Dysfunctional schooling systems, poor career prospects, dismal salaries and a lack of transformation are driving desperately needed black professionals away from academia.
So bad is the situation the Higher Education and Training Department is sounding alarm bells over the loss South Africa may suffer if the disparities continue to persist.
Statistics from the Council for Higher Education paint a gloomy picture, with the latest figures showing only 18% of the country’s 4073 senior and associate university professors are black.
This figure drops to 13% if associate professors are excluded.
Professor Jonathan Jansen, University of the Free State vice-chancellor, cited a dysfunctional schooling system, which ends with few black students obtaining their doctorates, academia being an unattractive profession, and a lack of transformation as being a reason for the lack of black South African professors in universities.
He said academia was an unattractive profession, especially for first-generation university students who were determined to support their families, who could do so by entering a government post and earn triple the amount with half the effort.
The journey from junior lecturer to senior professor often took a decade on average, Jansen said.
He said few universities supported effective transformation strategies with funding and political will.
Adam Habib, Wits University vice-chancellor, agreed and said the recruitment process required proactive steps to access black academic networks.
University of Cape Town sociology professor, Xolela Mangcu, said it was difficult for black professionals like himself to break into historically white networks, especially as it related to the publication of journals and articles.
This, he said, resulted in the greater representation of white professors – many of whom went to school together – and a weaker network for aspiring black academics.
Habib and Jansen say balance is essential.
Jansen said: “There must never be a compromise between equity and excellence. If we lose that battle it’s over. We will have mediocre universities.”
Habib disagreed with a suggestion in stakeholder meetings that there should be a moratorium on white professors.
Khayee Nkwanyana, Higher Education and Training Department spokesperson, said: “It’s harder for black South Africans to become professors after a couple of publications of research.”
Earlier this year the Department of Higher Education and Training launched the Staffing South Africa’s Universities’ Framework.
One of its core programmes is the New Generation of Academics Programme which will recruit annually up to 400 senior post-graduate students and post-graduates – 80% of them women – for permanent positions in higher education systems.
Shortage of senior black academics
So bad is the situation the Higher Education and Training Department is sounding alarm bells over the loss South Africa may suffer if the disparities continue to persist.
Statistics from the Council for Higher Education paint a gloomy picture, with the latest figures showing only 18% of the country’s 4073 senior and associate university professors are black.
This figure drops to 13% if associate professors are excluded.
Professor Jonathan Jansen, University of the Free State vice-chancellor, cited a dysfunctional schooling system, which ends with few black students obtaining their doctorates, academia being an unattractive profession, and a lack of transformation as being a reason for the lack of black South African professors in universities.
He said academia was an unattractive profession, especially for first-generation university students who were determined to support their families, who could do so by entering a government post and earn triple the amount with half the effort.
The journey from junior lecturer to senior professor often took a decade on average, Jansen said.
He said few universities supported effective transformation strategies with funding and political will.
Adam Habib, Wits University vice-chancellor, agreed and said the recruitment process required proactive steps to access black academic networks.
University of Cape Town sociology professor, Xolela Mangcu, said it was difficult for black professionals like himself to break into historically white networks, especially as it related to the publication of journals and articles.
This, he said, resulted in the greater representation of white professors – many of whom went to school together – and a weaker network for aspiring black academics.
Habib and Jansen say balance is essential.
Jansen said: “There must never be a compromise between equity and excellence. If we lose that battle it’s over. We will have mediocre universities.”
Habib disagreed with a suggestion in stakeholder meetings that there should be a moratorium on white professors.
Khayee Nkwanyana, Higher Education and Training Department spokesperson, said: “It’s harder for black South Africans to become professors after a couple of publications of research.”
Earlier this year the Department of Higher Education and Training launched the Staffing South Africa’s Universities’ Framework.
One of its core programmes is the New Generation of Academics Programme which will recruit annually up to 400 senior post-graduate students and post-graduates – 80% of them women – for permanent positions in higher education systems.
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