Résumés
Abstract
Researchers from various disciplines have become interested in the supposedly extreme differences in rates of research between academics situated in the Global North and South, specifically those on the African continent. Yet, having worked as a researcher and a writing coach in the context of one university in the southern African region for the past three years, I cannot identify with many of the explanations given for these differences in rates. So, by reflecting on two instances emerging from my own experiences as a researcher in this particular context, this Note from the Field discusses the important and critical role context needs to have in making sense of this phenomenon.
Résumé
Des chercheurs issus d’une variété de domaines ont commencé à démontrer un intérêt à l’égard de différences prétendument marquées dans les taux de production en recherche entre les pays du Nord et du Sud, particulièrement ceux du continent africain. Or, forte d’une expérience de trois ans en tant que chercheur et coach en écriture au sein d’une université située en Afrique australe, je ne peux souscrire aux multiples explications formulées pour donner un sens à ces différences. Suite à une réflexion portant sur deux cas tirés de mon expérience comme chercheur dans ce contexte particulier, j’explique, dans cette Note du terrain, le rôle important et fondamental du contexte lorsque vient le moment de donner un sens à ce phénomène.
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Parties annexes
Biographical note
KATIE BRYANT currently works as a writing researcher/coach with the Botswana-UPenn Partnership at the University of Botswana in Gaborone, Botswana. In this context, she co-leads a study on medical students’ learning practices and challenges. In addition, she is completing her PhD in the Department of Integrated Studies in Education at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. Her main research interest is investigating the rhetorical reasons for African researchers’ low rates of academic publication.
Bibliography
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Parties annexes
Note biographique
KATIE BRYANT travaille actuellement comme chercheur et coach en écriture à l’Université du Botswana située à Gaborone, au Botswana, dans le cadre d’un partenariat Botswana-Université de Pennsylvanie. C’est dans ce contexte qu’elle codirige une étude portant sur les pratiques et défis rencontrés par les étudiants en médecine en cours d’apprentissage. De plus, elle complète son doctorat au sein du département d’études intégrées en sciences de l’éducation de l’Université McGill, située à Montréal, au Canada. Par ses recherches, elle tente principalement de comprendre les raisons rhétoriques sous-tendant les faibles taux de publication académique des chercheurs d’origine africaine.