Presentation Schedule
Academic Staff Perspectives on Human Capital Development in Selected South African Higher Education Institutions (81561)
Session Chair: Christiana Kappo-Abidemi
This presentation will be live-streamed via Zoom (Online Access)
Monday, 15 July 2024 14:20
Session: Session 4
Room: Room C (Live-Stream)
Presentation Type:Live-Stream Presentation
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Doctoral education in South Africa has proven inadequate in preparing potential academic staff for the rigor of teaching education and training. Nevertheless, most PhD holders in South African HEIs are expected to shoulder administrative and academic responsibilities, which they are not primarily trained to do in their doctoral training. This study explores the extent to which years of working experience influence the academic staff's perceptions of human capital development (HCD) in HEIs. It adopts a concurrent triangulation and integrative mixed-method approach for data collection using quantitative and qualitative methods. A self-developed Likert scale instrument was used with 245 respondents, while individual face-to-face interviews were conducted with 20 senior academic staff from the seven selected universities. Multivariate multiple regression analysis was used to examine the variations in response to HCD factors according to participants' years of working experience. Some of the factors of HCD show a significant difference in response to years of working experience. The result was confirmed through the qualitative interviews conducted and analyzed by content analysis. The qualitative interviews show that academic staff hired before acquiring doctorates are better trained in teaching and learning, engagement, and administrative responsibilities than those employed with doctorate qualifications. However, the study recommends that having doctorate qualifications does not guarantee a maximum output in other areas of academic responsibilities. Hence, continuous and relevant training to upskill academic staff, regardless of their positions, should be encouraged by HEIs.
Authors:
Christiana Kappo-Abidemi, University of Mpumalanga, South Africa
About the Presenter(s)
Dr Christiana Kappo-Abidemi is currently a senior lecturer in Human Resource Management at the School of Development Studies, University of Mpumalanga, South Africa
See this presentation on the full schedule – Monday Schedule
