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09 April 2019 | Story Valentino Ndaba | Photo Valentino Ndaba
William Kandowe, principal of the Albert Street School in Johannesburg, Dr Faith Mkwananzi, the author, and DR Chris High
From right: William Kandowe, principal of the Albert Street School in Johannesburg, Dr Faith Mkwananzi, the author, and DR Chris High, Senior Lecturer at Linnaeus University in Sweden, at the book launch.
Dr Faith Mkwananzi’s road from secondary school to university has been paved with challenges. After repeating her matric five times in Zimbabwe, she became an international university student in South Africa in 2006. Some years later, on 3 April 2019, the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Bloemfontein Campus witnessed the launch of her excellent book titled: Higher Education, Youth and Migration in Contexts of Disadvantages: Understanding Aspirations and Capabilities, which was informed by these and many circumstances.

Aspirations formation

The book speaks to her own life. “Born and raised in Zimbabwe in KwaBulawayo, I had my own aspirations. I knew I did not want be a nurse   my mother’s earnest interest and desire for me,” said Dr Mkwananzi as she related the fluid dreams her seven-year-old self had that culminated into aspirations to enter academia.

Aspirations enabled Dr Mkwananzi’s capabilities to pursue a PhD in Development Studies at UFS, and then write her book. “Higher education aspirations are worth pursuing,” said the current postdoctoral researcher at the university’s South African Research Chair Initiative (SARChI) in Higher Education and Human Development Research Programme, as she reflected on her academic journey.

Voices of marginalised migrants
 
Dr Mkwananzi has focused her book on the lives, experiences and the formation of higher education aspirations among marginalised migrant youth in Johannesburg. She gives these young people a voice to narrate their own story, making this research an essential work for understanding the conditions necessary for youth to live valuable lives in both local and international contexts. 

News Archive

A call for next generation of professors: Apply for the Vice-Chancellor’s Prestige Scholars’ Programme
2014-12-19

 

Examples of the rector's prestige scholars' international footprint: Dr Olihile Sebolai, Fulbright scholar (left) returned to the UFS after six months at the University of Birmingham and three at the University of Missouri. Dr Cilliers van den Berg (right) visited Cornell University on a ten-month sabbatical.

The Vice-Chancellor’s Prestige Scholars’ Programme (PSP) seeks to identify, develop and promote the next cohort of the most promising and talented UFS academic members of staff who obtained a doctoral degree within the last five years or will graduate by June 2015.

Scholars identified benefit from an intensive programme of academic and professional support that includes an advanced residential programme, exposure to leading scholars, concentrated reading and writing programmes, high-level seminar participation and presentation, nuanced publication schedules and personal mentoring and advice, including participation in the annual PSP mock NRF rating and the development of a postdoctoral intellectual project for funding submission (Thuthuka, and similar).

Past prestige scholars have become Fulbright scholars, received funding from among others the Association of Commonwealth Universities, the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Erasmus Mundus, NRF Blue Skies, Thuthuka, etc. They have spent time at universities in Canada, the USA, United Kingdom, Europe and Japan.

This year the selection process will be anticipated by pre-selection. Final selection to the programme will take place in September 2015. The selection is highly competitive, and aimed at those young scholars with the potential to obtain upper-level NRF ratings (Y1 and P).

Criteria for selection:

Recently obtained a PhD degree. 
Evidence of an active publication record. 
Early recognition of scholarly work, e.g. successful funding/grant applications and academic awards. 
The early development of a post-doctoral intellectual project that shows evidence of scholarly “potential” (defined by the NRF Y-category). 
Indication of the young scholar’s understanding of what their envisaged postdoctoral endeavours will contribute to the body of disciplinary knowledge. 
Full participation in the pre-selection residential programme and activities is a requirement for selection.

Call for interest: 2015 (PDF)

Requests for further information can be directed to Prof Jackie du Toit at dutoitjs@ufs.ac.za.

Applications close on 16 February 2015.

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