Future Researchers Edition 5

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November 2022

FUTURE RESEARCHERS What impact have you made?

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5th Edition Making Research & Innovation count through connecting possibilities

FOREWORD CREATING A TOOLBOX TO DEVELOP WELL-ROUNDED POST-GRADUATE SCHOLARS: DR C JANSEN VAN VUUREN The South African National Development Plan (Vision 2030) has mandated universities to have 75% of their staff with PhD degrees by 2030. This goal aims to promote the development of the national economy by using knowledge creation as a driver. Against this backdrop, universities must find strategies to increase the output of the number of PhDs produced. In addition to this mandate, universities also face the challenge of students that stay too long in the system. Students register for their postgraduate (including PhD) degrees and may take too long to complete their qualifications, thus blocking the system for new students to enter as the supervision capacity at universities can only deal with a finite number of students.

One of the strategies that universities can use is to create a TOOLBOX enabling students to be successful in completing their PhD degrees. The support provided by the office of the DVC: Research and Innovation, includes tools that empower early-career researchers to effectively complete their postgraduate studies.

Opportunities that have been provided include and are not limited to writing retreats, research training, coaching/mentoring, and international visits and thus empower most students to develop new insights to advance their research. If there are opportunities and best practices that we can learn from other institutions, why reinvent the wheel? Some tangible deliverables from the national and international collaboration include joint webinars often leading to informing new research questions, joint research and publication, student exchange programmes, and guest lectures.

I have been able to benefit from the writing retreats to accelerate the completion of my PhD (2021) and publish articles from my research. I have also had the opportunity to experience international exposure, collaborative networking, and presenting at international conferences. These experiences have broadened my vision and understanding of research, and have helped me grow which would perhaps not have happened if such opportunities were not available. It’s one thing to read about leadership and what is happening, for example, in the United States, but when you are there and you experience how higher education is operationalised, you realise two things: (1) we are not so different from them, and (2) there are even some learning points where they can learn from a South African perspective, and that has been refreshing and exciting for me. So, my personal experience has been that it’s given me momentum and a broad understanding, kept me focused, and helped me complete my PhD degree effectively.

This TOOLBOX strategy, driven by the office of the DVC: R&I, helps to develop post-graduate students to become wellrounded scholars, contributing not only to research nationally but internationally. On an institutional level, it helps students contribute to the strategic goals of the university, advancing the UWC to become a research-led university. Benefits include growing researcher competence and leadership, gaining scholarly confidence, building collaborative networks, and communicating or exchanging ideas with all stakeholders, to mention a few.

Early career researchers are the bedrock of higher education institutions. Ensuring that they are capacitated to actively fulfill their role is crucial and preparing them for the next generation of leaders is a fundamental aspect of higher education. At the University of the Western Cape, there is a dedicated capacitybuilding programme for early career researchers. The programme includes workshop opportunities in order to build communities of practice, networking opportunities to attend an international conference and visit other universities, as well as funding support for PhD completion through teaching relief funding, as well as project implementation funding. The workshops that participants of the programme attend include career management, how to write a funding proposal, writing for publication, and how to effectively supervise.

Let us introduce our early career researchers, as they share their stories and the highlights of their PhD journey as part of the capacity development programme opportunities. It is important to know that along this journey there are many challenges faced, milestones accomplished, and tools collected, which one can take and utilize as a stepping stone to the next stage. Who better than the researchers themselves to tell their story:

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KAYLIANNE APLOON-ZOKUFA

“The mentorship sessions were great. We had a local and international mentor, and we met at our Lecturer in the Institute for Post-School Studies (IPSS) in the Faculty of Education at the University of the Western Cape (UWC).

Kaylianne Aploon-Zokufa is a PhD candidate and her research topic is: “An investigation into how mature women ECD practitioners access higher education through the BEd Foundation Phase programme.” Before she joined UWC, she completed a Master’s Degree in Curriculum Studies at The University of Cape Town (UCT). Her interest shifted to adult learning during six years of teaching, training, and facilitating Adult Education and Training (AET) programmes in workplaces and Early Childhood Development programmes at Technical Vocational, Education, and Training Colleges (TVET).

