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Research Leadership in Africa: Perspectives from the Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts

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21 February 2023

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22 February 2023

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Abstract

Global and human development and freedoms increasingly thrive on robust and policy-oriented research and related activities. Yet, the African research landscape faces a myriad of challenges, resulting in a very unequal continent in terms of research and research capacity. The prevailing research inequities and challenges in Africa are even more pronounced in the social sciences, humanities, arts, and related fields (SSHA). Here, the strengths and impact of scholarship in SSHA fields are often overshadowed by deficits and apparent preferential investment in research in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics-related fields. In response, the African Academy of Sciences commissioned a study in 2020 to generate evidence on the SSHA research support landscape in Africa. This paper summarizes findings from the literature review, key informant interviews, a bibliometric analysis, a survey with a sample of 670 respondents from SSHA communities in Africa, and a series of focus group discussions. We highlight key messages and make recommendations focussing on lessons learnt opportunities, and priorities for intervention to enhance significant SSHA research leadership capacity strengthening and, ultimately, minimize research inequalities in Africa.

Keywords:

Subject: Social Sciences - Sociology

1. Introduction

Global and human development and freedoms increasingly thrive on robust and policy-oriented research and related activities. However, the African research landscape is faced with a myriad of challenges, resulting in a very unequal continent in terms of research and research capacity (1). Some of the challenges include a varying commitment by countries to enhance their national research capacity (2). The unavailability of adequate research equipment, unreliable and bureaucratic procurement systems and insufficient capacity enhancement opportunities for researchers and research assistants also add to the prevailing challenges facing researchers in Africa (3). Consequently, research strengths and activities tend to concentrate in a few countries and/or regions, such as South Africa - corresponding to national investments in research (4).

The prevailing research inequities and challenges in Africa are even more pronounced in the social sciences, humanities, arts, and related fields (SSHA). Here, the strengths and impact of scholarship in SSHA fields are often overshadowed by deficits (5) and apparent preferential investment in research in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) related fields (6). Additionally, SSHA scholars often contend with increasingly large cohorts of undergraduate students in resource-constrained higher education institutions – limiting the availability of dedicated time for research. Hence, deliberate efforts should be made to address the prevailing vast research and development inequalities across Africa (7) and, ultimately, boost chances of achieving equitable development in Africa.

In 2020, the African Academy of Sciences (AAS) launched a study to map the status of SSHA research support in Africa. The study was commissioned to inform the AAS’ future research programming, in recognition of the cross-cutting relevance and contributions of SSHA scholarship to sustainable development in Africa. This paper presents challenges, gaps, opportunities, needs, and priorities in the SSHA research support landscape in Africa.

2. Results and discussion

2.1. Regional SSHA research leadership highlights

A report published in 2022 by the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) – a network of 16 selected flagship research universities in Africa – showed that SSHA research fields were more popular than other fields of research, in terms of postgraduate student enrolment (8). Yet, SSHA fields remain significantly underfunded in sub-Saharan Africa (9) and, where funded, resources tend to concentrate on a few fields such as education, political science, and public policy (10). In the current study, only 42.4% of the 670 scholars surveyed had at least one form of research funding from their university. Additionally, gender imbalance and mentoring inadequacy were highlighted as notable challenges in the SSHA fields in Africa. For instance, 71.5% of the respondents in our study had a male as Head of Department, while only 11.8% of the respondents were satisfied with the kind of mentorship support provided in their institutions. Hence, more investment is required to advocate for, and enhance, equitable research support for SSHA fields and, ultimately, optimize the contribution of SSHA researchers to sustainable development in Africa.

An assessment of bibliometric data from Scopus covering the period 2011-2020 estimated Africa’s contribution to global scholarship within SSHA to be about 5% of the global scholarly research output in peer-reviewed journals and books. The assessment showed substantial regional differences, with authors based in Southern Africa contributing at least 50% of all publications surveyed. Authors based in West Africa contributed about 17% of the publications, while those in North and East Africa were responsible for about 15% each. Researchers from Francophone and Lusophone countries were poorly represented, with the two regions accounting for about 5% of the publications assessed.

Further, the bibliometric assessment showed relatively lower citations for publications made in African journals compared to journals from elsewhere. For instance, African journals recorded about 0.7% of citations per citable documents compared to the global average of 3.5 in SSHA-related publications. This calls for more efforts to make African journals more attractive and competitive to enable them to serve as the most appropriate outlet for contextually relevant research in Africa. More investment is also required to enhance the capacity of editorial teams, increase visibility of the journals, and facilitate access to the publications.

