Last year was a magnificent year for Dr Elnerine Greeff (Department of Communication Science). Not only did she complete her doctoral degree, but she was the youngest Unisa woman to do so. This made her the recipient of the Youngest Women Doctoral Graduate award for 2012, presented at the gala dinner during this year’s Research and Innovation Week. Greeff says she’s ‘prumbled’ (proud and humbled) to have her research associated with Unisa.
Dr Elnerine Greeff of the Department of Communication Science centred her doctorate on a longitudinal study in the mining and construction industries, looking at their internal safety communication.
All that research paid off as Greeff received the Youngest Women Doctoral Graduate award for 2012 at the Research and Innovation awards gala dinner on 14 March 2013.
Just as they are the most powerful contributors to the economy, the mining and construction industries are notoriously dangerous workplaces, and one cannot turn a blind eye to the fact that they are responsible for the highest employee mortality rate.
By building a model and measuring instrument for the successful communication of safety information, Greeff’s doctorate looked to help solve, or better, a very real problem in this country. “It was important to me that my study be very much interpretivistic in its approach, as our country and these industries hold a unique context. Approaching it from a contextual paradigm, rather than being lead by notions from worlds (far away) made sure that this study was, in my opinion, truly suited,” she explains.
Greeff is humbled by the award and believes that it offers tangible proof of the cliché people often use – ‘Those long hours will pay off’. She’s also ‘prumbled’ (proud and humbled) – a term Greeff coined herself – to have her research associated with this magnificent university, more so as it celebrates 140 years of shaping futures and excellence in research and innovation. “Looking back over 140 years, I think we all realise that Unisa, and what it stands for, is simultaneously bigger than any one individual and still only just as strong as the individuals that it is made up of. I am extremely proud to be one of those individuals who make these walls, halls and buildings a living, breathing system with a mission and a vision of greatness,” she enthuses.
