Research Excellence Celebrated at Research Day

BY: .

The School of Accounting, Economics and Finance recently hosted its Research Day, a strategic initiative aimed at contributing towards increasing research output within the College of Law and Management Studies.

The day saw 19 academics showcase quality research done in the School’s various disciplines and was attended by more than 40 academics.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the College of Law and Management Studies, Professor John Mubangizi commended the School for prioritising research.

‘This Research Day is taking place at the beginning of the year which shows that the presenters spent the holidays working on their papers and that should be commended,’

‘The day is about people sharing their research and its importance; and answers the questions why publishing is important. If you have limited growth in your career as an academic, there is no other way to progress but to publish. So, please take advantage of the assistance available to you from your Dean and the Research Office and let’s improve research in our College,’ he said.

The papers that were presented explored economic, educational, financial and environmental themes.

In the finance stream, Ms Shelley Donnelly delivered a paper titled: “Factors that affect the Credit Risk of Commercial Farmers in KwaZulu-Natal”, while Dr Mabutho Sibanda presented on the “Determinants of Financial Literacy Among Secondary School Pupils in Zimbabwe”.

Ms Ralitza Dobreva and Mr Farai Kwenda presented a paper on the “Impact of Acquisitions on Profitability: Evidence from listed firms in South Africa and Brazil”.

In the teaching and learning session, Dr Karen Bargate, Dr Phocenah Nyatanga, Ms Jessica Goebel and Ms Charmaine Lathleiff delivered research that explored differed methods of teaching and their negative and positive impacts on the student academic success.

After the presentations the presenters received feedback from their peers on how to improve their research.

The Dean and Head of the School, Professor Anesh Singh encouraged the academics to take advantage of the various research initiatives aimed at building research capacity.

‘It has been a great day; it is interesting to see how we all have different methods of research. I would like to encourage you to take advantage of all of the research initiatives going-on in the School such as the Publish One Publish All (POPA) project and the research funds and workshops we have planned to help you find out what you need to do to be active researchers. We are here to help you and get you publishing. So, please tell us how we can help you,’ he said.

It is envisaged that through such initiatives the College of Law and Management Studies will make a valuable contribution to the University’s primary goal of positioning itself as a research led institution.

Thandiwe Jumo