Knowledge Production and Contradictory Functions in African Higher Education

314 Pages·2015·2.019 MB·English

by  Nico Cloete, Peter Maassen, Tracy Bailey

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AFRICAN HIGHER EDUCATION DYNAMICS SERIES VOLUME 1
AFRICAN HIGHER EDUCATION DYNAMICS SERIES VOLUME 1
“
This volume brings together excellent scholarship and innovative policy discussion IK
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to demonstrate the essential role of higher education in the development of Africa
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and of the world at large. Based on deep knowledge of the university system in
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several African countries, this book will reshape the debate on development in the R
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global information economy for years to come. It should be mandatory reading for CE KNOWLEDGE
academics, policy-makers and concerned citizens, in Africa and elsewhere.” AD
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– Manuel Castells, Professor Emeritus, University of California at Berkeley,
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Laureate of the Holberg Prize 2012 and of the Balzan Prize 2013
IP PRODUCTION &
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HO
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The dominant global discourse in higher education now focuses on ‘world-class’ ED
universities – inevitably located predominantly in North America, Europe and, R U CONTRADICTORY
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increasingly, East Asia. The rest of the world, including Africa, is left to play ‘catch-
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up’. But that discourse should focus rather on the tensions, even contradictions, UI
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between ‘excellence’ and ‘engagement’ with which all universities must grapple. C
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Here the African experience has much to offer the high-participation and A FUNCTIONS
generously resourced systems of the so-called ‘developed’ world. This book offers T A
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a critical review of that experience, and so makes a major contribution to our
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understanding of higher education.”
C IN AFRICAN
– Sir Peter Scott, former editor of Times Higher Education and Professor of O
Higher Education Studies, University College London, Institute of Education N
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R HIGHER EDUCATION
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This book addresses an important topic, presents an interesting approach and
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an in-depth analysis leading to concrete recommendations. It offers a critical
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overview of eight national flagship universities in Africa, and proposes key strategic
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goals that allow university leadership and government agencies to measure
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progress and to identify key areas for further investment and transformation. This R
book is timely when Africa is rethinking higher education, and a must-read for all Y

African higher education leaders and government agencies on the continent.” F
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– Lídia Brito, UNESCO Regional Director for Science in Latin-America N
and the Caribbean and Former Minister of Higher Education, Science and C
Technology, Mozambique T
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EDITORS NICO CLOETE, PETER MAASSEN & TRACY BAILEY
“ N
The chapters in this book together speak clearly to several fundamentals of S CHAPTER AUTHORS Agnes Lutomiah Charles Sheppard Edwina Brooks
Florence Nakayiwa-Mayega François van Schalkwyk Gerald Wangenge-
knowledge and its production: its meaning, its context, its relevance; its identity,
Ouma Gordon Musiige Henri Li Kam Wah Ian Bunting Jacques Gaillard
its use and its historical, geographical and culture-relatedness. More critically,
Johann Mouton Patrício Langa Peter Maassen Milandré van Lill Nico Cloete
knowledge has identity, contradictory function and a signature; it belongs
Randall Lange Robert Tijssen Samantha Richmond Thierry Luescher-
somewhere or to someone and serves some purpose. African universities have
Mamashela Vincent Ssembatya Taabo Mugume & Tracy Bailey
been the seekers and custodians of this identity, contradictions and signature.”