2.2. Lessons learnt, opportunities, and priorities in the SSHA scholarship

Availability and access to research funding play a pivotal role in catalysing and enabling research. Unfortunately, many researchers in Africa have limited-to-no access to funding to support their research activities. The unavailability of adequate funding has resulted in limited resources and infrastructure to drive research excellence, inadequate research support systems, and hardly any protected time for research. Other challenges include lack of a well-structured and coordinated system to support mentorship, publications, and career progression (11, 12).

The current study established that researchers in the SSHA fields face an additional layer of challenges compared to their counterparts from other fields of research. One of the key issues highlighted from the study’s stakeholder engagement activities was a lack of a well-coordinated pan-Africa program or initiative dedicated to supporting researchers in the SSHA fields in Africa. This leaves researchers in the SSHA fields relatively disadvantaged compared to their peers in other fields who obtain relatively more support and, hence, have been able to do more research work. In response, the study recommends an establishment of an initiative dedicated to mobilising and coordinating individual and institutional research support for SSHA. Such an initiative should be embedded in a larger research support programme with a pan-African scope; to benefit from established networks, resources, and systems. Among the aspects of SSHA research work that needs coordination is the agenda and priority setting in alignment with the local, regional, and global development needs and priorities. In so doing, the role and work done by SSHA researchers across Africa are likely to be amplified and begin to position themselves in discourses around general research support in Africa.

The general global interest in transdisciplinary and translational research as a way of addressing developmental challenges underscores the need for meaningful and adequate participation of SSHA researchers. Therefore, there is need to strengthen the research leadership capacity for SSHA researchers for a greater impact. One of the immediate activities to strengthen the research capacity is a targeted and well-coordinated mentorship scheme. The scheme should ensure that adequate resources are allocated to support mentorship activities including expectation setting workshops for both mentors and mentees. In so doing, more SSHA research leaders will begin to emerge and actively contribute to sustainable development in Africa.

More investment is also required to catalyse the generation, dissemination, and communication of knowledge products in SSHA to provide the evidence needed to inform policy formulation and implementation. One of the pathways of investment could be through the provision of publication support and platforms dedicated to researchers in SSHA and related fields. For instance, an establishment of a series of conferences focusing on topical issues of regional and global interest will provide an opportunity for researchers in the SSHA to disseminate their work. Importantly, the involvement of postgraduate students should be a prerequisite for all supported activities to ensure skills transfer and enhanced impact. These interventions, which are often missing in SSHA (13), are likely to highlight and enhance visibility of the work done by researchers in SSHA.

Additionally, governments in sub-Saharan Africa tend to invest more in STEM subjects than SSHA subjects, largely due to historical biases and perceptions (14). Hence, there is a need for enhanced and strategic awareness creation to drum up support for SSHA work from governments and the private. In so doing, researchers in SSHA will be strategically positioned to benefit from what is increasingly becoming a ‘golden age’ for social science (15).

3. Methodology

The study was conducted in two phases, the first of which entailed engagement of the African Humanities Association (AHA; hereinafter the consultant) to map the state of research leadership capacity development in the SSHA in Africa. The consultant reviewed policies and histories and studied best practices around SSHA research leadership capacity development in Africa. Through literature reviews, key informant person interviews, a bibliometric analysis, and a survey sampling 670 respondents from SSHA communities in Africa, a report was produced. The second phase of the study entailed an engagement of a focus group, comprising experts and practitioners in the SSHA research leadership capacity development spectrum in Africa, to review the consultancy report and highlight key study findings and recommendations as presented in the following sections.

Study documents, including survey reports and associated protocols, will be available upon request.

Acknowledgements

This paper has been published with support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York (CCNY, grant no. G-20-57464). However, the views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of CCNY. Errors, if any, are those of the authors and not the institutions to which they are affiliated. Contributions made by colleagues and consultative meeting participants, as well as reviewers, are highly appreciated. The authors acknowledge the contribution made by the consultants engaged through the African Humanities Association, colleagues at the African Academy of Sciences (including Rowland Opisa), survey respondents, and other stakeholders (including Prof. Cheryl Hendricks) whose input resulted in the current publication.

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