The challenge for a historically disadvantaged South African university to produce more postgraduate students

Abstract

There is a shift in emphasis in higher education from producing bachelor's degrees en masse to an increase in the production of graduates with post-graduate qualifications. In recent times more and more universities in South Africa place emphasis in recruiting students doing post-graduate degrees and encourage them to complete their research component of their studies in the stipulated time in order to increase the subsidy received from the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) and the research output of students and staff. For Walter Sisulu University (WSU), this issue is relatively crucial, given its low throughput rate of post-graduate students. This article in particular draws from a research study conducted with BEd (Hons) and MEd students at WSU Ibika Site to establish the challenges they experienced in doing their research. The students usually finish their course work in record time, but find it very difficult to complete the research component of the programme. The result is that there are a number of students in the system. This qualitative study explored the challenges faced by these students in completing the research component of their respective programmes. A purposive sample of 20 students were selected to participate in the study. Interviews were conducted to collect the data. Ethical considerations were employed. Content analysis was used to analyse the data. Some of the challenges experienced by the participants included, inter alia, problems experienced in identifying the problem statement; the complexity of proposal writing; a lack of professional writing skills; etc. Based on the findings of the study the author provided some recommendations.

Lecturer Autoethnographies of Adjusting to Online Student Interactions during COVID-19

“…Poor academic performance characterises historically disadvantaged universities, with dropout rates being high and throughput rates being low (Badat, 2010). This poor academic performance has been linked to a lack of financial resources to improve the quality of education and enrolment (Badat, 2010), a lack of infrastructure such as buildings and computers (Sonn, 2016) as well as low staff capacities and capabilities. The resource and capacity constraints, thus create a cycle of events where poorly performing students are enrolled in an institution lacking resources and the output continues to be poor as compared to advantaged universities (Sonn, 2016).…”

“…This poor academic performance has been linked to a lack of financial resources to improve the quality of education and enrolment (Badat, 2010), a lack of infrastructure such as buildings and computers (Sonn, 2016) as well as low staff capacities and capabilities. The resource and capacity constraints, thus create a cycle of events where poorly performing students are enrolled in an institution lacking resources and the output continues to be poor as compared to advantaged universities (Sonn, 2016). Student protests at these HEIs expose the challenges students still face such as lack of accommodation and funding due to developmental backlogs and delays (Matarirano et al, 2021b).…”

Avoiding the elephant in the room: The real reasons behind our research crisis

“…The National Development Plan (2013) proposes a target of more than 100 doctoral graduates per million people by 2030. To move from a resource-based economy to a knowledge-based economy, research and, especially, postgraduate education are seen as the catalysts to making this happen (NDP, 2013;Sonn, 2016;Thaver, Holtman, & Julie, 2013). Furthermore, higher education institutions are now required to align their objectives with the government's socio-economic development goals aimed at the disadvantaged (Phakiti, 2008).…”

An Analysis of the Throughput Rate of Doctoral Students in LIS Schools in South Africa, 2005–2015

“…Prompted by global concern relating to problems associated with postgraduate training by academic institutions, Botha (2016) examined postgraduate research trends at the University of Ghana, and identified factors contributing to a decrease in student throughput over time which included financial difficulties, personal problems and the difficulties students experienced in being granted study leave by their employers. Similarly, Sonn (2016) identified the formulation of the problem statement, the complexity of proposal writing and the lack of professional writing skills as some of the reasons contributing to students' dropout. Students require support, which is provided mainly by supervisors.…”