Strengthening Doctoral Education for the Public Good of a Developing Nation

• In Event: Graduate Education: Exploring the Journey

Abstract

Data collected from a course for graduate advisors offered at 22 public universities in South Africa offers a significant vantage point on doctoral education. Participant evaluations, facilitator reports, and facilitator observations are analysed to understand what enables or constrains doctoral education. The study uses Archer’s analytical dualism to make sense of the role of structures, cultures and agency in doctoral education. The key findings presented here relate to the need for institutional support for novice advisors, the ways in which institutional hierarchies can constrain graduate education, and the need for flexibility to engage with ‘alternative’ models of doctoral education. The findings emerge amidst policy demands for growth in doctoral output, but will have relevance for other national contexts.

Author

• Sioux McKenna, Rhodes University