Structural Dynamics of Leadership in Current Intra-African Higher Education Collaborative Research Teams: The Case of Selected South African Research-based Universities

Abstract

The study is situated in the field of higher education Internationalisation research. More specifically, the lens is on the structural dynamics of leading IRC within the borders of the African continent. Issues such as research team structure and leadership are explored. To overcome the complexities of executing research while grappling with contextual challenges, the research includes the modified snowball sampling method, Referral Sampling. Making use of an interpretivist paradigm and a mixed methods approach, data was obtained via online semi-structured interviews with South African researchintensive university representatives and collaborative research team PI’s. Data collected was analysed against internationalisation concepts and leadership theory.