Challenges Associated with Sustainable Research Capacity Building: A Comparative Study between BRICS Nations and African Countries

In alignment with the theme of the conference "Education in Developing, Emerging, and Developed Countries: Different Worlds, Common Challenges," this paper brings attention to the challenges associated with the implementation of sustainable research capacity building (SRCB) in the context of BRICS nations and African countries. Employing a comparative document analysis method to explore the unique contexts of developing nations, this research provides insights and recommendations to strengthen research capacity in academia, address shared challenges and promote national prosperity. The scholarly literature revealed that higher education institutions (HEIs) in developing countries have intensified their efforts in building the research capacity of their academics and institutions. Regardless of their commitment, HEIs face challenges such as gender inequalities, teaching workloads, doctoral program deficiencies, lack of multidisciplinary research approaches and funding constraints. Addressing the challenges will require improved funding for research training and research productivity. One of the main concerns is that instead of advancing knowledge and being producers thereof, most developing countries remain knowledge consumers. The findings revealed that developing the next generation of academics plays a critical role in the sustainability of an emerging country's research system. [For the complete Volume 22 proceedings, see ED656158.]