Exit level female students: Career aspirations and attainment strategies
Date
2018
Authors
Meehan, Kirstie Lee
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Abstract
The World Bank asserts that South Africa is one of the most unequal countries in the
world (Government report, 2015). In particular, females are still being treated unfairly
even though the government has put policies, such as employment equity, in place.
As this inequality increases, so does female graduate unemployment (StatsSA,
2016). This is only one of the barriers that exit level female students face. Against
this background, this study explored exit level female humanities students’ career
aspirations and attainment strategies. This study focused on the application of
Schlossberg’s (1981) Transition theory to exit level female students’ anticipated
transition into the world of work. A qualitative research design within an interpretive
paradigm was used. The sample consisted of eight third year participants from the
humanities faculty, specifically studying psychology at the University of the
Witwatersrand. Thematic content analysis was used. The results obtained indicate
that due to the economic instability in South Africa, the main career aspirations
encompassed factors such as completing one’s degree and obtaining employment.
Furthermore, Schlossberg’s model provided insight into the various perceived
barriers and enablers to help students cope and achieve the anticipated transition
into the job market. Some of these perceived barriers were issues related to gender
and concurrent stressors such as workload and approaching exams. However, the
participants also demonstrated enablers that could help the students cope, such as a
positive self-belief and various support structures for example; parents and friends.
Additionally, the participants reflected on the job strategies that they would utilise in
order to find a job, the most frequent being networking.
Keywords: Career aspirations, graduate unemployment, perceived barriers and
enablers, Schlossberg’s Transition theory.
Description
A research project submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of
MA by coursework and Research report (in the field of Organisational Psychology) in
the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 3 August
2018.
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Citation
Meehan, Kirstie Lee (2018) Exit level female students:career aspirations and attainment strategies, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, <http://hdl.handle.net/10539/26601>