Browsing by Subject "Work and Human Resource Education"
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Item An analysis of Gateway Technical College instructors' opinions on secondary and postsecondary program alignment.(2011-12) Albrecht, Bryan D.The purpose of this study was to determine what opinions Gateway Technical College instructors had toward secondary and postsecondary program alignment. Student transition is critical to supporting the mission and vision of Gateway Technical College. The impetus for this study was twofold. First, the quality improvement process established at Gateway Technical College were not alone meeting the need to increase direct enrollment from area high schools; and second, the researcher has extensive professional experience in implementation of tech prep and school-to-career programs and believes alternative approaches to youth transition services are needed for many students. The results of the study showed that Gateway instructors have a strong opinion on the value and need for program alignment between secondary and postsecondary programming but they are not as strong in their support for credit transfer between the systems. It was also evidenced through survey comments and focus group responses that credit should not be the reason for program alignment. Competency development and defined career pathways are highly valued by instructors an measuring students' ability to transition into postsecondary programs and make Gateway a college of first choice.Item A case study investigation of employed mothers' workplace formal social networks.(2009-08) Schultz, Jennifer LynnEmployer-based social networks for working mothers can be low-cost, innovative interventions designed to assist women in managing multiple life roles. This study presents research using a case study framework, specifically aimed at gaining a deeper understanding of how and to what extent social networks for working mothers impact their participants with regard to effectiveness, value and connection. This study was preceded by a positioning survey and included meeting observations, a pilot interview, and seven subsequent individual interviews with leaders and participants of a workplace social network for working mothers. The unit of measure for this study was the individual, featuring diversity of participants with regard to education, age, professional expertise, tenure with the organization, parenting experience, and network involvement. Individual interview results were transcribed and analyzed to identify and confirm outcomes among participants that revealed impacts of advice, confidence, work-life balance, knowledge of employer and community, employer support of mothers, internal research resource, helping colleagues, positive feelings, social capital and support and empathy. This study concluded with research-based recommendations for the network, employing organization, and for further research.Item A case study of degree completion graduates' transition from technician to manager.(2009-08) Dittmann, WendyThis narrative case study sought to describe the experience of transition from technician to manager of graduates of a degree completion program at the University of Wisconsin Stout. It also sought to describe the career self-management practiced by these graduates that determined their current employment status. The research questions for this study asked, What is the experience of a graduate from the B.S. in Management from UW-Stout who made the transition from technician to manager? And How did the graduate direct career self-management? In seeking the answer to those questions 20 graduates of the degree completion program who had experienced the transition from technician to manager were interviewed. Site visits were made to the workplaces of two managers. University documents relating to the degree and its graduates were reviewed. The interview data was analyzed and the story of the managers' career self-direction and transition to manager was revealed. The graduates had embarked on a protean career, boundaryless as well. They moved from technical education to technical jobs. Once they decided to return to UW-Stout to earn a B.S. in Management (or Industrial Management) they explained why they entered a degree program and their expectations. They tell the story of being a working adult in college and how their decisions affected their lives. The managers studied here relate their experiences on the job hunt and on the job.Item Designing HRD Interventions for Employee-Robot Interaction(2011-07) Heo, Se JinThe purpose of this study was to identify critical causes of work stress and job satisfaction of nurses, which can contribute to find appropriate organizational supports to help nurses effectively work with a surgical robot. Delphi method was employed to identify the critical stressors and the key causes of job satisfaction of nurses working with a surgical robot. Throughout three consecutive rounds, participants built up consensus about the critical stressors and the key causes of job satisfaction of nurses working with a surgical robot. In addition, they expressed their opinions about appropriate organizational interventions for employee-robot interaction. Based on these responses, desirable organizational supports for nurses were finally identified. During this research, nurses did not tend to mention extraordinary stress or job satisfaction. Although using a surgical robot is a new experience, the causes of work stress and job satisfaction were closely related to the chronic diseases of their organizations. For example, uncertainty concerning treatment and conflict with other nurses stems from a lack of communication or misunderstanding among nurses or between nurses and surgeons. In conclusion, except the process interventions, suggested interventions are not so new to nurses. In other words, most well-known strategies to become a better organization are still working for nurses partnering with a surgical robot. In order to effectively support nurses working with a surgical robot, the priority is to go back to basics for a better organization, not to totally depend on emergent practices.Item The effects of learning organization practices on organizational commitment and effectiveness for small and medium-sized enterprises in Taiwan.