Empowering South Africa’s brightest minds in a new era of academic support for early-career academics is necessary to achieve longevity regarding the country’s sustainability. As such, the expansion of South Africa’s university system is high on the country’s list of priorities.
Therefore, it is crucial that the sector be bolstered and encouraged, especially in terms of the growth of early-career academics.
There has been rising anxiety in recent years regarding the plight of South Africa’s young academics. This anxiety is due to a range of factors.
These include the lack of institutional assistance, little resources, bullying of assertive academics in previously white-institutions, institutional governance failures as well as the intimidation and victimisation of young talented black South African academics.
The high cost of living is also one of the additional factors contributing to these difficulties. Several young academics have left the field during the first few years of their employment as a direct result of these difficulties.
The necessity for institutional assistance for early-career academics to meet these problems has been widely acknowledged in recent years. Mentoring, instruction, opportunities for advancement, and financial backing are all examples of the kinds of help that may be provided.
The Higher Education Leadership and Management (HELM) programme is an example of institutional assistance designed to help early-career professors improve their leadership and management abilities. Financial management, strategic planning, and human resource management are just some of the many transferable skills participants get from the programme. Mentoring and other forms of support for participants’ professional development are also offered.
The University Teaching and Learning (UTL) programme is another example of institutional assistance with the goal of improving the instructional methods of junior academic staff. Participants get instruction in pedagogical topics such as lesson planning, student evaluation, and technology integration. Participants also receive guidance and feedback as they create teaching portfolios.
There are also an increasing number of initiatives that try to finance early-career academics in addition to these programmes. Funding for research and travel to professional conferences is made possible by programmes like the Early Career Development programme at the National Research Foundation (NRF). However, few South African early-career academics from the low-ranking universities benefit from such initiatives, with the bulk of resources channelled to ‘elite’ universities in the country.
There is still a long way to go, but it is encouraging to see South Africa’s higher education community begin to recognise the need of providing institutional support for early-career academics. Institutions may encourage promising young scholars to stay in academia and contribute to national progress by providing them with the resources and/or support they need to succeed.) Prof Percy Sepeng, a full professor and an academic at the Sol Plaatje University (SPU), writes in his capacity as an educationist.