She has been part of the programme for the past two years.

Supported with resources, training, workshops, and exposure to other institutions, and university academics. She has also had the opportunity to visit the USA. The programme has offered much support, especially through writing workshops.

The funding helped with networking with other university PhD students and traveling abroad.

convenience and talked through our post-graduate journey. Mentorship played a vital role throughout my post-graduate

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journey.

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GABIEBA DONOUGH An innovative and dynamic research scholar and lecturer at the University of the Western Cape.

Gabieba Donough started her profession in 1994 when she gained experience and skills in quality care, which led to her passion for trauma and emergency care. She received a Recognition of Excellence Award when she started her undergraduate degree studies for achieving straight A’s. When Gabieba began working at the UWC in 2010, her intention was to share her knowledge and experience with undergraduate students, as she is passionate about quality health care and the state of our nursing care. She loves sharing information that will foster a compassionate healthy community and efficient nursing care. Her postgraduate Education and Management training ensured that she has a foundation and essential teaching abilities.

Through her Master’s thesis, which focused on clinical supervision, her passion for quality teaching can be seen. One of the outcomes was ensuring quality nurse training. Her PhD focuses on the ‘Development of best practice guidelines for theoretical assessments in an undergraduate nursing programme’ – more specifically the designing of assessments. These guidelines will have an impact on quality assessment and assist educators in quality assessment design. Hence, Gabieba presented at national and international conferences. The DVC Research & Innovation provided her with funding opportunities.

She is currently on the University Staff Doctoral Programme Fund. This programme is an excellent initiative that supported her as a researcher, resulting in productivity through various coaching and mentoring sessions.

“A researcher who is able to contribute to the

UWC in terms of the national and international knowledge output in the higher education context.

It also improved my research scholarship and helped me to build research confidence by allowing me to obtain feedback from experienced researchers. The programme has provided great relief, enabling me to focus on my research.

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LINDOKUHLE MANDYOLI Associate Lecturer in the Political Studies Department at the University of the Western Cape (UWC).

Lindokuhle Mandyoli has obtained his Bachelor of Arts (Honours) and Master of Arts Degrees in Political Studies at the UWC. Lindokuhle was a student leader at the UWC for a period of 6 years – which is where his interest in understanding the relations of power in society stems from. He served as the Deputy Secretary and Deputy President of the SRC in the years 2012/13 and 2014/15 respectively. He is currently enrolled for a PhD in the same department and university. He is a recipient of the Centre for Humanities Research PhD Fellowship in the National Research Foundation’s Flagship for Critical African Humanities and the UWC DVC Research & Innovation Developing Early Career Researchers award, funded by the Department of Higher Education and Training in South Africa. In his PhD research, he is investigating the ways in which constitutional democratic hegemony inevitably reproduces different in form, but similar in essence, socio-political, socioeconomic, and cultural problems that were produced by colonialism and apartheid.

Drawing a comparison between the 1976 Uprisings and the 2015 #FeesMustFall movement in South Africa, he explores how hegemony manifests itself differently in both these moments, while under a consistent logic in two qualitatively different regimes. With a passion for personal development, Lindokuhle is a lifelong learner who has an insatiable appetite for knowledge in its broad and boundless sense.

He is on the Developing Early Career Researchers Fund. His work is qualitative and dependent on archives and talking to participants across the country.

has funded my research visits and made it “It easy to access the key historical record that is the bedrock of my work. ”

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WOUTER GROVE A Coordinator at The Western Cape CoLab for eInclusion & Social, Institutional Planning and Manager of the Future-Innovation Lab, Office of Deputy-Vice Chancellor: Research & Innovation, University of the Western Cape (UWC). The Future-Innovation Lab is a multi-year software development and digital social innovation skills development programme funded by SAMSUNG and hosted at the UWC. Wouter Grove is currently finalising a PhD study for the joint degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Information Systems at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) and Doctor in Media and Communication Studies at the Vrije Universiteit Brussels (VUB), Belgium. This study focuses on Digital Platforms, Emerging Digital Platform Design, Living Labs, and Digital Social Innovation.