(2010-06) Tseng, Chien-ChiThis study explored the effects of learning organization practices on organizational commitment and effectiveness in Taiwanese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The research question is, "What are the effects of learning organization practices on organizational commitment and organizational effectiveness for SMEs in Taiwan?" A framework for three hypotheses were explored: 1) Learning organization practices have a positive effect on perceived organizational commitment; 2) Learning organization practices have a positive effect on perceived organizational effectiveness; and 3) Organizational commitment has a positive relationship with organizational effectiveness. The study used a quantitative research design. Three measurements were used to form an integrated 58 item instrument. It includes: 1) The Dimensions of Learning Organization Questionnaire (Marsick & Watkins, 1999, 2003), 21 items; 2) Organizational Commitment Questionnaire (Mowday, Steers, & Porter, 1979), 9 items; and 3) Survey of Organizations (Taylor & Bower, 1972), 20 items. In addition, demographic information, 8 items, comprised a fourth section in the questionnaire. The instrument was back-translated from English to Chinese. The validity of the three components of the instrument was examined by factor analysis, and the relationships were tested by correlation and structural equation modeling (SEM). In addition, descriptive analysis was used for the demographic information, items, dimensions, and instrument's characteristics. The research used a self-administered computer-based Internet survey to collect the research data. The data were collected from a sample of 300 SMEs including 152 outstanding awarded SMEs (AOSMEs) and 148 incubating start-up SMEs (ISSMEs) in Taiwan. IRB approval was sought. Permission from the publishers to use the instrument was obtained. The results suggested that learning organization practices can be viewed as an important antecedent factor for organizational commitment, as well as an antecedent factor for organizational effectiveness. It has a moderately positive association with organizational effectiveness and a strongly positive relation with organizational commitment. Furthermore, the relationship between organizational commitment and organizational effectiveness is reciprocal but not equal. Organizational commitment has a moderately positive impact on organizational effectiveness; however, organizational effectiveness has a weak positive influence on organizational commitment. The findings not only provided a new direction for organizational research on key variables, but also generated an important implication for organizational practice: Strengthening learning organization practices is a wise way to create organizational effectiveness; strong learning organization practices are good to develop the organizational commitment; and the well developed organizational commitment is an advantage to foster organizational effectiveness.Item An examination of quality management in support functions of elementary and secondary education using the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award's criteria for performance excellence.(2009-07) Olson, Lela MarieQuality management is an approach to achieving and sustaining high quality products and services by focusing on the continuous improvement of processes throughout an organization in order to meet or exceed customer requirements (Flynn, Schroeder, & Sakakibara, 1994). Accountability measures in elementary and secondary education define and monitor quality in teaching and learning and perpetuate continuous improvement of the core processes of school districts. Similar mechanisms do not exist for support functions, which on average account for over 33% of district expenditures (Zhou, Honegger, & Gaviola, 2007). This study examined customer-focused continuous improvement efforts in five Minnesota public school districts by using survey research to gather perceptual data from 196 front-line workers in the following work groups: food service, operations and maintenance, human resources and business services, transportation, and administrative/other support. Survey items reflected the essential components of quality management as found in the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award's Criteria for Performance Excellence. Data was used to examine participants' perceptions of quality management on the job in terms of leadership, data, planning, the workforce, work processes, stakeholders, and results. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to examine the relationship of these constructs in the support functions of elementary and secondary education as well as the applicability of the Baldrige model to this setting. Findings of the study were largely consistent with previous research using the Baldrige model in manufacturing, health care, and higher education settings. Key differences were also noted. The study makes an important contribution to the small body of literature on support service functions in elementary and secondary education and adds to the growing amount of research on quality management within organizations.Item Executive coaching: what is the experience like for executive women?(2009-03) Galuk, DeborahThis hermeneutic phenomenological study attempted to provide a better understanding of the experiences of executive women who had been coached by an external executive coach. Ten executive women who worked for different organizations and had a wide variety of coaching experiences were interviewed. These executives were located through the Dun & Bradstreet Directory and referrals from executive coaches. They shared both personal and professional stories, reflections, feelings, ideas, and actions related to being coached. I conducted a thematic analysis of the transcribed interviews to discover commonalities and synergies among participants' experiences. A list of preliminary themes emerged, and I conducted a follow-up interview with each participant to verify the findings. Themes were revised to incorporate their comments and reflect their meanings. The analysis revealed insights into four categories of themes: (a) why coaching, (b) role of the coach, (c) insight to action, and (d) outcomes. A total of seventeen themes emerged: (a) feeling alone and wanting help, and motivated by challenge and growth; (b) coach is trusted, a professional, a guide, strengthens me, and expects action; (c) self-discovery and awareness, emotions, commitment to development process, challenges to thinking, tools guide action, and different actions get better results; and (d) being more effective with people, work life balance, how to work with my boss, and gender based workplace differences and challenges. The literature supported most themes; however, new insights were added. Listening to the voice of these executive women added new perspectives to the coaching literature. Some new insights were that they sought coaching as a way to open themselves up to more challenge and growth, rather than to make behavioral changes. They also felt alone at the top, wanted some help, and felt strengthened by the coach to take different actions. And feelings about coaching and learning were important in the process. While the literature recognized the importance of organization support for executive coaching, it was glaringly absent in these executives' experiences. Coaching outcomes that were a priority for these executives included work/life balance and how to work with her boss, another difference from the literature. And, lastly, the workplace context for coaching provided gender-based differences and challenges that were not discussed in the coaching literature but were found in the women's studies literature.Item Factors influencing African American high school students in career decision self-efficacy and engineering related goal intentions.(2009-10) Austin, Chandra YvetteA current challenge in the United States is to increase African American pursuit of engineering careers. Minority students generally tend to be under-represented in such careers, as indicated by the National Academy of Engineering, in The Engineer of 2020-Visions of Engineering in the New Century. This study explores the career decision self-efficacy (Lent, Brown & Hackett, 1993) and Engineering related goal intentions of African American high school students. There are a variety of reasons explaining the lack of choice of engineering as a career, and these were investigated. This study assessed the effect of specific influences (ethnic identity, demographic factors, ability, school factors, Math/Science confidence, Math/Science self-efficacy, Math/Science interest, and family support) on career decision self-efficacy and engineering related goal-intentions. Data from a survey of 396 African American students' grades 9-12, low-middle income level, in a southeastern school were used in the study. Results show that career decision self-efficacy among students studied is influenced by: Math/science confidence, ethnic identity, family relations, school factors, and socioeconomic status. Factors influencing engineering related goal intentions were very similar but each variable did not contribute the same amount of variance. Results also show that gender was not significant in either dependent variable. Other implications and recommendations relating to the variables are presented.Item How do Minnesota School Board members learn to do their jobs?