CONTRIBUTORS Alfred Quartey Alfredo Yegros Andrea Reyes-Elizondo
– Malegapuru Makgoba, Vice-chancellor, University of KwaZulu-Natal and former Annie Wakata Anwar Hussein Subratty Åse Gornitzka Barthélémy Nyasse
Vice-president for Planning and Review, International Council for Science (Paris) Bernard Waweru Christina Pather Christine Immenga Chun-Mei Zhao
Crain Soudien Danwood Chirwa David Tumusiime Domingos Meque
Eme Owoaje Ezequiel Abrahamo Fareeda Khodabocus George de Lange
George Tusiime Ibrahim Mtweve Ibrahim Otieno Igor Chirikov Isaac Mazonde
Jane Hendry John Douglass Joseph Budu Joseph Tesha Judika Kingori
Judy Favish Karen MacGregor Kiwanuka Ngobi Margaret Baiketsi Mark
AFRICAN AFRICAN Hay Martijn Visser Mercy Haizal-Aisha Mogodisheng Sekhwela Monique
MINDS MINDS
Ritter Nelius Boshoff Paul Effah Pius Achanga Praveen Mohadeb Samuel
Kiiru Sylvia Temu Teboho Moja & Vincent Ssembatya
9 780621429152
African Minds Higher Education Dynamics Series Vol. 1
Knowledge Production
and Contradictory Functions
in African Higher Education
Edited by Nico Cloete, Peter Maassen and Tracy Bailey
AFRICAN
MINDS
A NOTE ABOUT THE PEER REVIEW PROCESS
This open access publication forms part of the African Minds peer reviewed, academic books list,
the broad mission of which is to support the dissemination of African scholarship and to foster
access, openness and debate in the pursuit of growing and deepening the African knowledge base.
Knowledge Production and Contradictory Functions in African Higher Education was reviewed by two
external peers with expert knowledge in higher education in general and in African higher education
in particular. Copies of the reviews are available from the publisher on request.
First published in 2015 by African Minds
4 Eccleston Place, Somerset West 7130, Cape Town, South Africa
[email protected]
www.africanminds.org.za
2015 African Minds
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
ISBN: 978-1-920677-85-5 
eBook edition: 978-1-920677-86-2 
ePub edition: 978-1-920677-87-9 
ORDERS:
African Minds
4 Eccleston Place, Somerset West, 7130, South Africa
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For orders from outside Africa:
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CONTENTS
List of tables, figures and appendix tables v
Acronyms and abbreviations ix
Acknowledgements xi
Foreword xii
Chapter 1 Roles of Universities and the African Context 1
Nico Cloete and Peter Maassen
Chapter 2 Research Universities in Africa: An empirical overview of eight
flagship universities 18
Nico Cloete, Ian Bunting and Peter Maassen
Chapter 3 Assessing the Performance of African Flagship Universities 32
Ian Bunting, Nico Cloete, Henri Li Kam Wah and
Florence Nakayiwa-Mayega
Chapter 4 Research Output and International Research Cooperation
in African Flagship Universities 61
Robert Tijssen
Chapter 5 South Africa as a PhD Hub in Africa? 75
Nico Cloete, Charles Sheppard and Tracy Bailey
Chapter 6 Faculty Perceptions of the Factors that Influence Research
Productivity at Makerere University 109
Gordon Musiige and Peter Maassen
Chapter 7 Academic Incentives for Knowledge Production in Africa:
Case studies of Mozambique and Kenya 128
Gerald Wangenge-Ouma, Agnes Lutomiah and Patrício Langa
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Knowledge Production and contradictory Functions in aFrican HigHer education
Chapter 8 Functions of Science Granting Councils in Sub-Saharan Africa 148
Johann Mouton, Jacques Gaillard and Milandré van Lill
Chapter 9 The Roles of National Councils and Commissions in African Higher
Education System Governance 171
Tracy Bailey
Chapter 10 U niversity Engagement as Interconnectedness: Indicators and insights 203
François van Schalkwyk
Chapter 11 Student Engagement and Citizenship Competences in African Universities 230
Thierry M Luescher-Mamashela, Vincent Ssembatya, Edwina Brooks,
Randall S Lange, Taabo Mugume and Samantha Richmond
Chapter 12 Managing Contradictory Functions and Related Policy Issues 260
Nico Cloete, Peter Maassen, Ian Bunting, Tracy Bailey,
Gerald Wangenge-Ouma and François van Schalkwyk
About the authors 290
