Doctoral Education in South Africa and Seven African States Nico Cloete, Peter Maassen and Teboho Moja Global Higher Education  Salon, International Institute of Education UN Plaza, New York 18 May 2016 UWC Institute of Post-School Studies

Research on Higher Education Governance Often dominated by normative starting points and contestable assumptions, and anchored in HE studies and literature only

Market orientation?

Student involvement?

Professional leadership?

Research on Public Governance in Sub-Saharan African countries Central concept: Political order (Fukuyama; Olsen; Rothstein) Focus on: Quality of public governance Basic condition for valid research on quality of governance in (Sub-Saharan) Africa: Move away from continental focus to the study of inter-country differences in public governance Morten Jerven (2015) Africa: Why Economists get it Wrong

Basic assumption: Quality of Governance For poor countries, political-administrative order and competent institutions, that is, a well-functioning state bureaucracy, are a precondition for social progress, increased knowledge production, and economic growth (e.g. Huntington 2006; Olsen 2007b; Fukuyama 2011, 2013, 2014; Rothstein and Teorell 2012; Cloete et al. 2015)

The institutional matrix of public governance Four institutional levels relevant to university governance: HE Policy sector Supra-national and international level Cabinet/government level Ministry level Agency level Knowledge space level

System-level governance: Higher education and science What knowledge is available with respect to Quality of Governance in the area of HE & Research/Science? Limited Valid Data on Quality of Governance in African countries

Analytical framework for research on public governance of HE & research in Sub-Saharan Africa Two main concepts: capacity and autonomy Central assumption: nature of interaction between capacity and autonomy in state bureaucracies (incl. university administration) central component of Quality of Public Governance Capacity consists of resources (incl. financial resources) and specific bureaucratic staff aspects, while autonomy has to do with the number and nature of mandates issues by politicians/principals.

Analytical scheme Low Autonomy High Autonomy Low Capacity   Low Autonomy High Autonomy  Low Capacity  Limited Bureaucratic Effectiveness Low Bureaucratic Effectiveness  High Capacity  Low Bureaucratic Effectiveness High Bureaucratic Effectiveness

Figure 3: Quality of governance dynamics in SSA universities? High capacity (Too many rules) (Excessive discretion) Subordination Autonomy Low capacity

Africa needs research universities Traditionally, universities in Africa focussed on ideology, elite selection and training, and performed poorly on knowledge production. Africa needs to shift to increased participation (from low base of under 10% ) and increased knowledge production - massification and differentiation. Research universities in low- and middle-income countries have crucial roles to play in developing differentiated and effective academic systems. Understanding the characteristics of the research university and building the infrastructures and the intellectual environment needed for successful research universities is a top priority (Altbach, 2013).

More PhDs Castells – the university as engine of development in the knowledge economy (1991 Kuala Lumpur, World Bank; UWC 2001). Knowledge more important than capital or materials. Talent, not capital is the primary source of competitive advantage Unprecedented growth – China 50 000 pa, University Sao Paulo more than the whole SA system – traditional systems US, UK much slower. Number of doctorates far exceed number of places in US in 1970 50% of PhD’s got tenure track position, by 2006 15% (100 000 new PhD’s, 15 000 new academic jobs). In Germany only 6% aim for academic position What do they do – finance, research organisations, pastors. Silicon valley – innovation. Ms Zuma (AU commissioner, 2013) – Africa must produce ten’s of thousands of PhDs – as long as they stay in SA. Naledi Pandor DST Budget speech, July 2014 – SA must produce 6000 per year and will ask government for R5billion The PhD factories – is it time to stop? (Cyranoski 2011 Nature)

PhD production in SA vs a number of selected OECD countries, 2000 and 2011 Country Average annual growth rate in total PhDs 2000-2011 Population 2011 2011 SET PhD graduates per 100,000 of 2011 population 2011 total PhD graduates per 100,000 of 2011 population Australia 4.7% 22 324 000 15.9 27.2 Canada 3.3% 34 483 980 10.3 16.5 Czech Republic 9.6% 10 496 670 14.5 23.5 Finland -0.2% 5 388 272 21.1 34.4 Germany 0.5% 81 797 670 24.2 33.4 Hungary 5.1% 9 971 726 6.5 12.4 Ireland 10.1% 4 576 748 20.3 31.6 Italy 11.1% 60 723 570 11.8 18.6 Korea 6.0% 49 779 440 14.0 23.4 Norway 6.4% 4 953 000 16.7 26.2 Portugal 3.5% 10 557 560 11.4 21.9 Slovak Republic 12.8% 5 398 384 16.1 31.0 Switzerland 2.2% 7 912 398 30.1 44.0 Turkey 7.4% 73 950 000 3.5 6.3 United Kingdom 61 761 000 19.5 32.5 United States 4.5% 311 591 900 13.0 South Africa 51 770 560 1.6 3.0 Source: OECD (2013) Graduates by field of study, data extracted on 4 July 2013.

