Dr Selline Atieno Oketch shares her life experiences starting from her childhood in rural Kenya to earning a doctorate and becoming a faculty at CUEA. Her journey exemplifies the pitfalls and hurdles one encounters in higher education. Through this column, she tells an inspiring story of her transition from being a young student who found a good mentor to a struggling but persevering PhD scholar to an understanding and caring supervisor.
Humble Beginnings of an Academic
I was raised in rural Kenya. I recognized a sense of privilege within my family compared to my peers in neighboring households. My father held the position of Fitter-in-Charge at the Railways corporation mainly in Nairobi but occasionally in other towns. My older siblings stayed with him in town but the younger children, myself included, stayed back in the village with our mother who tilled the small farm and we could only visit the city during some school holidays. I learned at a young age that education was paramount to my father when he sent me to boarding primary school at age ten. The perception then was that boarding schools had better facilities and performed better than day schools, yet not all families could afford the school fees.
Progressing through my seven years of primary school and approaching my inaugural national examination – a gateway to the esteemed secondary school level – I fostered an unwavering aspiration for continuous educational advancement. Consequently, upon completing the national examination that marked the culmination of my secondary school, I entered high school and subsequently pursued university studies. The educational framework of that period adhered to a 7-4-2-3 structure.
During my secondary school years, my primary sources of inspiration were the young university teachers who engaged in teaching practice at my school. I particularly found a role model in our young English and Literature teacher, freshly graduated from the university. She gradually became my mentor as I found it easier to ask her anything about education. I asked her about the university, what it takes to reach that level, especially from rural schools like mine, life at the university, and relevant careers. I refined my reading abilities with books from her library and her encouragement to explore her fiction collection likely spurred me to contribute to its expansion. I excelled in English and Literature which was no mean achievement for a young girl who purely used the vernacular language at home. While many of my classmates would stop at form four and take alternative paths, I already knew that I had already embarked on a long academic journey destined for the university.
By the time I was about to take the end-of-secondary school national examinations l, my mentor announced to us that she was joining a Master’s program overseas. So, I also took note that I must eventually reach that level. My excellent performance in high school earned me admission at Kenyatta University for a Bachelor of Education degree program. I took pride in the fact that my accomplishments made me among the role models in my village. This also motivated me to keep aiming higher. Another motivating factor in my academic path was that as a Bachelor of Education student, I fulfilled my father’s desire for any of his children to be a teacher. I earned my degree and began my profession as a secondary school teacher.
After one year of teaching, I applied and was admitted to the University of Nairobi for a Master’s in Literature. The Master’s degree transformed me into a University Lecturer when I eventually joined the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA). Up to this point, my academic achievement was as a result of my passion.
The Lonely Scholar and Conceptual Threshold
As a university lecturer without a doctorate, I was soon confronted by a world of competition and pressure for upward mobility. CUEA, being a relatively young university, depended on its faculty to expand the institution’s academic division by aggressively developing both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. Some departments, like mine, lacked Ph.D. holders to develop and manage postgraduate programs. The University began a program of soliciting funding for staff to embark on doctoral studies. I was among those sponsored but not given study leave. For the first time in my academic journey, I felt pressure and I found myself struggling. I had to write a concept note for the doctorate within a few days to secure admission for D.Litt. at Nelson Mandela (Metropolitan) University (NMMU) in South Africa. I was also just settling into marriage and motherhood which meant that I now had to strike a balance between my work at the university, family responsibilities, particularly, caring for my four children, and my studies.
I came up against hurdles relating to supervision and studying in a new cultural context. I was assigned a supervisor who gave me what I considered as a literary study a linguistic approach and suggested volumes of Linguistics material to read. My initial feeling was that I could not contradict my supervisor yet the more I read these works, the more I got confused and lost track of what I set out to study. I had no one else to share my experience with so I shelved the work for about three months before I gathered courage and explained to the Professor my predicament. Indeed, three of my colleagues from CUEA who also joined NMMU for different programs deregistered for various reasons. I was relieved when my supervisor listened to me and suggested to the School a different supervisor with a literature background. I have now learned through my exposure to the Stellenbosch Crest doctoral supervision course the significant role of the supervisor in a student’s doctoral journey.
Crossing the Conceptual Threshold
I did not have a smooth start with my new supervisor who felt that I would work better if I was a full-time doctoral student. She always felt pressured to give me maximum attention during my visits. As it were, we mainly used online communication throughout my study period. I visited NMMU only four times before I returned for graduation. Three of these were for the duration of only one week while one was for one month.
I was given a second supervisor when my proposal was approved. The two supervisors had conflicting views and approaches towards my work. I found myself working back and forth in an attempt to reconcile their feedback on my work. With time, I developed a conducive working relationship with each of them separately. The CREST course has shed a lot of insights concerning co-supervision and supervision styles.
From Supervisee to Supervisor
In my Department I mainly supervise the master’s students as we just recently developed the PhD programme which we hope to launch in the new academic year. In my masters’ supervision, I encourage students to form a community where they can support one another. I use storytelling strategy where they share experiences about their progress and difficulties. I discuss the student’s work with my co-supervisor so that we both agree on areas to examine. I work with the students to draw up our plan of action where we know and honour our responsibilities. Over and above, I try to mentor my students beyond just supervising their research. I call and discuss with those who tend to procrastinate and help them, where I can, to be back on track.
My research into the cultivation of supervisory skills among doctoral mentors in Kenyan Universities unveiled the critical significance of methodical mentoring and induction for novice supervisors. Often, the assumption prevails that obtaining a Ph.D. inherently qualifies one for supervisory roles. Yet, the transition from being supervised to becoming a proficient supervisor demands a journey encompassing induction, mentorship, collaboration, and networking-a journey essential for achieving quality supervision.
