einen insgesamt positiven Einfluss einer Teilnahme an der WRO auf die Problemlösefähigkeiten der Schülerinnen und Schüler. Dies zeigt sich in einer Verbesserung ihrer Problemlösefähigkeiten durch die Teilnahme, die nicht durch andere Variablen wie der Kategorie und Altersklasse der WRO, dem Geschlecht und der Erfahrung der Schülerinnen und Schüler sowie deren Erfolg beim Roboterwettbewerb moderiert wurde. Die Verbesserung der Problemlösefähigkeiten erfolgt durch die Verwendung von systematischen ingenieurwissenschaftlichen Denk- und Arbeitsweisen sowie fortgeschrittenen Problemlösestrategien. Die Rolle des Team-Coaches als Manager und Lernbegleiter (im Sinne einer konstruktionistischen Didaktik) im Roboterwettbewerb (besonders bezüglich der affektiven Ebene) wird durch die Ergebnisse der Arbeit ebenfalls unterstrichen. Zusammenfassend lässt sich also sagen, dass diese Arbeit einen Beitrag hinsichtlich der Forschungslücke leistet und damit dem Aufruf der Community nach weiterer (quantitativer) wissenschaftlicher Forschung nachkommt, der nötig ist, um den positiven Einfluss der Robotik auf das Lernen der Schülerinnen und Schüler zu bestätigen

Recently, South African company law underwent a dramatic overhaul through the introduction of the Companies Act 71 of 2008. Central to company law is the promotion of corporate governance: companies no longer are accountable to their shareholders only but to society at large. Leaders should direct company strategy and operations with a view to achieving the triple bottom-line (economic, social and environmental performance) and, thus, should manage the business in a sustainable manner. An important question in company law today: In whose interest should the company be managed? Corporate governance needs to address the entire span of responsibilities to all stakeholders of the company, such as customers, employees, shareholders, suppliers and the community at large. The Companies Act aims to balance the rights and obligations of shareholders and directors within companies and encourages the efficient and responsible management of companies. The promotion of human rights is central in the application of company law: it is extremely important given the significant role of enterprises within the social and economic life of the nation. The interests of various stakeholder groups in the context of the corporation as a “social institution” should be enhanced and protected. Because corporations are a part of society and the community they are required to be socially responsible and to be more accountable to all stakeholders in the company. Although directors act in the best interests of shareholders, collectively, they must also consider the interests of other stakeholders. Sustainable relationships with all the relevant stakeholders are important. The advancement of social justice is important to corporations in that they should take into account the Constitution, labour and company law legislation in dealing with social justice issues. Employees have become important stakeholders in companies and their needs should be taken into account in a bigger corporate governance and social responsibility framework. Consideration of the role of employees in corporations entails notice that the Constitution grants every person a fundamental right to fair labour practices. Social as well as political change became evident after South Africa's re-entry into the world in the 1990s. Change to socio-economic conditions in a developing country is also evident. These changes have a major influence on South African labour law. Like company law, labour law, to a large extent, is codified. Like company law, no precise definition of labour law exists. From the various definitions, labour law covers both the individual and collective labour law and various role-players are involved. These role-players include trade unions, employers/companies, employees, and the state. The various relationships between these parties, ultimately, are what guides a certain outcome if there is a power play between them. In 1995 the South African labour market was transformed by the introduction of the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995. The LRA remains the primary piece of labour legislation that governs labour law in South Africa. The notion of industrial democracy and the transformation of the workplace are central issues in South African labour law. The constitutional change that have taken place in South Africa, by which the protection of human rights and the democratisation of the workplace are advanced contributed to these developments. Before the enactment of the LRA, employee participation and voice were much-debated topics, locally and internationally. In considering employee participation, it is essential to take due cognisance of both the labour and company law principles that are pertinent: the need for workers to have a voice in the workplace and for employers to manage their corporations. Employee participation and voice should be evident at different levels: from informationsharing to consultation to joint decision-making. Corporations should enhance systems and processes that facilitate employee participation and voice in decisions that affect employees. The primary research question under investigation is: What role should (and could) employees play in corporate decision-making in South Africa? The main inquiry of the thesis, therefore, is to explore the issue of granting a voice to employees in companies, in particular, the role of employees in the decision-making processes of companies. The thesis explores various options, including supervisory co-determination as well as social co-determination, in order to find solutions that will facilitate the achievement of employee participation and voice in companies in South Africa.
