Evaluation education in South Africa: Characteristics and challenges in a changing world

Abstract

Background: South Africa and other developing countries are facing an ever-increasing demand for competent evaluators. In addition, increasing demands are being placed on those who become evaluators. What does this mean for evaluation education in its current form and state in South Africa? In addition, what possible responses can be there to the diverse drivers of change within the dynamic social context in which evaluators operate?Objectives: This article aims to address some of the questions related to the supply and demand profile of evaluation in South Africa, which may be useful for other developing countries.Method: A literature review and key informant interviews were carried out to answer the key research questions.Results: The article describes the provision of formal evaluation education and the challenges currently facing university-based offerings. The study provides a framework for considering the interaction between the supply and demand elements in the field of evaluation. Strategies are proposed for strengthening the supply of evaluators and ensuring that these evaluators can respond to the growing demands being placed on them.Conclusion: This article is valuable for all evaluation stakeholders as it provides insight into the academic landscape of evaluation in a developing context and explores practical ways to support and strengthen capacity building efforts in similar contexts.

How does teaching with cases support the development of evaluation competencies?

“…We therefore expected to see cases being used by instructors to support interpersonal competency development, perhaps more than some of the other competency domains. It was therefore surprising to see that this was not the case, despite the potential of case-centered teaching in this domain (Wildschut & Silubonde, 2020). In line with the results outlined by Kallemeyn et al (2021), our respondents use cases mainly to teach competencies related to professional practice, context or situational practice, technical or methodological skills, and management practice.…”

Artificial intelligence and the future of evaluation education: Possibilities and prototypes

“…Access to evaluator education is not equitable across the world. For example, there is limited availability of formal evaluation education in the Global South (Wildschut & Silubonde, 2020; Shiva Kumar, 2010), and what exists tends to be led by evaluators in the Global North (Ofir, 2021; for a counter example, see Bitar et al.’s 2023 discussion of EvalYouth). Similarly, Dighe and Sarode (2019) argue that while evaluation capacity building has gained traction in the Global North, fewer systematic efforts have been dedicated in the Global South.…”