(2009-06) Conlon, Thomas JuliusSchool boards in Minnesota largely function as volunteer or lowly-compensated elected bodies whose members are not professionally trained for their jobs, yet the public demands accountability and results from their local public school districts. This descriptive study examined how a random sample of 322 Minnesota school board members learned to do their jobs under such conditions, as largely autonomous bodies with various differences between school districts. A hard copy of a survey was sent to the identified sample, with a response rate of 66.1%. The study found that, while neither informal, formal, nor external professional transfer skill learning methods solely dominated, whereas Marsick and Watkins (1992) believed that 90% of workplace learning takes place through informal means. Skills requiring large degrees of interpersonal interaction, negotiation, or political awareness were learned predominantly through informal (and to a lesser extent external professional transfer) means, while skills in key duties were largely learned through formal means. Demographic characteristics gathered yielded virtually no differences among groups. Challenges faced by formal training providers of school board members included whether or not the training methods (formal versus informal) were effective for certain tasks or duties, if learning improved using formal methods, and if certain areas not currently covered in formal training might be needed. The study concludes with a call for further research into the experiences of learning to be a school board member.Item How the role of socialization affects blended learning methodologies for faculty working with teams in a healthcare setting.(2010-07) Kenny, Kevin J.When looking at healthcare education settings, one barrier to understanding the nature of socialization and its effect on teaching methodology design is the advent of blended learning formats used within education departments. The author utilized qualitative research using grounded theory with deductive, verification and inductive processes to help determine how the role of socialization influence these methodologies. The intent of this study was to learn how socialization considerations affect blended learning methodologies and formats for faculty working with teams in a healthcare setting. The research included analysis of case studies derived from interviews of a medical school educator, graduate school faculty member, clinical laboratory educator and professional developer working at Mayo Clinic and the University of Minnesota. Interviewees were key members in each of their respective areas and had varying levels of background using blended learning formats for groups/teams in their courses. The primary question posed to the interviewees was: how does the role of socialization affect blended learning methodologies for faculty working with teams in a healthcare setting? The author utilized NVivo software to code transcripts and to help with analyzing interviews and other data. Additionally, triangulation of the raw data was used with other researchers experienced in qualitative research. Results of the study are continually forthcoming but themes emerged centered around methodologies fostering three attributes of socialization for groups in healthcare classes: development of mutual respect in the blended format, developing a common ground for students, and understanding a student's purpose or vested interest in the group and class. Additionally, the study suggested the need for faculty awareness when designing blended learning formats to include methodology that bridges learning content with service aspects which are important in developing healthcare workers. Experienced faculty members/physicians/professional developers feel that with the large of amount of content available online, a sense of entitlement may occur with students who do not feel a need to build the socialization aspect of learning. This may shape long-term development of healthcare workers relative to patient care and overall quality. Implications of the study suggest the need for faculty development and organizational support that focuses on helping experienced healthcare teachers understand the socialization aspects of effective blended learning course design. Faculty working with groups in blended learning need to build confidence and skill levels when deciding the right balance of social interaction and technology use for the particular outcomes they are looking for in their courses.Item Identifying the organizational changes taking place in Somali community-based organization (CBO) in response to new patterns of immigration: implications for adult community education.(2009-11) Osman, Sirad WarfaThis dissertation focuses on changes in the organizational development of community-based organizations (CBOs) within the context of new patterns of immigration, in the United States. Organizational development is considered within the context of dialects of growth, change and transformation of communities in transition. The primary goal of this investigation was to examine how and why Somali community-based organizations are established, how they grow, manage change, the challenges they face and the strategies they adopt to circumvent them. A secondary and related objective was to explore the relationship between managers' education and community culture on the success of Somali nonprofit organizations. The study was guided by three general questions: (1) what are the pressing challenges facing new immigrants' nonprofit organizations? (2) What are the emerging challenges that could have a major impact on their development? (3) What issues, not now being discussed, could emerge and potentially revolutionize new immigrant nonprofit organizations? In order to answer these questions a case study emerged as an appropriate methodology to guide my research because the case study method has the capacity to accommodate a variety of research techniques. This study found that running and managing organizations require leadership, expertise and resources. The dynamics of economic and political relations have implications for the powerless. While growth is evident, this growth is organic and does not transcend its ethnic leanings. There is duplication of services and competition for resources. Culture and religion has an impact in the work of Somali community-based organizations. The relationship between managers' education and the success of the organizations they serve was hard to quantify because of the subjectivity of measures of success.Item The impact of organizational justice and job security on organizational commitment exploring the mediating effect of trust in top management.