KENYATTA UNIVERSITY Prof. Olive M. Mugenda, PhD, CBS Vice-Chancellor October, 2013 E - Supervision to Support the Development of Doctoral Studies in Africa
KENYATTA UNIVERSITY
Prof. Olive M. Mugenda, PhD, CBSVice-Chancellor
October, 2013
E - Supervision to Support the Development of Doctoral Studies
in Africa
Introduction
Research based knowledge is a key component of development and an answer to the search for solutions to global challenges.
Building research capacity in developing countries is thus central to their development
Doctoral education has the potential to develop highly adaptive experts for dynamic knowledge economies 2
Preparing Africa for a Renaissance especially concerning its challenges, requires high level research and innovation that can be founded in doctoral education
The quality of doctoral education must remain under constant monitoring
Doctoral training has tremendous catalytic potential to advance human development in the 21st century
3
Quality doctoral training programs are the seedbeds for future knowledge growers, policy shapers, and academics. An important feature of postgraduate training is doctoral studies
With the realization of the growing importance of research and talent, governments and society at large alike are concerned that investments in doctoral education are appropriately managed
4
The Development of Doctoral Education in Africa
5
Doctoral studies in Africa take different forms depending on: the colonial experience of the country, the historical and cultural backgrounds
of each institution, the directions set by the respective
leadership teamsAfter gaining independence, the character
of doctoral study in African universities is important to note
6
The target of initial doctoral programmes was to enhance the qualifications of teaching staff in the university:
– doctoral students are often already employed as members of university academic staff
– doctoral work part time, or in their own time
– the age profile is typically older between 30 to 50
7
In order to support the scant efforts of African universities to produce Doctoral graduates, a number of collaborative programmes were developed :African Economic Research Consortium
(AERC)Consortium for Advanced Research Training
in Africa (CARTAAfrican Doctoral Academy at the University of
Stellenbosch
9
Pan African University – with nodes in
East, West, North & South Africa focusing
on doctoral training in allocated disciplines
The German HE cooperation agency DAAD -
supports a number of collaborative PhD
programmes, run in conjunction with individual
German and African universities
10
Challenges facing doctoral education in Africa
11
1) Shortage of PhDs in UniversitiesThe number of professors in a university is
significant as it reflects the ability of the institution to offer high quality education and leadership in research
Growth in academic staff has not kept pace with student enrolments in Africa
Huge expansions in student enrolment are increasingly overwhelming African institutions in the absence of a corresponding increase in academic staff capacity
12
Source: University websites
Qualifications of Teaching Staff in selected Disciplines: Global Comparison of Universities
14
Institutions
Selected Disciplines
Mathematics Chemistry Economics Political Science
PhD No PhD PhD No PhD
PhD No PhD
PhD No PhD
MIT 62 0 45 0 61 0 32 0
Cambridge 105 0 76 0 41 0 48 2
Oxford 143 0 94 0 56 0 116 0
Cape Town 43 3 25 0 34 0 12 4
Ghana 4 5 16 3 6 18 13 9
Nairobi 21 15 26 12 - - 8 7
Kenyatta 10 11 20 9 4 12 12 9Source: University websites
PhD enrolment by University & gender , 2012
Some disciplines e.g. Medicine,
Engineering & Actuarial science lack
capacity for PhD supervision
Advanced research in these disciplines
especially in Africa is fairly low compared to
other disciplines like Arts and Humanities
16
Enrolment of Doctoral Students by by University & Discipline, 2012 University & Discipline, 2012
2) Quality of PhDs
The quality of an institution of higher learning
depends to a large extent on the quality of its
academic staff
Likewise, the quality of doctoral students
depends heavily on the quality of the
supervision they get & the quality of
supervisors 18
3) Low completion rates
In most postgraduate programmes in
African universities, the length of time it
takes to complete & the low completion
rate serve to discourage prospective
doctoral candidates from pursuing training
20
4) Lack of international exposure of facultyMost faculty in African universities obtained
their three degrees from the same university & eventually end up being employed by the university
This has become more pronounced todayThe quality of faculty is, to a large extent,
dependent on the international exposure acquired in graduate & post doctoral education 21
Factors Impacting on Doctoral education in Africa
22
1) Lack of Institutional and programme policies Institutional policy as well as discipline
expectations has an important role to play in the attainment of quality doctoral research
supervision policies; policies, codes and structures for frequent review of doctoral research; policies and structures for quality control
23
a clear supervision policy is central to the timely completion and to the quality of doctoral research
The policy should spell out in detail the responsibilities of both the student and the supervisor and delineate the consequences for not meeting one’s responsibilities
24
2) SupervisionResearch supervision is a facilitative
process requiring support and challenge.The two primary goals of supervision are
developing research students to become capable researchers and the achievement of quality completion
25
supervisors are responsible for providing satisfactory guidance and mentorship to the student in defining the research topic, designing the project, gathering material, writing and working through drafts and disseminating their work
26
Supervisors should take a mentoring role; facilitating access to resources and opportunities; providing information, protection and sponsorship; stimulating the acquisition of knowledge; and serving as a role model.
