[The Conversation Africa] Over the past 15 years there's been an increasing demand from within and outside the higher education sector for African countries to produce more PhD graduates. For this to happen, it's important to know what's holding people back from pursuing or completing their doctoral degrees. The authors of a new review article did just that, with a focus on South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Nigeria. Five themes emerged from their work: PhD candidates' sociodemographic profiles, access to funding, the