Neglect of academic research spells doom for innovation

New graduates celebrate. Currently, Kenya has a severe shortage of PhD-level researchers, standing at 40 per cent of the teaching staff in universities. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

Although the National Research Foundation was recently established, it is still early days to assess its potential to alleviate the situation.

Academic research feeds research and development in wider society from policy circles to productive industries and on to the corporate sector. 

 Research also adds to the existing stock of knowledge that benefits not only Kenyans but humanity in general.

There is no question the Kenyan university education is in dire straits. According to the Commission for University Education (CUE), one of the drawbacks is the scarcity of research funding. In the absence of research funding, lecturers have opted for survival tactics including part-time teaching and all manner of moonlighting.

Compared to peers, Kenya fares dismally in post-graduate education. According to a 2016 CUE report, completion rates at the postgraduate level are low, and the quality of research supervision wanting.

Currently, Kenya has a severe shortage of PhD-level researchers, standing at 40 per cent of the teaching staff in universities. The country needs to produce 1,000 PhDs per year to close the gap yet only graduates 230 PhDs per year.

JOB MARKET

As a consequence of the underwhelming levels of academic research, Kenya is lagging behind other countries in terms of the quality of learning and teaching with negative implications for the job market.

In the absence of funding, universities are using academic research output merely as promotion criteria for academic staff. Consequently, the practice where a number of lecturers publish in low-quality predatory journals has taken root.

Globally, universities source their research funding mainly from the government and industry. As such, both government and industry should bear blame for poor research funding. However, the government bears more responsibility as it cannot absolve itself from providing baseline funding for academic research.

Although the National Research Foundation was recently established, it is still early days to assess its potential to alleviate the situation.

PUBLICATIONS

How does Kenya compare with other countries? 

Recent statistics indicate that China increased its research output from 3 per cent in 2001 to 18.6 per cent in 2018 becoming the largest producer of academic research articles followed by the USA. 

Sweden and Switzerland have the most highly cited publications, followed by the US, the EU, and then China.

How have these countries managed to retain global leadership in research? Well, they spend.

The disregard of academic research is due to a variety of reasons: On the one hand, Kenyans, especially the management in the public and corporate sector have a negative attitude towards academic research. On the other, the average Kenyan sneers at “academic theories” preferring, instead “practical solutions” forgetting that there is nothing more practical than a good theory.

We could excuse the poor appreciation of academic research and cynicism towards “theory” due to low levels of education. 

QUALITY

However, the ruling elite ought to know better.

First, at the macro-level, academic research feeds research and development in wider society from policy circles to productive industries and on to the corporate sector. 

Secondly, academic research informs teaching at all levels of the education system but, crucially, at the university level. Without continuing investment in research, the entire education system soon begins to decay, with the impact reflected in the quality of graduates. 

Third, academic research also adds to the existing stock of knowledge that benefits not only Kenyans but humanity in general. Corruption and bureaucracy could also inform the low level of research funding availed to universities and the absorption of the available research output.

According to Dr Samuel Onyuma of Laikipia University, “a cartel of ‘consultants’ conduct a substantive number of studies commissioned by the government so that bribes can continue flowing.”

FRAMEWORK

“In some cases, research reports and theses gathering dust in university libraries already contain the solutions to the problems addressed by the consultants, commissions of inquiries and baseline surveys,” notes David Rotich of the University of Djibouti.

Another problem regarding academic research is that the government has established parallel public research institutions.  However, there is no framework for collaboration between the research institutions and universities.

What is the way forward? First, well-designed research should be commissioned to analyse all dimensions of the problem. On the basis of this research, the government and stakeholders should commit to implementing the findings. 

Karuitha is a Ph.D. candidate at the business school, University of the Witwatersrand and Wekesa is a senior lecturer at the same institution, [email protected]