Research Publications

Permanent URI for this collection

https://hdl.handle.net/10566/1357

Browse

Now showing 1 - 20 of 37

Will working students flourish or give up? exploring the influence of academic psychological capital, grit, and time management
(South African Journal of Higher Education, 2022) Amadi, Winston; Du Plessis, Marieta; Solomon, Shihaam
Working students are faced with challenges and responsibilities both at university and in their employment. In attempting to study the books and chapters assigned, meet assignment deadlines, participate in extracurricular activities, and functions at work, working students may be overwhelmed. The primary aim of this study was to examine and understand the influence of non-cognitive factors (including Psychological Capital, time management, and grit) on flourishing and the working student’s intention to quit their studies. A non-probability sampling technique indicating convenience sampling and purposive sampling were employed to recruit respondents. The sample (n = 194) was from a residential university in the Western Cape of South Africa. Non-cognitive variables had a positive relationship with flourishing and a negative relationship with intention-to-quit studies. Academic mindset measured as Psychological Capital explained the largest proportion of the variance in flourishing and intention-to-quit studies. Lecturers, counsellors, and university officials should collaborate to incorporate programmes that will aid in developing these non-cognitive variables into the university’s curriculum. These interventions may help improve academic success and throughput of working students.
Academics in lockdown: A gendered perspective on self-esteem in academia during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown
(MDPI, 2023) Walters, Cyrill; Ronnie, Linda; du Plessis, Marieta
This qualitative research explores the experiences and sense-making of self-worth of 1857 South African women academics during the enforced pandemic lockdown between March and September 2020; the study was conducted through an inductive, content analysis process. Since worldwide lockdowns were imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, women academics, in particular, have reported a unique set of challenges from working from home. Gender inequality within the scientific enterprise has been well documented; however, the cost to female academics’ selfesteem, which has been exacerbated by the pandemic, has yet to be fully realized. The findings of the study include negative emotional experiences related to self-worth, engagement in social comparisons, and the fear of judgement by colleagues, which were exacerbated by peer pressure.
Working-class postgraduates’ perceptions of studying while working at a selected university
(AOSIS, 2022) Rockman, Dimitri A.; Aderibigbe, John K.; Allen-Ile, Charles O.
The life of working-class postgraduates can be exhilarating and daunting, juggling the commitments of full-time employment and postgraduate studies. Insofar as can be established, little, if any, research has been conducted on exploring the experiences of such students in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. An in-depth investigation is necessary to assist management and academic institutions to support such students. The purpose of the study was to understand the selected working-class postgraduate students’ perceptions of studying while working simultaneously, as well as explore the experiences, challenges and coping mechanisms of the cohort of students.
A study of conflict resolution mechanisms and employment relations in multinational corporations in Africa: Empirical evidence from Nigeria and South Africa
(AOSIS, 2022) Olabiy, Olaniyi J.
When it comes to employment relations, a strong and effective conflict resolution mechanism (CRM) is critical for achieving industrial tranquillity and collaboration among social partners. This study evaluated the usefulness of CRMs in employment relations at a large multinational company (MNC) in Nigeria and South Africa. Negotiating and dialoguing about employment relations must be an integral part of CRMs in order to alleviate disharmony in employment relations.
Authentic leadership, organisational citizenship behaviours, and intention to quit: the indirect effect of psychological ownership
(South African journal of Psychology, 2020) du Plessis, Marieta
The aim of this study was to explore the influence of perceived authentic leadership on followers’ citizenship behaviour and their intention to quit their jobs, and to examine the indirect effect of psychological ownership in the relevant relationships. The study used a cross-sectional survey design to gather data from a sample of South African service industry employees (N = 384). It employed structural equation modelling to test the hypotheses formulated. The study found that psychological ownership indirectly affected the relationship between authentic leadership and employees’ organisational citizenship behaviour and intention to quit. This study enables organisations to gain a better understanding of how a contextual resource such as authentic leadership behaviours can influence followers’ organisational citizenship and intention to quit through increasing feelings of ownership of the organisation.
Influential factors impacting leadership effectiveness: A case study at a public university
(AOSIS, 2022) Jansen van Vuuren, Carel D.; Visser, Kobus; du Plessis, Marieta
As a result of increased globalisation and rapid changes in the technological, social, economic and political spheres, the environment in which businesses and organisations function has become increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA). This has created a unique set of challenges for the leaders of these organisations, including higher education (HE) in South Africa. This study aimed to identify potential influential factors that have impact on leader effectiveness in a HE VUCA environment.
Women academics and the changing psychological contract during Covid-19 lockdown
(Frontiers Media, 2022) Ronnie, Linda; du Plessis, Marieta; Walters, Cyrill
This study examines the psychological contract between academics and their institutions during a time of great stress—the COVID-19 pandemic. Given that relationships between these parties have been found to be deteriorating prior to the pandemic, we believed it pertinent to explore how environmental changes brought about through lockdown conditions may have shifted the academic-institution relationship. Through a qualitative research design, our data is from 2029 women academics across 26 institutions of higher learning in South Africa.
Walking the tightrope of job demands and resources: Leveraging work engagement to counter turnover intentions of information technology professionals
(Frontiers Media, 2022) Van Heerden, Jana; Du Plessis, Marieta; R. Becker, Jurgen
