Building PhD Capacity in SSA – Synthesis Report 2 Ethiopia Country Report 30 Ghana Country Report 66 Kenya Country Report 98 Nigeria Country Report 130 Senegal Country Report 154 South Africa Country Report 182 BUILDING PhD CAPACITY IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA www.daad.de Acknowledgments The German Academic Exchange ANIE led the empirical research and Service (DAAD) in partnership with the produced the initial analysis, and British Council conceived this research then worked together with Dr Tristan project and co-funded it, with support McCowan and Elisa Brewis at University from the German Federal Ministry of College London Institute of Education Education and Research. to finalise this synthesis report and the individual country reports. The study was commissioned to the African Network for Internationalisation Helmut Blumbach from the DAAD and of Education (ANIE), and their network of Michael Peak from the British Council researchers across Sub Saharan Africa. drove the study forward. In particular, the work of the following individuals should be acknowledged: WITH FINANCIAL James Jowi SUPPORT FROM Dr Charles Ochieng Ong’ondo Dr Mulu Nega Professor Chika Sehoole Professor Goski Alabi Professor Mamadou Dimé Professor Peter Barasa Professor Lilian-Rita Akudolu Contents List of tables and figures 2 Foreword 3 Introduction 4 Research aims and methods 6 Country profiles 7 The context of research production 8 The context of PhD training 12 Research findings 15 Who studies for a PhD? 15 What structure and format does PhD training typically take? 15 What are the disciplinary trends? 16 Factors driving PhD expansion and disciplinary spread 18 Who is providing PhD training? 19 Quality of PhD provision from student and alumni perspectives 19 Funding 20 International collaboration in PhD provision 20 Where do PhD graduates go? 22 Conclusion and recommendations 23 Building PhD capacity in Sub-Saharan Africa 1 List of tables and figures Table Page Table 1 Percentage of total article output by subject groupings for Africa 9 regions 2012 Table 2 Changes in percentage of total article output by subject groupings 9 for Africa regions 2003–12 Table 3 Detailed breakdown of disciplinary spread of PhD provision 17 Figures Page Figure 1 Top ten countries producing PhD graduates, 2015 5 Figure 2 Country profiles 7 Figure 3 Researchers per million of the population 10 Figure 4 Expenditure on research and development 10 as percentage of GDP Figure 5 PhD provision: key statistics and policies 12 Figure 6 STEM versus non-STEM split in PhD provision 16 2 Building PhD capacity in Sub-Saharan Africa Foreword Higher education can play a crucial role and PhD training in Sub-Saharan Africa. In itself, the process of this study in the economic and social development The aim was to support decision revealed in some ways a hint of the of a country, and is often a natural making around national-level policy, challenges which can face active social mechanism with which to develop and institutional-level practice, and science researchers in the region (such international relations. Consequently, to provide current and potential as access to interviewees and survey the British Council and the German international partners with insight respondents; connectivity; access to Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) into the PhD environment in the six data sources; etc.) have been working in Sub-Saharan studied countries across the region Of course, collaborative working can Africa for many decades. (Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, also present challenges, and conducting Senegal, South Africa). The British Council and DAAD hold a multi-country study such as this was many shared values and inspirations, When we initiated this study we knew not always plain sailing. But the local and we also have a strong history of that we had tapped an area of intense expertise and insight of individual collaboration – working together on interest as the competitive tender researchers, the communal strength programmes and projects, as well process that we ran attracted a high of the ANIE network, and interpretive as jointly funded research studies. degree of interest and received several and editorial skills of colleagues at UCL quality proposals. Institute of Education ensured that the With this experience, and with these final research outputs are insightful values in mind, we undertook to Fundamental to our intentions when and of a high quality. investigate further the nature of commissioning this study was the research and doctoral training across importance of collaborating with locally We hope that you agree, and that this Sub-Saharan Africa. What are the based researchers, and representatives study contributes to an evidence base relationships between national-level of HE institutions in the region, and to support PhD training and capacity policy and institutional-level agenda; this was behind our thinking when we building in Sub Saharan Africa. and how are institution links with chose to work with the African Network business and industry developing? for Internationalization of Education Michael Peak, What progress is being made, and (ANIE) to conduct the underlying Head of Higher Education Systems what challenges exist with regard empirical research. Research, Education Policy Unit, to growing quality PhD provision in British Council, UK To complement the research of ANIE, countries so rich in natural resource this study has also drawn on the skills Dr Helmut Blumbach and talented youth? of experts at University College London Director, German Academic Exchange Our intention with this study was (UCL) Institute of Education: overall Service (DAAD) Regional Office for to shed light on this area and provide this has been a truly collaborative