Who is Dr
Musawenkosi Saurambe?
I am an exuberant
young woman who is in constant endeavor to discover the all-encompassing extent
of my abilities. I believe that our lives have a purpose beyond the
actualization and exaltation of self, therefore, I am constantly seeking
innovative and significant ways to do things that not only forge me ahead but
also inspire others in the process. I believe that the difference between
succeeding or failing for some people is the lack of inspiration and whenever I
get the opportunity to be someone’s inspiration, I grab it with both hands. I’m
just trying to do my noble service by rendering substantial contribution to
humanity, before my time on earth elapses.
What activities did you take pleasure in when
you were a child?
As a child, I
particularly took keen interest in music. My parents tell me that I began to
hum to songs I heard at home way before I even started to speak. My father
being musically gifted himself, upon identifying this gift in me, took time to
nurture it and I was often assigned to sing at church as well as school plays
and functions. This has followed me even into my adult life as I am often
invited to sing at university functions, religious gatherings, weddings and
more. I also enjoyed out door and invigorating activities as a child. I loved
going to amusement parks and my parents tell me that whenever they took my
older brother and I there, I was always so fearless and never wanted to miss
out on any of the rides, even though I was quite young. Apparently I would even go
on all the rides which my older brother considered too nerve-wracking
Is there anyone in your family or community
who influenced your love for education?
My Dad is a teacher by
profession and so my siblings and I were compelled to take education very
seriously.
My Mom who home schooled my siblings and I also always made
sure she presented education to us in the most exhilarating manner possible in
order to intrigue our young minds and help develop our cognitive
abilities. For the sake of preserving my
father’s reputation at his work place, from a young age I learnt to take my
school work seriously as it would have been a massive humiliation for him to
teach and develop other bright minds while his own children slacked.
Where did
you study? (starting from primary school to university)
I was home-schooled by
my mother from the age of 2 and began my preparatory class “standard zero” at
the age of 4, in 1998 at Phakalane English Medium Primary School, where I
completed standard 2 in 2000. I transferred to Legae Primary English Medium
School in Gaborone in 2001 where I enrolled for standard 3, only to be promoted
to standard 4 in the second term of the same year. I completed my standard 7 at
Legae Primary in 2004, subsequently commencing my secondary school education in
2005 at Legae Academy. I was part of the first group of students to be promoted
from form 2 (grade 9) to form 4 (grade 11) in 2007 and successfully completed
my IGCSE (International General Certificate of Secondary Education) at Legae
Academy in 2008, after which I did my Cambridge AS-level (Advanced Subsidiary)
studies in 2009. I proceeded to South Africa where I began my tertiary studies
at the North West University, Mafikeng Campus in 2010, at 16. I exhibited a
ravenous passion for learning as I acquired my bachelor’s degree in human
resource management at 19, my honours degree at 20, my master’s degree at 21
(cum laude), the top student in my entire faculty and all in record time. I
wasted no time and delved right into my Ph.D. studies in 2015, completing this
qualification also, at the aforementioned institution of higher learning, in
record time of 2 years. I became a Doctor of Philosophy in Industrial
Psychology on the 25th April, 2017, breaking an astounding academic record by
becoming the youngest female Ph.D. graduate in Africa, at 23 years of age.
Were you always a top achiever at school?
Throughout most of my
Primary school education I attained first position and a few other times 2nd
position. The only time in Primary School that I attained as far as position 8,
was when I was promoted from standard 3 (grade 3) to standard 4 (grade 4) in
the same year and this was because I had to catch up on a whole previous term’s
work in the second term of grade 4 as I had missed the first one. By the third
term however, I was back at the top of the class. In high school I experienced
somewhat of a slum in the first 18 months. This complacency towards my studies
was as a result of having been under so much duress in primary school since my
Dad is a teacher by profession and I attended the same primary school where he
was teaching. I always felt compelled to perform extraordinarily so as not to
put his name in disrepute.
Once I got to high school I felt like my Dad wasn’t there
anymore so I could relax and just be like all the other regular kids. Besides,
it wasn’t considered too cool being a nerd so I wanted to be part of the “cool
gang” now. My parents firmly reprimanded my behavior and sudden slack in my
school work and I ended up resolving to exert more effort and seriousness once
more. Towards the end of my second year in high school, I finally ‘pulled up my
socks’ and I achieved good results. Consequently, I was promoted from grade 9
to grade 11 and from then, I was more diligent with my school work.
