Advertisement

Higher Education Policy

, Volume 27, Issue 2, pp 155–174 | Cite as

Evaluating Doctoral Programmes in Africa: Context and Practices

  • Michael Cross
  • Judy Backhouse
Article
First Online:

Abstract

Models of doctoral education in Africa remained similar to those in European universities, well into the 2000s. However, there has been an increasing realisation that such programmes are ill-suited for the African realities. With recent efforts to revitalise higher education in Africa, considerable attention has been placed on the need to explore more effective models of doctoral education, better suited to the African context. Doctoral education is key to this rebuilding as it offers the potential for developing skilled staff for academic and research institutions, and is central to the development of much-needed locally relevant knowledge in Africa. In the last decade, innovative programmes have emerged that make use of partnerships to achieve more than individual institutions could, working alone. This paper examines the constraints, challenges and opportunities in African doctoral education and identifies critical elements of doctoral education that have particular nuances in the African context. We propose a framework for evaluating the suitability of the structure and practices of such programmes. We review two of the more successful collaborative Ph.D. programmes with reference to this framework.

Keywords

African higher education doctoral education graduate education Ph.D. programmes collaborative programmes supervision models 
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

References

  1. ASSAf (2010) The PhD Study: An Evidence-Based Study on How to Meet the Demands for High-Level Skills in an Emerging Economy, Pretoria: Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf).Google Scholar
  2. Backhouse, J. (2008) ‘African paths to and from the PhD and the implications for developing academic practice’. Paper presented at the 2nd International Conference on Preparing for Academic Practice: Disciplinary Perspectives; 8–9 April, University of Oxford, UK.Google Scholar
  3. Backhouse, J. (2009) ‘Doctoral education in South Africa: Models, pedagogies and student experiences’, Ph.D. thesis, Department of Education, University of the Witwatersrand.Google Scholar
  4. Backhouse, J. (2011) ‘Doctoral discourses in South Africa’, Perspectives in Education 29 (3): 30–39.Google Scholar
  5. Bleiklie, I. and Høstaker, R. (2004) ‘Modernizing research training-education and science policy between profession, discipline and academic institution’, Higher Education Policy 17 (2): 221–236.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  6. Blume, S. (1995) Problems and Prospects of Research Training in the 1990s. Research Training: Present and Future, Paris: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.Google Scholar
  7. Boote, D.N. and Beile, P. (2005) ‘Scholars before researchers: on the centrality of the dissertation literature review in research preparation’, Educational Researcher 34 (6): 3–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  8. Carnoy, M. (2000) My Reflections on the South African PhD Consortium Pilot, Cape Town: University of Cape Town.Google Scholar
  9. Cross, M. (2001) ‘Core course(s) for fledgling researchers and their faculty. University of the Witwatersrand response to the RTG pre-conference questionnaire’, Spencer Foundation Research Training Grant Conference; 15–16 March, Los Angeles, California.Google Scholar
  10. Cross, M. and Graham, A. (2001) Doctoral Programme in Educational Policy Studies, University of the Witwatersrand, South African Doctoral Consortium (student booklet), Johannesburg.Google Scholar
  11. Cross, M. (ed.) (1999) ‘Networks and Net-Works: A Review of Inter-Institutional Linkages in South African University Education’, in No Easy Road: Transforming Higher Education in South Africa, Cape Town: Maskew Miller Longman.Google Scholar
  12. CSESA (2001) ‘Towards the implementation of a structured doctoral degree in education policy research in South Africa’, report to Spencer Foundation, Consortium of Schools of Education in South Africa (CSESA).Google Scholar
  13. DFID (2012) ‘Annual review of the African Economic Research Consortium’, 9 May. Retrieved from http://projects.dfid.gov.uk/iati/Document//3531284, accessed on 22 September 2013.Google Scholar
  14. Dietz, A.J., Jansen, J.D. and Wadee, A.A. (2006) Effective PhD Supervision and Mentorship: A Workbook Based on Experiences from South Africa and the Netherlands, Amsterdam: UNISA Press and Rozenberg Publishers.Google Scholar
