Dr Saurambe-Africa’s youngest female Ph.D. graduate

 

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.