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Higher education, inequalities and the public good Perspectives from four African countries
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This research report summarises analysis made in the project Higher education, inequality and the public good: A study in four African countries. The study funded 2017-2019 by the ESRC/Newton/NRF funding partnership has focussed on Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa and has brought together researchers from those four countries, together with colleagues from the UK . The project aimed at developing an analysis of how key constituencies – students, academic and non-academic staff working in higher education, members of university governance bodies, employers in the public and private sector, senior government officials, and leadership figures in civil society – understand higher education and the public good within each country and across the region. The project team set out to examine the links made by individuals connected to the higher education sector, and by analysts of that sector, between higher education and development. They gave particular attention to how notions of higher education and the public good have been formulated in societies marked by high levels of poverty and inequality with histories of colonisation. Work also took place towards developing an indicator of higher education and the public good, and discussions were held regarding the ways an indicator might be useful to governments and higher education institutions to evaluate policy and practice.
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... For Badat (2023), Hall (2016), and Giroux (2010), employment precarity, casualisation, and job insecurity are by-products of the neoliberal effects in higher education, with the growing massification, brain circulation, and competition for scarce academic posts confronting state declines in public funding and proletarianisation of the university workforce. In another article (see Hlatshwayo 2022), I argue that the most damaging effect that neoliberal policies and logics have had on higher education as a sector is the erosion of higher education as a public good necessary for the growth and development of a democratic society (Ndaba 2022a(Ndaba , 2022bUnterhalter et al. 2019). Higher education is seen as a private good, beneficial to one's self-interest (Hlatshwayo 2022). ...
It is broadly understood that postdoctoral research fellows (hereafter postdocs) play a significant role in higher education's research outputs, teaching and learning, and the rating and ranking of an institution. Largely shaped by the neoliberal turn(s) in higher education from the late 1970s and 1980s, postdocs have become an indispensable yet precarious labour force that higher education institutions have come to rely on. In the South African context, research on postdoc fellowships is relatively new, with limited scholarship focusing on the narratives and voices of these marginalised scholars. In this article, I purposively recruited and interviewed 23 former and current postdocs in three research-intensive universities in South Africa as well as a university vice dean of research, and a former senior official of the Department of Higher Education and Training. I also consulted and analysed various South African higher education policy documents and ministerial articulations regarding postdocs in the country. Through the use of in-depth semi-structured interviews, two competing narratives emerged from the data-that is, the deeply rooted and entrenched idea of the postdoc system as a pipeline for novice researchers to transition into established scholars, and the idea of the postdocs as precarious scholars whose academic labour is insecure, unstable, and exploited in the university. I conclude the article with some broad systemic implications on the role and function of postdocs in South African higher education, and the need for more research to understand these marginalised scholars.
... 47). From this, we see social justice concepts being applied and built upon locally, making explicit issues of power, domination, and exclusion as well as calls for decolonising education as a core social justice concern and making explicit epistemic injustices [47,50,51]. ...
Education systems globally are increasingly being shaped by the logics, assumptions and pedagogical underpinnings of educational technology (EdTech) products, services, programmes, policies, and systems. These often promote rationalistic, secular, universal, objectivist, (post)modernist, written, behaviourist, and individualistic ways of being, marginalising religious, spiritual, oral, subjective, critical, and communitarian ways of being. Given that technological ways of being have been propagated globally, these logics are no longer predominantly promoted by those in the Global North, but by techno-solutionists globally, although the core-to-periphery flows of ideology and funding are still prominent. This article develops a conceptual and analytical framework for decolonising and desecularising the field of EdTech. Concepts are drawn from various discourses: the desecularisation of knowledge to set the ontological framing; embodied cognition to set the epistemological framing; and social justice and decolonial discourses to set the axiological framing. From this, the article develops the Dimensions of Human Injustice Analytical Framework—covering material, ontological and epistemic, and (geo)political injustices—to assist policymakers, educators, EdTech developers, and international development practitioners in identifying and confronting coloniality in their EdTech. Acknowledging the complexity and contentions within decolonial thought, this article does not claim a unified stance on achieving justice but aims to offer a tool for deconstructing and questioning injustices.
... This suggests that the notion of what counts as the public in the public good, has never been fully inclusive. As Unterhalter et al. (2019) observed, in relation to colonised states in Africa, "to the colonial administration, the kind of higher education that was thought to promote the public good was one tuned to consolidating the foundations of the colonial economy" (p. 13). ...