Organisations within the banking industry are increasingly confronted with attraction and retention challenges within their Information Technology (IT) divisions, driven by an increase in demand for skilled resources within the market. Therefore, the primary objective of the study was to explore the impact of job resources and job demands on work engagement and employee turnover intentions within the IT division of a South African bank. The Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model was applied as theoretical framework to identify the unique job resources and job demands driving work engagement and turnover intentions of employees within this highly specialised section of the South African banking industry. Quantitative data was collected from 239 IT professionals via a self-administered, web-based survey measuring work engagement, job demands and resources, and turnover intentions.
Career competencies for academic career progression: Experiences of academics at a South African university
(Frontiers Media, 2022) Barnes, Nina; du Plessis, Marieta
An understanding of career competencies is critical for the progression of academic careers, as it influences the availability of adequate and capable academic staff at all levels within universities. The study aimed to explore and describe the career competencies that academics demonstrate to successfully progress in their careers, while theoretically underpinned by an integrated competency framework. This report is based on the qualitative experiences, gathered through semi-structured interviews of eight academic staff in various career phases, in a South African university. Data was thematically analysed, while a deductive modality was adopted to identify the competencies. The findings align very closely with the dimensions of the integrated competency framework, including reflective competencies: gap analysis, self-evaluation, social comparison, and goal orientation; communicative competencies: information seeking and negotiation; and behavioural competencies: strategy alignment, control and agency, university awareness, continuous learning and collaboration.
An evaluation of job crafting as an intervention aimed at improving work engagement
(AOSIS, 2020) Thomas, Emmarentia C.; Plessis, Marieta du; Thomas, Kevin G.F.
In the construction industry, a lack of engagement by employees can have serious and costly health and safety consequences. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether a job-crafting intervention could improve the work engagement of individuals employed in the construction industry. Because of tight deadlines and stringent requirements, managers in the construction industry are often unable to reduce the demands on, or increase the resources available to, their employees. Hence, if employees are to increase their work engagement, they need to exert personal agency by recrafting their own jobs.
The role of emotional intelligence and autonomy in transformational leadership: A leader member exchange perspective
(AOSIS, 2020) Waglay, Maryam; Becker, Jurgen R.; du Plessis, Marieta
The role of emotional intelligence, autonomy and leader member exchange (LMX) is examined in the relationship between transformational leadership and unit-level performance.The goal of the present study was to investigate the role of emotional intelligence and autonomy in the effectiveness of leadership in organisations through high LMX relationships.The relationship between transformational leadership and unitlevel performance is well documented. However, the specific role of emotional intelligence, job autonomy and high-quality LMX relationships as transmission mechanisms is not well understood.
The influence of servant leadership on psychological empowerment and organisational citizenship on a sample of teachers
(AOSIS, 2021) van der Hoven, Adrian G.; Mahembe, Bright; Hamman-Fisher, Desiree
The exhibition of organisation citizenship behaviour (OCB) by teachers is of great benefit for human capital development. Teachers’ perceptions of school principals as servant leaders play a critical role in their psychological empowerment and exhibition of OCBs.The goal of the study was to analyse the relationship between servant leadership, psychological empowerment and OCB of teachers in the South African school system.Teachers are usually under pressure to attend to the academic needs of the learners, which may be required either during normal working hours or after hours. This has necessitated the need to investigate the role played by a school principal’s servant leadership style in influencing the exhibition of OCBs.
South African higher education institutions at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic: Sense-making and lessons learnt
(Frontiers, 2022) Du Plessis, Marietta; Jansen van Vuuren, Carel Daniel; Simons, Abigail; Frantz, José; Roman, Nicolette Vanessa; Andipatin, Michelle
After the unprecedented changes experienced in higher education due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there is a need to integrate initial thoughts and reflective experience to decide on the way forward. This study aimed to reflect on, and make sense of the events related to South African higher education institutions HEIs at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic by using the Cynefin framework. Data from a rapid review of online media at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and a collaborative autoethnography session 1 year since lockdowns were implemented are used to present perspectives for the sense-making process. This offers insights to both ends of the spectrum as it highlights the evolution of processes taking place at multiple levels from government policies to institutional practices, as well as how this impacted on both staff and students. The Cynefin framework demonstrated sense-making efforts in the disordered, to the chaotic, to the complex, then to the complicated and eventually to the simple domain. Each domain ushered in its peculiarities and highlighted the issues ranging from vulnerabilities experienced in the higher education sector, to trying to reconfigure the academic year, to dealing with wicked problems, to eventually relying on expert assistance to navigate the virtual university space. Trying to establish causality in the simple domain proved challenging as the information available during the time was sparse. Despite these challenges, the lessons learnt include the importance of the sense-making process among all academic staff, the significance of collaboration and team efforts and the need to adapt leadership and self-leadership approaches to the changed ways of working in higher education institutions.
Perceived career management challenges of academicsat a South African university
(AOSIS, 2021) Barnes, Nina; du Plessis, Marieta; Frantz, José
