Promoting a research culture and scholarship at a higher education institution

This article offers a glance at strategies related to the creation of a researchculture at higher education institutions that desire to reposition academic staffto commit to scholarly work and research outputs. The departure is that theseinstitutions need to focus on a multidimensional and holistic approach tocreate a research culture in which a sustainable research environment can beestablished for academia to contribute significantly to research. The dimensions of a research culture and ethos, focussing on the coordinationof goals, regular communication and professional rewards, isproposed as a tool with the potential to contribute towards the promotion of aresearch culture. In this article strategies employed by the previous TechnikonWitwatersrand (now merged into the newly formed University ofJohannesburg) will be discussed, especially with reference to promoting aresearch culture and ethos and scholarship. It is suggested that a researchculture, although multifaceted, needs to be created to promote scholarship inhigher education institutions.