Parallel trends in policy and policy research on higher education in Africa

Yann Lebeau, 2011y.lebeau@uea.ac.uk

Data origin

Published research literature African publications : AJOL, JHEACitation indexes : Scopus, SSCIBibliographies: W. Saint

Unpublished researchADEA, CODESRIA, AAU, World Bank

Policy sourcesWorld Bank and UNESCO reports

International and national HE policies in Africa

A colonial implantPost-independence agendas: elite formation, state

consolidation and the developmental university The adjustment era: HE as a luxury ancillary A Washington consensus : external models and

continent-wide remedies ( in SSA: the World Bank as ‘‘single most important actor defining the parameters of policy-making in the field of education’’ (Mamdani 2007, p. 10)

The return of the instrumentalist rhetoric: HE and poverty reduction in the knowledge economy

Parallel trends: research as consultingResearch capacity in African Universities: declining funding and

increasing contrasts About 27,000 papers per year over the past 10 years = same volume of published

output as The Netherlands (Thomson Reuter 2010). Over the period, South Africa produced nearly as many papers as other African

nations put together 85% of research papers involving authors based in Central Africa involve a co-author

from outside continent (Boshoff, 2010)The rise of the aid related consultancy industry: responsive studies and

gatekeepers empowermentThe World Bank as knowledge bank: strategic research interests and

paradigmatic alignmentA “renewed interest” : Case study methodologies and success stories

from the “big five” reformers (Ghana, Uganda, Tanzania, Mozambique, South Africa)

Building local research capacity vs. idea recycling and best practice: CODESRIA and AAU initiatives

30 Years of HE research Phases and trends (Scopus analysis)

Up to 1980s Limited research interest in HE as such (small number of HEIs). Research on elite formation, social change. Published in European or American journals of African Studies and

Development Studies. Predominantly English but some French references too.

Mid-1980s transition : Research on impact of SAP on public universities Student unrest. Issues of access (impact of UPE schemes) Professionalization of HE research

1990s and 2000s: mainstreaming and alignment Established presence in mainstream HE and education journals. Enhanced visibility of authors based at African institutions. Diversification of research foci Comparative perspective Epistemic paradigmatic alignment

30 Years of HE research Analysis of Indexed literature -1984 to date (Scopus and SSCI, 344 titles)

Top 5 Sources: International Journal of Educational Development (25) Higher Education Policy (18) Perspectives in Education (15) Higher Education (9) International Review of Education (7)Languages English (333) French (8) German (2) Spanish (1)

Top 5 institutional affiliations University of Cape Town (27) University of Witwatersrand (19) University of Stellenbosch (18) University of Pretoria (17) University of the Western Cape (13)

Key themes (1990 – 2010) 1990 -1995: HE and politics, HIV /AIDS, brain drain, funding crisis., academic freedom. 1995 – 2005: South African issues (equity, quality/quantity, immigration), influence of the

World Bank, privatization, market models in public universities 2005 -2010; half of all records: equity and social justice , distance learning , online provision,

graduate employment, quality assurance, internationalisation of curricula, Bologna process, finance, fees, access.

HE research published in Africa – AJOL search

Dedicated journals are all based in South Africa until mid-2000s

85% of (HE focused) peer reviewed articles published in Africa over the last decade appeared in the South African Journal of Higher Education

Other sources featuring more than once in AJOL database include Makerere Journal of Higher Education, African Sociological Review, African Journal of Library, Archives and Information Science, the International Journal of Engineering, Science and Technology, Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies, Lwati: A Journal of Contemporary Research, Africa Insight , East African Medical Journal, Nigerian Journal of Guidance and Counselling, Africa Development .

Themes: similar to research published outside the continent over the period (transformation of HE, privatization, ICT and distance learning, quality assurance, access, employability) + themes specific to South Africa

Countries under focus : the Big 5 + Nigeria, Cameroon and Senegal.

Views from the South: A short history and bibliographic analysis of JHEA

• Journal of Higher Education in Africa (JHEA) created in 2003 with

funding from American Foundations’ Partnership for Higher

Education in Africa.

• Edited and published in the USA (CIHE-Boston 2003 to 2006) and in

Africa (CODESRIA –Dakar) since 2006.

• Evolution: From international perspectives on Africa to Africa in international trends From US and Europe-based “expert” authors to home-based contributions Readership and subscriptions: Increasingly “African” (open access) Periodicity: from 3 (regular) to 2 (irregular) issues a year Funding: From US Foundations to CODESRIA

References Adams, J., King, C, Hook, D (2010) Global Research Report - AFRICA. Thomson Reuters.

http://thomsonreuters.com/content/corporate/docs/globalresearchreport-africa.pdf

Boshoff, N. (2009) Neo-colonialism and research collaboration in Central Africa. Scientometrics, Vol. 81, No. 2, 413–434

Cloete, N., Bailey, T. & Maassen, P. (2011) Universities And Economic Development In Africa. Pact, Academic Core And Coordination. Wynberg, South Africa: Centre for Higher Education Transformation (CHET)

Collins, C. S. & Rhoads, R.A. (2010) The World Bank, support for universities, and asymmetrical power relations in international development. Higher Education 59(2): 181-205.

Lebeau, Y. & Sall, E. (2011) Global Institutions, Higher Education and Developmentin King, R., Marginson, S. and Naidoo, R. Handbook On Globalization And Higher Education. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.

Mkandawire, T. (2010) 'Running While Others Walk': the challenge of African development . LSE Inaugural Lecture. http://www2.lse.ac.uk/publicEvents/events/2010/20100427t1830vSZT.aspx

Robertson, S. (2009), ‘Market multilateralism, the World Bank group, and the asymmetries of globalizing Higher Education: toward a critical political economy analysis’, in Bassett, R. and Maldonado-Maldonado, A. (eds), International Organizations and Higher Education Policy: thinking globally, acting locally? New York: Routledge, 113-31

Saint ,W. (2006) A Bibliography on Higher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa. Version 7. http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTAFRREGTOPTEIA/Resources/SSA_Higher_Ed_Biblio_7.pdf

Samoff, J. and Carrol, B. (2004) Conditions, Coalitions, and Influence: The World Bank and Higher Education in Africa Prepared for presentation at the Annual Conference of the Comparative and International Education Society Salt Lake City, 8–12 March 2004. Accessed January 2011 at http://www.eldis.org/vfile/upload/1/document/0708/DOC17679.pdf

UNESCO (2009), World Conference on Higher Education: the new dynamics of higher education and research for societal change and development, Final Communiqué, UNESCO, Paris, 8 July 2009, accessed June 2010 at http://www.unesco.org/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/ED/ED/pdf/WCHE_2009/FINAL%20COMMUNIQUE%20WCHE%202009.pdf

Viera, E.S. & Gomes J. A.N.F. (2009) A comparison of Scopus and Web of Science for a typical university. Scientometrics, Vol. 81, No. 2 : 587–600