Int’l professor underscores need for better networking to propel Guyana’s development

As linkages between the Guyanese population and regional bodies grow through varied partnerships, Dr. Teboho Moja – Professor of Higher Education at New York University and at the University of the Western Cape of South Africa – has emphasised the need for locals to collectively network, stating that Guyana can benefit at a much faster pace.

Networking is about building relationships and connecting with others: people you know, people you don’t really know, and new people you’ve never met before. And while it may sound intimidating, it can be rewarding and fun.
She at the time made this disclosure during a webinar on Monday.
According to Dr. Moja, cycles of stagnancy in businesses, organisations and other bodies can be broken if collaborative networking efforts are practiced.
“If there is collaboration across the board then we can break the cycles…that we talk so much about but we need to break the cycles but we cannot do that alone, we need to do collaborative research and collaborative networking which can addresses major problems,” she stated.
Considering the complexity in today’s world, she highlighted that if Guyanese try to reach out to regional bodies solely and not collaboratively there will be many hurdles which that person will have to jump over.
“The essence of network research communities lies in that ability to nurture and foster collaboration, promote the exchange of ideas, and drive innovation by bringing together diverse expertise and perspectives, in today’s increasingly complex world, the challenges we face, be they social, economic, environmental, or technological, are often just too vast for any single actor, researcher, or institution, government, or so, to tackle alone.”
She added, “So network research communities will allow for the pooling of resources, the pooling of knowledge and skills, to enhance our ability to address these multifaceted issues that affect us all in different ways.”
Lending her perspective to scarcity of resources in different work fields, she mentioned that networking can alleviate this lingering issue.
“We can facilitate the sharing of resources be it data methodology truth which can significantly accelerate the pace of research and reduce the implication especially in situations where resources are limited.”
Using the University of Guyana (UG) as the main point of her discussion she drew a narrative which showed that if UG was capitalise on collaborative networking, there can soon be more statistical information gained on topics such as migration and diaspora.
“We would have a clearer understanding of how we can leverage this strategy to enhance the work that we are doing here at the University of Guyana to enhance the field of migration and diaspora studies and even beyond that.’
The webinar was hosted by the University’s Centre for Migration and Diaspora Studies under the topic of “Building inclusive networked research communities”.
Dr. Teboho Moja is a Professor of Higher Education at New York University, an Extraordinary Professor at the University of the Western Cape – South Africa, and a Visiting Research Fellow at the Centre for the Advancement of Scholarship at the University of Pretoria, South Africa.
She previously served as an Executive Director and Commissioner of the National Commission on Higher Education in South Africa (1995), appointed by President Mandela. She was recognised and awarded a Lifetime Achiever Award by the National Research Foundation (South Africa) and an Honorary doctorate by the University of Pretoria. She has served on numerous bodies including the UNESCO- Institute of International Education Planning and the Advisory board of the Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship Programme. She is a board member of the National Research Foundation and Founder and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Student Affairs in Africa. (G2)