Ademola Ganny Abdulkareem provides a comprehensive plan for a successful doctoral school that outlines the responsibilities and best practices for students, supervisors as well as for academic institutions/universities. He envisions an academic culture that robustly supports the students from varied backgrounds and contexts as well as supervisors with diverse interests and expertise.
Dr. Sophie Marques shares her inspiring academic journey, rising from a family of illiterate parents to earning a PhD and later a post-PhD at UCT, eventually becoming a Senior Lecturer at the University of Stellenbosch. She reflects on the challenges of being the only woman in the mathematics department and how she navigated them. Dr. Marques also discusses her experiences in supervising students, addressing their challenges, and guiding them towards success.
In this article, Dr Kati reflects on how the high drop-out rate of PhD students in Kenya prompted him to re-evaluate his role as a research supervisor. Dr Kati writes about the importance of mentorship, empathy and nurturing professional development during a student’s journey.
Traore Maïmouna unveils the undocumented struggles of women navigating the demands of childbirth and parenting while pursuing their doctoral studies. From the absence of maternity leave policies to the strategies employed by these resilient women, the narrative sheds light on the humanization of doctoral supervision and calls for institutional changes to support the holistic well-being of doctoral candidates. Editorial note: I removed reference to female PhD students as ‘girls’ since it is not possible for a PhD student to be younger than 18, the age of adulthood in South Africa.
