The Centre for Diversity in Higher Education Research is dedicated to fulfilling the university’s Transformation Plan by cultivating a robust, inclusive, and highly productive research ecosystem. We focus heavily on capacity building, ensuring that emerging and established researchers alike benefit from targeted academic interventions.
As a centre for diversity, we welcome individuals from all faculties, languages, nationalities, and backgrounds. Our ultimate goal is to advance the research agenda, promote good governance, and champion human rights and social justice within the higher education landscape.
Strategic Objectives
Our work is guided by five core pillars designed to enhance research productivity, institutional sustainability, and societal impact:
Research & Innovation Culture
Developing a strong, pervasive culture of research and innovation across all university faculties.
Capacity Building
Introducing targeted interventions like research clinics and winter schools to clarify research dynamics and enhance productivity.
Strategic Partnerships
Building robust local and global partnerships that directly support the university’s strategic and academic goals.
Institutional Sustainability
Expanding diverse income streams and enhancing the CUT brand through high-impact knowledge production.
Governance & Social Justice
Promoting good governance, human rights, and social justice, advancing the research agenda through a lens of diversity and inclusion.
Core Strategic Units
The centre operates through specialised units, each contributing to sustainable development and comprehensive researcher support:
Unit for Research, Technology, and Innovation Development
Driving the integration of new technologies and innovative methodologies into educational research.
Unit for Special Projects, Income, and Corporate Partnerships
Securing funding, managing specialised initiatives, and fostering industry collaborations.
Unit for Women, Children, and Disenfranchised People
Championing inclusive research that addresses the unique challenges faced by marginalised communities.
Unit for Postgraduate Support
Providing dedicated academic, structural, and mentorship support to postgraduate scholars.
Flagship Capacity Building Programmes
Our early successes are rooted in our flagship interventions, designed to support academics and postgraduate students in completing high-quality research in a timely manner:
Annual Research Winter School
A one-week research-intensive programme held annually at the CUT Welkom Campus during the first week of July. It targets postgraduates and academics, featuring leading local and international scholars sharing best practices in research, supervision, and community engagement. The programme has successfully hosted an average of 120 delegates per year over the past two years.
Professor Dube with attendees at the 2025 Research Winter School at the Welkom Campus.
Research Clinics
Targeted, high-impact sessions held weekly on Wednesdays to promote a robust research culture. With strong support from the CUT Welkom Campus in 2025, these clinics have directly contributed to improved research outputs and enhanced individual research capabilities.
Jumpstart Research Programme
A dedicated academic writing initiative cultivating a strong publication culture. Recent bootcamps held across both campuses in May and June 2025 supported 50 postgraduate students, assisting them and their supervisors in publishing quality articles in reputable journals.
Postgraduate Bootcamp
Experiencing strong demand among postgraduate scholars, this intensive programme is crucial for helping students complete their research timeously, thereby developing a robust pool of academics and enhancing overall faculty research productivity.
Journal of Humanities, Educational Technology and Innovation (JoHETI)
Developed to capture the vision of the university and the Faculty of Humanities, JoHETI is now in its second year of publishing (2025). It serves as a vital avenue for knowledge production, complementing our researchers' success in editing special issues within reputable, DHET-accredited journals.
Recent Collaborative Projects & Global Partnerships
The centre has established strategic partnerships with leading universities worldwide to enhance the CUT brand in global knowledge production. Recent collaborative initiatives include:
Aksaray University (Turkey)
Projects: Co-authoring a book on "Digital Transformation in Higher Education" with global contributors, and developing a joint Master of Education in English Language Teaching degree.
Appalachian State University (USA)
Project: The "Borderless Curriculum Project", a collaborative book exploring comparative curriculum practices between the USA and South Africa, open to international contributors.
University of the West Indies (Barbados)
Project: Co-developing a book on "Inclusive Education in Africa and the Caribbean". Additionally, Prof. B. Dube was appointed as an associate editor for the prestigious Caribbean Journal of Education.
National University of Science and Technology (Zimbabwe)
Project: "Research and Postgraduate Supervision". An international teaching exchange where eight CUT colleagues spent a week teaching, guest lecturing, and providing research guidance to master’s and doctoral students.
University of Belize
Project: Exploring the establishment of a "Cross Continent Research Centre" in honour of Sechaba Mahlomaholo and Jennifer Lavia, focusing on joint degrees, supervisions, and sustainable learning links between Africa and the Caribbean.
A Message from the Director
"The Centre for Diversity in Higher Education Research experienced significant growth in 2025, reflected in the strong uptake of our Research Clinics, Winter School, and Postgraduate Boot Camps. We celebrate the visibility of CUT globally, the promotion of our scholars to higher ranks, and colleagues publishing more than 10 articles per year. These intentional activities are strategically positioned to increase impact, generate revenue, and align perfectly with CUT Vision 2030."
"I look forward to welcoming you to the centre as we continue to reshape the narrative of CUT."
Prof. Bekithemba Dube
Professor in Education Management and Director of the Centre