Understanding academic career challenges is important at a national and global level, to support academic career progression. Whilst challenges are identified in academic career literature, higher education institutions are identified as complex interdependent structures and, therefore, encouraged to be studied from a perspective of interdependency and complexity. To explore and describe the perceived career management challenges of academics at a South African university. To address the need for an integrated approach, from an individual and organisational perspective, through a systems-thinking framework (STF), which acknowledges academic career progression as an interdependent and complex system.
Unintended positive consequences of development centres in University graduates
(Frontiers Media, 2021) White, Melissa; Becker, Jürgen; du Plessis, Marieta
This study investigated development centres as a method to improve the generalised self-efficacy of university graduates. This research was motivated by the various challenges, graduates face in order to successfully transition into the world of work. Although there is a general scarcity of skills in many emerging economies like South Africa, graduate unemployment rates remain high. Additionally, graduates are not making the immediate impact that employers would expect due to a lack of technical and “soft skills.” General self-efficacy is an important attribute for job applicants because it provides them with the confidence to solve problems efficiently. The primary research objective was to identify whether the generalised self-efficacy of graduates can be positively affected by a development centre approach in the short-term and long-term.
Authentic leadership, followership, and psychological capital as antecedents of work engagement
(Routledge, 2018) du Plessis, Marieta; Boshoff, Adré B
The present study investigated authentic leadership, psychological capital, and followership behaviour influences on work engagement of employees . Respondents were 901 South African employees within the healthcare industry organisation (n = 647) and mining industry (n = 254) . The employees completed questionnaires on authentic leadership, psychological capital, and followership behaviour, and work engagement . Results following structural equation modelling and mediation analysis suggest work engagement to be explained by the psychological capital of the employee rather than by authentic leadership qualities . Improving employee psychological capital has the potential to enhance the levels of work engagement of employees.
Systematic review of the job demands and resources of academic staff within higher education institutions
(Sciedu Press, 2021) Naidoo-Chetty, Mineshree; du Plessis, Marieta
The Higher Education sector has been through an array of changes, such as globalisation, massification, lack of job security, decolonisation and a number of technological advancements. These changes have impacted academic workload and have increased work pressure with resultant effects on family and work life balance. A review of the existing literature indicates a lack of clarity when it comes to the job demands and job resources inherent to the academic occupation. In order to determine the job demands and job resources of academics, a systematic review of empirical literature is warranted. This paper systematically reviewed empirical research published from 2014 to 2019 investigating job demands and resources based on the job demands-resources model in the higher education environment. Six articles were identified that met the criteria for inclusion. Thus, a list of quantitative, qualitative and organisational job demands as well as organisational and personal resources specific to the academic environment were identified. This will allow Higher Education Institutions to provide targeted development of job resources and mitigation of job demands for their academic employees and enable the development of specific interventions.
The relationship among change implementation, job satisfaction and organizational citizenship behavior in the Business Process Outsourcing industry in South Africa
(Business Perspectives, 2016) Muzanenhamo, George N.; Allen-Ile, Charles O.K.; Adams, Anthea
The unique and dynamic Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry in South Africa strives to thrive in a challenging business environment with the attendant need for stability, loyal and satisfied workforce. An empirical investigation was, therefore, conducted utilizing managerial and non-managerial employees in a stratified sampling technique. Questionnaires were administered to 250 employees from four selected organizations. The essence was to examine the nature of the relationship among change implementation, job satisfaction and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Four significant results emerged. Firstly, there is a positive but moderate relationship between change implementation and OCB; there is a high or strong positive relationship between change implementation and job satisfaction; there is a positive, but moderate relationship between OCB and job satisfaction; and lastly the results confirm the assumption that job satisfaction moderates the relationship between change implementation and OCB. BPO firms need to understand the effects of change implementation on OCB and job satisfaction. This is because change management is inevitable in the BPO industry; therefore, organizations have to be constantly alert to tackle its demands.
Counselling preparedness and responsiveness of industrial psychologists in the face of Covid-19
(AOSIS, 2021) du Plessis, Marieta; Thomas, Emma C.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has brought to the forefront the need for industrial-organisational psychologists (IOPs) and organisations to place an emphasis on employees’ mental and physical health at all times. The purpose of the research was to determine how prepared IOPs are to counsel employees during the pandemic and how responsive they are to provide counselling.It is not clear to what extent such counselling is being practised by IOPs in the workplace during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Perceived career management challenges of academics at a South African university
(AOSIS, 2021) Barnes, Nina; du Plessis, Marieta; Frantz, José
Understanding academic career challenges is important at a national and global level, to support academic career progression. Whilst challenges are identified in academic career literature, higher education institutions are identified as complex interdependent structures and, therefore, encouraged to be studied from a perspective of interdependency and complexity.ore and describe the perceived career management challenges of academics at a South African university. To address the need for an integrated approach, from an individual and organisational perspective, through a systems-thinking framework (STF), which acknowledges academic career progression as an interdependent and complex system.

Browse

collection.page.browse.recent.head