South African higher education institutions (HEIs) are facing significant challenges in attracting talents to academic positions.
The main objective of this research was to determine factors that will attract early career academics to South African HEIs.
Currently there exists limited research on factors that attract early career academics to HEIs as preferred employers.
A qualitative approach was adopted for this study; semi-structured interviews were conducted to gain data. The study participants comprised of 23 academic staff members from various merged South African HEIs.
The findings show that nine themes are related to the attraction of early career academics to HEIs:
The results also challenge HEIs to develop a superior employer brand with a strong employee value proposition (EVP) that would attract, develop and reward early career academics for their work efforts.
The study provides important practical guidelines that could assist HEIs to attract talented early career academics and become an employer of choice.
The ability to attract quality young academics remains a challenge for many South African higher education institutions (HEIs). The recent ‘fees-must-fall’ campaign by students has tarnished higher education’s reputation as an employer of choice significantly (Badat,
Identifying early career academics is not an easy task. According to McAlpine and Akerlind (
To date, limited research exists on the factors that would attract early career academics to South African HEIs. Vale (
In light of the above discussion, the main objective of this research was to determine the factors that will attract early career academics to South African HEIs. This research was motivated by the fact that little research has been conducted on the talent management of early career academics and the factors that attract them to a HEI as a preferred employer.
This article is structured as follows. Firstly, a literature review is presented on the factors that could attract early career academics to HEIs as a preferred employer. Then, the research method applied in the study is presented, followed by the findings of the study. The article concludes with a discussion of the findings and recommendations for future research and practice.
Career management is a critical pillar of work-related outcomes linked to organisational commitment (De Vos, Dewettnick, & Buyens,
Although the concept of career management has received great research attention over the years, the career development of academics has been neglected. Available research shows that the careers of academics can be advanced through a variety of methods, such as mentorship (Thomas, Lunsford, & Rodrigues,
Collaborative research appears to be the appropriate strategy to promote career development of early academics. Kochan and Mullen (in Tynan & Garbett,
Public HEIs in South Africa are expected to play a critical role in the development of human resources and in the overall social development and transformation of the continent (Van Heerden, Bohlmann, Giesecke, Makochekanwa, & Roos,
Other research, advocates the growing importance of academic staff involvement in community service projects addressing contemporary societal needs such as those related to HIV and/or AIDS (Sanjobo, Lukwesa, Kaziya, Tepa, & Puta,
Pienaar and Bester (
Higher education institutions are paying more attention to their marketing and branding functions because of the shortage of quality academic staff (Hanover Research,
A study by Annapoorna (
University teaching has traditionally been viewed as a relatively stress-free occupation (Fisher,
According to Goff (
Job insecurity has become a key aspect of South African HEIs as a result of continuous transformation and merger processes (Tlou,
Autonomy refers to the opportunity to be able to make decisions and implement them with little or no interference by authorities. For academics, autonomy includes being allowed to teach and conduct research within their niche areas of interest, with all the required flexibility (Stromquist,
A study by Clare and Sivil (
A qualitative approach was adopted for this study because the emphasis was to bring forth the expectations and experiences of early academics in a holistic and in-depth manner. According to Vishnevsky and Beanlands (
The present study took an interpretivist approach, which involved integrating human interest and experiences for interpretation (Rubin & Rubin,
A case study was the strategic approach used in this study. One of the advantages of a case study is that it is more descriptive and exploratory in nature and less explanatory. This approach was considered appropriate for the present study because, according to Yin (
The approach for the present researcher was to generate and integrate themes derived from the group interviews, in conjunction with the conducted literature review. Munsamy and Bosch Venter (
The setting for this research was a selected merged South African HEI. The set HEI came into being as part of the South African government’s plan to transform higher education.
Permission for the project was first obtained from the Head of Skills Development of the Higher Education Department of the Government of South Africa. Further permission to conduct interviews with early career academics was obtained from the relevant authorities of the selected higher education such as the vice rector of research. The participants were informed of the purpose of the study and that participation was voluntary and anonymous.
The sample for this study included early career academics from a selected merged South African HEI.
The following criteria were used to select the sample: participants must have between 1 and 15 years of experience, be research novices and could be from any race and gender. According to Neuman (
The participants comprised of 23 early career academics from a selected merged South African HEI. The demographic characteristics of the participants are presented in
Demographic characteristics of interview participants.