Anyone who has attended an academic conference will have witnessed the number of exceptional projects and research produced by and conducted at various institutions, often led by one or two well-known professors. Despite mostly limited budgets, these professors, academic "rockstars", if you will, (Smyth, 2017, p. 99) manage to produce many publications in the form of books, reports, policy briefs, op-eds, and attend conferences while managing full teaching loads and supervising lots of postgraduate students. So how do they manage? Without faculty-appointed support, such as Teaching Assistants, these senior academics often use their postgraduate students to do the substantial groundwork in the name of so-called capacity building to get what is known as the much-needed experience they need to advance their careers. In this paper, I discuss toxic academic practices and their impact on new and emerging researchers. Through a critical analysis, I demonstrate that toxic academic practices persist partly because of neoliberal policy contexts created in and through marketisation and techno-rationalism. Using the theoretical lens of Betrayal Trauma Theory (Freyd, 1994) I suggest that creating healthy academic work environments is crucial to realising higher education policy imperatives in South Africa. In this paper, I contribute to an under-discussed challenge in the South African academy, and I highlight how universities, through their philosophies and policies, often reward poor academic behaviour and perpetuate toxic academic environments and discrimination.
... I must acknowledge, however, that higher education in South Africa today is very different from what it was before 1994. Universities are no longer divided according to ethnic and racial lines, which has led to significant changes in the demographic composition of the student population on our campuses, even though participation rates are not yet representative of the country's population (DHET 2021;Webbstock 2016;Unterhalter et al. 2019;Jappie 2020). Most recent statistics indicate that in 2019, 1,283,890 students were enrolled in the country's public and private institutions (DHET 2021). ...
This article conceptualizes “free” higher education as a public good. It draws on a qualitative study conducted between 2018‒2019, exploring academics’ understanding of the relationship between higher education and the public good, and the conditions of possibility for higher education to be and contribute to the public good. In so doing, this article argues that funding for free education is a necessary condition for higher education to be a public good that can be accessed by students from different socioeconomic backgrounds. It argues that commodification of higher education undermines the public good character of higher education, and ultimately reproduces inequalities in society, and the injustices of the past, particularly in a country like South Africa characterised by colonial and apartheid histories. It anchors this argument on an analysis of 15 in-depth one-on-one interviews with academics from historically white and historically black universities in South Africa. From this analysis emerged three main findings on the issue of higher education funding. Firstly, the view that funding for higher education is scarce due to austerity, among other things. Secondly, the notion that if higher education is a public good and for the public good, it must be funded by the state. Lastly, the argument that adopting private funding models opens higher education to commodification, elitism, and the risk of being captured and used as an instrument of advancing private goods at the expense of the public good. The implication of these findings is the notion that when fees fall, one obstacle is removed, opening access to higher education – a public good – even for the poorest of the poor.
... In the empirical sense, the concept of public good must be understood in terms of the place and context it is located in (Marginson and Considine 2000: 28). The public good can be defined as the benefits, whether economic, social, political or cultural (Unterhalter et al. 2019), that the public derives from a particular action or intervention undertaken by either themselves or others. In this case the action or intervention is higher education. ...
Worsening poverty and inequality continue to affect large segments of the South African population. Universities are critical in contributing to overcoming these challenges. This article looks at the relationship between South African universities and the communities and places in which they are located. The history of South African higher education shows different kinds of relationships with the places in which universities were set. Data collected from interviews in 2018 with key informants in South African universities notes their criticisms of government development policies that lacked vision with regard to the development of place-based relationships for the public good. This data indicates that in the absence of an enabling policy framework to link communities and places, certain universities, individuals who work in them and members of communities around universities have developed their own approaches. I argue that these activities indicate actions by certain members of a spatial community, which can be understood as practices associated with a public sphere. Through this process individuals and institutions can play a central role in defining and contextualising the public good role of universities in their communities.
... The relationship between higher education and the public good has been extensively studied (Badat 2009;Singh 2001;Calhoun 2006;Tilak 2008;Dill 2011;Jonathan 2001;Leibowitz 2012;Marginson 2011Marginson , 2012Nixon 2011;Unterhalter et al. 2019;Waghid 2009;Walker 2012Walker , 2015Williams 2016). This body of literature draws attention to how higher education, as a direct or associated cause, can produce and promote various forms of public goods, such as economic growth and development, innovation, reduced inequality, more tolerant attitudes, social justice and transformation, betterinformed citizenry, better protection and use of environmental resources, a healthier population, social transformation, and the creation of new knowledge that can address pressing social problems and expand human development. ...
