South African universities may be placing too much emphasis on measurable academic outputs while overlooking the less visible work that supports students, develops young academics and advances transformation, according to research by two University of Johannesburg academics.
Professors Curwyn Mapaling and Nokulunga Shabalala, both Black clinical psychologists working in academia, examined their experiences within South African higher education through a three-year collaborative research programme.
Their work, which resulted in three academic papers, explores the challenges facing young Black academics and questions whether current university systems adequately recognise mentorship, student support and other forms of academic labour that are difficult to quantify.
Representation has improved, but transformation remains a concern
The academics argue that greater representation does not necessarily mean universities themselves have undergone equivalent institutional change.
Their research points to the continued underrepresentation of Black African academics at senior levels. According to the figures cited in their work, Black African academics occupied 19% of professorial positions in 2018, while white men held 67%, despite African students making up 80% of the student population.
The researchers also point to the influence of South Africa’s colonial and apartheid history on university structures, including curriculum, institutional culture and perceptions around academic authority.
They argue that these issues have contributed to a transformation process that has been uneven and slower than many academics and students would like.
The hidden work behind teaching and mentorship
A central theme of the research is what Mapaling and Shabalala describe as care labour — the human and relational work that accompanies teaching, supervision and mentorship.
This can include helping students navigate uncertainty, explaining the informal rules of university life, supporting students experiencing personal or financial difficulties and assisting those who are the first in their families to enter postgraduate education.
The researchers argue that much of this work does not appear in conventional academic performance measurements, despite its potential importance to students.
They also highlight growing pressure on universities as student numbers have expanded. The source notes that enrolment increased to more than one million between 2014 and 2024, while studies cited by the academics have found food insecurity affecting between 60% and 70% of students in some campus contexts.
The academics stress that their own research does not measure who carries the greatest share of this labour, although they point to existing South African research indicating that the burden falls unevenly, particularly on Black women academics.
Mentorship and the problem of unwritten academic rules
Using collaborative autoethnography, the researchers recorded and analysed structured conversations about their experiences before comparing their findings with existing research on Black academics and belonging in higher education.
One recurring issue was mentorship.
According to their findings, academic environments often contain unwritten knowledge about how to access opportunities, develop professional networks, negotiate authorship and identify potential research collaborations or funding opportunities.
The researchers argue that when this information remains concentrated among established academics, access to opportunities can depend heavily on informal networks.
Their response has been to make such knowledge more accessible to students and early-career researchers rather than treating it as something that must be discovered independently.
Pressure to publish and produce measurable results
Another major concern identified in the research is the pressure academics face to produce outputs.
The researchers link this pressure to workload structures, promotion requirements and funding incentives associated with research-output policies.
They argue that an emphasis on measurable production can reduce the time available for academics to develop as teachers, mentors and researchers, while Black academics may face additional challenges relating to institutional perceptions of their authority.
The research suggests that the consequences can extend beyond individual academics.
According to the academics, burnout and disillusionment could contribute to early-career academics leaving universities, while students may lose mentors who understand their circumstances. They argue that failing to recognise relational work can ultimately affect student engagement, educational quality and the broader transformation agenda.
What the researchers say should change
Mapaling and Shabalala’s latest paper proposes changes at departmental, institutional and sector levels.
At department level, they argue that mentorship should be incorporated into workload models as recognised academic labour. They also recommend making pathways to opportunities such as research assistantships and co-authorship more transparent.
At institutional level, they propose stronger protections for staff on short-term contracts, alongside promotion systems that recognise collaborative scholarship, community engagement and relational work.
At sector level, they call for a rethink of incentives that can encourage individual competition. Their research points to alternative approaches, including assessment frameworks that place greater value on collaborative and socially responsive scholarship rather than relying primarily on publication counts.
The researchers ultimately argue that meaningful change requires more than individual goodwill. In their view, it requires changes to the structures and incentives that determine how academic work is recognised and rewarded.