LLD, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

STEM education is a top priority in the educational development of youth across the United States as the country tries to address the need of having a more well equipped, prepared, and educated workforce. Agriculture, food, and natural resources (AFNR) has the ability to provide a relevant context for engaging students in STEM education through experiential learning. Tragically, both STEM and AFNR struggle to reach and engage more diversified audiences, especially students of color. AFNR education provides an authentic avenue to center STEM engagement around addressing societal grand challenges like food and nutritional security, childhood-obesity, and climate change; issues faced by all communities. The approaches and steps taken to address these AFNR related grand challenges can all be explored through the lens of food systems. Food systems is a concept within AFNR that encompasses the interdisciplinary components of AFNR, STEM, and social sciences that provides a breakdown for the process and system involved in getting food from farm to fork. In an era where youth are more disconnected from understanding where their food comes from, food systems education has the ability to reconnect youth to the root of this issue and the potential to lead them to explore finding solutions to the grand challenges facing their generation. Furthermore, food systems education provides a context to engage youth in authentic learning experiences in nonformal and formal classroom settings around relevant issues with the potential to enhance their interests and concerns around these topics.

The purpose of this study was to explore and describe elementary school students’ interests and concerns about the food system, and their overall engagement in the learning experience after participating in an authentic learning based Virtual Agri+STEM Camp focused on food systems education, AFNR, and STEM activities. The convenience sample for this study was made up of elementary school students between grades 3^rd and 8^th grade (N = 99) who were either in the classroom or participating in an at-home Agri+STEM session. The majority of these students were from rural communities and most of them were African Americans. Quantitative data was collected before and after participation in the Virtual Agri+STEM Camp experience that using the research developed Food System Interest and Food System Concern instrument. Previous AFNR related experiences were also reported by students. The researcher also used an adapted version of the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) and STEM Semantics survey to measure student engagement and attitudes after participating in the experience. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data, which included means, standard deviations, frequencies, and percentages. To explore the relationships between each of the variables, correlations were also computed.

There were four conclusions for this study. First, students that participated in the Virtual Agri+STEM Camp were motivated and engaged in the learning process while doing the Agri+STEM Camp activities. Second, students that participated in the Virtual Agri+STEM Camp were interested and concerned about the food system before and after participating in the Virtual Agri+STEM Camp. Third, African American student participants reported less previous AFNR experiences, yet they reported more interests and concerns in the food system than Caucasian American participants before and after completing the Virtual Agri+STEM Camp. Lastly, Students that felt more competent, saw the value, and were interested/enjoyed the Agri+STEM experience were more likely to be interested and concerned about the food system. Recommendations for future research and implications for practice and policy were discussed.

碩士
國立東華大學
體育與運動科學系
105
Abstract The purpose of this research is to explore the experience of PE teachers' children to participate in sports team. Because of education rush, parents rather their children to concentrate on academic learning than excercise training. In such a situation, what are PE teachers' beliefs about encouraging their children to join exercise training and expecting them to become athletes in the future? How do they, as parents, help their children chase after the dream of being athlets? What are their considered opinions of sports training environment? This study adopted the qualitative interview method to do the research and choose three PE teachers as the subjects by purposive sampling. The three PE teachers, as parents, let their children go on sports training. The result show that they respect their children’s choice and encourage them timely. They guide their children to balance academic learning and excercise training so that their children won’t worry about the future consequences to realize their dream in sports bravely. They use their own professional specialty to support and suggest their children during the growth process. Their children can have less difficulties in their exercise training and higher education. However, PE teachers worry about theirchildren’s career in sports and the exercise training in Taiwan.

Contemporary activists in the United States find it increasingly difficult to negotiate socio-political constraints to build a social movement. Those looking for relatively safe and effective venues for participation in and communication of dissent face oppression by the hegemonic power of the political right and, in the case of climate activism, anti-climate-science discourse. I use the case study of the climate action movement to explore how contemporary activists use new communication media technologies (hereafter new media) to establish and strengthen a movement. Even though climate change affects the daily lives of ordinary Americans, no U.S. policy exists to mitigate carbon emissions. New media offer the potential for new, safer venues for participation in and communication about social movements. I used empirical qualitative and critical methods to analyze the communication of climate change activism in Texas, USA. I examined how Step It Up! 2007 (SIU) used new media to facilitate or constrain public participation in climate action. I used critical discourse analysis to examine information provided to citizens on the SIU website, and I attended the SIU event in San Antonio, Texas. I found SIU organizers successfully used new media to increase agitation and to shift power away from the federal government to the local grassroots level. I recommend activists use new media as a unifying tool, to provide a fragmented and apathetic citizenry with a message that can be used to affect change. I conducted a critical rhetorical analysis of Working Film’s 2007 documentary on global warming, Everything’s Cool, as a means to suggest how, and in what ways, activists use new media to build a movement. I also hosted an activist screening. I examined how new media facilitate or constrain communication of movement messages. I found activists used the documentary and open source activism as a rhetorical exercise in agitation to refigure public understanding of climate science and attitudes toward U.S. climate change policy. Everything’s Cool positioned climate activism, and participating in the movement broadly, as accessible and acceptable, helping to rhetorically constitute a new kind of citizen activist, shifting power roles to a grassroots network of local leaders.