Further research interests include Digital Inclusion, Knowledge Management, Inclusive Innovation, Designed Serendipity, Games in Civic Engagement, Game-based learning, and Leadership Development. Previous roles included managing businesses and projects within information technology; start-ups; financial services; management consulting; legal services; corporate learning and higher education contexts. He lectured in both undergraduate and postgraduate courses across different domains, including Public Leadership, Information Systems, Design, Law, and Management. Former Project Manager at the Applied Constitutional Studies Laboratory, Dullah Omar Institute for Constitutional Law and Human Rights, University of the Western Cape, and Professional Associate, School for Public Leadership, University of Stellenbosch. When not writing his thesis he is an encoded, rock climber, fitness fanatic, and closet musician.

“The Capacity Development programme benefitted me by offering writing retreats

”

for staff to complete their PhD.

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DANELLE HESS BSc Physiotherapy, MSc Physiotherapy, PhD Physiotherapy [UWC]) is a lecturer and researcher in the Department of Physiotherapy.

After five years of clinical work (both public and private), she joined the department and commenced her career in academia. She teaches at the undergraduate level and is involved in postgraduate research supervision in the Physiotherapy department. She completed the South African Regional FAIMER Institute (SAFRI) Fellowship in 2015 and is a member of the Western Cape Chapter of the Southern African Association of Health Educationalists (SAAHE). Her research interests broadly include health professions and physiotherapy education. She has conducted research in the following areas; clinical reasoning, evidence-based practice, and student learning.

Her PhD thesis investigated the development of clinical reasoning in undergraduate physiotherapy students.

Danelle Hess applied for and received the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research and Innovation (DVC R&I) Teaching Relief Grant from the Developing Early-Career Researchers Programme (DECRP). The award amounted to R80 000.

I was a beneficiary of the Teaching Relief Grant “from the Developing Early-Career Researchers Programme. I used the money awarded to me to employ someone to replace me while completing my PhD studies.

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FAHEEMA KIMMIE DHANSAY She was a Community Service Dentist (Retreat and Atlantis, Western Cape) from 2000-2001. Private Practice (Western Cape)-2004-2006. Dental Supervisor (UWC Dental Faculty, Department of Paediatric Dentistry) – 2006-2008. Research Consultant (Prof Sulaiman Gool, UWC School of Business and Finance) - 2009 - 2015. Practise Manager (Dr Khalid Dhansay) – 2015 -2017.

Biostatistician (UWC Dental Faculty) – 2018 – 2021.

Faheema Kimmie Dhansay is a dentist, clinical epidemiologist, and biostatistician. She has a longstanding interest in paediatric dentistry, biostatistics, and epidemiology. She completed a post-graduate diploma in paediatric dentistry and one master’s in clinical epidemiology and one master’s degree in biostatistics. She is currently busy with her PhD assessing maternal and infant risk factors associated with early childhood caries in a population aged 5 years and under. On the weekends, she loves spending time with her family. She is currently a Senior Lecturer/Dentist at the University of the Western Cape. She has published a number of publications in contributions to Science at the UWC.

“I applied for the HDI emerging researcher

grant. The funding helped me pay for the data collection process and attending workshops and writing retreats.

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NTANDOYENKOSI SIBINDI His research includes working on the G20 Compact with Africa Project, the South Africa Institution of International Affairs (2019), and the Food Security Project, and the South African Institute of International Affairs (2020) research.

Dr Sibindi is an emerging scholar in the field of Management and Entrepreneurship. He is currently a senior lecturer at the School of Business and Finance.

He is involved in rural, organisational, and immigration entrepreneurship research. Dr Sibindi is currently supervising postgraduate research projects in the field of Management and Entrepreneurship.

Ntandoyenkosi Sibindi attended conferences and networking sessions.

It has enabled me to get the “ much-needed social capital, crucial in research and academia through the Early Career Development (ECD) funding.

