Academic Support
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Item My African husband did not conform to gender roles while supporting me through doctoral studies(2023-11-21) Ts'ephe, LifutsoBoth men and women with doctorates are known to have significantly contributed to the advancement of continental and national growth through knowledge and skills acquired while conducting research in the pursuit of a doctorate. However, the percentage of women on the African continent with PhDs is still low across all nationalities. Students enrolled for PhD programmes have been known to exit at some stage for a variety of reasons, including financial hardships, obligations to one's family, and demotivation engendered by prolonged research. Some women seek divorces because they believe that their husbands hindered their paths to accomplishing their goals. This article presented a research narrative on an African woman PhD graduate who attended a university in South Africa. Mandisa talks about how her husband assumed gender roles perceived to be that of a woman to help her successfully complete her doctoral studies. This qualitative research was underpinned by the interpretivist paradigm. Through the lens of the capabilities approach, this article demonstrated how spousal support is essential for a wife to achieve success in PhD studies. The results revealed that Mandisa's husband inspired her to succeed in her doctoral studies by relieving her of taking care of the household chores. The article envisions promoting doctoral education scholarship through highlighting the value of familial support, especially for African women.Item African female doctoral graduates account for success in their doctoral journeys(AOSIS, 2022) Tsephe, Lifutso; Potgieter, CherylDoctoral education is regarded as a crucial engine for development by the knowledge economies, thereby making the research capacity of scholars play a critical factor towards development. Widening participation within doctoral education is seen as a way of enhancing this capacity. However, African scholars produce only 1.4% of all published research, indicating that Africa lacks research capacity. Even though both men and women contribute to the development of their continent and their countries, the number of women holding doctoral degrees on the African continent remains low across all nationalities. In high-income countries, there are 3963 PhDs per million people, whereas in some African countries (such as Tunisia, Egypt and Kenya), the number ranges from 100 to over 1500; however, in most lowincome countries (such as Ethiopia, Uganda and Tanzania), the number is less than 100. Much research in doctoral education examines the reasons for low graduation rates and high attrition rates, but little research examines the contributors to the doctoral study for African women, especially in these times when doctoral education is viewed as a driver of the economy. Based on a qualitative study that interviewed 14 women from African countries, this article aimed to investigate how women account for completing doctoral studies. Data were gathered through semistructured interviews and analysed thematically using a capabilities approach as a theoretical framework. The findings suggest that institutional support, peer support and academic support played a role in their achievement. Contribution: The article contributed to doctoral education scholarship of African women and indicated that religion contributed to African women’s success in doctoral programmes, granting them strength to push until completion. This research may greatly encourage more women to enrol in doctoral programmes when reading other women’s success stories