P1 | Participant 1 was a white, male junior lecturer who had only 3 years of experience as an academic. He had joined the HEI because he had a passion for research, publication and interacting with students. He had an honours degree and was in the process of completing his master’s degree in industrial psychology. |
P2 | Participant 2 was a white, female junior lecturer who had only 1 year of experience as an academic. She had become an academic to further her studies and pursue a career as a lecturer. She had an honour’s degree and was about to complete her master’s degree in industrial sociology. |
P3 | Participant 3 was a white, male lecturer with 5 years of experience as an academic. He had joined the HEI because he felt it offered opportunities to be creative and innovative, without much restriction. He held a master’s degree in industrial psychology and was pursuing his PhD. |
P4 | Participant 4 was a white, male lecturer with 8 years of experience as an academic. He had joined the HEI because he had a passion for research and publication. He held a master’s degree in sociology and was pursuing his PhD degree. He was a programme director, responsible for academic programmes. |
P5 | Participant 5 was an Indian, female lecturer with 6 years of experience as an academic. She had been requested to assist students as an SI and had subsequently developed a passion for being an academic. She held a master’s degree in economics and was pursuing her PhD. |
P6 | Participant 6 was a white, female lecturer with 6 years of experience as an academic. She had joined the HEI because she had a passion for teaching, research and publication. She held a master’s degree in economics and was pursuing her PhD. |
P7 | Participant 7 was a black African, male lecturer with 10 years of experience as an academic. He had joined the HEI because he had a passion for teaching, research and networking. He held a master’s degree in human resource management (HRM) and was pursuing his PhD. |
P8 | Participant 8 was a black African, male lecturer with 15 years of experience as an academic. He had joined the HEI because he had a passion for teaching. He held a master’s degree in HRM and was not sure if he wanted to complete a PhD. |
P9 | Participant 9 was a black African, male lecturer with 3 years of experience as an academic. He had joined the HEI because he had a passion for developing young people and networking. He held a master’s degree in management and was pursuing his PhD. |
P10 | Participant 10 was a white, female lecturer with 8 years of experience as an academic. Her passion was teaching and developing young people. She held a master’s degree in transport economics and was a programme director. She was pursuing her PhD. |
P11 | Participant 11 was a white, male professor with 15 years of experience as an academic. He had joined the academic world because of an interest in research and teaching. He held a doctorate degree in economics. |
P12 | Participant 12 was a black African, female professor with 10 years of experience as an academic. She had joined the academic world because of a lack of other job opportunities. She was busy with her post-doctoral research. |
P13 | Participant 13 was a black African, male junior lecturer who had 2 years of experience as an academic. He had joined the HEI because he had a passion for teaching and he subsequently developed an interest in research. He held an honours degree in statistics and was pursuing his master’s degree. |
P14 | Participant 14 was a black African, female lecturer who had 8 years of experience as an academic. She had joined the university to pursue her passion for teaching and to gain opportunities to further her studies. She held a master’s degree in statistics and was awaiting the results of her PhD. |
P15 | Participant 15 was a black African, female senior lecturer who had 20 years of experience as an academic, but was a novice at research. She had joined the university to pursue her passion for teaching and to gain opportunities to further her studies. She had developed an interest in research and publication. She held a master’s degree in HRM and was about to complete her PhD. |
P16 | Participant 16 was a black African, male lecturer with only 1 year of experience as an academic. He had joined the HEI because if offered better conditions of service. He had 8 years of experience as a secondary school teacher. He held a master’s degree in management and was pursuing his PhD. |
P17 | Participant 17 was a black African, male lecturer with 2 years of experience as an academic. He had joined the HEI because he had desired a different work environment. He held a master’s degree in management and was pursuing his PhD. |
P18 | Participant 18 was a black African, male lecturer with 1 year of experience as an academic. He had joined the HEI because it offered better conditions of service. He had 8 years of experience as a secondary school teacher. He held a master’s degree in management and was pursuing his PhD. |
P19 | Participant 19 was a white, male professor with 15 years of experience as an academic. He believed that the university was the most conducive environment for growth and development. He held a PhD in psychology and his passion was research and publication, especially books. He was also a programme director. |
