Research productivity and research excellence are elements essential to the creation of a conducive research environment, in which research publications, research dissemination, and research utilization, are key in fostering the sustainability of higher education institutions. In this study, the current institutional policies, practices, and…

Mentoring (healthcare) research from low-to-middle-income countries is critical for developing evidence-based healthcare solutions. This paper presents findings from a study of the mentoring and supervisory relationships embedded in a South African fellowship program for early career healthcare researchers. The findings demonstrate how, rather…

Early career academics are crucial to the long-term vitality of teaching and research, and to the future of universities. They are the next generation of teaching staff, of cuttingedge innovation and research leadership, and are a valuable resource to be nurtured and developed. There is a pressing challenge for universities to create an…

This study analyses international research collaboration (IRC) trends of South African public universities during the 2012-2021 period. While previous studies have explored IRC trends between South Africa and the rest of the world, there is a gap in literature when it comes to the analysis of institutional IRC trends. Using bibliometric data from…

Background: Literature on the academic identities of South African black women in higher education institutions predominantly focuses more on students and academics in general and less on professors. Studying the academic identities of black women is important in understanding how their reality in higher education is constructed and professors are…

This research note considers gendered risks within survey research, which, it argues, are a frequently overlooked aspect of this form of quantitative research. By reflecting on the process of conducting exit polls in South Africa, the research note highlights the importance of discussing the gendered practice of research and sexualized harassment…

The report of the Ministerial Committee on Transformation and Social Cohesion revealed that exclusionary practices are commonplace in South African universities. They remain a compelling factor that contributes to student attrition in Master's and doctoral programmes, and they were a trigger to the #RhodesMustFall movement. Universities, oblivious…

Community engagement as a public mission of higher education is widely accepted in South Africa. This is articulated in White Paper 3 on the transformation of higher education and in institutional policies that promote different forms of community engagement. However, compared to the traditional roles of teaching and research, community engagement…

An increase in research productivity is of vital importance in the development of countries worldwide. However, when research outputs are measured, many higher education faculties neither meet the expectations regarding quality nor quantity despite the increasing drive towards publications. This paper examines how academic managers can reform a…

Research suggests that identity development is a crucial dimension of the doctoral student experience. This study explores what identity formations doctoral students exhibit in the doctoral journey and how these formations affect their experiences in the process of achieving a doctorate. The methodology employed was within the qualitative paradigm…

This report is the result of the participation of hundreds of students, families, school educators, and researchers who dedicated their time and energy to investigating the critical role that families and communities play in ensuring students and schools can flourish. It is a culmination of over two years of collaborative research and hundreds of…

In this paper we reflect on our combined work in some of the most marginalised educational contexts in the Southern Hemisphere. We draw on the work of Bourdieu to frame the paper. We propose the working in marginalised education settings requires a particular habitus or way of being to be able to play the research game. Underpinning our approach…

Promoting equal access to schools for researchers wishing to conduct educational research was one of the key tasks embedded in the educational transformation mandate of the new government of South Africa when it came to power in 1994. Drawing on data from five different research projects, this paper evaluates progress made by the democratic…

This paper explores academic promotion practices in higher education institutions. Promotion of faculty members of universities is one of the major mechanisms in maintaining and improving the quality and efficiency of higher education and research activities in the country. Appointment processes are therefore critical to institutional development;…

This article highlights both the internal educative practices of social movements and how these practices can effectively link to building Freirean pedagogies within higher education institutions. At the heart of this possibility lies the democratic transformation of relations between students and teachers on the one hand and researchers and…