Transformation &

Academic Excellence

An interview with Mamokgethi Phakeng

(Maandblad Zuid-Afrika, september 2015)

Even though it is still early morning, Mamokgethi Phakeng looks as ravishing as ever. In her dazzling red dress she lights up the lobby of the Maslow Hotel in Sandton. She has just returned from a trip to India and another busy day lies ahead. Nevertheless, she created time for this interview and knows exactly what message she wants to put across. Phakeng is a strong advocate of academic transformation, and has developed a model to monitor its progress within the context of academic excellence.

From the outset Mamokgethi Phakeng makes it clear that our interview should be about more than the position of women, or black women, in South African Academia alone. ‘Issues of gender transformation must become part of the broader debate on transformation in higher education’, UNISA’s Vice-Principal of Research and Innovation says emphatically. ‘We need transformation because of our political past – a past that wasn’t only about racial segregation, but about gender segregation as well. Black women were discriminated in multiple ways. Admittedly, white women were also discriminated, but they still had access to the same education as white men. We as black women, we didn’t. While I started school under a tree in a rural village, my white friends, presently professors like me, attended posh schools in Johannesburg. Now, I have to compete with them, and of course I do. The fact that I can, says something about me, and other black women in similar positions. But that is not recognized. However, I don’t want to talk only about women’s issues. We must get to a stage where men who talk about transformation foreground women’s issues. And black women’s issues.’

Supporting black women

South Africa still has few black women professors. Phakeng is working hard to change this. ‘Firstly,’ she says, ‘it is important to advocate the prospects of an academic career amongst undergraduates. In most prospectuses, pursuing a university career is not even mentioned as an option. So students all want to become engineers or investment bankers. None of them considers becoming a professor.’

Phakeng is keenly aware of her potential as a role model. Through Facebook and Twitter she keeps her students updated on what the life of an academic is like, on good days and bad ones. ‘I want it to look doable’, she explains. ‘Students tend to think you’re some kind of special human being, but I’m not. Of course I sometimes feel sad, tired, or lousy. But I love what I’m doing. I write about what excites me in my research, and my travels. Like: “I landed at 3 a.m., and I have a meeting at 9. So I haven’t slept. But come 9 o’clock, I must be alive and sharp”. My page is called “FabAcademic”, so they can see I have a fabulous life, but “fab” doesn’t mean: no hard work. That’s what makes it authentic.’

According to Phakeng, women should not be forced to compete with men before they are established researchers because their circumstances are different. She also thinks that support programs for women are often not carefully thought through. They do not distinguish between white women and black women, even though the resources available to either of them are often quite different.  At UNISA, Phakeng has introduced several support programs prioritizing black women. One such program enables women to work on their doctorates full time for three years. A second program enables women to work on a high impact publication for nine months with a self-chosen mentor anywhere in the world.  The effect of such policies is clear. ‘In 2008, UNISA had five black women professors. Now we have seventeen. Not good perhaps, but it does spell progress. And we do better than most universities.’

A third support program, for men and women, identifies black people who obtained their PhDs some time ago, but who did not succeed in building an academic career. ‘The last research they did was for their doctorates ten years ago’, Phakeng says. ‘These are the people who don’t get grants because they have no experience and must compete with people who have been active researchers for many years and have built their careers. We give them grants to start up their careers, and if need be, we give them mentors too.’ Phakeng has also set her sights on another group of ‘drop-outs’: ‘After we got democracy, there was a great need for reform. People who had just obtained their doctorates were given government and managerial positions, which prevented them from working on their research profiles. Now, ten to fifteen years later, they want to return to Academia, but they have nothing except their doctorates. Fifteen years ago they served a purpose – now they’re told their CVs aren’t good enough. We want to support these people too.’

Grab the opportunity!

Phakeng knows what it means to be given an opportunity. ‘I’m a beneficiary of employment equity’, she says frankly. ‘In 2002, I was the first black woman to get a doctorate in Mathematics Education. So obtaining a grant wasn’t too difficult for me. Someone did me a favour. The important thing is, I grabbed that opportunity and made the most of it!’

