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Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to provide a theoretical framework for conceptualizing critical and creative thinking within doctoral study and to illuminate the connecting and diverging points between the two phenomena in a way that clarifies their developmental relationships. Design/methodology/approach -The conceptual framework is founded in a synthesized understanding of both new and established theories on critical and creative thinking, and worked out through a reconstruction and expanded re-conceptualization of the Four C Model of Creativity. Findings -The results show that responsible scholars are moved by both critical and creative thinking, which is conceptualized as critical creativity. The authors introduce the ECC-model which illustrates how different Expressions of Critical Creativity (CC) is manifested in scholarship: Experiential CC (in cognition), Experimental CC (in action), Enunciated CC (in speech), and Eulogized CC (in recognition). Whereas Experiential, Experimental and Enunciated CC constitute important fields of developmental practice in doctoral education, Eulogized CC is a possible outcome of the completed doctorate. It appears that Enunciated CC especially seems to be a field of urgent need for further development. Originality/value -The paper offers a conceptual framework for new ways of understanding critical creativity in doctoral education by outlining how critical creativity is manifested in an educational context. Thereby the authors provide a valuable tool for supporting doctoral students in becoming professional scholars through a pedagogy that is reflective, integrative and deliberate.

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Enhancing the employability of National Certificate (Vocational) NC(V) graduates in South Africa is important. If NC(V) graduates are not employable, this has a negative impact on both the local economy and the future prospects of these young adults. Yet, national data show high youth unemployment rates which includes those with NC(V) qualifications. The factors that influence the employability of these graduates – particularly in the rural areas of South Africa – are not well documented. This study therefore explored the factors that influence NC(V) graduates’ employability by means of a case study at a rural TVET college in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The case focused on recent NC(V) graduates’ perceptions of their own employability and also on input from lecturers in selected NC(V) programmes and potential employers in the study area. Semi-structured interviews were conducted. The findings indicate that negative stakeholder perceptions exist about the employability of NC(V) graduates in the study context, which was a major factor in determining these graduates’ employment prospects. Furthermore, there have been no attempts to strengthen relations between the particular vocational institution and the local employment industry included in the study. The TVET college was hampered by poor planning, while prospective employers had limited awareness of the NC(V) curriculum and its objectives. These factors underscore the dissatisfaction among rural stakeholders with the employability of NC(V) graduates in the study context.

The notions of leadership and management in the technical and vocational education and training(TVET) sector have become blurred in South Africa. The growing need for responsive and flexibleleadership in the TVET sector has resulted in challenges that can only be overcome with therelevant leadership knowledge and skills. Our findings suggest that the demands of leadershipand management have created conflicting priorities for leaders at the TVET colleges. Leadershipdevelopment in the TVET sector may be one way of addressing these issues. Yet, in South Africa,there are no strategically planned, custom-designed leadership development programmes forleaders in public TVET colleges. A curriculum framework for leadership development should beinformed by these conflicting priorities in order to reprioritise the focus of TVET leaders in SouthAfrica on their core business: that of vocational education. This article reports on current andfuture TVET leaders’ perceptions of how the notions of leadership and management influencetheir practice.