The PhD Experience in African Higher Education, edited by Ruth Murambadoro, John Mashayamombe, and uMbuso weNkosi, addresses the growing call to invest in the humanities and social sciences by exploring the nature of doctoral training in select institutions of higher learning in South Africa. In the past two decades, South Africa has become a key player in the global higher education landscape and dubbed the hub for doctoral training in Africa because of its developed educational infrastructure and highly ranked universities. Given South Africa's positioning, the contributors in this volume argue that the government, donors, universities, and faculty have a socio-legal duty to ensure that doctoral programs in the humanities and social sciences are not offered to amass numbers of African graduates but are grounded on equipping students with both hard and soft skills necessary to succeed. This is achieved by offering skills training and research apprenticeship fostered in communities of practice because, as the contributors show, the humanities and social sciences are the backbone of society. Furthermore, they argue that treating doctoral candidates as equal partners is emancipatory because intellectual projects are best nurtured through collaborative learning.
Ruth Murambadoro is a postdoctoral researcher at the Centre for Feminist Research at York University. John Mashayamombe is a researcher of sociology at Nelson Mandela University. uMbuso weNkosi is a postdoctoral fellow at the Johannesburg Institute for Advanced Studies.
Preface Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations Introduction: To be PhDeeing uMbuso weNkosi, Ruth Murambadoro, and John Mashayamombe Chapter 1: Cracking the PhD Code: An Epistemological Lens on the Oddments of The PhD Journey Quatro Mgogo Chapter 2: Doing Research in the Periphery: Reflections from the Field Sandla Nomvete Chapter 3: Writing in Mines: Negotiating Fieldwork Access and Complexities in Doctoral Research Training John Mashayamombe Chapter 4: The Ethical Subject and the Face of the Other uMbuso weNkosi Chapter 5: 'Analysis Paralyses' and Finding my Own Voice Phuti Sepuru Chapter 6: Exploring Beyond the Social Milieu Mpho Mmadi Chapter 7: Soldier and Psychologist By 'Day' and PhD Student By 'Night' Danille Arendse Chapter 8: Long March to PhD: Becoming a Doctor as An International Student in South Africa Saint Jose Camille Inaka Chapter 9: Journeying Unchartered Territory to Master the Craft of Knowledge Production Ruth Murambadoro Conclusion: The Future of Humanities and Social Sciences Doctoral Studies in South Africa and Africa John Mashayamombe, Ruth Murambadoro, and uMbuso weNkosi Index About the Editors and Contributors