At what
stage in your life did you decide to follow the academic route?
I never actually
imagined that I would pursue an academic career this early in my life. As is
the case with most people, I had anticipated first entering the corporate space
in order to acquire industry experience in my particular field of education,
however as we all know, life does not always go according to our own
endeavoring, this being the case I believe that to those who believe in a
greater cause than themselves, life goes according to a supremely designed
plan. After completing my bachelor’s degree, I knew for certain that I wanted
to pursue my honours, but master’s and doctoral degrees were only supposed to
be a thing of the future. I began sending out a few applications for employment
towards the end of my honours. However, to no positive revert. I then convinced
myself that getting right into my master’s would not be such a bad idea because
after all, I was only 20 years old at the time and who would hire a 20-year-old
human resource practitioner right? Long story short, through hard work and
rigour, I completed my master’s at 21, within a year, although the general time
allowance is 2 years. To top that off, I graduated cum laude (with distinction)
and my study leader Professor. Nicolene Barkhuizen immediately encouraged me to
delve right into my Ph.D. as she said she saw great promise in me to be an
academic and researcher of note in the future. I followed her advice especially
since job prospects in industry were scant, which I later realized was all part
of God’s greater plan when I was hailed the youngest female Ph.D. graduate in
Africa at 23.
Were there other people who encouraged you to
be an academic?
Besides my
postgraduate research supervisor and mentor Prof. Nicolene Barkhuizen who
encouraged me to pursue postgraduate education as she also followed a very
similar path, my uncle who is also a Doctor of Philosophy, Dr. Talkmore
Saurombe, saw an article in 2014 of the youngest Ph.D. graduate in Africa at
the time who had achieved this feat in Nigeria. He sent me a picture of the
article and at the time I was busy with my master’s degree. He then challenged,
a 21-year-old at the time that if I worked deligently and swiftly, I could also
establish my own record. While this was not the main motivating factor for me
to enroll for my Ph.D as I wanted to go and work, once I established that I had
no other options but to register, it was definitely what made me work harder
towards completing a phenomenal, in-depth and significant study, in record
time.
Why did you
opt for Industrial Psychology?
When I was in high school I was actually studying science
subjects because the ultimate goal was to be a scientist. After visiting a
hospital one time towards the end of high school, it dawned on me that medicine
was really not what I was ardent enough about to pursue. I informed my parents
of my sudden change of heart, a change at which they were absolutely bewildered,
however for the sake of not forcing me to continue with something that I did
not feel strongly enough about, they allowed me to pursue whatever else my
heart desired, which was a tough situation because at the time, I did not
really know what I would resort to outside of medicine. I ended up resolving to
enroll for a commercial course but was still unsure of what exactly. In order
to assist with my confusion as the deadlines were fast approaching for the
applications for university enrolment the following year, my parents decided to
make the first 2 choices for me since most university applications allow three.
My Mom chose Economics as my 1st option, my Dad chose Accounting as my second
option and they told me to write down the third choice. At that point I
remembered the career exhibition that we had had earlier that year which also
afforded us the opportunity to take skills and strengths assessment that
allowed us to match these to specific possible professions. I then remembered
scoring highly in interpersonal skills and one of the professions that was
better suited to my personality was defined as Human Resource Management and
Industrial Psychology, which I ended up putting down as my third option. Long
story short, my initial application got misplaced through the mailing process
as I was applying from Botswana.
Once we realized this
upon calling the North-West University admissions office, they advised that we
urgently travel to Mafikeng to physically fill in and submit a new application
before time absolutely ran out. By that time however, the first 2 options I had
written down were full to capacity so I had to be admitted for my 3rd option.
This turned out to be a blessing in disguise as I later realized how much I
despised economics and accounting modules. Once again, it all happened as per
God’s design.
Where are you currently working? And what are
your duties?
I am currently a
Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the North West University. My work largely
entails research within the field of Industrial Psychology, specifically Talent
Management and Talent Value Proposition, however I also lecture undergraduate
courses. I currently have 12 research publications; 9 journal articles and 3
international conference proceeding publications. I also co-supervise
postgraduate research.