Phakeng is especially grateful to Professor Jill Adler, currently FirstRand Foundation Chair in Mathematics Education at the School of Education, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. Adler encouraged Phakeng to publish in international journals when she was still a student, provided her with introductions, and advised her whom to speak to at conferences – thus preparing her for a stellar career in Academia.

Phakeng admits that anger about the past is part of her motivation. ‘Apartheid was harsh, so of course there’s anger. One way of dealing with it is sitting back and expecting government to do things for you. That’s not going to happen. The other way is: “I’m gonna go for it, and show you that all those negative things you said about me all those years, are not true. I‘m gonna beat you at what you think is your game”. That’s my type of anger, and I think it’s a better anger.’

Forms of transformation

Phakeng has developed her own model to measure academic excellence. In this model, transformation is an important criterion. The other criteria are productivity, sustainability, and influence. Although the model still lacks a definitive formula to quantify these criteria, Phakeng is already implementing it to assess performance and inform strategy.

According to Phakeng, the present system does not offer universities incentives to take transformation seriously. In accordance with academic practice worldwide, only productivity, i.e. the number of graduates, the number of publications, is financially rewarded by the government. All universities are required to have a Transformation and Employment Equity Plan. ‘In my view, this is mere compliance’, Phakeng says. ‘A box all universities tick. But there are no consequences for lack of transformation.’

Phakeng agrees that productivity is important. But, in her opinion, the next criterion to measure academic excellence should be transformation. ‘Transformation means that we analyse productivity. How many black graduates are we producing? How many black women? And how many black women are contributing to this productivity? What questions are addressed? And what do these questions transform?’

Phakeng agrees that a transformational approach may be informed by African philosophy. ‘Transformation can take place at different levels. Take Maths, for instance. You can ask questions about its origins. Why is it attributed to the Greeks rather than the Africans? But in terms of mathematics learning, you can also ask how learning happens in African communities. How is knowledge produced and transferred in indigenous communities? Can these ways of knowledge production and transfer be used in scientific endeavour today? What methodologies are you using to collect your data? What processes are you using to work with people? Engaged scholarship, in the way African communities use to pursue knowledge and knowledge production, not only a means of getting something from them, but also a means of working with and on them. Transformation can also be in the questions you ask. Some questions can be relevant to particular communities, especially poor communities. Your findings may be transforming in how we do things on the ground or in the way they inform policy.’

Research should be influential

Phakeng is aware of the political and societal pressures in present-day South Africa. Because of the many challenges facing the country, people demand results that are immediately applicable. ‘It’s understandable’, she agrees, ‘but the utility of scientific research isn’t always immediate. But, even though their immediate use may not seem apparent, research findings can be taken a step further by other scientists and developed into new technologies. Some concepts are important because they develop our way of thinking, even if they’re not going to feed us. Commercial research institutions are on the rise, and businesses and the government are already taking their research there. My question is: “What gives us universities the edge in terms of our research? We’ve got to stand out, and scholarship is what makes us stand out. Applicability is important. But we can’t restrict our research only to what is immediately applicable. If universities world-wide were to do that, the growth of knowledge would grind to a halt.’

Which brings Phakeng back to her model of academic excellence. The third criterion is ‘sustainability’. ‘Can we produce the same levels of productivity and transformation in the foreseeable future, or might we even take them to higher levels?’ she asks. ‘Is our way of conducting research sustainable for our planet? And will the graduates we’re producing still be productive academics fifteen years from now?’

The final criterion is ‘influence’. Phakeng: ‘Influence is about what researchers do. If the result of their productivity is published, who, if anyone, is reading it, and how is it utilized? To my way of thinking, if you do research and it has no influence, it has no point. It may influence the discipline, policy, practice, behaviour, or whatever, but it has to exert  its influence on something.’

Phakeng has held talks about the model she uses, but to date it has not been published. The sheer impossibility of quantifying all the interrelated variables illustrates the complexity of the whole transformation process. She hopes the South African Department of Higher Education succeeds in developing a formula based on her model. ‘Then you’ll see that some universities benefit from transformation, others from influence, or sustainability’, she predicts. ‘Once we have a formula that includes everything, it will make them think.’