“Get us partnerships!” - a qualitative study of Angolan and Mozambican health academics’ experiences with North/South partnerships
Abstract Background Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 17 focuses on North/South partnerships for sustainable development. Literature on research partnerships and capacity -building often neglects how these processes are carried out in practice, their social impacts and participants’ subjective expe...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2020-04-01
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| Series: | Globalization and Health |
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| Online Access: | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12992-020-00562-7 |
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| author | Isabel Craveiro António Carvalho Paulo Ferrinho |
| author_facet | Isabel Craveiro António Carvalho Paulo Ferrinho |
| author_sort | Isabel Craveiro |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 17 focuses on North/South partnerships for sustainable development. Literature on research partnerships and capacity -building often neglects how these processes are carried out in practice, their social impacts and participants’ subjective experiences. Recognizing the increasingly global dimensions of Higher Education Institutions, the University Development and Innovation – Africa project (UDI-A) was designed to train lecturers and administrative staff of Angolan and Mozambican Universities through collaborations with European institutions, aiming at strengthening African academic and social landscapes through knowledge translation and dissemination. This paper examines potential outcomes of UDI-A on participants’ academic pathways, investigating the conflict between different imaginaries of capacity-building and partnerships, focusing on how Angolan and Mozambican health sciences researchers experience international collaborations. Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven health academics, as well as a focus group discussion involving all participants. These were recorded, fully transcribed, anonymized and coded to identify common themes. A consent form was signed by all participants. Results and discussion UDI-A was considered innovative, fostering the improvement of pedagogical skills and increasing social entrepreneurship activities. Participants arrived with a specific institutional mandate and believed that the training received should be incorporated into institutional practices to “modernize” these specific Portuguese speaking African Universities and the health sector. The institutional mechanisms put in place to attain this goal, Centres for Academic Development and Innovation (“CADIs”), were considered potential research and development hubs and drivers of academic and societal transformation. Nevertheless, participants shared a sense of asymmetry (infrastructural, financial, in terms of access to information) between them and European trainers. Although this asymmetry was the underlying basis of this capacity-building project, they argued that UDI-A did not fully acknowledge their local contexts, compromising the prospective development of partnerships in the health field. Conclusions More attention should be devoted to understanding how participants experience capacity building processes, integrating the diversity of their aspirations and perceptions into subsequent phases of the project, requiring the development of methodological innovations to increase the impact of these programs. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T13:50:45Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-18d11719f6b149feab7d95af11e06225 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1744-8603 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T13:50:45Z |
| publishDate | 2020-04-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Globalization and Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-18d11719f6b149feab7d95af11e062252022-12-22T02:44:21ZengBMCGlobalization and Health1744-86032020-04-0116111010.1186/s12992-020-00562-7“Get us partnerships!” - a qualitative study of Angolan and Mozambican health academics’ experiences with North/South partnershipsIsabel Craveiro0António Carvalho1Paulo Ferrinho2Global Health and Tropical Medicine, GHTM, Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical, IHMT, Universidade Nova de LisboaGlobal Health and Tropical Medicine, GHTM, Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical, IHMT, Universidade Nova de LisboaGlobal Health and Tropical Medicine, GHTM, Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical, IHMT, Universidade Nova de LisboaAbstract Background Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 17 focuses on North/South partnerships for sustainable development. Literature on research partnerships and capacity -building often neglects how these processes are carried out in practice, their social impacts and participants’ subjective experiences. Recognizing the increasingly global dimensions of Higher Education Institutions, the University Development and Innovation – Africa project (UDI-A) was designed to train lecturers and administrative staff of Angolan and Mozambican Universities through collaborations with European institutions, aiming at strengthening African academic and social landscapes through knowledge translation and dissemination. This paper examines potential outcomes of UDI-A on participants’ academic pathways, investigating the conflict between different imaginaries of capacity-building and partnerships, focusing on how Angolan and Mozambican health sciences researchers experience international collaborations. Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven health academics, as well as a focus group discussion involving all participants. These were recorded, fully transcribed, anonymized and coded to identify common themes. A consent form was signed by all participants. Results and discussion UDI-A was considered innovative, fostering the improvement of pedagogical skills and increasing social entrepreneurship activities. Participants arrived with a specific institutional mandate and believed that the training received should be incorporated into institutional practices to “modernize” these specific Portuguese speaking African Universities and the health sector. The institutional mechanisms put in place to attain this goal, Centres for Academic Development and Innovation (“CADIs”), were considered potential research and development hubs and drivers of academic and societal transformation. Nevertheless, participants shared a sense of asymmetry (infrastructural, financial, in terms of access to information) between them and European trainers. Although this asymmetry was the underlying basis of this capacity-building project, they argued that UDI-A did not fully acknowledge their local contexts, compromising the prospective development of partnerships in the health field. Conclusions More attention should be devoted to understanding how participants experience capacity building processes, integrating the diversity of their aspirations and perceptions into subsequent phases of the project, requiring the development of methodological innovations to increase the impact of these programs.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12992-020-00562-7Research partnerships, capacity buildingAngolan and Mozambican health academicsAcademic developmentNorth/south collaboration |
| spellingShingle | Isabel Craveiro António Carvalho Paulo Ferrinho “Get us partnerships!” - a qualitative study of Angolan and Mozambican health academics’ experiences with North/South partnerships Globalization and Health Research partnerships, capacity building Angolan and Mozambican health academics Academic development North/south collaboration |
| title | “Get us partnerships!” - a qualitative study of Angolan and Mozambican health academics’ experiences with North/South partnerships |
| title_full | “Get us partnerships!” - a qualitative study of Angolan and Mozambican health academics’ experiences with North/South partnerships |
| title_fullStr | “Get us partnerships!” - a qualitative study of Angolan and Mozambican health academics’ experiences with North/South partnerships |
| title_full_unstemmed | “Get us partnerships!” - a qualitative study of Angolan and Mozambican health academics’ experiences with North/South partnerships |
| title_short | “Get us partnerships!” - a qualitative study of Angolan and Mozambican health academics’ experiences with North/South partnerships |
| title_sort | get us partnerships a qualitative study of angolan and mozambican health academics experiences with north south partnerships |
| topic | Research partnerships, capacity building Angolan and Mozambican health academics Academic development North/south collaboration |
| url | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12992-020-00562-7 |
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