PROF JM FRANTZ GRADUATING WITH THE BLUE GOWN

Why should you strive to graduate with the Blue Gown at UWC?

Perhaps you have dreamt to be an academic, a love of wisdom or you have a research focus area that you want to contribute to through research? If you are able to answer yes to one or more of these questions then perhaps doing a PhD might be the right choice for you. The PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) is an academic or professional degree that allows you to be called Doctor on completion. A PhD is not a magic potion and does not change you as a person overnight but when you have this title, it does tend to earn you the respect of your peers. One of the most obvious reasons to do a PhD is the desire to make an original contribution to your subject. This is a defining quality of a PhD that sets it apart from other university qualifications – the goal of the PhD is to create something new and significant that will stand alongside the work of previous scholars in your field.

It helps you to contribute to the goal of the country to increase the number of PhD graduates in SA. The South African government has identified that producing people with a PhD degree is an important goal for the country and higher education institutions should take responsibility for the knowledge production through PhDs. Universities have been given the mandate through our National Development Plan to increase the number of graduate outputs to 100 per million people.

In 2020 during our 60th celebration we were able to graduate 63 PhD students at our December graduation. This was an amazing achievement during a time when all higher education institutions were struggling to manage the COVID pandemic. In addition, you are also able to make a new contribution to your field through the research conducted for your PhD. Congratulations to our staff and students who contributed to building the academic pipeline by completing and graduating with your PhD. However, the journey may not always have been easy and we have a few graduates whether staff or students share their stories with us.