Besides your academic work, are there any
other projects that you are involved in?
Outside of my academic
work escapades, I am also entrenched in leadership responsibilities both
locally and internationally, for instance I was a Track Chair at the Academy of
World Business and Marketing Management 2018 Research Conference in Athens,
Greece, which although is work related, is outside of my actual work
specification.
I am also currently an
Ambassador of the Charlotte Mannya-Maxeke Institute (an Institute focused on
girl and young women empowerment through various initiatives) as of October
2017 till present. I am also involved with the BRICS Youth Association,
representing the South African delegation, among many other strategic and
community leadership roles.
Most Managers struggle
to create a harmonious working environment for their subordinates. Why is that?
The orthodox or
traditional approach to leadership is often authoritarian. This means that
previously, the prevailing workplace circumstances was that managers subjugated
their subordinates, in a manner that proved detrimental and adverse to the
performance of these ‘inferiors’.
Is there any advice you can give to those
managers?
Contemporary times
have seen a great shift from the conventional dictatorial leadership approach
to the team leadership and membership approach. This new approach thus requires
that managers can not only lead their teams, but also be a part/member of these
teams. This eliminates apprehension in the subordinates and fosters an
environment of openness and camaraderie. Any manager who can nurture such a
workplace atmosphere is likely to get the most out of employees. A phenomenon
which volumes of credible research have proven several times over.
What is the best way to encourage an employee
who is demotivated?
The best way to
motivate a demoralized employee is by identifying their strengths and assisting
them to embrace those strengths in a way that allows them to leverage them,
thus rendering these individuals more useful. The one question that haunts
mankind throughout our lifespan is the question of purpose.
Why am I here, what am
I supposed to accomplish, how does my existence make a substantial contribution
that is larger than myself? Once you help a person answer this question and
thus apply themselves in the most congruent manner, this will yield a great
sense of self satisfaction.
Who do you look up to and why?
I look up to my
parents. Reason being that in a world that is becoming and has since become
more and more degenerate, they have invested all they ever had, heart, mind,
body, soul and resource, to ensuring that we had the best launching pad and
gravitational force necessary to establish us on our distinct predestined
trajectories, a reality they largely actuated through honing our
self-perceptions and interpersonal interaction acumens.
A wise person once
said ‘sometimes it’s not about what you’ve accomplished in your life but who
you raise’. There’s an African proverb
which says that if there’s no enemy within, the enemy outside can do us no harm
and my parents inculcated a great culture of being self-aware. That way we are
not easily swayed by external forces and are also less likely to replicate or
take the form of negative associations we may encounter along our life’s
journey. This knowledge and mastery of self which I am in perpetual pursuit of,
has been one of the greatest underpinnings of my accomplishments thus far.
Where do you see yourself in ten years time?
I often avoid such
questions (laughing out loud). This owing to the path I have traversed thus far
having made me realise that most of what I had imagined my life to be, did not
materialize precisely the way I had envisaged. It is for this reason that I
have resolved on the premise of the little wisdom I have so far acquired, to
allow life to run its course
I have come to appreciate the importance of being diligent
and precise in whatever it is that my hands find to do, meaning I will give my
all in every opportunity that collides with me along my journey. It is in this
manner that every deliberate and rigorous work we do, becomes a building block
towards the supreme plan and design for our lives, which I believe could never
compare to and completely transcends, that which our own minds are able to
fathom. All I can say thus, is in ten years, I’ll be ten times or more better
than I am today.
What are
your hobbies?
My hobbies are
singing, reading thought provoking literature, listening to motivational
podcasts, volunteering and community service, outdoors activities (whenever I
get the chance), travelling (which I get to do a lot thanks to my profession!),
spending time with family amid my fairly demanding schedule, Youth activism and
motivational speaking.
Who is your
favourite artist?
I don’t actually have
a favourite artist. I have several whom I feel carry the same weight and
significance however if I were compelled to choose one, I would say Jonathan
McReynolds and Travis Greene. Okay, I know that’s two but these artists just
touch my soul. Their music is so poignant and has seen me through some
difficult times prior.
How do you
unwind?
I usually unwind by
listening to music and motivational talks/sermons in my own space. I also enjoy
virtual group chat with my nuclear family. Such activity always brings things
into perspective for me, especially after a long or daunting day.