  15. Eisenhart, M. and De Haan, R.L. (2005) ‘Doctoral preparation of scientifically based education researchers’, Educational Researcher 34 (4): 3.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  16. Golde, C. and Walker, G. (2006) Envisioning the Future of Doctoral Education: Preparing Stewards of the Discipline, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
  17. Heen, E.F. (2002) ‘Research priorities and disciplinary cultures: friends or foes? A cross-national study on doctoral research training in economics in France and Norway’, Higher Education Policy 15 (1): 77–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  18. Jansen, J.D. (2011) ‘The quality of doctoral education in South Africa: a question of significance’, Perspectives in Education 29 (3): 139–146.Google Scholar
  19. Kelley, M.R. (1990) ‘New process technology, job design, and work organization: a contingency model’, American Sociological Review 55 (2): 191–208.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  20. Lyakurwa, W. (2007) ‘The Experience of AERC in Research, Capacity Building, and the Development of Collaborative Training Programs’, in F. Bourguignon, Y. Elkana and B. Pleskovic (eds.) Capacity Building in Economics Education and Research. Washington DC: The World Bank, pp. 135–159.Google Scholar
  21. Machel, J.L. (2006) ‘Postgraduate research training: a case of the South African Doctoral Consortium’, Master’s thesis, School of Education, University of the Witwatersrand.Google Scholar
  22. Malcolm, C. (2001) ‘Core course(s) for fledgling researchers and their faculty. University of Durban-Westville response to the RTG pre-conference questionnaire’, Spencer Foundation Research Training Grant Conference; 15–16 March, Los Angeles, California.Google Scholar
  23. McCarthy, F., Bader, W. and Pleskovic, B. (2003) ‘Creating partnerships for capacity building in developing countries: the experience of the World Bank’, World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 3099. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1596/1813-9450-3099, accessed on 28 February 2014.
  24. Mintrop, R. (2000) My Reflections on the South African PhD Consortium Pilot, Cape Town: University of Cape Town.Google Scholar
  25. Mouton, J. (2001) How to Succeed in Your Master's and Doctoral Studies: A South African Guide and Resource Book, Pretoria: van Schaik.Google Scholar
  26. Mouton, J. (2011) ‘Doctoral production in South Africa: statistics, challenges and responses’, Perspectives in Education 29 (3): 13–29.Google Scholar
  27. Nerad, M. (2004) ‘The PhD in the US: criticisms, facts, and remedies’, Higher Education Policy 17 (2): 183–199.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  28. Perrow, C. (1967) ‘A framework for the comparative analysis of organizations’, American Sociological Review 32 (2): 194–208.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  29. Samuel, M. and Vithal, R. (2011) ‘Emergent frameworks of research teaching and learning in a cohort-based doctoral programme’, Perspectives in Education 29 (3): 76–87.Google Scholar
  30. Sawyerr, A. (2004) ‘Challenges facing African universities’, African Studies Review 47 (1): 1–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  31. Soudien, C. (2003) ‘Report for the consortium’. Paper presented at Spencer Foundation Research Training Grant Retreat; 9–11 January, Scottsdale, Arizona, USA.Google Scholar
  32. Spencer Foundation (2001) ‘Core course(s) for fledgling researchers and their faculty. Research Training Grant pre-conference questionnaire’, Spencer Foundation Research Training Grant Conference; 15–16 March, Los Angeles, California.Google Scholar
  33. Szanton, D.L. and Manyika, S. (2002) PhD Programs in African Universities: Current Status and Future Prospects. Berkeley: The Institute of International Studies and Center for African Studies, University of California, Berkeley.Google Scholar
  34. Van’t Land, H. (2011) Changing Nature of Doctoral Studies in sub-Saharan Africa: Challenges and Policy Development Opportunities at Six Universities in sub-Saharan Africa, Paris: International Association of Universities (IAU), http://www.iau-aiu.net/sites/all/files/IAUFinal%20Report_Doctoral%20Programmes.pdf, accessed 21 January 2014.

Copyright information

© International Association of Universities 2014

Authors and Affiliations

  • Michael Cross
    • 1
  • Judy Backhouse
    • 2
  1. 1.Department of Education and Curriculum StudiesUniversity of JohannesburgJohannesburgSouth Africa
  2. 2.School of Economic and Business Sciences, University of the WitwatersrandJohannesburgSouth Africa

Personalised recommendations

Cite article

Buy options