One of the country’s most decorated scholars recently laid down the proverbial gauntlet at the feet of WSU and challenged the institution to do its part in seeking solutions that will see poor black students catching up to their white counterparts.
In a most sobering and thought-provoking address during the BCC Research and Innovation Day, Rhodes University Emeritus Professor Chrissie Boughey, in her presentation titled “The need for research on teaching and learning in a university like WSU” said regardless which university they attend, the subjects they study or the qualification they’ve enrolled for, black students fare less well than white students.
“We desperately need more research on teaching and learning to be produced by universities like WSU. I don’t believe that we, as a country, can claim we know very much about teaching and learning until we get those in-depth perspectives from universities such as WSU,” said Prof Boughey.
She said research into teaching and learning has been largely confined to and concentrated in “powerful historically white” universities such as UCT; UoFS; Rhodes and Stellenbosch which have academics continually producing research within the field, and also, within only those specific universities.
Prof Boughey said given the aforementioned circumstances, the extent to which research is produced by these academics regarding teaching and learning doesn’t necessarily accurately depict the prevailing circumstances in historically disadvantaged institutions (HDIs) like WSU.
“Historically, WSU has a very different provenance to these powerful institutions and you still see that today as we haven’t lost the effects of Apartheid. This is clearly evident in terms of resourcing –historically white institutions have much better teaching spaces than historically black institutions for example,” she said.
Prof Boughey said even though the trend in terms of recruitment and enrolment has seen universities accepting more black students across the board, the historically white institutions, as compared to institutions such as WSU, fall short in terms of enrolling large numbers of poor black students who come from working class backgrounds.
In his contextual breakdown of the institution’s research trajectory, WSU director for research and innovation, Prof Wilson Akpan, gave an encouraging account of the university’s vast improvement over recent years regarding research output.
“In 2019 WSU produced 143 research articles and that number has grown to a much more significant number of 220 articles, which is a 54% increase. The total in terms of research output unit which we claimed saw us attaining 87,89 from our 143 journal articles in 2019, and a significantly higher 134, 28 from our 220 journal articles in 2020. These numbers are testament to the efforts the university has championed in ensuring accelerated growth when it comes to increased research output,” said Prof Akpan.
He said the recent significant uptick in research output was a cause of celebration for the university, but coupled with that euphoria must be the development of plans and interventions aimed at further increasing the institution’s research output.
To this end, the university will, amongst other interventions, support the development of Research Niche Areas; develop researchers for NRF ratings; broaden the pool of active researchers who produce accredited journals; increased Doctoral and Master’s graduation rates; embed professional development and career planning in research capacity development programmes for PG students; recognize and reward innovative endeavours by staff and students; and intensify innovation capacity-building activities across the university.