Research, University of Ghana’s YouTube Channel and Video Lecture by Mkandawire

This week I am finally doing some research at the University of Ghana. For my work – that is now really taking shape – I wanted to cite Professor Mkandawire who came to campus in April for a three day lecture that I felt was very relevant. However, surfing around on the university website, I could not find his lecture. Then I tried the strategy of just Googleing “Mkandawire and University of Ghana” and then I found not just his lecture on video, but University of Ghana’s YouTube channel!

Sadly, this great lecture has 18 views(!) and the UG YouTube Channel just over 300 subscribers, so I thought I’d share it here (in the first video from Mkandawire’s lecture there is some drumming, dancing and intro before the lecture starts about 9.40 into the clip!)

What YouTube channels have you found that you’d recommend?

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Guest Post by Kweku Ananse: How To Become an Employable PhD Graduate

Last week, Kwaku Ananse wrote a guest post about problematic supervisors. A main problem,he concluded is  misguided advice suggesting you focus only on your dissertation:

In our times, employers want graduates with experience, widely interpreted either as teaching, research experience as evident in a publication, or both.

This reality brings me to the issue of taking initiative outside the normal routines of the graduate program.

1.One is to visit the personal websites of other graduate students in other universities who are in the same discipline as you are.Know what these students are doing in terms of the conferences they attend, the types of publications they have (and the journals they have published in etc). Being on top of these things should alert you to what your competitors are up to.

2. Another thing outside the graduate comfort zone is to test your ideas by sending cold emails to perhaps established leading scholars in the field to give you feedback regarding your use of their analytical ideas (Here, I have to say I am hesitant with important but emerging scholars). You are not always guaranteed a response but you might be surprised how some of these scholars are interested to help young intellectuals with feedback and suggestions of recent literature. These people can be your pool of what Kajsa refers to as “informal supervisors” (see her post ‘Informal Supervisors: Surviving Ph.D‘) who can be both local (in other departments in your school as well as in your program) and as well as international.

3. One important thing to note in a graduate school is not to see yourself as incapable of publishing in leading journals in your field.

  • Read such journals and note what the leading debates are.
  • Examine such debates side by side your current research.
  • When you see a contribution that perhaps a facet of your research can make to such debates, ‘be bold’ (as they say in GH-politics) and write an article and send it out.

Several things can happen with such an approach: the paper might be rejected (and good reviewers will give you details as why the paper was rejected); paper accepted (but with some revision,either substantial or minor). Whatever the case, the plus side of taking such an initiative is that you have begun a process that is going to be part of your academic life.

This guest post is written by fellow graduate student Kwaku Ananse, one of my readers.

 

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Guest Post by Kweku Ananse: Why Your PhD Supervisor is Not Reading Your Work

I am happy to introduce my first guest writer on this blog. This guest post is written by fellow graduate student Kwaku Ananse, one of my readers:

Just like most things in life, conventional wisdom posits that graduate school life is a linear process: you apply to the program of choice, you get accepted, you take and complete core and pertinent elective class classes, pass all those classes mostly with As (and Bs), and then you focus on completing your proposed thesis or dissertation. Even within the process of completing the thesis/dissertation, the accepted thinking posits that those committee members you select are the ones that eventually lead you to the finish line.

However, within my experience, being a ‘traditional graduate student’ who wants take the routine routes to complete a program should reassess such taken-for-taken ideas. One should realize that your supervisor most likely will not be the ‘ideal’ supervisor to deliver on the assumed responsibilities that he/she is supposed to provide.

There are many problems relating to why responsibilities are not fulfilled:

  1. Lack of time to read your work (but makes you to believe that all is well);
  2. Unwillingness/inability to provide you regular important feedback;
  3. Too many other ‘senior’ graduate students he/she might be attending to etc;
  4. The person reads,but doesn’t challenge you in your thinking/writing etc.
  5. Also committee members, understandably, will not like to step on a colleague’s toes (your supervisor’s) by seeming to provide research guidance that contradicts one’s supervisor’s (perhaps outmoded) suggestions.

Another reason to always be wary of the traditional route comes in the guise of ‘just complete your course work and dissertation advice’. Such advice doesn’t take cognizance of recent trends. Nowadays, having a transcript, a diploma/certificate and a dissertation under your armpit doesn’t cut it (unless of course, you already have a job security in a university/college).

In our times, employers want graduates with experience, widely interpreted either as teaching, research experience as evident in a publication, or both.

So, what should we do? Look out for Kwaku  Ananse’s next blogpost.

 

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The EU Blue Card – What Will It Mean to African Professionals?

Today, I am researching The EU Blue Card, a directive passed by the EU in 2009 to simplify immigration for highly skilled workers from non-EU countries. The directive is to be fully implemented into legislation by member countries this year.

The EU Blue Card is modeled on the US Green Card and is hence a temporary work visa (1-4 years) and at the same time a one-stop-shop for applying for residency and work permit.

On the europa.eu website which collects, summarizes and explains EU legislation it is stated that the objective of this particular directive is to:

improve the European Union’s (EU) ability to attract highly qualified workers from third countries. The aim is not only to enhance competitiveness within the context of the Lisbon strategy, but also to limit brain drain. (my italics)

The Lisbon strategy or agenda was drafted in March 2000 and reviewed in 2005 and was the overarching direction for the union aiming to turn EU into “the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-driven economy by 2010”. I can see how the EU Blue Card is in alignment with this ambitious goal  and how it helps to attract highly qualified workers. However, I have a hard time understanding how it will limit brain-drain.