(2009-08) Jeon, Jeong-HoThis study investigated the impact of organizational justice and job security on organizational commitment through the mediating effect of trust in top management. On the basis of theoretical linkages among the constructs, a conceptual model and hypotheses were established. The sample consisted of 337 Korean employees who were drawn from six Korean firms. After reliability testing, two dimensions of trust in top management were found not to be reliable in the Korean context. In addition, three items of quantitative job security were not appropriate because of non-linearity. Finally, the factor structure of four measurement models was examined by an overall confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). All items showed an appropriate range of factor loadings. After examining the measurement models, the hypothesized structural model was tested and revised based on modification indices. As a result, the model fit was improved in terms of theoretical relevance and parsimony. The results suggest that both organizational justice and long term job security affected trust in top management and organizational commitment significantly. All hypotheses were supported; however, the mediating effect via trust in top management was not strong enough to link two predictors with organizational commitment. The result of this study suggests that organizations should take care of employees' personal and social needs in order to increase their trust and commitment toward the organization. Especially, social needs (organizational justice) should be maintained, as well as personal and economic needs of employees (job security).Item The impact of organizational learning culture, goal orientation, managerial effectiveness, and psychological empowerment on employees‟ workplace learning.(2011-06) Park, SunyoungThe purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of organizational learning culture, learning and performance goal orientation, managerial effectiveness, and psychological empowerment on employees' workplace learning. The main research question to guide this study was, How do organizational learning culture, goal orientation, managerial effectiveness, and psychological empowerment impact employees' workplace learning? Subjects of this study were Korean employees who were not executives, had worked at the company more than one year, and agreed to complete the survey. A paper-and-pencil-based questionnaire with 59 items (excluding six demographic questions) was designed. Six hundred questionnaires were distributed to ten organizations, and 382 responses were collected. The final response rate, after 17 unusable responses were identified, was 61% (365). Cronbach's alphas verified the reliability of the overall instrument, as well as the sections of the survey. Construct validity was determined using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Correlation analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM) techniques were conducted to test the hypotheses of the study. The study found that organizational learning culture, learning goal orientation, managerial effectiveness, and psychological empowerment were positively related to workplace learning. In particular, psychological empowerment and workplace learning had the strongest relationship. Compared with learning and performance goal orientation, organizational learning culture had more impact on managerial effectiveness and psychological empowerment. Performance goal orientation was not significantly related to managerial effectiveness and was not negatively related to psychological empowerment, as hypothesized. Based on these findings, the implications for Human Resource Development (HRD) theory and practice, limitations of the study, and recommendations for future research were discussed.Item Implementation of total employee involvement as part of a continuous improvement program at a Fortune 500 Company(2012-03) Carlson, Kathy LynnOver the last several decades, Continuous Improvement (CI) type initiatives have been implemented in companies across the United States to improve quality, reduce process variation, eliminate waste and ultimately reduce costs. Approximately five years ago, one particular Fortune 500 company implemented CI in its manufacturing facilities. A key driver in the success and long term sustainability of CI at this company is believed to be Total Employee Involvement (TEI). The CI team does not currently have a best way to put TEI into practice in its manufacturing facilities. The purpose of the study is to investigate how TEI is best implemented and advanced at the manufacturing facilities of one specific Fortune 500 company. This grounded theory study proposes a continuum that defines TEI. Common practices that advance TEI are highlighted. Characteristics that support TEI implementation are discussed.Item Implementation of total employee involvement as part of a Continuous improvement program at a Fortune 500 company.