Dr Fenella Somerville

Dr Fenella holds a PhD in Development Studies from the University of the Free State and Master of Education (cum laude) at Wits University. She is currently lecturer and researcher in Development Studies at UFS with a forthcoming monograph based on her doctoral research titled “Inequalities, higher education choices and social mobility: A perspective from the Global South”. Her doctoral research focused on the employability of private higher education graduates in South Africa. Her current research involves a project together with Prof Melanie Walker on the Uni-Planet and Reparative Action (Uni-PRA) drawing on Achille Mbembe’s notion of ‘planetary consciousness’ to explore the role of the university in fostering capabilities for eco-social flourishing through reparative pedagogies and lifelong learning. She is actively involved in the activities of the HDCA and currently one of two coordinators of the Education thematic group.

ORCID ID:

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5317-9487

Google scholar link

See the LinkedIn profile

Publications and academic work:

Somerville, F & Ward, S. (forthcoming, Feb 2026). Shifting ontologies and epistemologies: Re-thinking sustainability education that fosters capabilities for relationality across Headscapes, Heartscapes and Landscapes. Editorial. Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, 27(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/19452829.2025.2604464

Somerville, F. (forthcoming). Inequalities, Higher Education choices, and Social Mobility: A Perspective from the Global South. Brill

Somerville, F., & Ward, S. (2025). Education, Sustainability and Social Justice: Lessons for Capability Development and Expansion of Opportunities for Authorship from the Global South. Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, 26(4), 517–535. https://doi.org/10.1080/19452829.2025.2564536

Walker, M., & Somerville, F. (2025). Forming an Eco-social Capability in the South African Higher Education Space. Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, 26(4), 536–559. https://doi.org/10.1080/19452829.2025.2551095

Somerville, F. (2024). Private Higher Education in South Africa: The Confluence of Education, Market and Transformation. In: W. Tamrat, and D. Teferra (Eds) Emerging Dynamics in the Provision of Private Higher Education in Africa, (pp.141-167). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-56882-4_7

Somerville, F. (2021). Exploring diary methods in higher education research: opportunities, choices and challenges: edited by Xuemeng Cao and Emily F. Henderson, Abingdon, Oxon, Routledge & SRHE. International Studies in Sociology of Education, 32(1), 161–163. https://doi.org/10.1080/09620214.2021.2017785

Somerville, F. (2021). Four things that count when a South African graduate looks for work. The Conversation, 28 July 2021. https://theconversation.com/four-things-that-count-when-a-south-african-graduate-looks-for-work-164751

Somerville, F. (2021). Capabilities for media graduate employability: The case of private higher education. [Doctoral thesis, University of the Free State].

Somerville, F. (2019) Capabilities for media graduate employability: A case study of private higher education in South Africa. Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education, 11(4), 189-191. Article 16. https://doi.org/10.32674/jcihe.v11iWinter.1463.  Available at: https://digitalcommons.lib.uconn.edu/jcihe/vol11/iss4/16