Africa, Nairobi, Kenya evidence to support higher education international research project. Building PhD capacity in Sub-Saharan Africa 3 Introduction Higher education is widely recognised depend on the possibilities of high as a measure, and instead places as being central to development, quality doctoral study.2 emphasis on political, regulatory and contributing not only to enhancing business environment.6 Indeed in the Globally, PhD training has received individual opportunities in life, but OECD context, some economists particular currency in HE policy circles also to a vibrant democracy, innovative have even raised concerns about as a response to the broader economic economy and a range of other societal an oversupply of PhD graduates.7 context of the ‘knowledge society’, benefits in areas such as health, nutrition, ‘knowledge economy’ or ‘talentism’.3 Beyond the OECD context, the mood governance and environmental It is commonly acknowledged that is quite different. In many countries, protection.1 The development of higher the role of researchers is essential there is a severe lack of opportunities education (HE) systems is particularly in driving scientific output and innovation. for obtaining higher degrees even critical in a region like Africa, given A sign of the growing importance of PhD- among university staff: the 2009 the significant youth bulge, the need trained researchers is the inclusion of Trends in Global Higher Education for innovation to create new forms not only tertiary graduate figures but study8 estimated that as many as of employment, and the potential of specifically doctoral graduate figures half of those teaching in universities research to address the significant in innovation indicators, such as the across the world had no more than an social and environmental challenges. Innovation Union Scoreboard (IUS)4 undergraduate degree. Governments Nevertheless, despite strong used by the European Union (EU). are consequently investing significant endorsement of HE on the part of funds into PhD expansion schemes. While the argument around quality governments and international agencies, China, India and Brazil have all made of undergraduate education is widely and buoyant demand from populations significant gains in PhD graduations. accepted, the link between PhD for furthering their studies, there As can be seen in Figure 1, they are provision and knowledge sector jobs are significant barriers to expansion. among the world’s leading producers and innovation has been the subject of Shortages of academic staff mean of PhD graduates. PhD students from some debate. Some scholars maintain that even when funding is in place, countries where doctoral training has that policymakers should be cautious expansion of systems leads to significant traditionally been undertaken abroad of the assumed PhD-high skills jobs strain on resources, very large class can increasingly rely on domestic alignment, and instead consider all sizes and quality challenges. Doctoral PhD provision rather than studying options (including vocational education) education has often been viewed as a overseas. Nevertheless, socio-cultural for producing graduates with relevant lower priority – given the need to attend factors still drive students to study competencies.5 From the perspective first to the undergraduate level – but this abroad, which means that expansion of industry itself, the number of PhD approach underestimates the significant in domestic PhD provision must compete graduates may be less important for interdependence between these levels. with the attractive overseas option. innovation than contextual factors. Adequate staffing for the undergraduate In Latin America, governments have For example the Global Innovation level, and a thriving and innovative addressed this concern by investing in Index (GII), unlike the UIS used by the research environment, to a large extent both domestic provision and overseas EU, does not include PhD graduates 1. Boni, A, Lopez-Fogues, A, Walker, M (2016) Higher education and the post-2015 agenda: a contribution from the human development approach. Global Ethics 12/1: 17–28; McCowan, T (2016) Universities and the post-2015 development agenda: an analytical framework. Higher Education 72/4: 505–525; Oketch, M, McCowan, T and Schendel, R (2014) The Impact of Tertiary Education on Development: A Rigorous Literature Review. London: Department for International Development. 2. Morgan J (2011) The rise and rise of PhDs as standard. Times Higher Education. Available online at: www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/415203.article, cited in Cloete, N, Mouton, J and Sheppard, C (2015) Doctoral education in South Africa. 3. Cloete, N, Mouton, J and Sheppard, C (2015) Doctoral education in South Africa. Cape Town: African Minds. Available online at: www.idea-phd.net/images/Doctoral-Education-in-South-Africa-WEB-3.pdf 4. ‘New doctorate graduates’ and ‘Population aged 30–34 with tertiary education’ are measures of Human Resources, a sub-index nested under the ‘Enablers’ index. Eurostat (2016). Glossary: Innovation union scoreboard (IUS). Eurostat Statistics Explained. Available online at: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Glossary:Innovation_union_scoreboard_(IUS) 5. Gokhberg L, Shmatko N, Auriol, L (2016) ‘Rethinking the Doctoral Degrees in the Changing Labor Market Context’, in Gokhberg L, Shmatko N, Auriol, L (eds) The Science and Technology Labor Force. Science, Technology and Innovation Studies. Cham; Springer. 6. Cornell, INSEAD and WIPO (2017) GII Framework. The Global Innovation Index. Available online at: https://www.globalinnovationindex.org/about-gii 7. Cyranoski D, Gilbert, N, Ledford, H, Nayar, A and Yahia, M (2011) Education: The PhD factory. The world is producing more PhDs than ever before. Is it time to stop? Nature 472: 276–279. 