ISBN 9781928331872
Pages 314
Dimensions 254 x 178mm
Published 2018
Publisher African Minds Publishers, South Africa
Format Paperback

Research Universities in Africa

by Nico Cloete, Ian Bunting, François van Schalkwyk

From the early 2000s, a new discourse emerged, in Africa and the international donor community, that higher education was important for development in Africa. Within this ‘zeitgeist’ of converging interests, a range of agencies agreed that a different, collaborative approach to linking higher education to development was necessary. This led to the establishment of the Higher Education Research and Advocacy Network in Africa (Herana) to concentrate on research and advocacy about the possible role and contribution of universities to development in Africa.

This book is the final publication to emerge from the Herana project. The project has also published more than 100 articles, chapters, reports, manuals and datasets, and many presentations have been delivered to share insights gained from the work done by Herana. Given its prolific dissemination, it seems reasonable to ask whether this fourth and final publication will offer the reader anything new.

This book is certainly different from previous publications in several respects. First, it is the only book to include an analysis of eight African universities based on the full 15 years of empirical data collected by the project. Second, previous books and reports were published mid-project. This book has benefited from an extended gestation period allowing the authors and contributors to reflect on the project without the distractions associated with managing and participating in a large-scale project. For the first time, some of those who have been involved in Herana since its inception have had the opportunity to at least make an attempt to see part of the wood for the trees.

Different does not necessarily mean new. An emphasis on the ‘newness’ of the data and perspectives presented in this book is important because it shows that it is more than a historical record of a donor-funded project. Rather, each chapter in this book brings, to a lesser or greater extent, something new to our understanding of universities, research and development in Africa.

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About the Authors

Nico Cloete

Nico Cloete is the director of the Centre for Higher Education Trust (CHET) in South Africa. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Oslo, and extraordinary professor in the DST-NRF Centre of Excellence in Scientometrics and Science, Technology and Innovation Policy (SciSTIP) at Stellenbosch University. He was general secretary of the Union of South African Democratic Staff Associations (UDUSA), and the research director of the South African National Commission on Higher Education (NCHE). Recent publications include Castells in Africa: Universities and Development.

Ian Bunting

IAN BUNTING is an emeritus professor of Philosophy of the University of Cape Town and a research associate of the DST-NRF Centre of Excellence in Scientometrics and Science, Technology and Innovation Policy at Stellenbosch University. He served as Dean of the Faculty of Social Science and Humanities at the Univeristy of Cape Town for a period of 11 years before being seconded to the higher education branch of the national Department of Education as director and later chief director. Recent publications include 'An Empirical Overview of Emerging Research Universities in Africa 2001-2015' (CHET) and 'Fort Hare at its centenary: University functions in post-apartheid South Africa' (Development Southern Africa).

François van Schalkwyk

François Van Schalkwyk is an independent researcher working in the areas of higher education studies, open data and scholarly communication. He holds masters degrees in education and publishing, and is currently reading for his doctorate in science communication at Stellenbosch University in South Africa. Recent publications include the volumes Castells in Africa: Universities and Development and The Social Dynamics of Open Data, as well as the journal article ‘African university presses and the institutional logic of the knowledge commons’ (Learned Publishing).

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