Academic Journal
Building Career Development Skills for Researchers: A Qualitative Study Across Four African Countries
| العنوان: | Building Career Development Skills for Researchers: A Qualitative Study Across Four African Countries |
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| المؤلفون: | Okewole, Halima, Merritt, Christopher, Mangezi, Walter, Mutiso, Victoria, Jack, Helen E., Eley, Thalia C., Abas, Melanie |
| المصدر: | Annals of Global Health; Vol. 86 No. 1 (2020); 40 ; Annals of Global Health; Vol. 86 Núm. 1 (2020); 40 ; 2214-9996 |
| بيانات النشر: | Ubiquity Press |
| سنة النشر: | 2020 |
| المجموعة: | Annals of Global Health |
| الوصف: | Background: Career development skills are widely advocated as part of research capacity building and strengthening efforts. However, there is a gap in knowledge on their acceptability in low- and middle-income countries.Objective: This study aimed to examine how a group of 16 early-career researchers in sub-Saharan Africa experienced a career development skills course and how they perceived the utility of the course.Methods: Sixteen early-career researchers registered at universities in Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, and South Africa took part in the year-long Academic Competencies Series (ACES) course. ACES comprised ten modules covering mentoring skills, work-life balance, career strategy, teamwork, presentation skills, teaching, academic writing, engaging policy makers, grant-writing, and digital media. ACES was delivered through face-to-face workshops and via webinar as part of a broader mental health research capacity-building programme. In-depth interviews following a topic guide were conducted with participants. Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were analysed using Thematic Analysis.Findings: All ACES participants were interviewed (9 male, 7 female). Participants were PhD students (14) and post-docs (2). The main themes identified throughout the course were 1) Growth, in both personal and professional life; 2) Application of training, often in innovative ways but with notable constraints and obstacles; and 3) Connection with colleagues, where researchers learnt from each other and from experts, building confidence in their new skills. Participants described how face-to-face contact enhanced the perceived quality of their learning experience. Barriers included logistical obstacles to applying training, such as limited resources and being at an early career stage.Conclusions: We found that research career development skills training was highly acceptable for early-career researchers in four African countries, and was perceived as having facilitated their personal and professional growth. ... |
| نوع الوثيقة: | article in journal/newspaper |
| وصف الملف: | application/pdf; application/xml |
| اللغة: | English |
| Relation: | https://account.annalsofglobalhealth.org/index.php/up-j-agh/article/view/2759/2908; https://account.annalsofglobalhealth.org/index.php/up-j-agh/article/view/2759/2909; https://account.annalsofglobalhealth.org/index.php/up-j-agh/article/view/2759 |
| DOI: | 10.5334/aogh.2759 |
| الاتاحة: | https://account.annalsofglobalhealth.org/index.php/up-j-agh/article/view/2759 https://doi.org/10.5334/aogh.2759 |
| Rights: | Copyright (c) 2020 The Author(s) ; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
| رقم الانضمام: | edsbas.32AC51D6 |
| قاعدة البيانات: | BASE |
| DOI: | 10.5334/aogh.2759 |
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