Addressing Factors That Affect Efficiency Of Training At PhD Level: A Study On Achievements Of Initiatives Targeting PhD Level Training

Abstract

A questionnaire developed and pretested to document and assess knowledge, attitudes and practices on training at PhD level was administered to respondents randomly selected from among the administrators, academic staff, PhD students and recent PhD graduates of three colleges of the college of Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences (CAVS), the College of

Biological and physical Sciences (CBPS), the College of Education and External Studies (CEES) and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS) of the University of Nairobi. The numbers of respondents were weighted in favour of CAVS and CBPS which formed the core thrust of the project. Individual interviews were held with respondents through enumerators supervised by project team. The study demonstrated large variation in attitudes, knowledge and practices in the training of the PhD students. Key among them were student tracking, supervision, PhD Examination, PhD Taught courses and PhD student networking. Awareness of the weaknesses has significantly increased and response to efforts to enhance efficiency has been very positive.