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Some of our early career researchers share their stories and the tools that kept them going. The first tool that they describe is their supervisor.

The role of the supervisor is to GUIDE the student rather than manage the student. Participants were asked to provide one word to describe their supervision experience. On your journey to completing your postgraduate degree, one of the main support systems or people on your journey is your supervisor.

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There may be many lessons learned on this journey of pursuing your PhD. Below are some of the nuggets the early career researchers shared that kept them motivated and focused.

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As a research-led university (UWC); we aim to make sure that our research agenda addresses Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Our early career researchers share with us their research topic/title.

Kaylianne Aploon-Zokufa “My study focuses on opportunities for marginalised black adult women in poor communities showing how structural barriers like race, class, and gender impact their ease of access, participation, and success in higher education.”

Gabieba Donaugh “My PhD research focuses on the Development of best practice guidelines for theoretical assessments in an undergraduate nursing programme at a Tertiary Institution in the Western Cape. More specifically, the designing of assessments. These guidelines will impact quality assessments, quality education, and quality student output, hence aligning with Sustainable Development Goals number four. Education is a fundamental pillar and is pivotal to anyone who wants to achieve success. One of the keys to escaping poverty is education, which can promote socioeconomic development. In actuality, quality education is the answer to many socioeconomic challenges.

This is because as learning, teaching, and assessments are scaffolded over the years through education, it liberates the mind, frees the imagination, and fosters intellectual freedom. In higher education, we develop students in this pathway and ensure that students achieve their graduate attributes. Graduate attributes are the superior characteristics, abilities, and comprehension that students ought to acquire as a result of the education and experiences they receive while at Higher Education Institutions. To critically think, clinically reason, and clinically judge is not only important in health professional education but in many other fields.

Faheema Kimmie Dansay “My research addresses SDG 3 and one cannot have good health without having good oral health. And in particular, my research addresses the 3.8.1 SDG indicator which looks at universal health coverage. Oral health needs to be highlighted more in this indicator.”

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Wouter Grove “The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all UN Member States in 2015, provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, requiring urgent actions now to safeguard our collective future. Although the 17 SDGs do not explicitly mention digitization, it is a cross-cutting enabler that impacts multiple goal areas. Just as largescale environmental change and fast emerging and evolving pandemics have proven to be difficult to comprehend and highly complex to manage, the same can be said about digital transformation and the emergence of digital platforms as sociotechnical phenomena. Digital Platforms form a crucial part of the architectural foundations of the digital world we need to impact with our design choices. We need to impact this world and South Africa, in particular, if we want to unlock the potential value-promise of digital technologies to assist in addressing our growing challenges of inequality and poverty. We also need to address the very real possibility that our design decisions are often only serving to exacerbate inequalities and divides, and that our attempts at empowering others through our design interventions do not always have the intended consequences we may have envisaged.”

Danelle Hess “Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. This third SDG highlights a multitude of aims to achieve. Such as reducing mortality from non-communicable diseases through prevention and treatment, health worker development, and reduction of global health risks, meaning healthcare practitioners being aware of prevention. My research is rooted in the development of health professions education. Health professionals of the future must be prepared to accurately diagnose, manage, and assist in disease prevention for their patients to ensure healthy lives and wellbeing at all ages.”

Laetitia Permall “My PhD aligns strongly with SDG Goal 4, by identifying factors that perpetuate inequality and addressing ways to empower students to overcome the limiting beliefs that hold them back, take agency for their success in higher education and embrace lifelong learning.”

Laetitia Permall Sibindi Ntandoyenkosi alignsisstrongly 4, by identifying thatGrowth perpetuate “My PhD research aligned with with SDG SDGGoal 8: Decent Work and factors Economic and inequality and addressing ways to empower students to overcome the limiting Climate Change SDG 13. - My research title: Transformation of livelihoods to beliefs that hold and them back, take agency for through their success in higher education address poverty creation of employment entrepreneurial activities. and embrace lifelong learning.”

Contribution to policy and practice in the entrepreneurial ecosystem.”