P20 | Participant 20 was a black African male with 8 years of experience as an academic lecturer. He had joined the HEI because it offered opportunities for further study and because he had a passion for teaching. He held a PhD in management. He was interested in research and research supervision and was also responsible for programme co-ordination. |
P21 | Participant 21 was a black African male with 8 years of experience as a senior lecturer. He had joined the higher education department because of lack of staff in the unit. He held a PhD in public administration. His focus was on research and publication as a requirement for promotion in the institution. |
P22 | Participant 22 was a black African, female student lecturer. Her decision to join the academic world was influenced by a love for teaching and interacting with young people, as well as a lack of other job opportunities. She held an honours degree in industrial relations and was pursuing her master’s degree. |
P23 | Participant 23 was a black African, male student lecturer who had joined academia because of a lack of other employment opportunities. He held an honours degree in industrial relations and was pursuing his master’s degree. |
Most of the participants were males (
Data were collected through individual and group interview sessions. The interviews were conducted using structured questions, allowing consistency throughout the interviews. According to Neuman (
The interviews were tape-recorded, which served as a backup system during data analysis. This helped to ensure that the researcher did not draw incorrect conclusions from responses. Extensive notes were taken, allowing recording of reactions to information by the participants. Rubin and Rubin (
In this study, the recorded interviews of both the individual and the group sessions were transcribed. Although there were challenges in transcribing all the recordings, all efforts were directed at ensuring that all relevant and important information was captured to ensure the accuracy of data analysis. The quotes provided were verbatim. In creating a framework for analysis, the researcher extracted themes and subthemes for the categorisation of information from the transcripts. Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill (
The findings of this research are reported in a table. The themes and subthemes extracted from the interviews are substantiated by direct quotes. This method is in line with the suggestion of Cresswell (
Ethical clearance was obtained before the commencement of the research.
Frequency of themes.
Variable | Themes | Frequency |
---|---|---|
Theme 1 | Career development and advancement | 23 |
Development in area of academic interest | 7 | |
Opportunity to improve academic qualifications | 6 | |
Availability of promotional opportunities | 6 | |
Rapid career advancement opportunities | 6 | |
Theme 2 | Opportunity to make a contribution | 10 |
Contribution to students | 4 | |
Contribution to community | 3 | |
Contribution to knowledge society | 3 | |
Theme 3 | Employer branding and prestige | 4 |
Theme 4 | Job security | 2 |
Theme 5 | Flexible working hours (work‒life balance) | 2 |
Theme 6 | Intellectual stimulation | 2 |
Theme 7 | Innovation | 2 |
Theme 8 | Opportunity to apply skills | 1 |
Theme 9 | Autonomy | 1 |
Combined themes relating to
‘There are a lot of structures and interventions that is available through the university, so I would like to develop as a researcher very strongly. I’ve got a really clear picture of what it is that I want to do in my research going into the future. The university offers a number of fantastic opportunities for you to develop’. (Participant 11, male, lecturer, master’s degree)
Other participants highlighted their interest in becoming educators. One participant stated:
‘The thing that influenced me was this urge of contributing towards the educational and academic development. And then, also, to fulfil my need, my personal need as an educator’. (Participant 7, male, senior lecturer, doctorate degree,)
The participants furthermore highlighted that opportunities should be created to attract students to academic positions. One of the participants stated:
‘We can grow our team by developing those good students who obtain Master’s and PhDs to become junior academics’. (Participant 12, female, lecturer, master’s degree)
The participants also mentioned the availability of promotional opportunities and rapid career advancement as factors that would attract them to academia:
‘The university systems are unlike the systems in government, where it is on [sic] the availability of the post, but, in academia, people get promoted depending on certain qualifications and meeting certain requirements’. (Participant 1, male, senior lecturer, doctorate degree)
Participant 1 also mentioned about opportunities for rapid career advancement and the benefits associated with it:
‘Yes, if they are ready to work, it is an earlier way you can rapidly progress … for every stage that you are promoted to, you definitely get better packages associated with it’.