This article argues that the relationship between higher education and the public good should be understood not only from a macro-level point of view, in terms of how higher education systems and institutions contribute to the public good. It should also be understood from a micro-level point of view. Drawing on a qualitative study of the role of academics in higher education’s contribution to the public good, this article demonstrates that micro-level-focused research allows for a deeper and richer insight into the intricacies of this relationship. It does this from the vantage point of the costs of being a public good academic, as recounted by fifteen academics from two universities in South Africa. The perceptions of these academics indicate that the costs of producing public good at universities in South Africa are more than just the financial costs covered by student fees, government subsidies and donor funding. They include relational, psychological and career-related costs, as well as those related to personal resources and identity contingencies, which academics must deal with in advancing the public good. This article concludes that further micro-level-focused research can uncover more nuanced aspects of the complex relationship between higher education and the public good.
... For each African country, the contextual framework is mapped out in terms of two aspects: conditions of possibility and forms of social contract. Conditions of possibility are the factors that stakeholders in each higher education system believe need to be addressed in order for higher education to function in a way that enables it to contribute to the public good or to be recognised as a public good; these can be either internal or external (Unterhalter et al. 2019). Social contract, on the other hand, refers to the agreement among members of a society to co-operate towards certain social ends or benefits, through a commitment to higher education (ibid). ...
Indicators and metrics have gained increasing prominence in international higher education in recent years, and global rankings have become a powerful force in shaping ideas of what the university is and should be. Yet these measures do a poor job of capturing the broad role of the institution, and particularly in recognising its actions in promoting the public good and addressing inequalities. African higher education institutions have struggled to perform well in the conventional rankings, whose indicators rely on extensive resources for high-level research. This article explores the possibilities of alternative metrics for understanding the public good contribution of universities in the context of four African countries: Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa. After assessing the shortcomings of the existing indicators and metrics, and the challenges of the availability of data, it puts forward a dashboard approach as a possible new model. Dashboards have the advantage of avoiding the conflation of diverse qualities of importance and allow different profiles of an institution to be compared. The article proposes six main elements for the dashboard: solidarity with society, equitable access and deliberative space (which correspond to the intrinsic notion of public good and graduate destinations, knowledge production and community engagement (which correspond to instrumental notions). Finally, the challenges of implementing public good metrics in practice are discussed.
Using a qualitative case study of the Polish higher education system, the article problematises the relationship between higher education and the public good. It emerges from an international comparative study including 11 national cases and contributes to the growing body of literature on the cultural specificities of the public good(s) in national higher education systems. Seeing the public good as a holistic ideal, transcendent to the higher education reality, it traces different meanings with which it is filled by main actors of the system: policymakers, representatives of collegial bodies, faculty and managers at two public universities (33 semi-structured interviews). The article discusses the public good in Poland in four areas: its general definition, the state’s role in higher education, and national and global contributions. Contradictions exposed in the study of Polish higher education’s discourses on the public good (national vs. global; state vs. academic community; mass higher education vs. elite higher education) serve the purpose of further elaborating the concept.
Cyberstalking, especially among university students, has become a critical social concern. While a growing body of research associates cyberstalking with abuse of technology, psychological instability and the perceived porosity of the legal systems, power inequality has not been foregrounded as a major driver. With a focus on establishing power relationships between victims and perpetrators, the study explored structural and social environments surrounding female students at the University of Dar es Salaam. The quantitative and qualitative data were collected with an online survey questionnaire distributed to 424 female students. Together with the questionnaire, deeper insights for the qualitative information were obtained from online interviews held with 30 female students and 15 key informants as well as from online Focused Group Discussion held with another cluster of 30 female students who had experiences of cybertalking. Interpreted from a feminist theoretical perspective and ‘gender digital divide’ stances, the results indicate multiple forms of unequal power relations surrounding third-world women internet users in universities. The study recommends strategies against gender inequality to be extended to cyberspace, while women’s empowerment in online spaces should be spearheaded in gender equality discourse.
The use of mobile technologies in the classroom is transforming teaching and learning in higher institutions. This study investigated University of Ghana Distance Education students' perceptions toward mobile learning. The paper using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) explained how students' beliefs influenced students' intention to adopt m-learning. Findings from the study showed that most of the students had mobile phones, and used them for conversation and texting. Young students were more likely to have smart phones that their older colleagues. Factor analysis was further conducted which showed strong loadings of factors such as intentions and perceived behavioral control confirming that the TPB explained the students' m-learning readiness very well. Thus, attitude, subjective norm and behavioral control influenced students' intention to adopt m-learning. The results provide valuable information on ways to implement m-learning programs incorporating the voice and needs of students.
