Looking back at doctoral education in South Africa

Abstract

This article provides a quantitative picture of doctoral education in South Africa up to 2010, from the time the first doctorate was awarded in 1899. It identifies the different institutional profiles and emphases of doctoral graduation in South African universities at various periods of time in the context of economic, political and social change. In addition, it analyses the progress that has taken place in attaining the national goal of equity, redress and increased research production to allow South Africa to become a player in the knowledge economy. The article is based on a comprehensive database of all the doctoral degrees awarded by South African universities for over a century. This database was compiled by triangulating various data sources.

Keywords:

• doctoral education
• graduate students
• history of higher education
• higher degree research
• South Africa

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. This database lists current and completed South African dissertations, theses and research projects.

2. The HEMIS replaced the South African Post Secondary (SAPSE) data in 2001.

3. Black refers collectively to all three disadvantaged race groups of Indian, coloured and African.

4. The PhD (Philosophiae Doctor) originated in Germany and was imported into North America during the nineteenth century. The first PhD in North America was awarded at Yale University in 1860. In the UK, the PhD (or DPhil) was first awarded at Oxford and Cambridge at the beginning of the 1920s. The PhD signified a transition towards a higher degree which required an original written thesis that makes a significant contribution to knowledge, and acknowledges the degree holder's competence to carry on an independent research (Noble 1994). After the Second World War, the PhD was exported to other countries with higher education system modelled on that of the UK, including Australia and New Zealand (Taylor 2012).

5. According to the graduation booklets, the first three PhDs at WITS were awarded in 1949 in Chemical Engineering, Physics and Musicology.

6. The PhD degree awarded to Sydney Harold Skaife in 1922. Subject of thesis: Monograph on the Bruchidae of South Africa.

7. The compiled database has 29,791 entries which were rounded up to accommodate potentially missing data.

8. This table was taken from WITS graduation booklet of 1981 which was a celebration of the awarding of 50,000 degrees and diplomas at the university.