Sociology Professor Radhamany Sooryamoorthy in the College of Humanities joined Dr Christine Scherer of the University of Bayreuth, Germany, to co-edit the book: Doctoral Training and Higher Education in Africa.
The book is published by Routledge in New York and London.
This book explores in detail the history, present and future potential of doctoral training and Higher Education in Africa. Bringing together expertise from both research and practice, the book presents the frameworks and structures of the doctoral phase, and how institutions, supervisors, mentors and young scholars meet the challenges of training in real life. The book covers representative case studies of African countries.
Said Sooryamoorthy: ‘Regardless of countries and regions, the importance of doctoral training and the production of doctorates are growing. As an integral component of higher education, doctoral education cannot be neglected at the expense of the overall development and scientific and economic advancement of a nation. Africa is no exception to this rule. The focus therefore falls on what kind of training doctoral candidates are receiving and what kind of doctorates are being produced.’
Added Scherer: ‘As the type of training offered to doctorates has implications for the progress of nations, there have been renewed efforts made by the people who are responsible for it. In this process, the training and its epistemological, methodological and axiological dimensions come into prominence. Similarly, the context of the candidates, curriculum, structure, resources and partnership is relevant. Different models of doctoral training have been experimented with and have resulted in varying outcomes.’
Bringing together expertise from both research and practice, the book analyses the frameworks and structures of the doctoral phase, and how institutions, supervisors, mentors and young scholars meet the challenges of training in real life. The book covers issues such as access to education, proactive recruitment, funding issues, practitioner expertise, enrolment and drop-out across a range of countries including South Africa, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Benin, Ghana and Morocco.
This book will be a rich resource for higher education administrators and policy makers, as well as researchers and academics with an interest in higher education in Africa.
In an endorsement, Stellenbosch University’s Professor Johann Mouton said: ‘The book contains extremely valuable and up to date information on doctoral statistics in selected countries – a challenge that has been highlighted in many previous publications. The editors of this book should therefore be congratulated with putting together both an impressive collection of new ‘country case studies’ as well as incisive thematic discussions that are transversal across the continent. The book should become compulsory reading for higher education scholars and managers in Africa as well as anyone who has interest in this topic elsewhere in the world.’
Copies of the book can be bought from: https://www.routledge.com/Doctoral-Training-and-Higher-Education-in-Africa/Scherer-Sooryamoorthy/p/book/9781032025667