27
3) Massification of higher education
There is a high number of people globally,
including in Africa who enroll for doctoral
education
Shortage of capacity, both human & resources
however impact the quality and output of
doctoral studies
28
e-supervision to enhance doctoral studies
29
Most countries in their attempt to reform & innovate supervision are increasingly relying on e-supervision to complement internal supervision and support.
For supervision to be more effective, in the increasingly globalized academic community it is necessary to embrace e-supervision
How e-supervision works
30
E-supervision involves:Connecting the supervisor and the student
regardless of space the use of ICT in undertaking supervision,
including use of chats, skype & video-conferencing
Involving the e-supervisor in the process of thesis defense
31
Advantages of e-supervision
32
E-supervision provides the opportunity to universities to utilize the services of renowned experts in their fields without having to move them around
E-supervision enriches the quality & experience of doctoral graduates
E-supervision by both internal & external supervisors offers a productive and effective way to manage and supervise students who undertake field based research.
33
E supervision has the potential to strengthen local research capacity & regional networking by upgrading whole Ph.D. systems through: a holistic and inclusive approach, By actively involving the institutions’
management, but also administrative staff, supervisors and Ph.D. students themselves in the research design.
34
• E-supervision extends research and employment opportunities into remote, rural, and hard-to-fill locations where an on-site profession supervisor might not be available.
• Moreover, it allows access to desirable research internships where supervision is either limited or non-existent
35
• E-supervision gives higher education institutions and employers the opportunity to minimize supervisors’ travel time and reduce associated transportation costs while providing a valuable and necessary service to graduate students and partnering stakeholders.
36
The development of an e-Supervision framework
37
1) Lack of a well defined e-supervision professional code of conduct
Because e-supervision is a newly
emerging aspect of doctoral studies
supervision, there has been lack of a
well defined code of conduct between
the e-supervisor and the e-supervisee.
38
Inability of the supervisor to know whether to effect changes on the supervisee’s document or send them back as track changes or as another document of expected improvements exists.
Lack of a defined manner through which a supervisor and a supervisee communicate and maintain their professionalism needs to be established. This is in terms of how far an e-supervisor can go in assisting a student.
39
2) Poor e-Supervisor and e-Supervisee Technological Knowhow
This can be explained as a technological challenge to most e-supervisors and e-supervisees that are techno-phobic.
The fear to embrace technology has made most of them remain analogue.
40
3) E- Supervision is costly
Institutions that want to embrace e-
supervision must invest in the necessary
technology including computers and the
internet
41
Recommendations
42
Should e-supervision be considered as a viable strategy to maximize the use of existing global experts in their fields, there will be need to develop an e-supervision framework by interested organizations e.g. IAU
The e-supervision framework will, among other things include: the role of e-supervisors Students & e-supervisor relationship
Assurance of quality of e-supervision
Remuneration of e-supervisors
Institutional collaboration on e-supervision
Recognition of e-supervisor work by home
and beneficiary institutions
Capacity building for e-supervision
44
Thank You Thank You
45Transforming Higher Education….Enhancing Lives