Since the 1960s, the United States has experienced steady declines in news consumption and commensurate attrition in civic engagement and political participation. Americans read newspapers at less than one fourth the rate of 60 years ago; voter turnout has fallen to the point where the U.S. ranks 23 out of 24 established democracies; signing petitions, volunteering for a civic organization like the PTA and political party affiliation are all at contemporary lows. But these indicators only tell half the story…the younger half. Because among Americans over age 50, attrition in all these areas is much milder; among those under age 30 they are much steeper. So do young adults get news? If so, how do they get news? If not, how do they find out about things? A 21-year old journalism student reported that: “I usually just hear it from friends, when I talk to friends.” The present study employed four methods: Secondary analysis of longitudinal Pew data; interviews and focus groups about news consumption and media use habits, including social media and wireless devices; a survey on social media use and its relationship to news and news knowledge; and an experiment testing a novel game as a way to convey news and civics knowledge, all involving students at three large state universities. Findings include the following: students often rank social media use, like Facebook, as their most important and most-used media; social media are negatively related with traditional news use and with news knowledge; students draw clear and important distinctions between news and information; one method of teaching (direct instruction) works well while another (a news game) works, but not as well. Of particular interest is the role of opinion leaders in the two-step flow of news, and the role of relevance and need for orientation in agenda setting. Novel contributions include a clearer definition of students’ distinction between news and important information as they define it, a framework by which to experiment with creating an interactive game using news to promote news seeking, and some provocative recommendations for future research.
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Le système de gouvernance de la santé représente de véritables défis, étant donné la multiplicité, l'enchevêtrement, et même la divergence, des intérêts encourus. Les femmes administrateures apportent une nouvelle vision qui imprègne profondément les pratiques dans ce domaine et ce, sur le plan structurel, culturel et de la mission du système. L'objectif principal de cette recherche est de favoriser une meilleure compréhension des questionnements découlant de la problématique du genre en gouvernance de la santé. Plus précisément, il s'agit d'analyser empiriquement la dynamique de la diversité du genre au sein du conseil d'administration du Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Sainte Justine à Montréal. L'architecture de cette recherche est fondée sur une structure constructiviste suivant une approche exploratoire. Le cadre conceptuel de la recherche est établi à partir d'une revue des notions théoriques dans le domaine de la gouvernance publique, et celles concernant la recherche sur le genre dans l'organisation. Les questions tremplins identifiées ont permis de proposer des filons de compréhension, ayant eux mêmes servi de trame pour effectuer la triangulation des données empiriques issues de sources multiples. Suivant une démarche multidimensionnelle, qui s'inspire pleinement des principes du système complexe, un modèle est proposé pour représenter la dynamique du genre dans le conseil d'administration. En définitive, les résultats de cette recherche, qui s'appuient sur une étude de cas, explicitent les visions exprimées par les femmes et les hommes administrateurs concernant l'accès au conseil d'administration, l'insertion en son sein, l'interaction entre ses membres, et la différenciation des conceptions de notions fondamentales, notamment, la compétence, la composition, la performance, la pratique de gouvernance, et finalement le rôle de l'administrateur. Ces résultats auront des applications aussi bien théoriques que pratiques. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : Conseil d'administration, Administrateur, Santé, Gouvernance, Diversité, Genre, CHU Sainte Justine.

