Articles · Vol. 7 No. 1-2 (2009): Journal of Higher Education in Africa · Pages 265-288

11 - Creativity Within Limits: Does the South African PhD Facilitate Creativity in Research?

  • Judy Backhouse
    Judy Backhouse Researcher, School of Education University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6269-7910 (unauthenticated)
    Judy Backhouse has experience as both an academic scholar and an information and communications technologies (ICT) practitioner. She is currently a Senior Academic Fellow at UNU-EGOV, after eight years as an Associate professor at the University of the Witwatersrand in...
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Vol. 7 · 2009 No. 1-2 Journal of Higher Education in Africa JHEA

Abstract

One view of the PhD student is that of the independent scholar, with the thesis being an original work that contributes to the body of knowledge. National plans make much of the notion that graduating doctoral students will increase the degree of innovation in the country and make new ideas available for economic benefit. At the same time, the process of completing a PhD takes place within frameworks of institutional and disciplinary tradition; student and supervisor expectations, practi- cal resource limitations and, increasingly, national and international quality stan- dards – all of which place boundaries on what can be studied and how it can be studied.

Based on interviews with doctoral students at South African universities, this paper explores the extent to which they experience themselves as independent scholars and the role of creativity in their PhD studies. It explores the boundaries that limit creativity in doctoral programmes and whether PhD candidates experience these boundaries as restrictive or not. It asks whether innovation can realistically be expected to result from doctoral programmes.

Keywords

Creativity South African Research

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Author Biography

  • Judy Backhouse, Researcher, School of Education University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa.

    Judy Backhouse has experience as both an academic scholar and an information and communications technologies (ICT) practitioner. She is currently a Senior Academic Fellow at UNU-EGOV, after eight years as an Associate professor at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. Her recent research has been into the role of information systems in implementing smart city agendas in the African context. She has researched ICT for development as well as aspects of e-Government. Dr Backhouse has worked in the private and public sectors. In the private sector she worked in technical and management roles over a twelve-year career which began with designing and programming systems and ended with the strategic management of ICT within organisations. She spent two years at the South African Council on Higher Education where she was responsible for monitoring the Higher Education Sector in South Africa and advising the Minister of Higher Education. She also has experience as an entrepreneur, having launched (and closed) a co-working business in Johannesburg.

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