Tracy is a postdoctoral research fellow at SciSTIP. She holds a PhD in Science and Technology Studies on the topic of the provision and influence of evidence-based policy advice through the lens of a case study of the National Advisory Council on Innovation.
Her background as a researcher is in science and higher education policy, governance and coordination, and the relationship between research-based evidence/advice and public policy. Major projects have included a review of South Africa’s National Research and Development Strategy and Ten Year Innovation Plan; the role and functions of higher education councils and commissions in Africa; the relationship between universities and economic development in Africa; the production and utilisation of knowledge produced in South African universities; and women in science, engineering and technology.
Recent journal articles include ‘Transformation impossible: Policy, evidence and change in South African higher education’ (2021) with Nico Cloete, Francois van Schalkwyk and Milandré van Lill, and ‘Fort Hare at its centenary: University functions in post-apartheid South Africa’ (2017) with Nico Cloete and Ian Bunting. Tracy was co-editor with Nico Cloete and Peter Maassen on the book ‘Knowledge Production and Contradictory Functions in African Higher Education’ (2015) and made contributions to a number of chapters in that publication.
Tracy is currently involved in the qualitative interview component of the PhD tracer study currently being undertaken at CREST.