Policy pressures on doctorate production in SA

Doctoral graduates produced by universities in 2012

Progress of 2006 intakes of new doctoral students after 7 years by cluster

Doctoral graduates by race (1996–2012)

Black doctoral graduates produced by universities in 2012

PhD graduates by nationality (2000, 2004, 2008, ‌2012) Source: Cloete et al. (2015) Knowledge Production and Contradictory Functions in African Higher Education

Average annual growth rates by nationality and gender (2000–2012) Source: Cloete et al. (2015) Knowledge Production and Contradictory Functions in African Higher Education

Top 20 countries of origin of the 2012 international PhD graduates Country 2012 Accumulative % 1 Zimbabwe 142 22.50% 2 Nigeria 76 34.60% 3 Kenya 43 41.40% 4 Uganda 29 46.00% 5 Ethiopia 23 49.70% 6 USA 53.30% 7 Cameroon 19 56.30% 8 Ghana 59.40% 9 Tanzania 18 62.20% 10 Zambia 17 64.90% 11 DRC 15 67.30% 12 Lesotho 69.70% 13 Malawi 72.10% 14 Sudan 74.40% India 76.50% 16 Mozambique 78.60% Namibia 80.60% Germany 82.40% Botswana 84.00% 20 Rwanda 85.60% Source: Cloete et al. (2015) Knowledge Production and Contradictory Functions in African Universities

New South African Realities SA has 5 Universities in Shanghai top 500 2. SA a PhD bargain! Full time research PhD Costs UK (Bath) – $21 450 fees (foreigners) + $18 000 living = $46 050 US (Berkeley) – $31 900 fees + $23 000 living = $54 900 US (NYU ) – $41 300 fees + $26 000 living = $67 300 SA (US) – $2000 +$1000 (foreigners) + $10 000 living = $13 000 SA three times cheaper than Bath, four times cheaper than Berkeley and five times cheaper than NYU Golden triangle – Efficiency, Transformation Quality (perceived) But the Africans from the rest of Africa are not SA Africans, not black, not disadvantaged or not “ours” (nationalism or middle class xenophobia?) Too few doctorates at African flagship universities

Policy choices – SA a PhD hub for Africa? SA wants to triple its PhD output and has made considerable investment in doctoral studies! SA does not have the student interest/availability or the staff capacity to reach the targets (capacity exhaustion) “As we are all acutely aware, we do not have the supervisory capacity in South Africa to produce the number of PhDs the government has set as a target. I suspect that we also don’t actually have the local candidature either. It thus seems logical that given our skills shortages and capacity challenges that where skilled workers wish to remain, they ought to be welcomed. (Cloete et al. 2015 Knowledge Production) SA Emigration policy – loose control over lows kills (township conflict- xenophobia) but restrict high skills (academic xenophobia) Knowledge economy hubs – Silicon Valley, EdHubs (San Francisco) 6. Currently government and universities on a nationalistic path Email 6 May from a established scholar from the rest of Africa: Nico, In retrospect, the odds were stacked against me, as the order of preference the selection committee had agreed upon beforehand was first a black South African, then coloured SA, then Indian and then a non-national.

Higher Education Research and Advocacy Network in Africa (HERANA) Network of 50 participating academics and senior administrators (mainly planners) in 12 countries Project is currently in its 7th year. Carnegie, Ford, Norad. Participating African countries and “flagship” universities Botswana – University of Botswana Ghana – University of Ghana Kenya – University of Nairobi Mauritius – University of Mauritius Mozambique – Eduardo Mondlane University South Africa – University of Cape Town Tanzania – University of Dar es Salaam Uganda – Makerere University

Program Self-Study Assessment (PSSA) In this component institutions and programs are encouraged to do an analysis of the purpose of the doctoral programs they are offering.

There are contested purposes of a doctoral degree that range from developing: training for an academic career, training for a research career in academia, training for research in the economy at large, curiosity‐driven work in its own right and for its own sake, and high‐level training within a professional context” (Green & Powell, 2005, p.49)

The Supervision and Support Model (SSM) involvement in faculty research and applications for research grants; joint publications and conference presentations; and teaching opportunities provided to those pursuing academic careers.

The Student Self Assessment (SSA): The focus here is the students taking more responsibility for their own learning and development. This would require continuous assessment of their learning experiences. Demanding accountability from those responsible for their development. It consists of ensuring satisfaction with supervision and support provided; Active involvement in academic and professional development; and Ongoing assessment of progress made towards achievement of goals

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