8. Altbach, PG, Reisberg, L, Rumbley, LE (2009) Trends in Global Higher Education. Tracking an Academic Revolution. Paris: UNESCO. 4 Building PhD capacity in Sub-Saharan Africa Figure 1: Top ten countries producing PhD graduates, 2015* United States 68,923 China (People's republic of) 54,891 Russia 29,632 Germany 29,218 United Kingdom 26,636 India 22,528 Brazil 18,625 Japan 15,714 France 13,774 Korea 13,077 0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000 60,000 70,000 80,000 Source: OECD (2018). Education indicators - Graduates by field, Doctoral or equivalent level (ISCED2011 level 8), for the year 2015 *Ranked on a list comprising the 34 OECD member states excluding Greece and the Netherlands (for whom data was not available), and eight other non-OECD countries where data was available: Brazil, People’s Republic of China, Colombia, Costa Rica, India, Indonesia, Lithuania and Russia. provision via state-funded PhD the Catalan Association of Public from a selection of six to eight flagship scholarships. Because the overseas Universities (ACUP) joint report institutions, rather than a comparison PhD study in this case is supported summarising the outcomes of a 2012 of national-level data on PhD provision. by the state, governments are able international seminar,11 and a report Therefore, there is an urgent need to to stipulate conditions of return, by the Higher Education Research and contribute to the evidence base on ensuring that the overseas-trained Advocacy Network in Africa (HERANA) PhD provision using national-level PhD graduates join the national pool.9 from 2014.12 These reports have data, and to take into account doctoral highlighted low or inconsistent PhD training provision in a cross-section Currently, there is a ‘shared optimism’ capacity despite significant expansion of diverse institution types. Given in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) on the in master’s level graduations – an issue the concerns about quality and value of building PhD capacity, as related to funding and supervisory socio-economic relevance, there exemplified in formal declarations such capacity. The former report also is also a need to assess the format as the Kigali Communique (2014) or the highlighted a lack of evaluative and conditions of provision, and to Dakar Declaration on the revitalisation mechanisms to assess the quality explore patterns of engagement of African higher education (2015).10 and socio-economic relevance on the part of doctoral education In terms of our empirical understanding of PhD outputs. providers with industry, the private of the PhD landscape in SSA, two key sector, the community and policymakers. studies have informed the policy While the above reports provide helpful This study is informed by a need to discourse, namely the International context to the PhD training landscape address these gaps. Association of Universities (IAU) and in SSA, they draw on institutional data 9. Balan, J (2008) Graduate Education in Latin America: The Coming of Age. International Higher Education 50: 9–11. Available online at: https://doi.org/10.6017/ihe.2008.50.8002 10. Molla, T and Cuthbert, D (2016) In pursuit of the African PhD: A critical survey of emergent policy issues in select Sub-Saharan African nations, Ethiopia, Ghana and South Africa. Policy Futures in Education 14/6: 635–654. 11. IAU-ACUP (International Association of Universities and the Catalan Association of Public Universities) (2012) International seminar on innovative approaches to doctoral education and research training in sub-Saharan Africa: Report. Available online at: www.iau-aiu.net/sites/all/files/Final_Report_ IAU_ACUP_Seminar_on_innovative_approaches_to_doctoral_education.pdf 12. Bunting I, Cloete N and Van Schalkwyk, F (2014) An Empirical Overview of Eight Flagship Universities in Africa: 2001–2011. A report of the Higher Education Research and Advocacy Network in Africa (HERANA). Cape Town: Centre for Higher Education Transformation (CHET). Building PhD capacity in Sub-Saharan Africa 5 Research aims and methods This report provides an overview country studies13 report their empirical of PhD production, one that is embedded of a study commissioned by the findings based on policy analysis in the research training landscape more British Council and the German and the most recent national and generally. Against this backdrop, we Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) institutional data available on PhD then highlight data on PhD provision that surveyed research and doctoral provision. Data was also collected (enrolments, graduations, number training capacity in Ethiopia, Ghana, via questionnaires and interviews with of programmes) at a national level, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal and South a range of stakeholders comprising alongside key policy frameworks, Africa. The aims of the study were representatives of national agencies policy actors, or targets related to to investigate: responsible for building research PhD provision. i. the availability, quality and thematic capacity, representatives of industry, The research findings section priorities of PhD programmes and and university staff and students from synthesises key insights from the how they have changed over the a diverse sample of institutions. The country-level studies, informed by last ten years country reports also include expanded the empirical data collected for these discussion of the national level context ii. the national level research agenda studies (desk review of policies and and policies for research training. iii. the extent to which research regulations, and questionnaire and training at institutional level is This report synthesises the key findings interview data with a range of HE aligned