Defining the Doctorate in Africa

Aligning Purpose with Context

Authors

  • Sioux McKenna Rhodes University
  • Patrick Onyango Maseno University,

Abstract

A rapid rise in doctoral education across the African continent has occurred without sufficient engagement as to the purposes of a doctorate. The assumption that the doctorate drives the knowledge economy is evident in national policies, implicitly or explicitly, but there is neither interrogation of this supposedly causal relationship, nor deliberation as to how the doctorate might be positioned as a common good in postindependence countries.

Author Biographies

Sioux McKenna, Rhodes University

Sioux McKenna is professor of higher education research at Rhodes University, South Africa. E-mail: s.mckenna@ru.ac.za.

Patrick Onyango, Maseno University,

Patrick Onyango is senior lecturer of biology and dean at the School of Graduate Studies, Maseno University, Kenya. E-mail: patrick.onyango@maseno.ac.ke.

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Published

2025-08-05

How to Cite

McKenna, S., & Onyango, P. (2025). Defining the Doctorate in Africa: Aligning Purpose with Context. International Higher Education, (123), 59–60. Retrieved from https://ejournals.bc.edu/index.php/ihe/article/view/20271

Issue

No. 123 (2025): Summer Issue

Section

Articles

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