Factors influencing research collaborations in Kenyan universities

This paper presents the results of an exploration of factors influencing the organisation and conduct of academic research collaborations in Kenya. A mixed methods research design, involving 248 academics in four disciplines across four major public Kenyan universities, was employed. The study reveals a relatively high level of collaborative research which varies by disciplinary areas. Resource dependence emerged as having a strong influence on decisions to collaborate for this community. This was mainly attributed to low levels of investment in funding research, at both the institutional and national level. At the institutional level, inadequate policies, high levels of bureaucracy, competition among local institutions, weak links with industry, and a major focus on teaching as opposed to research, were reported as barriers to collaborative research. These contextual issues informed the resulting discussion of factors that affect collaborative research in Kenya.     

The Challenges of Designing and Implementing a Doctoral Student Mentoring Program

The relationship between doctoral students and faculty members has been identified as a key component of a successful graduate school experience. In this article, we consider the challenges inherent in designing and implementing a formal doctoral student mentoring program. By bringing together students, peer mentors, and faculty mentors, the program sought to introduce a team-based platform to facilitate student success. We specifically consider how program components might be scaled up across the institution, providing both a personal and supportive relationship for participants as well as an information resource for the broader student population.     

“Under pressure I fall back to being a teacher…” confronting contending desires for schooling and teaching in a middle school reform project

This article examines a Victorian high school’s implementation of a new Year 9 program which was intended to interrupt a traditional academic curriculum and to create an imagined oasis of care and personal development for students. It explores ways in which (1) the existing culture and context of the school continues to frame the subjectivities of teachers, students and parents in relation to the new program, (2) the attempt to preserve a competitive academic traditional orientation alongside an alternative approach is a central dilemma for this school, and (3) the new relationships between teachers and students are experienced by them as an interplay of pleasure and surveillance, connection and discipline. The article argues that the conflicts and pressures experienced by the teachers and students are not simply local and contingent ones but indicative of wider tensions in current Australian education policy.