Celebrating 30 Years of Democracy towards Women’s Development
As the country celebrates Women's Month, the Department of Science and Innovation
is introducing phenomenal women scientists and researchers who are finalists in it annual South African Women in Science Awards.
Meet Prof. Helena Barnard, a finalist in the Humanities and Social Sciences – Distinguished Woman Researchers
Prof. Barnard is a full professor at the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) at the University of Pretoria, where she heads the doctoral programme.
Prof. Barnard's research focuses on innovation and international business, particularly in Africa. She studies how knowledge, technology, organisational practices and innovation transfer between more and less developed countries. Her work examines both organisational mechanisms, such as emerging multinationals and internet-enabled businesses, and individual mechanisms like scientific collaborations, the diaspora, and doctoral training.
To address the lack of African perspectives in management scholarship, she redesigned the GIBS doctoral programme to develop African voices in business and management research. Under her leadership since 2013, GIBS has produced nearly 90 doctorates and received support from the Canadian International Development Research Centre and the British Council/Department of Higher Education and Training.
Prof. Barnard is the founding chair of the Emerging Markets Shared Interest Group of the Academy of International Business (AIB) and previously served as vice-president (Administration) of the AIB until 2020.
A leading scholar on business in Africa, Prof. Barnard is a mentor for researchers focused on Africa or emerging markets. She has published numerous editorials and perspective pieces on this topic. Her scholarly handbook for qualitative researchers in emerging markets brings together 34 scholars globally to consolidate best practices for under-researched contexts. Passionate about supporting new scholarly voices, she hosts online paper development workshops for scholars across Africa.
With an NRF B2 rating, Prof. Barnard has authored over 60 peer-reviewed publications, including papers in top journals like the Journal of Management, Research Policy, and the Journal of International Business Studies. She has been an invited keynote speaker for various prestigious platforms, including the Center for Applied Research and Innovation in Supply Chain-Africa, the AIB Africa chapter, and the AIB Digitalisation Shared Interest Group. She has received numerous international accolades, such as the Dunning Fellow at the University of Reading (2018/2019) and the Distinguished Editor award from the Management and Organization Review Journal (2021). Her paper with Mamabolo on religion as an institution in African business won the Best Paper award from the Journal of World Business in 2023.
Prof. Barnard has supervised 14 PhDs to completion, including eight women, eight black, and two Indian scholars, along with over 50 master's students. She currently supervises seven PhD and five master's students. She serves as associate/area editor for the Academy of Management Perspectives and the Journal of International Business Policy. She has previously completed terms at the Africa Journal of Management and Management and Organization Review, where her emphasis was on developing African-focused research in the management field.
