Strengthening PhD supervisory capacity in South Africa
NICHE-ZAF-132
Sector
Higher education
Project budget
The maximum budget for this project is € 1 million.
Organisations
This project has been developed by:
The tender for this project expired on 8 November 2011. Nuffic's Tender Evaluation Committee (TEC) has awarded this tender to Centre for International Cooperation, which has formed a consortium with the International Institute of Social Studies.
Project description
Research shows that South Africa is not producing enough doctoral graduates for the labour market and the higher education system.
The current academic workforce is ageing and only about a third of all permanent academic staff members has a doctoral degree. This figure is unevenly distributed among different types of institutions. For example, historically disadvantaged universities and universities of technology employ the lowest numbers of doctoral graduates.
More graduations and faster graduations
There is a clear need to improve the number and speed of doctoral graduations, with a specific focus on black graduations. Quality supervision may be an important response to this need, especially given the educational history of many black South Africans, who are still bearing the brunt of an underperforming school system.
Tackling the legacies of apartheid
Often they complete undergraduate and early postgraduate training at universities which might also not serve them as well as they should given the continuing legacies of apartheid. Supervisory capacity in South Africa is distributed unevenly, with most capacity still residing in 'traditional' historically white universities.
Objectives and outputs
The specific objectives of this project are to:
- develop doctoral supervision capacity among new cohorts of academics qualified at doctoral level at the four participating universities;
- roll out a new PhD supervisory course to universities with low levels of supervisory capacity and doctoral output.
Project outputs include:
- the development, accreditation and implementation of a high quality course;
- a roll-out strategy to and inclusion of universities with low level supervisory capacity and doctoral output;
- the development of ICT-related teaching and learning