Arctic Connections Ski Expedition Report

Unsupported ski expedition across the Finnmark Plateau in Arctic Norway, shadowing a family of Sami reindeer herders and making educational documentary in the proces

The influence of government support and policies to informal small businesses in the Wineland district of the Western Cape

This paper aims to discover the contribution of the government support structures and policies towards the growth of informal small businesses of the Cape Winelands in the Western Cape beyond seed funding grant. It has been observed that despite the financial support from the government, informal small businesses in rural areas, continue to face barriers to growth. The main research question of this study was to ascertain the effect of government support and policies to the growth of the informal businesses who have received seed funding in particular those in the Wineland District. The study utilized a quantitative approach to collect data, questionnaires were administered to 60 entrepreneurs who received seed funding from Cape Winelands district municipality. The data was analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Findings indicated that there are still factors that are hindering the growth of their business such as lack of finance due to lack of access to financial facilities and insufficiency of the seed fund, instability of businesses, limited business space, crime, lack of infrastructure, marketing, coaching and mentoring, business management skills and transport. Government support structures and policies were analyzed and the findings included a lack of access and restrictions to qualify, as well as a blue print to manage financial assistance / grants received. There is a gap between the alignment of government business development policies and the informal businesses, as well as mentoring and coaching, which means complete involvement of government officials.  Recommendations were made for government should provide flexible policies that allow them to determine what support is necessary per individual business. Granting the same standard amount of money to every informal small business does not help, as some of the businesses have more start-up needs than others. This will lead them to provide more realistic essential support to the informal businesses

Capturing career information use in everyday life: introducing the CIEL conceptual framework

Everyday career information use is not fully addressed by extant theories, models and frameworks. In this paper, a conceptual framework of career information behaviour and career information literacy in everyday life is presented. Over the course of 2021, a literature review of everyday life career information use was completed. As part of this review, a search for boundary objects was performed, and thematically similar conceptual contributions were mapped. An analysis of the integral components of ten theories, models and frameworks relating to information behaviour, information literacy, information practice and career development was performed with a view towards the development of a conceptual framework.Results. A conceptual framework consisting of two key components – topography and way of life – was devised following analysis. The framework provides insight into the means by which individuals experience career information in everyday life, and the means by which they navigate career information environments. The conceptual framework presented in this paper is applicable to the development of novel career information literacy theories, models or frameworks, or the modification of extant conceptualisations.Peer Reviewe

A sequential explanatory methodology for the study of young people’s career information literacy and career information behaviours

Young people’s career success is predicated on the extent to which they can apply career information to their career decision-making and career development learning processes. Taking heed of the critical importance of career information in career decision-making, the focus of the doctoral work presented in this poster is the identification of means of enhancing young people’s career information literacy competencies. To this end, a mixed methods, sequential explanatory research design is employed in the research. The programme of research consists of two phases: a quantitative phase and a qualitative phase. In the quantitative phase, knowledge of the everyday career information behaviours of Scottish adolescents will be generated. In the qualitative phase, the career information literacy practices and current levels of career agency of young people will be explored. Once obtained, research findings can inform the development of career information literacy support mechanisms

The collaborative use of career information by young people and career advisers: A thematic content analysis of career counselling records

This study explores the career information-seeking behaviours of young people and career advisers. These are examined through the interrogation of a secondary data set held by Scotland's national skills agency, Skills Development Scotland. Descriptive and frequency analyses of engagement records from career conversations reveal three key characteristics of information seeking in career advisory settings: prompted information seeking; information seeking on young people's behalf and collaborative information seeking. The original contribution of this study lies in two novel research foci: (a) the identification of distinct patterns of career information-seeking behaviours and colloquial language which signifies that information seeking has taken place and (b) the consideration of young people and career advisers’ collaborative information seeking behaviours and their roles and functions within the career information-seeking process. These findings have implications for the improvement of career services and the development of career information, advice and guidance (CIAG) policies

The Influence of Government Support and Policies to Informal Small Businesses in the Wineland District of the Western Cape

Despite the financial support that is provided to informal small businesses by the South African government, small businesses struggle to grow. This paper sought to learn the effect of seed funding that is provided by the government on the growth of the informal businesses and the ensuing challenges faced by these businesses. Utilising the quantitative approach, questionnaires were administered to 60 entrepreneurs who received seed funding from the Cape Winelands district municipality. The data was analysed using version 25 of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Besides, lack of finance due to limited access to financial intermediaries and insufficiency of the seed funds, the results point to instability of businesses, limited access to business space, crime, lack of infrastructure, marketing, coaching and mentoring, business management skills and transport as challenges reported by the respondents. A recommendation is for the government to provide flexible policies that allow them to customise the support that they provide to businesses

The role of information in career development

The role of information in career development has received relatively little research attention. A literature review completed as part of a doctorate in the first half of 2021 indicates that career information features in only a small number of publications spread across Career Studies, Organisational Studies, and Education in the time period between 2000-2021. In many cases, career information has not been the main focus of these publications. It has, instead, been viewed as a by-product of other phenomena. This article contends that information should be treated as central, rather than peripheral, to career development processes

B-Methylated Amine-Boranes:Substituent Redistribution, Catalytic Dehydrogenation, and Facile Metal-Free Hydrogen Transfer Reactions

Although the dehydrogenation chemistry of amine-boranes substituted at nitrogen has attracted considerable attention, much less is known about the reactivity of their B-substituted analogues. When the B-methylated amine-borane adducts, RR′NH·BH₂Me (<b>1a</b>: R = R′ = H; <b>1b</b>: R = Me, R′ = H; <b>1c</b>: R = R′ = Me; <b>1d</b>: R = R′ = <i>i</i>Pr), were heated to 70 °C in solution (THF or toluene), redistribution reactions were observed involving the apparent scrambling of the methyl and hydrogen substituents on boron to afford a mixture of the species RR′NH·BH_3–<i>x</i>Me_<i>x</i> (<i>x</i> = 0–3). These reactions were postulated to arise via amine-borane dissociation followed by the reversible formation of diborane intermediates and adduct reformation. Dehydrocoupling of <b>1a</b>–<b>1d</b> with Rh­(I), Ir­(III), and Ni(0) precatalysts in THF at 20 °C resulted in an array of products, including aminoborane RR′NBHMe, cyclic diborazane [RR′N–BHMe]₂, and borazine [RN–BMe]₃ based on analysis by in situ ¹¹B NMR spectroscopy, with peak assignments further supported by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Significantly, very rapid, metal-free hydrogen transfer between <b>1a</b> and the monomeric aminoborane, <i>i</i>Pr₂NBH₂, to yield <i>i</i>Pr₂NH·BH₃ (together with dehydrogenation products derived from <b>1a</b>) was complete within only 10 min at 20 °C in THF, substantially faster than for the N-substituted analogue MeNH₂·BH₃. DFT calculations revealed that the hydrogen transfer proceeded via a concerted mechanism through a cyclic six-membered transition state analogous to that previously reported for the reaction of the <i>N</i>-dimethyl species Me₂NH·BH₃ and <i>i</i>Pr₂NBH₂. However, as a result of the presence of an electron donating methyl substituent on boron rather than on nitrogen, the process was more thermodynamically favorable and the activation energy barrier was reduced