Dr Thulani Andrew Chauke

Dr Thulani Andrew Chauke is a Y2-NRF rated researcher and senior lecturer in the Department of Adult, Community and Continuing Education at the College of Education at the University of South Africa. He specialises in the vital yet underexplored field of youth development. His research focuses on youth work practice in South Africa and youth participation in health decision-making, aiming to drive systemic transformation in how youth work is valued and institutionalised.

Dr Chauke received a Grant Travel Award to attend the 42nd World Congress of the International Institute of Sociology and received the Postdoctoral Research Fellow of the Year Award at Tshwane University of Technology. He has successfully supervised five Master’s students and co-supervised one PhD student. Driven by his passion for grooming future researchers, he is currently supervising three PhD students and six Master’s students.

With over 50 peer-reviewed articles and a book chapter to his name, Dr Chauke actively collaborates with international scholars from Europe and North America. He serves on the editorial board of the International Journal of Child, Youth, and Family Studies. Through his research, he passionately advocates for the professionalisation of youth work in South Africa, urging policymakers to establish a national framework for its implementation.