Abstract in English, Afrikaans and Zulu
The general aim of the research was to investigate the components and nature of a psychosocial framework for conflict management in organisations. The research investigated the way in which such a framework manifests by exploring the relationship dynamics between the antecedents (leadership, organisational culture and employee voice), mediators (employee engagement and organisational trust), and outcome variables (conflict management – conflict types and interpersonal conflict handling styles), as moderated by socio-demographic factors (race, gender, age, qualification, job level, income level, tenure, employment status, trade union representation, trade union membership, sector, employee numbers, organisational size, employee engagement programme). The associations between individuals’ personal and organisational characteristics were further explored to determine significant differences between these variables. A quantitative cross-sectional survey was conducted amongst a non-probability sample of adult workers who were employed in South African-based organisations (n = 556). Canonical correlation analysis, mediation modelling, and structural equation modelling were conducted to identify the core empirical components of the framework. A critical review of the interrelated dynamics of the framework components revealed that the mediating variables of employee engagement (job engagement and organisational engagement) and organisational trust (commitment, dependability, integrity) were vital in intensifying the direction and strength of the link between leadership behaviour, organisational culture, conflict types (task, relational, process and status conflict, group atmosphere and conflict resolution potential), and various interpersonal conflict handling styles (integrating, avoiding, dominating, obliging, compromising). Stepwise multiple regression revealed that number of employees, a formal employee engagement programme, and job level were the three most important socio-demographic variables to consider in a conflict management framework, followed by age. The hierarchical moderated regression analysis showed that age, union membership, job level, number of employees, and formal employee engagement programme were important moderating factors to consider in the framework. Tests for significant mean differences indicated significant dissimilarities in terms of the socio-demographic variables. Theoretically, the study advances the understanding of conflict management behaviour and its antecedents in the South African workplace. The empirically tested psychosocial framework informs workplace conflict management interventions from an employment relations perspective which may contribute to enhanced organisational performance.
Die algemene doel van die navorsing was om ondersoek in te stel na die komponente en aard van ʼn psigososiale raamwerk vir konflikbestuur in organisasies. Die navorsing het die manier waarop so ʼn raamwerk manifesteer, bestudeer – deur verkenning van die verhoudingsdinamika tussen die voorgangers (leierskap, organisasiekultuur en werknemer se stem), bemiddelaars (werknemerbetrokkenheid en vertroue in ʼn organisasie), en uitkomsveranderlikes (konflikbestuur – tipes konflik en hanteringstyle ten opsigte van interpersoonlike konflik), soos getemper deur sosiodemografiese faktore (ras, geslag, ouderdom, kwalifikasie, posvlak, inkomstevlak, ampsbekleding, aanstellingstatus, vakbondverteenwoordiging, vakbondlidmaatskap, sektor, werknemergetalle, organisasiegrootte, werknemerbetrokkenheidprogram). Die assosiasies tussen individue se persoonlike en organisasiegebonde eienskappe is verder bestudeer om betekenisvolle verskille tussen hierdie veranderlikes te bepaal. ʼn Kwantitatiewe deursnee-opname is gemaak onder ʼn nie-waarskynlikheidssteekproef van volwasse werkers in diens van Suid-Afrikaans-gebaseerde organisasies (n = 556). Kanoniese korrelasie-ontleding, bemiddelingsmodellering, en strukturele vergelykingsmodellering is gedoen om die kern- empiriese komponente van die raamwerk te identifiseer. ʼn Kritiese beskouing van die onderling verwante dinamika van die raamwerkkomponente het getoon dat die bemiddelende veranderlikes van werknemerbetrokkenheid (werksbetrokkenheid en organisasiebetrokkenheid) en vertroue in die organisasie (toewyding, betroubaarheid, integriteit) deurslaggewend was in die intensifisering van die rigting en sterkte van die skakel tussen leierskapsgedrag, organisasiekultuur, konfliktipes (taak-, relasionele, proses- en statuskonflik, groepatmosfeer en konflikoplossingspotensiaal), en verskillende hanteringstyle ten opsigte van interpersoonlike konflik (integrerend, vermydend, dominerend, inskiklik, kompromitterend). Stapsgewyse meervoudige regressie het getoon dat die aantal werknemers, ʼn formele werknemerbetrokkenheidsprogram, en posvlak die drie belangrikste sosiodemografiese veranderlikes was om mee rekenskap te hou in ʼn konflikbestuursraamwerk, gevolg deur ouderdom. Die hiërargiese gemodereerde regressie-ontleding het getoon dat ouderdom, vakbondlidmaatskap, posvlak, aantal werknemers, en formele werknemerbetrokkenheidsprogram belangrike modererende faktore was om in gedagte te hou in die raamwerk. Toetse vir noemenswaardige gemiddelde verskille het aansienlike ongelyksoortighede ten opsigte van die sosiodemografiese veranderlikes getoon. Teoreties bevorder die studie die begrip van konflikbestuursgedrag en die voorgangers daarvan in die Suid-Afrikaanse werkplek. Die empiries getoetste psigososiale raamwerk vorm konflikbestuursintervensies in die werkplek vanuit ʼn werksverhoudingeperspektief wat kan bydra tot verbeterde organisasieprestasie.
