Growing researchers from the historically disadvantaged groups through internships

Abstract

This article provides an overview of the nature and quality of research supervision and mentorship practices employed by supervisors and mentors of interns in a South African research council in an attempt to increase the pool and change the face of researchers in the country. Through a series of studies conducted by the research council, the success of this intervention is investigated. The article provides insight into the difficulties of attaining the goal of increasing researchers from this group through internships. The practices viewed as being generally successful in supervision and mentorship of master’s and doctoral research interns inside and outside SA, are highlighted. From this analysis, models of effective supervision and mentorship of research interns are identified.

Keywords: internship; mentorship; supervision; research councils; research capacity building