with the national agenda from the six country studies with a stakeholders). Due to different view to contributing to the comparative contextual circumstances, slightly iv. national-level systems (policies, evidence base on PhD provision in different sampling approaches legislation) that enable alignment Sub-Saharan Africa, bearing in mind were used in each country study. between institutional level research the need for future programme and Accordingly, we do not report on training with the national agenda policy design. In particular, the study summary statistics of questionnaire v. how institutional priorities reflect was informed by the need to identify data here, but rather we invite readers the needs of universities and whether higher education expansion to turn to the country reports for emerging research and in the region has led to enhanced detailed analysis of this data. The final development systems, including research capacity and quality of section draws out conclusions and local industry and societal needs teaching in a manner that has potential recommendations for future policy vi. funding sources to develop and to support sustainable development and research. The implications of sustain PhD provision objectives for national governments.14 relying on a primarily self-funded vii. the role of international collaboration This report highlights the key findings student body for PhD graduation in building PhD capacity. related specifically to PhD provision trends is highlighted, including low and draws out implications for policy completion rates and high dropouts; The British Council and DAAD at national and international levels. inequities in terms of gender, race and partnered with the African Network for historically advantaged institutions; and Internationalization of Education (ANIE) In the following three sections we limited opportunities for alignment or to undertake empirical research to provide some context for the research engagement with industry, the private investigate these questions in the six and doctoral training landscape in sector and societal needs. In addition, case study countries. Each country SSA. First we provide a general profile we highlight the need for further report was prepared by a team of of each of the six countries (population, research clarifying the interplay locally-based researchers familiar gross national income [GNI] per between domestic and overseas with the particular challenges and capita, size of HE system). Although (including African) PhD provision. opportunities related to PhD provision the primary focus of this report is on This is particularly important in terms of their country context. The teams doctoral provision, we also include a of post-PhD employment trajectories, followed a similar overall methodological brief overview of research production and their implications for enhancing approach, (albeit with some variation in the region first. This is in line with the the quality of higher education and due to contextual and circumstantial broader aims of the study to produce research and development systems considerations). The resulting six a more holistic and relational picture in the region. 13. Individual reports detailing the research findings for each country in this study are available at: www.britishcouncil.org/education/ihe and also at https://www.daad.de/download/phd201806 14. Mohamedbhai, G (2014) Focus on research for development, not academic rankings. SciDevNet. www.scidevnet.com Available online at: www.scidev.net/global/education/opinion/research-development-academic-rankings.html 6 Building PhD capacity in Sub-Saharan Africa Country profiles Figure 2: Country profiles Ethiopia Senegal Population (millions) 101.9 Population (millions) 15.59 Gross national income per capita (GNI) $1,620 Gross national income per capita (GNI) $2,390 Gross tertiary enrolment ratio (GTER) 8.13% (2014) Gross tertiary enrolment ratio (GTER) 10.39% (2015) Higher education sector Higher education sector 40 universities (36 public, 4 private) 5 public universities 100 other private higher education institutions 75 private institutions, mostly comprising management schools Ghana South Africa Population (millions) 28.03 Population (millions) 54.98 Gross national income per capita (GNI) $4,070 Gross national income per capita (GNI) $12,830 Gross tertiary enrolment ratio (GTER) 16.23% (2015) Gross tertiary enrolment ratio (GTER) 19.38% (2014) Higher education sector Higher education sector 171 higher education institutions 26 public institutions 14 universities (10 public, 4 private chartered) 11 universities 72 private university colleges; 10 polytechnics; 1 distance 6 comprehensive universities learning institution; 45 colleges of education; 29 nurse 9 universities of technology training colleges Population: UIS (2018). Total population. Data for 2016. Rounded up to nearest ten thousand. Data for 2016. Kenya GNI per capita: UIS (2018). GNI per capita, PPP (current international $). Data for 2015. Population (millions) 47.25 GTER: UIS (2018). Gross enrolment ratio, tertiary, both sexes (%). Gross national income per capita (GNI) $3,060 Gross tertiary enrolment ratio (GTER) 4.05% (2009) Higher education sector 40 chartered universities (23 public, 17 private) 15 constituent colleges (10 public, 5 private) 15 universities with Letter of Interim Authority (LIA) Nigeria Population (millions) 186.99 Gross national income per capita (GNI) $5,800 Gross tertiary enrolment ratio (GTER) 10.07% (2011) Higher education sector 503 higher education institutions 153 universities (40 federal universities, 44 state, 69 private) 84 polytechnics; 27 monotechnics 36 colleges of architecture; 50 colleges of health and technology; 84 colleges of education 69 vocational institutes Building PhD capacity in Sub-Saharan Africa 7