The pressure on Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) graduates to justify their degree choice has never been greater — yet the real obstacle to flourishing careers lies far deeper than degree selection.

The Optentia Research Unit has received approval for two new short courses that address two of South Africa’s most urgent challenges.

Cambridge University Press, brings together leading scholars from across the globe to explore how workplaces can be redesigned to build human capability, promote dignity, and advance social justice.

New research reveals that managers who pour compassion into their teams while neglecting themselves pay a hidden price — their own well-being.

South African research reveals that teenagers' academic emotions in mathematics and English are associated with their home environment, their relationships with teachers, the language of instruction, and whether they find the subjects interesting.

When fairness, stability, and inclusive leadership are missing, even the most skilled industrial psychology and human resource practitioners burn out, disengage, and walk out the door. The good news? Organisations have the power to change this.

The Amathuba project is bringing together South Africa's sharpest minds in Life Orientation, psycho-social education, and educational psychology — and today, they gathered at North-West University

Two million learners. One overlooked group of teachers at the heart of it all — and today, we took a major step towards understanding and strengthening what keeps them capable and flourishing.

Monograph or article format — which route is right for a dissertation and a thesis? We brought 31 students and supervisors together to cut through the confusion, and what they discovered might surprise you.

South Africa's nursing leadership is being transformed — and at the heart of that transformation is a bold new programme that invests in the people who keep the public health system standing.

It has been a humbling 18 months — a period marked not by fanfare, but by quiet reflection on what it means to do work that truly matters. Three recognitions have arrived in this time, each unexpected and each carrying more weight than any title or rating could capture on its own.

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Three important South African studies reveal what it truly takes for financial accounting students to build careers that last — and what universities and employers must do to help them get there.

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Three landmark studies reveal how boredom, burnout, and broken support systems are undermining not just the well-being of our young people — but their long-term capacity to engage, contribute, and succeed in the world of work.

The Optentia Research Unit's Usiba Writing Retreat brought PhD candidates and researchers together at Khaya iBhubesi. A rare and rewarding space where research momentum was built together.

A productive meeting with the Department of Higher Education and Training has opened the door to short learning programmes and a research project on life orientation teachers.

Optentia's short courses are building real capabilities across a range of people — support staff, students, researchers, and unemployed job seekers. From mentoring and professional development to research training and the Qhubekela Phambili programme, these courses reach far beyond the university walls.

Research reveals that when these practitioners experience decent work and strong capabilities, they flourish emotionally, psychologically, and socially. The findings send a clear message to policymakers: invest in the people who shape our youngest children, and everyone benefits.

Work should empower people to live fuller lives — not just pay their bills. A new Cambridge University Press book by Jac van der Klink and Sebastiaan Rothmann makes the case for a capability-based approach to well-being at work.

New research reveals that having resources isn't enough: it's whether you can actually use them. Autonomy, role clarity, and co-worker support are the three resources that unlock work capabilities — and without them, even skilled practitioners burn out.

What if work didn’t drain you — but actually made you stronger? Science says that’s not a fantasy: thriving at work is real, it’s measurable, and it drives better health, performance, and satisfaction.