Another participant mentioned:
‘For PhD, definitely, because that was the ultimate of getting my PhD, and then I … from here, it is now associate professor and then professor, and where else would you go then to a university’? (Participant 10, female, senior lecturer, doctorate degree)
The above comment was supported by Participant 2:
‘For now, I’m really very busy with the PhD, and I think one is going to continue until you get to the highest level, to the professorship, and, when you get there, many opportunities open up for you’. (Participant 2, female, lecturer, master’s degree)
The participants also highlighted the opportunity to extend their educational qualifications as a reason for joining higher education. One participant stated:
‘I think the opportunity to further my own studies and the fact that I have a passion to work with young people. I want to make a difference’. (Participant 10, female, senior lecturer, doctorate degree)
Combined themes related to
‘The interest of being an academic started when I was a supplementary instructor, so that’s where I got my basis of being able to interact with students. I actually started loving the whole idea of being able to help students and the appreciation that you also get from the students, that’s what motivated me to study further to become an academic’. (Participant 3, male, junior lecturer, honours degree)
In support of the above statement, Participant 5 added:
‘Number 1 is my interest in empowering the students and making a difference and also inspiring them … Number 2 is more career-wise… Number 3 is all about passion. I’m not here by chance, I’m here by choice’. (Participant 5, female, lecturer, master’s degree)
The participants were also attracted to higher education to make a difference to the broader community and knowledge society. In this regard, some participants stated:
‘The benefits are… it gives me a sense of knowing that I make a particular contribution towards the social economic development of our young and old. (Participant 7, male, senior lecturer, doctorate degree)
and
‘It’s nice to be called to give lecturers’ interviews, telling the whole world what certain issues are by giving you an opportunity to express your views. You have an opportunity to show what you have and who you are’. (Participant 2, female, lecturer, master’s degree)
‘We must become the university, an employer, of choice, so that if you are an employer of choice, your employees are going to show commitment and engagement, and it seems as we are on that way. I hope that we are going to continue in a manner of building our branding’. (Participant 10, female, senior lecturer, doctorate degree)
and
‘I think the money aspect is not very attractive, but, comparatively, we will say the financial reward also makes one feel like joining here, and the prestige attached. At least, nobody would see you as an ordinary teacher and lecturer’. (Participant 2, female, lecturer, master’s degree)
Other themes that were mentioned to a lesser extent included
One of the participants stated:
‘…because of a certain contract we signed, that we have to be here for a certain number of years… we have already taken up some grants from the university, which we need to stay for about 4 or 5 years’. (Participant 2, female, lecturer, master’s degree)
One of the participants mentioned flexible working hours and a sense of belonging to her department:
‘Flexibility, as well… There’s flexibility in terms of, you know, when you’re at a 95-drop. Here it’s more flexible, and growth, as well, in your department. You get so recognised that you just feel at home. You become a part of the family, and I think that is what you want the most’. (Participant 3, male, junior lecturer, honours degree)
The participants indicated that they were intellectually stimulated by the opportunity to gain knowledge. In this regard, one participant noted:
‘I think, for me, it’s all about trying to get as much knowledge as I can when it comes to academics, so, that’s why I’m just pushing up until I get tired. Once getting that knowledge, I will impart it to other people’. (Participant 4, male, junior lecturer, honours degree)
The main objective of this research was to determine the factors that would attract early career academics to South African HEIs. The participants identified nine factors that could be instrumental in the attraction of early career academics:
The factors that were mentioned to a lesser extent included
This research makes important practical contributions. Firstly, it sheds light on the factors that will attract a new generation of early career academics to South African HEIs. These findings challenge some traditional notions, suggesting that work–life balance and autonomy are not the main factors that would attract early career academics to higher education. From a practical point of view, this study therefore challenges the traditional structures of HEIs and indicates that HEI management should adopt talent management practices that cater for the diverse needs of early career academics. The results also challenge HEIs to develop a superior employer brand with a strong EVP that would attract, develop and reward early career academics for their work efforts.
This research has some limitations. Firstly, the data consisted only of the perceptions of early career academics. As a result, the findings cannot be generalised to other academics. Secondly, the study focused on the academic profession and thus the findings cannot be generalised to other industries. Thirdly, the lack of research on the attraction of early career academics posed challenges in interpreting the results.
For future research, it is recommended that HEI managers should also be included in the sample in order to determine their perceptions of talent attraction, compared to those of academics. Likewise, a comparative study could be conducted between different academic groups to gain a holistic perspective on the factors that could attract academic staff to South African HEIs. It is also recommended that more research should be conducted on the attraction of academics for purposes of theory building.
This research provided important information on the factors that will attract early career academics to HEIs. As mentioned previously, the findings of this study challenge traditional knowledge and practices of recruitment in HEIs. Therefore, it is advisable that HEI management and HR departments redevelop talent management practices to ensure that the best-quality novice scholars are attracted, developed and retained in support of the sustainability and competitiveness of South African HEIs.
The authors declare that they have no financial or personal relationships that may have inappropriately influenced them in writing this article.
D.L. is a PhD student and this article is based on her PhD thesis. She compiled the article. N.E.B. was the supervisor and N.E.S. was the co-supervisor of this study, and both provided editorial inputs for the article.