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UFS implements interventions to increase diversity of researchers

03 January 2022 | Story André Damons | Photo Supplied

Seven supported academics from the Afromontane Research Unit (ARU) on the Qwaqwa Campus saw an increase in their H-indices (Google Scholar) during 2020.

Over the past few years, the university has implemented special interventions to increase the diversity of UFS researchers, including targeted appointments and focused research capacity development and support. Strategic interventions relating to National Research Foundation (NRF) rating resulted in the UFS having a well-established cohort of rated researchers.

According to the recent internal research report, the UFS has 144 researchers in the A, B and C categories (established according to NRF criteria), and 57 researchers under the age of 40 who are considered emerging researchers in the P and Y categories. This brings the total to 201 rated researchers in 2021, compared to 188 in 2020, and 164 in 2019. The university also has 57 Y-rated researchers.

Furthermore, the university submitted 51 applications to the NRF under the 2020 rating call, including 21 first-time applications (of which four were unsuccessful) and 26 who were invited to reapply to keep their ratings active (of which all were successful).

Prof Corli Witthuhn, Vice-Rector: Research and Internationalisation, says the UFS has been able to appoint outstanding young researchers over the past eight years. “Not only did these exceptional individuals contribute to our scholarship and research productivity, but they also increased our diversity. The increase in the diversity of our NRF-rated academics is an aspect of the research portfolio that I am most proud of,” says Prof Witthuhn.

Highlighted trends regarding NRF-rated researchers

• There has been a constant growth in the number of rated researchers, from 127 in 2016 to 202 in 2021.
• The majority of NRF-rated researchers (186 in 2021) are from the Bloemfontein Campus. The number of rated researchers from the Qwaqwa Campus increased from 4 in 2016 to 13 in 2021. The South Campus increased its number of rated researchers by two in 2021, with a current total of three rated researchers.
• The Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences has the highest percentage of rated researchers (45%) in 2021, followed by the Faculty of the Humanities (29%).
• The percentage of rated white researchers declined from 92% in 2016 to 78% in 2021, and the rated black researchers increased from 6% in 2016 to 17% in 2021.
• The percentage of rated female researchers increased from 27% in 2016 to 34% in 2021.
• Rated researchers in the C2 and C3 rating categories declined slightly, from 52% in 2019 to 47% in 2021. There is still positive growth in the number of young (Y1/Y2) rated researchers – from 14% in 2016 to 27% in 2021.

Ratings and promotions

The university hosts a total of six South African Research Chairs (SARChI) funded by the NRF / Department of Science and Innovation (DSI), of which four are held by women. Three chairs are appointed in the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences and the Faculty of Education, while the faculties of Economic and Management Sciences and Health Sciences appointed one chair each. Two research chairs have been renewed for 2021-2025.

Seven supported academics from the Afromontane Research Unit (ARU) on the Qwaqwa Campus saw an increase in their H-indices (Google Scholar) during 2020, while one new Y1 NRF rating was awarded and another was increased to C2 level. Two ARU-supported academics achieved professorial status in the same year.

Twenty-five young academics on the cusp of NRF rating and promotion to the rank of Associate Professor are participating in the Future Professoriate Mentoring Programme, while the 25 participants of the ESAP group have completed their doctorates over the past three years and are working towards obtaining a Y-rating. As a result of the outstanding progress of the first cohort of the mentoring programme during 2020, a second cohort of ESAP scholars was selected in March 2021. More than 80% of the 75 group members are younger than 40 years.

Drs Frans Kruger and Lodewyk Sutton also received NRF Y-ratings in November 2020. The ESAP programme currently has three recipients of the FirstRand NRF Black African Advancement Fellowship Programme: Dr Eugene Baron (Practical Theology), Dr Mirriam Moleko (School of Mathematics and Science Education), and Dr Neo Pule (Psychology). Dr Lizemari Hugo from the School of Nursing also received a FAIMER (Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research) fellowship. Dr Mikateko Höppener (Centre for Development Support) has been selected to participate in the national DHET Future Professoriate Programme.

Publication output units show significant increase

The publication output units (books, conference proceedings, and journal articles) by UFS researchers, as measured and reported to the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), show consistent growth from 2016 to 2020. The output units increased significantly in 2019 and 2020 after a slight decrease in 2017.

There has also been a notable increase in books/chapters since 2018. Journal articles also showed constant growth from 2017 onwards, especially from 2019 to 2020, with a 20% growth in journal outputs visible; however, conference proceedings declined last year.

