Higher degree committee members' perceptions of quality assurance of doctoral education: A south african perspective

Abstract

In South Africa four key policy discourses underpin doctoral education: growth, capacity, effi-ciency, and quality discourses. This article contributes to the discourse on quality by engaging with quality assurance from the perspective of the decision makers and implementers of macro policy (national), meso (institutional), and micro (faculty/departmental) levels. We explore the perceptions that members of higher degree committees in the field of Education have of the quali-ty assurance of doctoral education. Our data are drawn from a national survey questionnaire com-pleted by these respondents at all public South African institutions that offer a doctorate in Edu-cation. The insights gained reside within four categories: positionality, policy, programmes, and people (stakeholders). Thereafter, we problematised the main results using academic freedom in a mode 3 knowledge production environment as a lens, which revealed thought provoking direc-tions for future research about doctoral education.