Masters Student Presents Work-In-Progress Thesis at Management Conference

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Human Resources Management (HRM) Masters student Ms Romona Sewpersad’s thesis was selected to be presented in the work-in-progress stream for the HRM discipline at the recent 27^th annual conference of the Southern African Institute of Management Scientists (SAIMS) Conference in Cape Town.

The Conference provided a platform for high level research into a variety of management issues and concerns under the theme: “Management in Southern Africa: Change, Challenge and Opportunity”.

Sewpersad’s thesis titled: “Assessing the Influence of New Managerialism on Psychological Contracts of Academics at a KZN Tertiary Institution”, was supervised by Dr Shaun Ruggunan. It aimed to determine how the initial psychological contracts of academic staff were influenced by new managerialism.

Sewpersad said getting an opportunity to present her research to academics at the conference had been an awesome experience.

‘My presentation produced constructive feedback from academics from various universities who provided me with extra guidance. I also had the opportunity to listen to other presentations which were very interesting and informative. Not only did I get the opportunity to network and present my paper, but I also got the honour of representing UKZN. This was an incredible learning experience and I’d like to attend many more conferences in the future,’ she said.

Sewpersad’s plans include studying towards a PhD after completing her masters, and pursuing a career in academia, more specifically in the research field which she is passionate about.

Thandiwe Jumo