Main contributors

The faculties of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, the Humanities, and Theology and Religion remain the main contributors to the university’s publication output. Four faculties (Economic and Management Sciences, Education, Health Sciences, and Theology and Religion) increased their share of units in 2020 compared to the 2016-2019 period.

The journal output units generated from scholarly articles published in internationally indexed journals remained more than 80% (82% in 2017, 85% in 2018, 81% in 2019, and 85% in 2020). Only 15% of journal articles were published in South African indexed (DHET) journals (compared to 24% in 2016). Since 2016, there has been a clear shift towards publications in internationally indexed journals.

The following nine in-house journals are being administered by the UFS:

Acta Academica (editor: Henning Melber), Acta Structilia (editor: K Kajimo-Shakantu), Acta Theologica (editor: Jan-Albert van den Berg), Communitas (editor: Willemien Marais), Journal for Juridical Science (editor: Bradley Smith), Journal for Translation Studies in Africa (editor: Kobus Marais), Perspectives in Education (editor: Jan Nieuwenhuis), Southern Journal for Contemporary History (editor: Neil Roos), and Town and Regional Planning (editor: Maléne Campbell).

All are DHET-accredited, except for the Journal for Translation Studies in Africa, a new KovsieJournals title.

News Archive

Number of PhD graduates a record for School of Accountancy

2017-06-27

Description: School of Accountancy PhDs Tags: School of Accountancy PhDs

From left to right: Dr Stiaan Lamprecht,
Dr Cornelie Crous, Prof Hentie van Wyk
(Programme Director: School of Accountancy),
Prof Francis Pietersen (Rector and Vice-Chancellor),
Prof Dave Lubbe (Research Fellow: School of Accountancy),
Dr Léandi Steenkamp and Dr Louis Smidt.
Photo: Charl Devenish

This year’s mid-year graduation ceremony for master’s and doctoral degrees saw the School of Accountancy honouring four alumni with PhDs in Accounting on 26 June 2017 at the Callie Human – a record for the School of Accountancy.

Professor Hentie van Wyk, Programme Director of the School of Accountancy and promoter of one of the doctoral degrees, says, “Over the past three to four decades before 2017, no more than five doctoral degrees were awarded by the School of Accountancy.”

Dr Cornelie Crous, Dr Léandi Steenkamp, and Dr Louis Smidt received their doctoral degrees with specialisation in Auditing, and Dr Stiaan Lamprecht with specialisation in Accounting.

PhD candidates’ thesis and personal profiles
Dr Crous, who was born in Bloemfontein on 30 June 1979, is currently working in the School of Accountancy as a Senior Lecturer in Auditing. Her thesis, which is titled ‘Corporate Governance in South African Higher Education Institutions’, influences the application of corporate governance principles in higher-education institutions. It provides a thorough breakdown of the application and disclosure of the application of corporate governance principles in terms of both South African and international best practices in publicly-funded universities in the country.

Dr Lamprecht’s thesis, ‘A Financial Reporting Framework for South African Listed Companies under Business Rescue’, contributes innovative knowledge and insights to the existing body of knowledge on financial reporting. According to his study, with reference to a listed company under business rescue, there is a need for an underlying financial reporting assumption that varies from the recognised going concern and liquidation assumptions. Users of the financial statements of such a company also require an accounting measurement model based on current values, as opposed to the mixed-measurements accounting model employed at present.

Dr Smidt completed both his master’s and PhD degrees at the UFS. This father of two sons is currently a lecturer at the Tshwane University of Technology. His thesis, ‘A Maturity Level Assessment on the use of Generalised Audit Software by Internal Audit Functions in the South African Banking Industry’, has already started to contribute to the internal audit profession in South Africa and globally. Due to its existing extension to internal audit functions in various industries in Canada, Columbia, Portugal, and Australia, the value has been enhanced, as it now provides an internationally correlated set of results.

Dr Steenkamp, who completed her Magister in Auditing with a distinction at the UFS in 2013, is a qualified Chartered Accountant (CA (SA)), Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), Professional Accountant (SA), and member of all the professional bodies. Her thesis, ‘The Sectional Title Industry in South Africa: Enhancing Accounting and Auditing Practices’, makes a significant impact on the sectional title industry and the accounting profession in South Africa. The literature review gave an in-depth overview of risks associated with sectional title for various stakeholders (i.e. owners, trustees, managing agents, auditors and accountants, and EAAB-appointed inspectors).

“Indeed a special day for the School of Accountancy!” says an ecstatic Prof Van Wyk. Professor Dave Lubbe, Research Fellow in the School of Accountancy, was the promoter for three of the four doctoral degrees.

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