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“People

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kind inspire me.”

Kaylianne Aploon-Zokufa

“Social thinking and awakening, emerging issues that need attention.”

rase If I may paraph f. el ys m r fo n io of inspirat lead yourself “I am a source first be able to ld ou sh e on at , I inspire th the DVC: R&I n inspire others ca I e or ef B . d strong hers women who stan before leading ot ve ti si po by ed inspir any crowns.” myself. I am also r women with m he ot n ow cr d an in their shoes

Gabieba Donough

Ntandoyenkosi Sibindi

“My father was a teacher before he retired, a very good one.

He is a brilliant man, and it was always his dream to further his education, but life got in the way.

I figured I would do it for him and inspire those who dare to dream.”

Al Cerillio Farao

y from m n io t a inspir r me much ples fo w m e r a x d e s.

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biggest . But, my s and s n o s a e r ferent onalitie me for dif nique pers e u ir ir p sible. e s h in t s d rs an ought pos ry e h hip role t t s h r r e g e d u v a a e d le n ales in e three not eve ways I iet, that “Many fem my children. I hav s stretched me in u q e b o t is response, ha st up to be es it is be a well-thought-out inspiration g im in t e w o m r o g s me to are requires me that They urge t it . h ) s ll who they g e e u a w im t t s e a s g else at som em ha Raising th s a reaction, and th oses (and everythin r e e ir u d smell th action req to stop an d n f the box.” a , ce n Danelle Hess patie hink out o t d n a e iv eat be more cr

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Kaylianne Aploon-Zokufa: “My family has been a blessing. My husband, children, parents, and UWC colleagues have formed a very supportive network. Another motivation was the participants, particularly those who participated in the Life History interviews. I did Life History interviews with 11 women who had tried to gain access to university for years, with some gaining access and others not. They were strong women with wells of knowledge, and enriching lives, seldom seen due to their socio-economic status. What has motivated me is if I don’t tell their story, through my research, no one will. That motivated me because of my desire to tell their story from their perspective. I want to show how they’ve struggled to get in and show the strength of these women as they have plodded along on their learning pathway, trying to gain access to higher education.”

Gabieba Donough:

“Balancing family life, academic life, and research life is not easy. My husband and two daughters are my pillars of strength, and comfort, and kept me going. I maintain my mental health through prayers and athletics. “Be so humble on the ground with your forehead touching the floor, while your spirit reaches the heavens”. God sees everything you are doing, so always have a pure heart; He will open doors for you at the right time. Kindness is not a weakness but is the most powerful tool to uplift everyone around you.”

Lindokuhle Mandyoli:

“Several things: 1. I’m driven by my commitment to social justice to ask these kinds of questions and contribute, no matter how marginally, to ways of thinking about the problem that is South Africa. 2. It’s the support and love from my beautiful family. My partner is, herself, a PG student and a full-time employed person, yet she finds time to be my soundboard when I hit writer’s block or have to work through things. She’s been a rock. Finally, it’s my supportive supervisor and my intellectual fellowship at the Centre for Humanities Research. They have kept me plugged in at all times and pushed me even when I feel it is not possible.”

Wouter Grove:

“Lots and lots of coffee…I also discovered an affinity for Belgian beer and if UNESCO deems Belgium’s Beer Culture “A Treasure of Humanity”, who am I to differ?

Danelle Hess:

“The idea is that change is the only constant. We have to evolve as we move forward and time goes on.”

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Faheema Kimmie Dansay: “My motivation to complete my research was knowing that hopefully, my findings can make recommendations to policymakers and stakeholders about the importance of oral disease in children so young. We know that children with rotten teeth under the age of six will ultimately also have rotten teeth when their permanent teeth erupt.

This can lead to teasing at school, crooked teeth (malocclusion) severe pain which can lead to school absenteeism, and malnutrition because of pain when eating.”