Elections in many developing countries such as Nigeria remain complex and cannot be handled solely by the government, as a vibrant print media is part of this exercise. Unfortunately, the Nigerian electoral process cannot be said to enjoy free, fair, and credible elections. Research design for the study was descriptive research, which combined both qualitative and quantitative methods. The sample was divided into two categories of a total of eight hundred and twenty (820) questionnaire respondents and sixteen (16) key respondents and interviewees from the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja and Lagos State, being the hub of media establishments and highly cosmopolitan locations in Nigeria. The study used survey, interview, and observation methods of data collection. Quantitative analysis was done using responses elicited from structured questionnaires. Content analysis of qualitative data was carried out on the selected 10 print media publications based on national spread. Findings showed that the print media contributed to creating better perception of the nation’s electoral process by international observers (Mean = 3.9497, St.D = 2.20417), the print media embarked upon improper reportage, selective coverage and failed to report actual happenings during elections because of undue influence by politicians and proprietors media establishments, thereby misinforming the people. The study concluded that the print media is important for smooth electoral process during the period of the study (1999-2019), despite challenges such as inadequate funding, and non-adherence to professional ethics by some print media journalists.
This research study explores how faith-based universities in Kenya are responding to rapid changes in the higher education market and policy environment as they endeavor to function as part of the national university system and maintain religious heritage. The research investigates one primary question emerging from my 2012 pilot study of private universities in Kenya: how are changes in higher education policy and the national context impacting faith- based universities (FBUs)? The focus is two-fold: identifying environmental factors affecting FBUs, and describing ways in which FBUs are adapting to such factors. Qualitative, multiple case study analysis (Stake 2000; Yin, 2009) allows for robust investigation of one type of institution in the diverse landscape of Kenya, a nation that boasts some of the oldest public and newest private universities in East Africa. Environmental factors under investigation include changes in national policies (2010 Constitution, 2012 University Act, Vision 2030), trends in the higher education market, and socio-cultural shifts. Few studies have sought to understand the role of FBUs even though such institutions offer a large percentage of state-accredited programs in Kenya (Commission of Higher Education, 2012). Accordingly, this study investigates the dynamic between national and institutional goals to illuminate FBUs role in the national system.
This study utilizes an organizational framework (Bolman & Deal, 1984, 2008) to analyze institutional responses and a systems approach (Chapman & Austin, 2002; van Vught, 2008) to interpret those responses within the national context. Levy’s typology (1986, 2009a) offers dimensions of comparative analysis between religious-oriented and other types of private universities. Benne’s (2001) typology of church-related colleges is useful for identifying the influences upon and changes within the inner workings of FBUs. The study elicits multiple perspectives to inform analysis of three purposefully-selected FBUs: Catholic University of Eastern Africa, Daystar University, and Pan Africa Christian University. Primary data sources include institutional documents, field notes, and semi-structured interviews with 33 leaders and faculty members as well as two public officials at the Commission for University Education, the government agency that oversees all public and private universities.
The study concludes that shifts in the higher education environment are influencing how leaders and faculty members perceive the vision for Christian higher education, the means by which FBUs carry out their educative mission, and the context in which the institutions function. The study yields theoretical and practical implications for Christian higher education in Africa, university leaders, faculty members, and policy-makers. The research is significant for several reasons: insights from the institutional perspective will be relevant to developing countries, like Kenya, where public systems increasingly rely upon private institutions to abate escalating demand for higher education, where concerns about quality are changing government- university relations, and where religious-oriented higher education persists.
Findings contribute to scholarship of international higher education systems, organizational adaptation, institutional theory, and Christian higher education. Discussion considers universities’ roles in multiple dimensions of development in Kenya and sub-Saharan Africa. The study invites further research to explore methodological approaches that foster an integrated understanding of African perspectives of development, religion, and education, eschewing a polarizing (arguably imposed) dichotomy between sacred and secular.
This article, which draws on a review of primary and secondary literature, examines the role of a human rights-based approach to adult learning and education (ALE) in the context of the global Education 2030 agenda, which is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) launched in 2015 by the United Nations. Whereas the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) focused on primary education, the SDGs, through SDG 4 which is devoted to education, call on Member States to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”. The inclusion of lifelong learning has awakened hopes for a stronger role of ALE in global education agendas and policies. In principle, the ten targets of SDG 4 open up clear possibilities for ALE. However, the author cautions that there is cause for scepticism that ALE, in particular human rights-based ALE, will receive more attention under the SDGs than it did under the MDGs. The article is structured into three sections. The first section traces the emergence of a rights-based approach to adult education as an international paradigm, with particular attention given to the role of UNESCO. The second section discusses how the rights-based approach to adult education has been contested by other actors in the field of education for development. In the final section, the author draws on recent empirical data to reflect on the role of ALE in the age of the SDGs.
