Ethical Quandaries

In social research

Between 2013 and 2017, a team of researchers from the Human Sciences Research Council undertook a longitudinal qualitative study that tracked eighty students from eight diverse universities in South Africa and documented their experiences at these higher education institutions. Midway through the study, the student protests erupted and focused national attention on many of the stories we had already heard. In the subsequent years of the study, we also heard from students who were actively involved in these transformation struggles as well as those who sat on the side-lines.

The study on the mobility of Research and Development (R&D) workers aims to address concerns about the sustainability of South Africa's R&D workforce and the perceived negative effects of the 'brain drain'. The final report received a high quality rating from the international reviewer.

Internationally, Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) has become a standard component of education policy reforms aimed at meeting the requirements of a globalised labour market on the one hand, while responding to demands for widening access to further and higher education on the other.

This book reviews curriculum policy, reform and implementation in South African education. This is an edited compilation of the key presentations and discussions that took place between education policy-makers and researchers at the HSRC-sponsored Round Table in September 2000.