Al Cerillio Farao: “My father has always been a strong driving force for me. He made me believe I can achieve anything, and with support from him and my mom, who has been instrumental in my upbringing, as well as my then-girlfriend, my varsity sweetheart who is now my wife, I was able to scale any mountain. None of this would be impossible without faith and a strong belief in God.’” Laetitia Permall: “Knowing that my research can make a significant contribution towards student success at and beyond university.”

Ntandoyenkosi Sibindi: “The need to complete a task for a purpose keeps me going.”

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“I love working at the university and enjoy the university space and libraries. I love being in academia, even despite the difficulty. I’m currently a lecturer at the institute for Post-School studies, which is IPSS in the faculty of education, and I thoroughly enjoy research, lecturing, and community outreach. I’m in a space where I want to be. After my PhD I would like to continue working as an academic, doing research, lecturing, and doing community outreach, continuing to build myself by focusing on research projects and marginalised groups who aim to access higher education and change their livelihoods. So, I feel I belong where I am in the university space, and I would like to continue working as a lecturer and an academic for the next few years.”

Kaylianne Aploon-Zokufa

“Technology Transfer and Innovation is where my passion lies, so a career as a technology transfer professional where I can assist passionate researchers and turn their science into solutions that can change the world.”

Al Cerillio Farao

“I intend to continue with a PhD project to implement these developed guidelines ensuring quality assessment in the programme is upheld even in instances where there are institutional or statutory changes to a programme.”

Gabieba Donough

“I’m appointed on a contract as an associate lecturer. My next steps are to develop my PhD into a manuscript and continue to sharpen myself as a political theorist in the academy.”

Lindokuhle Mandyoli

“A PhD is an apprenticeship of knowledge creation, after the PhD more knowledge will be created.”

Ntandoyenkosi Sibindi

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“I am currently managing the Future-Innovation Lab at UWC, an exciting multi-year collaboration and innovation project funded by Samsung. I am also the Coordinator of the Western Cape CoLab for eInclusion and Social Innovation at the UWC. I will remain focused in my post-doctoral research on the intersection of digital platforms and societal change, as well as inclusive innovation models.”

Wouter Grove “The findings of my PhD study highlighted the importance of selfdevelopment of educators when attempting to develop complex concepts, such as clinical reasoning in students. Therefore, as my research journey continues, I would like to explore faculty development, concentrating on the development of the educator, specifically, the development of more complex skills in the health professions, such as clinical reasoning. Famous quotes by Nelson Mandela, Marian Wright Edelman, and Malcolm X remind us of the importance of nurturing and mentoring the generation so that we can adequately prepare for the future, improve the lives of those around us and ultimately change the world for the better. As academics, we are provided with a platform to create meaningful change.

Holding a PhD, being promoted to senior lecturer, and eventually, being a professor in an academic institution allows me to be part of a community that is largely responsible for creating sustainable change for an improved life for many. This is an opportunity I need to embrace and take seriously (which is scary). Ultimately, I want to contribute to health professions education on a larger scale. This would mean broadening my horizons out of a discipline-specific career, such as a career in Physiotherapy (I am a physiotherapist by trade). Currently, the future is unclear as I do not know where exactly I am going or will end up. But, John Finley said, ‘maturity is the capacity to endure uncertainty, and so I will embrace uncertainty and enjoy the journey in the meantime.”

Danelle Hess

“My PhD journey has been filled with many challenges and has caused me to develop as a person by becoming more patient and more tolerant of other people and to just trust that everything will work out fine in the end. Having said that I do not feel that my journey as a student has ended, I feel that it has just started. I hope and plan to continue my studies once my PhD is completed.”

Faheema Kimmie Dhansay

“Exploring ways to proactively prepare students for their academic and personal success is something I will continue to undertake with publications and empirically informed practices.”

Laetitia Permall

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If you would like us to share your story, you can contact the marketing team: Melanie Snyders (mesnyders@uwc.ac.za) graphic designer/marketing administrator Tamara Goliath (tgoliath@uwc.ac.za) writer Join us on the DVC: Research & Innovation Social Media platform pages for the latest information on upcoming webinars and more. #makingresearchcount #FutureResearchers #eMag

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