In 2018, a record number of postgraduate Master's and PhD students graduated from SU. This follows a noticeable national and international trend in growing postgraduate enrolments and graduations as a means of gaining an advantage in the knowledge economy, and as a contributor to the global search for talent identification in the form of high-level research and analytical skills beyond the university.
Despite this evident growth, the South African data on postgraduate studies suggest a rather leaky pipeline: dropout rates are high and throughput rates are slow – even in comparison to other countries (including countries with a comparable GDP). This does not mean that postgraduate study abroad happens seamlessly. Evidence from across the globe suggests that there is much researchers still need to figure out about the interaction between the factors at play within the postgraduate environment – factors including the students themselves, their supervisors, universities as learning spaces, the role of disciplines in which such studies take place, and the role of industry and society in knowledge creation. An evidence-based understanding of the dynamics of these factors enables one to make informed decisions on how postgraduate students and their research may contribute to building the scientific, economic and social fabric of the societies in which we live.
A recent cross-national study jointly conducted by Prof Liezel Frick (SU) and Prof Kirsi Pyhältö (University of Helsinki and extraordinary professor at SU) found that the beginning of the doctoral journey is highly significant for doctoral students in both the studied contexts, emphasising the importance of supervisory, structural and institutional support during these initial phases of the doctorate. The positive experiences reported by doctoral students consisted of reaching significant milestones in the doctoral research process such as overcoming problems related to research work, making discoveries and learning how to use new methods, and getting published. Positive experiences also related to building constructive supervisory relationships, engaging in the researcher community, and finding appropriate structures and resources of support. The quality of positive experiences was related to doctoral students' satisfaction with supervision and engagement in doctoral research.
These findings suggest that efforts to curb perceived experiences of doctoral isolation and providing timely and relevant support are paramount in ensuring doctoral students' sense of belonging and progress. The results showed that the empowering experiences at the core of the doctoral journey are highly similar across the two very different socio-cultural contexts.
Such studies enable us to make more evidence-based decisions on how best to support both doctoral students and their supervisors within vastly different contexts. In addition, the research contributes to a growing body of knowledge on postgraduate education. Over the past decade, the Centre for Higher and Adult Education (CHAE) at the Department of Curriculum Studies in the Faculty of Education has played a significant role in growing the relatively new field of research on postgraduate studies and supervision. Since 2007, our own research has developed a strong focus on postgraduate pedagogies, resulting in 57 research publications (including peerreviewed journal articles and book chapters), 5 edited academic books, and 68 papers at national and international conferences on the topic produced by staff and associates of the CHAE.
In the next decade, we look forward to solidifying the CHAE as a key research partner and contributor within the field of research on postgraduate education. Strategic partnerships as members of research teams, advisory boards and capacity building initiatives will enable us to grow the field to the benefit of the whole SU academic community.
*The article appears in the latest edition of the Stellenbosch University Research Publication. Click here to read more.