I am not the first to question this, migration and development have been discussed together for many years now and others before me have pointed this out for this particular directive. In 2007, African ministers of health viced their worry of that this scheme would increase the brain drain of health professionals from their countries. Also, Professor Kingsley Banya has also written a conference paper where he in the abstract suggests the EU Blue Card scheme is “poaching Africa’s talent” (I am yet to find the full paper).

The rationale behind the EU Blue Card is the fact that EU has a low level of highly-skilled foreigners in its workforce when comparing to the US and Canada. Levels of 4% and 7% of the total labor force for US and Canada respectively, comparing to 1,7% for the EU is brought forward by the Migration Information Source here.

To qualify for the EU Blue Card, one must have a college diploma or five years occupational training, already have landed a job (countries can choose if individual or companies hiring them should apply) as well as show that the job the worker is migrating to do pays more than 1,5 times the country’s average salary.

Despite above-mentioned critique against the directive, it is being implemented as we speak (although some say it is way too slow) with very little debate within Europe and in the countries that are likely to be affected by the policy change.

In my opinion, what needs to be discussed further (and very soon measured)  is how the EU Blue card is to affect African professionals and their migration desicions. It seems nobody yet knows.

Will it lead to increased migration and possibly brain-drain or could there be positive effects for developing countries like increased circular migration when opportunity for legal migration increases? As my research area – Ghanaian students’ migration aspirations- encompasses the migration environment,or legal frameworks for migration, I will be including this European development in my study and discussion.

I will try to write on migration issues every Monday from now on! Need to get back into the research game!

Pic borrowed from The Swap Blog.

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Ashesi’s New Berekuso Campus

On a day like this, I miss work. Today, Ashesi University College’s brand new campus in Berekuso, north of Accra, will be inaugurated and except for my name being there on the founders’ wall, I will not be there.

Kajsa in Berekuso 2009However, from the information provided, many dignitaries will be. Except for Ashesi’s own president Patrick Awuah, Ghana’s vice president has been invited along with diplomats from around the world.

Berekuso boysAlthough, I won’t be present when Ashesi opens up shop in our own facilities, I feel happy Continue Reading

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Final Exams

Final exams mark the end of the academic calendar. Today I am holding my final exams.

For someone who has been a student a larger part of her life, it is interesting being on “the other side”. However in a way it is paradoxically quite similar. I mean, I have studied too for this, putting together an exam is not that easy. Also, I am feeling a wee bit nervous (will questions be understood? Will they all remember to come to Lecture Hall 4 and 5? Will the exam booklets be enough?).

Of course, I will not be taking the exam, but spend two hours perfecting the grading rubric.

So, I guess the biggest difference between being a lecturer and a student is when the students walk out of the lecture hall at 3 PM today, their semester is over, but I still have a week of grading to do…

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Ninety-Nine-Year-Old Graduate and More

Recently a World War II veteran and former teacher reached headline news in Ghana (and the world through CNN) as he graduated from business school at the ripe age of ninety-nine!

I wrote an article about this very special ninety-nine year old graduate and the discussion that his achievement gave rise to for University World News(UWN). Here is an excerpt:

In February 99-year-old World War II veteran and former teacher, Akasease Kofi Boakye Yiadom, graduated from the Presbyterian University College Business School in Abetifi, Ghana.

The elderly graduate was featured on CNN’s Inside Africa programme, and he took the opportunity to call on fellow graduates to be loyal and not join the brain drain.

“If it is a scant pay you have to accept it, because it is the government’s money that has been used to educate you,” he said. “If you have finished school and passed your degree, you have to stay in Ghana and serve Ghana.”

I thought it was interesting he entered into the “brain-drain” debate and did something with his 15 minutes of fame. Read the rest of the article about Akasease Yiadom and the “brain-drain” discussion by yours truly.

In the same issue of UWN, Linda Nordling wrote an interesting feature directed to African universities on diversifying funding. She compared the recent consequences of the Icelandic volcano ash on African export industry to the current situation in African academe where African universities are very dependent on student fees and government funding. What if an “ash cloud” or more likely an economical crisis would reduce fees and government funding?

There needs to be a lateral, more diversified strategy for funding of the African universities. Looking overseas for funding instruments, reducing the administrative burden through capacity building and turning to local industry to offer consultancies are the main points offered as a solution, by Nordling. Read the whole insightful article Lateral Thinking for Research Funding.

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University of Ghana Admission Letter in Hand

Today was the day when I was formally invited to pursue a “course of study leading to the award of Doctor of Philosophy Degree in African Studies”.

The events leading up to me holding the very much desired letter in hand includes many drops of sweat (but only a few tears), numerous visits, phone calls and emails on my part since I applied for the program in March of 2009. I almost gave up in September, but finally did a presentation of my proposal in November and a few weeks ago got my first call back.

Since then, I have made three trips to the School of Graduate studies and today was the day! I feel content and anxious to get started.

For the first half of the program, I have secured funding through the generous Swedish Women’s organization SWEA, but as I am now admitted I should probably get to worrying about finding scholarships for the latter half.

Dear reader, any ideas?

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