Dr Sophie Etomes

Individuals and society see education as a life transformer, a means to a higher income, a better life, and an economic development engine. Innovations and changes in society through higher education are significant suppliers of the quality and quantity of human capital needed by communities. This justifies the household and government’s expenditure on education, especially at tertiary level. But transformational leadership is necessary for the sustainable production of the quality and quantity of output in higher education – unemployed graduates mean low productivity by tertiary institutions and a poor return on investment for all involved, from the graduate’s family to the government. Thus, the management of human resources is vital.

Given that education is a powerful instrument for the economic development of every country, there is a need to consider whether resources devoted to education yield expected returns. Dr Sophie Ekume Etomes' research focuses on leadership and the economics of education. Her particular interest is on how resources invested in education can be made more productive for the individual, the government and society. She applies economic concepts in education to enable policymakers to be better informed on the investments made in education – and the returns on this investment.

She observes that no formal leadership training is available within higher education institutions in Cameroon. Leaders are appointed based on political recognition or teacher experience, leading to inferior quality assurance and productivity. Her research focuses on how policies are made and implemented, and it has revealed to her that the productivity of leaders is of the utmost relevance. Most PhD graduates in Cameroon are unemployed, yet the demand for a PhD is constantly on the rise. This is a waste of scarce national resources deployed in education production and a threat to the country’s development agenda to become an emerging nation by 2035.

Dr Etomes sees her association with the Future Africa Research Leader Fellowship (FAR-LeaF) programme as an opportunity to view her country’s issues from a new perspective, and create new lines of enquiry and streams of research into leadership opportunities and training. She will investigate how transformational leaders can effectively manage change for sustainable productivity of higher education in Cameroon.

Dr Etomes believes that leaders should strengthen understanding, foster justice for staff and improve the quality of the work-life balance. In an ever-changing world of crises, conflicts and pandemics, the role of transformational leaders in organisational productivity cannot be overemphasised. When followers share the vision of an organisation, take part in decision-making and get support, productivity will rise above expectations and organisational sustainability will increase.