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UCT RESEARCH REPORT 2012
(DUNE); Practice and Research of Occupational Health
Psychology in Africa (PROPHA); and UCT Tourism and
Events Research Unit (UCT TRU)).
The Section of Actuarial Science (Head of Section: Ms
Shivani Ramjee) produces approximately 20% of all South
African actuaries. More than half of our graduates go
on to complete the professional examinations to qualify
as actuaries, which is one of the highest qualification
rates of any university in South Africa. In addition, a
significant number of our graduates go on to complete
other professional qualifications (for example as a CFA).
In 2001 UCT became the second university in the world
to have postgraduate courses recognised for exemption
from the professional United Kingdom examinations. In
2010, the local actuarial qualification was introduced in
South Africa and UCT plays a key role as a provider of
education to the Actuarial Science profession. The Centre
for Actuarial Research (CARe) (Director: Associate Professor
Tom Moultrie) and African Collaboration for Quantitative
Finance & Risk Research (ACQuFRR) (Director: Associate
Professor David Taylor) are further aligned with the Section
of Actuarial Science.
Centre for Actuarial Research (CARe), the only unit of
its kind at an African university was established in 2001
focusses on building capacity, improving techniques
and producing independent research in demography.
The Centre is internationally recognised in the field of
estimation of demographic parameters from limited and
deficient data. The Centre’s other major field of work
is in demographic and epidemiological modelling and
population projections. In addition, the Centre hosts
postgraduate training programmes in demography for
both Master’s and PhD students. During 2012 academic
staff at CARe were the principal investigators in a multi-
year project funded by the UNFPA to update and rewrite
a major manual on demographic estimation from limited
and defective data. The results of this work are available
electronically and a print version will appear in 2013.
Demographers at CARe also played a significant role,
some of which was played out in the popular media, in
the evaluation, analysis and assessment of the data from
the 2011 South Africa census. In addition, the unit’s peer-
reviewed research output continued to be prolific, with
staff publishing 11 papers in major international journals.
The Section of Organisational Psychology (Head of
Section: Dr Suki Goodman) provides undergraduate
and postgraduate courses in Industrial/Organisational
Psychology. The Section presents a Master’s degree
in Organisational Psychology that is accredited by the
Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) for
the professional training and registration of Industrial
Psychologists. The Section further offers a second Master’s
programme in Programme Evaluation, the only one of
its kind in South Africa. The Section has PhD students
working in the areas of talent retention, work-family
studies, organisational health and safety and programme
evaluation. During 2012 Professor Joha Louw-Potgieter
edited a special edition of the South African Journal of
Human Resource Management, to which a number of
staff members contributed papers. In total, Section staff
published 13 accredited articles in 2012 and contributed
a total of seven oral/poster presentations at three
international conferences (incl. International Congress of
Psychology, World Congress of the International Federation
of Scholarly Associations of Management, Annual
Conference of the American Evaluation Association), and
two oral presentations at the Southern Africa Institute for
Management Scientists conference. One PhD, Dr Mpho
Pheko and 19 Masters students graduated in 2012. Towards
the end of 2012, Francois de Kock joined as a senior
lecturer from the University of Stellenbosch. He is in the
final stages of completing his PhD at Erasmus University
of Rotterdam. Various international research collaborations
were formed and further developed with visits during
2012: Dr Ines Meyer to the University of Connecticut;
Prof Joha Louw-Potgieter and Adiilah Boodhoo to the
Claremont Graduate University; and Chao Mulenga to
the Organisational Health Psychology Institute in Oregon.
The Organisational Psychology Section hosts two research
units: Practice and Research of Occupational Health
Psychology in Africa (PROPHA) (Director: Professor Jeffrey
Bagraim); and the Institute for Monitoring and Evaluation
(IME) (Director: Professor Joha Louw-Potgieter).
During 2012 the PROHPA reading group was accredited
by the HPCSA and started providing Continuous
Professional Development (CPD) points for various
activities presented by the unit. The IME compiled
a self-review report as part of the formal review of
the School of Management Studies. The result of
this exercise was a review of the Institute’s main
goals. During 2012, the IME presented nine different
public short courses in programme evaluation. Despite
some competition in the market, the IME remains
the preferred provider of short courses for public
sector and non-governmental clients. The Institute also
completed two contract evaluations for clients within
the University; one for the ADAPT programme of the
Transformation Services Office and one for the Project
for the Study of Alternative Education in South Africa
(PRAESA).
The Section of Marketing (Head of Section: Dr Gert
Human) provides undergraduate courses in marketing
management, which includes courses in consumer
behaviour, industrial marketing, services marketing,
international marketing, marketing research, E-marketing