Improving the equity profile of the professoriate, increasing the intellectual diversity of staff, and aspiring for gender parity in all its leadership positions form an integral part of what the University of the Free State (UFS) stands for. This is also in support of
Vision 130, the UFS’ bold, comprehensive strategy to renew and reimagine itself for 2034, when it will celebrate its 130th anniversary.
Diversity and inclusivity are hallmarks of our culture and our commitment to social justice. As such, we believe there should be no limit to the career aspirations of women in academia – a belief we underscore by providing them with ample opportunities, skills development, and support to realise their ambitions, while simultaneously ensuring that they have maximum societal impact within their areas of expertise.
Passionate, talented, and innovative women have been instrumental in contributing towards excellence in teaching and learning, engaged scholarship, and research endeavours at the UFS. A prime example of this is the fact that the majority of our
SARChI Research Chairs are currently being held by female researchers.
To address areas of underrepresentation of women in senior academic and leadership positions within the university, a Working Group on Gender Parity in Academic Leadership was established, with the critical mandate of driving attitudinal shifts, advocating for changes where necessary, and highlighting barriers to women's advancement. Supplementing this, we have specific and dedicated development and mentorship programmes aimed at advancing the careers of women academics.
Transformation of the Professoriate Mentoring Programme
The university’s commitment to academic excellence, impact, and transformation has transpired in a set of deliberate, comprehensive mentorship interventions to rectify gender and racial imbalances in a responsible and effective way.
The UFS launched its
Transformation of the Professoriate Mentoring Programme five years ago with the aim of developing and supporting emerging scholars on the cusp of promotion to senior academic positions. It focuses on the holistic development of the skills and attributes of emerging scholars in the core functions of teaching and learning, research, community engagement, and academic leadership in preparation for their roles as future professors and academic leaders. Currently, the overwhelming majority of participants are women.
The programme has evolved into different branches, each with a distinct focus area:
• Women Influencing Scholarship and Education (WISE)
This newly launched programme aims to nurture academic leaders while also supporting women's progression within the academic ranks. In the process, structural barriers, attitudinal issues, and behavioural impediments hindering the career progression of women in academia are addressed and overcome.
The programme is targeted at mid-career academic women, with the aim of increasing the number of women academics eligible for academic leadership and senior management positions and accelerating career progression towards professoriate levels. Among the opportunities that are unlocked are the development of personal branding, digital presence enhancement, as well as communication and presentation skills.
Participants are also guided on emerging digital trends, and assisted in obtaining funding, project development, collaborative projects, and community building.
Women academics are encouraged to invest in themselves, and in the process, increased research productivity, impact, and visibility are achieved, and sustainable academic careers are advanced.
• Future Professoriate group
This is a tailormade development programme characterised by individual mentoring discussions with multiple mentors, quarterly group meetings, writing retreats, monthly writing spaces, and group meetings with specific discussion topics, as well as a variety of training and support activities aimed at strengthening scholarly and leadership competencies. Academics who have completed their three-year fellowship in this group proceed to serve as alumni mentors for new candidates in the programme.
• Emerging Scholar Accelerator group (ESAP)
This programme targets promising young academics in an even earlier stage of their careers, preparing them for entry into the Future Professoriate Group. Some of the activities of the two programmes are integrated to provide opportunities for colleagues from different departments and faculties to interact and benefit from the experience and competencies of the cohort. Individual career plans are drafted to monitor the progress of candidates towards different milestones, such as National Research Foundation (NRF) rating, receiving prestigious international fellowships, graduating PhD candidates, and being recognised for excellence in leadership, community engagement, and teaching and learning.
• Researcher Excellence Accelerator Programme (REAP)
The REAP programme seeks to understand the unique needs of early career researchers and to create supportive clusters as an effective strategy to help navigate their careers through what can be a complex and daunting academic environment. Senior academics guide junior colleagues to the successful completion of their PhDs, enabling them to establish themselves as researchers with a strong research profile through access to mentors, training, peer support, and academic networks, all tailored to the specific needs of the researcher.
Positive results yielded
Half a decade of structured, intensive mentorship in the Transforming of the Professoriate Mentoring Programme has yielded positive results:
• 110 candidates have benefited from the programme over the past five years and are almost without exception performing extremely well.
• 77% of the 2023 cohort of the ESAP programme were women.
• Success rate of the first Future Professoriate Group (measured by promotions) stands at 73%.
• Around 70% of the selected candidates in the different programmes are black South African and African foreign-born candidates, going a long way towards addressing historic imbalances in racial equity.
• During the last four years, candidates of the programme published a total of 315 academic articles, as well as 30 books.
• Candidates report increased international collaboration, advances in NRF ratings, and are recipients of a total of 22 prestigious research grants.
• Participants’ feedback bears evidence of not only scholarly development, but also an increased sense of engagement with the university community, and a strengthening of collaboration among junior and senior colleagues.
As candidates who have successfully completed mentorship and development programmes, in turn, become mentors to new entrants, these successes promise to grow exponentially over the coming years. The Transformation of the Professoriate Mentoring Programme aims to further strengthen its mentoring and capacity-building programmes, while simultaneously entrenching broader institutional mentoring practices to lure and retain excellent academics in all faculties and departments.