Research productivity in science and its relationship to race in South Africa

Abstract

The research productivity of scholars is ordinarily affected by a combination of factors such as their age, gender, academic age, rank, qualification, experience, discipline, collaboration and co-authorship. A factor not often included in the analysis of research productivity is race. We examined the inter-relationship between race and other pertinent variables of research productivity of scholars in South Africa, drawing data from two waves of study. We found that there was an increase in the proportion of African respondents and in the productivity of both African and Indian respondents. Compared to 2008, African respondents had higher mean values than the rest in measures such as papers written in the last year, papers published in foreign journals, combined measure of journal publications and in total productivity in 2014. A significant proportion of African respondents has been moved to South Africa.

Significance:

• The study reveals the complexities of research productivity of scholars in higher education and research institutions in South Africa and offers insights into the influence of race.
• The findings contribute to the study of transformation that is underway in higher education and research institutions in the country.