{"id":57441,"date":"2015-11-11T06:46:10","date_gmt":"2015-11-11T04:46:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/2015\/11\/universities-must-rethink-how-they-retain-and-nurture-young-academics-the-conversation\/"},"modified":"2015-11-11T06:46:10","modified_gmt":"2015-11-11T04:46:10","slug":"universities-must-rethink-how-they-retain-and-nurture-young-academics-the-conversation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/universities-must-rethink-how-they-retain-and-nurture-young-academics-the-conversation\/","title":{"rendered":"Universities must rethink how they retain and nurture young academics | The Conversation"},"content":{"rendered":"
Producing brilliant graduates is one thing \u2013 developing and nurturing those who want to remain in academia is quite another.<\/span> Jason Reed\/Reuters<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the years after South Africa became a democracy, the country\u2019s universities began a tough process of change. They worked to improve access for students across the board of race and gender. They introduced a number of \u201caccelerated development\u201d programs designed to diversify their staff bodies. It was correctly deemed important that universities did not remain almost exclusively the domain of white South Africans.<\/p>\n

These \u201caccelerated development\u201d programs had names like \u201cGrowing our own timber\u201d to emphasise their focus on attracting and retaining young black African, Coloured and Indian academics. Similar programs are run \u2013 not just in academia \u2013 and discussions are still taking place around the world.<\/p>\n

On the face of it, South African universities’ programs included all of the classic and essential support structures for developing a new generation of academics. Participants were offered mentoring and support for their teaching and research.<\/p>\n

So, did they succeed? If we look quite literally on the face of it \u2013 by examining staff demographics \u2013 it seems not. University staff bodies, particularly at the country\u2019s wealthier and better resourced institutions, remain mainly white 21 years into South Africa\u2019s democracy. Why have these programs failed \u2013 and what can be done to improve them in future?<\/p>\n

Stumbling blocks to success<\/h2>\n

There are several reasons that talent retention programs have not worked. One is that many young academics leave universities after completing a Master\u2019s or PhD because they can earn significantly more in government or the private sector. The other is a lack of effective mechanisms within universities for identifying and mentoring young black students.<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s the more challenging issue of alienating institutional cultures. Some young academics don\u2019t feel valued by their university. In some cases, participants on these programs and their assigned mentors come from different cultural backgrounds and have divergent world views. They have little in common with their mentors, so may struggle to develop their academic identities without giving up their own views and values in order to \u201cfit in\u201d.<\/p>\n

Another problem is that many participants are recruited into these programs at the same universities where they studied. This requires a shift of their identity and mindset from student to staff member.<\/p>\n

Associated with this is the challenge of interacting with new \u201ccolleagues\u201d who, just a few years earlier, were their lecturers. These power dynamics may significantly influence the retention of staff on these accelerated development programs.<\/p>\n

Change can\u2019t happen in a vacuum<\/h2>\n

The first rush of \u201cgrow our own timber\u201d programs has passed. New programs are emerging. But the question of staff transformation \u2013 ensuring that a university\u2019s staff are representative of varied genders and races \u2013 remains a burning issue in South Africa.<\/p>\n

Some universities, my own among them, responded to this renewed focus on transformation by attempting to facilitate dialogue sessions in so-called \u201csafe spaces\u201d. Here they tried to uncover the difficulties faced by Black and Coloured academics on the one hand, and Indian and white academics on the other.<\/p>\n

Such spaces for open discussion are vital, but I believe it\u2019s time to shift beyond our fears and explore these difficult and sensitive issues together<\/em> rather than in individual racial groups.<\/p>\n

An integrated approach is key in more than one way. Accelerated development programs have a much greater chance of success if these are integrated into broader institutional work towards transformation, rather than occurring in vacuums in different parts of universities.<\/p>\n

Ideally, these programs should include the transformation of staff bodies, the curriculum and institutional governing bodies like senates and councils. This broader, systemic approach will also ensure that such changes become embedded in the academic project.<\/p>\n

It might also positively influence the academic pipeline. Black students might identify more strongly with black role models who share the same cultural backgrounds, beliefs and values, which could inspire students to further their studies. This means the pool of qualified black postgraduates who could be recruited into the academy would be widened, and genuine long-term change can be achieved.<\/p>\n

Hard conversations<\/h2>\n

Regardless of the institutional approach taken to address transformation, what is critical for success is deep mutual respect and a willingness to see other perspectives, and<\/em> be shaped by them. Only then can institutional culture be shifted and transformation goals achieved. However, meaningful discussions across racial lines in a multi-racial, multi-cultural setting are naturally awkward and difficult. They are also often dominated by the most senior voices.<\/p>\n

Such discussions also tend to uncover deep-seated, \u201cbelow-the-surface\u201d beliefs and personal biases \u2013 some which we might not even be consciously aware of or want to acknowledge. But it is for these very reasons that we must engage in open, honest conversations. Doing so will help us all understand ourselves better, and will enable us to widen our perspectives and find common ground.<\/p>\n

One of the best environments for finding common ground is in cross-faculty staff development programs and workshops facilitated by academic development staff. These offer academic staff a chance to reflect on issues impacting teaching and learning in environments.<\/p>\n

The workshops also tend to be designed to promote learning through shared experiences, and it is often in these moments of sharing that staff realise how common and widespread some of their more hidden challenges actually are.<\/p>\n

To promote greater participation and reflection, academic developers should aim to create supportive, caring and ethically safe learning environments. These will facilitate deeper dialogue and the sharing of more contentious issues and challenges as well as promoting the development of valuable networks amongst new staff.<\/p>\n

This may lead to a greater sense of belonging and value \u2013 arguably the most critical factors in staff retention, irrespective of race group.<\/p>\n

The transformation project in higher education in South Africa can no longer be ignored. The sooner we embrace unconventional and more inclusive ways of building the next generation of academic staff, the sooner we will be able to transcend the lingering legacy of our apartheid past.<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

Kershree Padayachee does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond the academic appointment above.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The Conversation \u2013 Articles (AFRICA)<\/a><\/p>\n

Read more on The Conversation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Producing brilliant graduates is one thing \u2013 developing and nurturing those who want to remain in academia is quite another. Jason Reed\/Reuters In the years after South Africa became a democracy, the country\u2019s universities began a tough process of change. They worked to improve access for students across the board of race and gender. They […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4584],"tags":[8757,8890,2211,8889,8888,8887,3756,7763,3933],"class_list":{"0":"post-57441","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-africa-news-2","7":"tag-academics","8":"tag-conversation","9":"tag-must","10":"tag-nurture","11":"tag-retain","12":"tag-rethink","13":"tag-they","14":"tag-universities","15":"tag-young","16":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57441","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57441"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57441\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}