(2012-03) Carlson, Kathy LynnOver the last several decades, Continuous Improvement (CI) type initiatives have been implemented in companies across the United States to improve quality, reduce process variation, eliminate waste and ultimately reduce costs. Approximately five years ago, one particular Fortune 500 company implemented CI in its manufacturing facilities. A key driver in the success and long term sustainability of CI at this company is believed to be Total Employee Involvement (TEI). The CI team does not currently have a best way to put TEI into practice in its manufacturing facilities. The purpose of the study is to investigate how TEI is best implemented and advanced at the manufacturing facilities of one specific Fortune 500 company. This grounded theory study proposes a continuum that defines TEI. Common practices that advance TEI are highlighted. Characteristics that support TEI implementation are discussedItem An in-depth evaluation of succession planning and management in health care.(2011-05) Hart, Allison SuhlerThis descriptive case study explored, in-depth, the succession planning and management programs in health care organizations in the State of Minnesota. The purpose was to evaluate the extent to which succession planning and management programs are used in these organizations. Review of the literature showed that health care is well behind other businesses and industry in their succession planning efforts. To evaluate the efforts in these health care organizations, ten in person interviews were conducted with administrative and human resource leaders from member organizations of the Minnesota Medical Management Group Association. Participants were asked about succession planning and management programs within their organizations, how they prepared individuals for advancement within the organization, future challenges and opportunities and any critical incidents or personal experiences they had with succession planning. These interviews were then transcribed and evaluated for any themes. There were five major themes identified through analysis. Upon evaluation of those themes, the identified challenges that these organizations faced, mirror those outlined in the literature review. There appears to be a lack of coordinated succession planning efforts across health care organizations. In order to make improvements and develop strong succession planning programs in their organizations, it will be necessary to identify the competencies needed by individuals to take organizations forward in an uncertain future, openly and constantly communicate employees' strengths and areas for improvement, deepen their planning efforts past the highest level of the organization and continuously evaluate the changing needs of the organization among senior leadership to ensure alignment with succession planning efforts.Item Internationalization of small business: multiple case studies of successful small business managers in Sri Lanka.(2009-09) Hewapathirana, Gertrude IranganieInternationalization of small business through relationships was the focus of this research. The purpose was to identify how international business relationships were initiated, built, and maintained and what values and competencies were practiced by successful and award-winning small business owner-managers in Sri Lanka. The multiple case study method was used with a phenomenological approach to analyze in-depth qualitative data collected from face-to-face interviews. The three research questions were: 1) How were international business relationships initiated, built, and maintained by Sri Lankan SB owner-managers?, 2) What business relationship competencies did Sri Lankan SB owner-managers demonstrate as they engaged in international business relationships? and 3) What did Sri Lankan SB owner-managers value as they engaged in international business relationships? The data were triangulated using documents and interviews with business experts in selecting information-rich cases. Sri Lankan SB managers experienced that close friendships have many benefits in expanding their markets, products, technological innovations, and knowledge of business partners and markets. They initiated friendships through family and friends. Later such friendships were expanded to new clients with the help of their business dyads. Their lived experience is painted through the major theme that "relationships in business are like a family." Within this theme, there were three major essences: "profit is not the only motive," "do the best, give the best, and tell the truth," and "continuity of friendship means continuity of business." These findings show positive impacts of friendships on international business. Acquiring and using appropriate knowledge, personalities that made them like families, skills, behaviors, and mutually beneficial relational strategies in international business were the relational competencies. The research participants value establishing and continuing mutually beneficial relationships as an essential part of their businesses to avoid conflicts on issues in internationalization of their SBs. This research witnessed that SB managers have the capability to be sustained in international markets. Building family-like relationships took a long time because there were no educational programs designed to develop relational competencies. I argue that relationships in business bring many benefits. Identifying positive and negative factors of relationships is an important topic for further research.Item The meaning of Korean women’s career-leaving experience.