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

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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

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The Development of Doctoral Education in Africa

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Challenges facing doctoral education in Africa

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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

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Source: University websites

Qualifications of Teaching Staff in selected Disciplines: Global Comparison of Universities

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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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

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e-supervision to enhance doctoral studies

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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

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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

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Advantages of e-supervision

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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.

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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.

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• 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

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• 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.

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The development of an e-Supervision framework

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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.

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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.

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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.

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3) E- Supervision is costly

Institutions that want to embrace e-

supervision must invest in the necessary

technology including computers and the

internet

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Recommendations

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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

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Thank You Thank You

45Transforming Higher Education….Enhancing Lives