Abstract:
SIGNIFICANCE :
The recently completed national review of the doctoral qualifications offered by South African higher
education institutions has provided important insights into the national landscape of doctoral education, and
raised many questions. One key question is whether our doctoral qualifications educate our students to be
the broad and critical thinkers needed to address current and future scientific and societal challenges. In the
South African higher education context, we must ask ourselves whether we are providing the academic and
intellectual depth required to enable our doctoral graduates to achieve the graduate attributes that we express
as our national aspirations, and we need to consider new approaches to doctoral education.