(2010-01) Lee, Yu-JinWhat is the meaning of Korean women's career-leaving experience? To answer this question, this study adopted a hermeneutic phenomenology approach. My intention was to search for the deeper meaning of Korean women's career-leaving experience from their perspective. Ten Korean women who had left their careers due to their domestic roles in their families were selected and interviewed. Tentative themes were drawn from the analysis of the first interviews, and 12 themes under four thematic categories were confirmed after follow-up interviews: Theme Group 1: Being a Woman is a Handicap at Work. 1-1) Glass Ceiling? There was a glass partition (or shield) for women at work. 1-2) The workplace did not welcome my marriage or motherhood. Theme Group 2: Leaving Work Was to Become a Better Mother. 2-1) I needed to protect my pregnancy away from the stress of work. 2-2) It is my job to raise my child by myself; I feel first-hand responsibility and full commitment to my child. Theme Group 3: Work after Career Leaving Becomes Being a Full-time Housewife. 3-1) Being at home is difficult. 3-2) Housework and childrearing are much more difficult. 3-3) I feel a loss of myself. Subtheme 3-3-1) I do not have time for myself. Subtheme 3-3-2) I do not have my own money. Subtheme 3-3-3) I do not have my own individuality. Theme Group 4: I Am Rethinking Myself and My Career. 4-1) The previous work experience was a good experience. 4-2) Getting credentials is the way to women's careers. 4-3) Career leaving could be a chance for a career change. 4-4) I design my own career path. 4-5) I am waiting for my time to come. The themes were then discussed through a post-analysis literature review, and recommendations for policy and future research were made.Item Mentoring to change self-concept: a phenomenological study.(2012-08) Blasen, Kristina M.Mentoring to Change Self-Concept: A Phenomenological Study. This qualitative research study uses a multi-disciplinary research framework to explore mentoring as an intervention to change self-concept for adults. It applies a phenomenological approach and suggests that it is important to explore mentoring as an intervention to assist in the positive self-concept formation of women. It investigates whether or not mentoring may be a viable alternative or a valuable addition to traditional “work now” welfare-to-work programs which suffer from an inability to keep up with changing economic needs. Furthermore, it suggests that alternative welfare-to-work programs that promote positive work-related identity changes for women on welfare that can assist them with making the transition from welfare to work are needed. The researcher interviewed 12 women participating in a voluntary welfare to work mentoring program hosted by a non-profit, Dress for Success, about their experiences transitioning from welfare to work with the help of mentoring. The researcher explored stories about their work experiences and sense of work identity to better understand this time of transition in their lives. Findings show the importance of understanding the lived experience of women transitioning off of welfare and providing an outlet to give a “voice” to the traditionally underrepresented group that can get their stories in front of policymakers. Lastly, it discusses how mentoring programs designed for low income women transitioning from welfare-to-work may increase the positive “possible selves” of low income women and mothers and it seeks to understand the lived experience of self-concept transformation that is required for them to successfully transition off of welfare. Keywords: work-related identity change in adults, mentoring-based welfare-to-work programs, transformative mentoring, phenomenology.Item Organizational change in academic programs: a case study of doctoral students‘ experiences.(2011-04) Frazier, Christina CoffeeThis qualitative case study explored the experiences of doctoral students at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities as they transitioned from a fairly stable academic department experiencing significant changes. To achieve the purpose of the study, I investigated the experiences of doctoral students through an organizational development perspective and analyzed how they themselves interpret changes. This study attempted to expand research to include a conceptual foundation for organizational change, identify how departmental changes affect doctoral students, and strategies for an academic department transformation. Perceptions from doctoral students and document data as back up were seen as essential in furthering the understanding of organizational changes in higher education. Using the interpretive case study methodology of Michael Quinn Patton, I devised a conceptual foundation for organizational change in an academic department about the core elements of doctoral students' needs during transition for continued progress toward degree completion. A missing link within and among the core elements would alter or impair a doctoral student's experiences and advancement toward degree completion. In the end, what continued to be an important stronghold for them before the transformation and then following the merger of the department remained critical. These doctoral students needed communications, considered the faculty relationships necessary, and looked for a sense of community. What was presented to and arranged for them caught them by surprise. Findings yielded an analysis of doctoral student unlike any mentioned in the literature.