Inhloso jikelele yocwaningo kwaba ukuphenya izingxenye nemvelo yohlaka lwezengqondo lokuphathwa kokungqubuzana ezinhlanganweni. Ucwaningo luphenye indlela lapho uhlaka olunjalo lubonisa ngokuhlola amandla obudlelwano phakathi kwezinqumo (ubuholi, isiko lenhlangano nezwi lesisebenzi), abalamuli (ukuzibandakanya kwesisebenzi kanye nokwethembana kwenhlangano), kanye nemiphumela eguquguqukayo (ukuphathwa kokungqubuzana - izinhlobo zokungqubuzana nezindlela zokuphatha ukungqubuzana phakathi kwabantu), njengoba kuhlaziywe yizici zenhlayo yeningi labantu (uhlanga, ubulili, ubudala, imfanelo, izinga lomsebenzi, izinga lomholo, ukusebenzisa umhlaba, isimo somsebenzi, ukumelwa yinyunyana, ubulunga benyunyana, imboni, izinombolo zabasebenzi, ubungako benhlangano, uhlelo lokuzibandakanya kwesisebenzi). Ukuhlangana phakathi komuntu siqu kanye nezici zenhlangano kuphinde kwahlola umehluko omkhulu phakathi kwalokhu okuguquguqukayo. Inhlolovo esezingeni eliphansi yesigaba yenziwe phakathi kwesampula elula yabasebenzi abadala abebeqashwe ezinhlanganweni ezisekelwe zaseNingizimu Afrika (n = 556). Ukuhlaziya kokuxhumanisa kohlu lwezincwadi, ukulamula kwesifanekiso, kanye nesifanekiso sesakhiwo kwenziwa ukukhomba izingxenye ezisemqoka ezinokwehla kohlaka. Isibuyekezo esibucayi samandla ahambisana nezingxenye zohlaka siveze ukuthi ukulamula okuguqukayo kokuzibandakanya kwesisebenzi (ukuzibandakanya komsebenzi nokuzibandakanya kwenhlangano) kanye nokwethembana kwenhlangano (ukuzinikela, ukwethembeka, ubuqotho) kwakubalulekile ekwandiseni ukuqondiswa namandla oxhumano phakathi kokuziphatha kwabaholi, isiko lenhlangano, izinhlobo zokungqubuzana (umsebenzi, ezingubudlelwano, inqubo nesimo sokungqubuzana, isimo sokuzwana eqenjini kanye namandla okuxazulula ukungqubuzana), kanye nezindlela zokuphatha ukungqubuzana okuhlukahlukene phakathi kwabantu (ukuhlanganisa, ukugwema, ukubusa, ukubopha, ukuyekethisa). Ngokuhamba kwesinyathelo ekuhlehleni okuningi kwaveza ukuthi inani labasebenzi, uhlelo lokuzibandakanya olusemthethweni lwesisebenzi, kanye nezinga lomsebenzi kwakuyizinguqunguquko ezintathu ezibaluleke kakhulu zenhlalo yeningi abantu okufanele bazicabange ohlakeni lokuphathwa ukungqubuzana, kulandelwe ubudala. Ukuhlaziywa okuphezulu kokuhlehla kokuhlaziya kubonise ukuthi ubudala, ubulunga benyunyana, izinga lomsebenzi, inani lezisebenzi, kanye nohlelo lokuzibandakanya olusemthethweni lwesisebenzi kwakuyizici ezibalulekile zokulinganisa okufanele zicatshangwe ohlakeni. Uvivinyo lokwehlukahlukana lukhombise ukungafani okubalulekile ngokuya kweziguquguqukayo zenhlalo yeningi labantu. Ngokucatshangwayo isifundo sikhuthaza ukuqondisisa ukuphathwa kokungqubuzana kokuziphatha kanye nezinqumo zako endaweni yomsebenzi eNingizimu Afrika. Ukuhlolwa okunamandla kohlaka lwezengqondo lwazisa ukungenelela kokuphathwa kokungqubuzana endaweni yomsebenzi ngombono wobudlelwano emsebenzini okungaba nomthelela ekwenzeni ngcono ukusebenza kwenhlangano.
Human Resource Management
D. Phil. (Human Resource Management)