List of contributors 294
iv
LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES
Chapter 2
Figure 2.1 P roportion of FTE academics with doctoral degrees (2011) (%) 26
Figure 2.2 A cademic staff by seniority (2011) (%) 26
Figure 2.3 M asters graduates (2001, 2007, 2011) 27
Figure 2.4 D octoral graduates (2001, 2007, 2011) 27
Figure 2.5 R esearch articles (2001, 2007, 2011) 28
Figure 2.6 S enior academic staff and doctoral graduates as predictors of
publication output 28
Chapter 3
Table 3.1 2 011 proposals on goals and targets for flagship universities 35
Table 3.2 A ssessing two universities on 2011 goals and targets 36
Table 3.3 G oals and targets for flagship universities 39
Table 3.4 I ndicator scores: Relating data averages to targets on a four-point scale 40
Figure 3.1 P erformance against targets: Input and output averages for the
flagship universities 41
Figure 3.2 U niversity of Cape Town (2009–2011) 42
Figure 3.3 U niversity of Botswana (2009–2011) 43
Figure 3.4 U niversity of Dar es Salaam (2009–2011) 44
Figure 3.5 E duardo Mondlane University (2009–2011) 45
Figure 3.6 U niversity of Ghana (2009–2011) 47
Figure 3.7 M akerere University (2009–2011) 48
Figure 3.8 U niversity of Mauritius (2009–2011) 49
Figure 3.9 U niversity of Nairobi (2009–2011) 50
Table A3.1 U niversity of Botswana: Academic core and comparative university scores 54
Table A3.2 E xample of application of extended academic core goals and targets 55
Table A3.3 M andates for South African traditional universities 56
Table A3.4 O utput goals and targets for South African traditional universities 56
Table A3.5 D ata averages for 2009–2011 for flagship universities 57
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Knowledge Production and contradictory Functions in aFrican HigHer education
Table A3.6 Masters enrolments for the five-year period 2007–2011 58
Table A3.7 Masters graduates for the five-year period 2007–2011 58
Table A3.8 Doctoral enrolments for the five-year period 2007–2011 58
Table A3.9 Doctoral graduates for the five-year period 2007–2011 59
Table A3.10 Total permanent academics for the five-year period 2007–2011 59
Table A3.11 Permanent academics with doctoral degrees for the five-year period
2007–2011 59
Table A3.12 Proportion of academics with doctoral degrees for the five-year period
2007–2011 60
Table A3.13 Research publications for the five-year period 2007–2011 60
Chapter 4
Table 4.1 Largest research fields of international cooperation (2006–2012) 66
Table 4.2 M ost highly cited fields of international cooperation (2006–2012) 67
Table 4.3a R esearch internationalisation profile of the University of Mauritius 68
Table 4.3b R esearch internationalisation profile of Eduardo Mondlane University 68
Table 4.3c R esearch internationalisation profile of the University of Dar es Salaam 69
Table 4.3d R esearch internationalisation profile of the University of Ghana 69
Table 4.3e R esearch internationalisation profile of the University of Botswana 69
Table 4.3f R esearch internationalisation profile of Makerere University 70
Table 4.3g R esearch internationalisation profile of the University of Nairobi 70
Table 4.3h R esearch internationalisation profile of the University of Cape Town 70
Figure 4.1 A nnual trends in publication output of African flagship universities
(1996–2013) 63
Chapter 5
Table 5.1 International PhD graduates per university (2000–2012) 88
Table 5.2 T op 20 countries of origin of the 2012 international PhD graduates 89
Figure 5.1 P hD enrolments and graduates (1996–2012) 82
Figure 5.2 P hD enrolments by nationality (2000, 2004, 2008, 2012) 84
Figure 5.3 Average annual growth rate of PhD enrolments by nationality
(2000–2012) 84
Figure 5.4 P hD graduates by nationality (2000, 2004, 2008, 2012) 85
Figure 5.5 A verage annual growth rate of PhD graduates by nationality (2000–2012) 86
Figure 5.6 A verage annual growth rates by nationality and gender (2000–2012) 87
Figure 5.7 S outh African doctoral graduates by race (1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012) 91
Figure 5.8 S outh African-African and rest of Africa enrolments and graduates
(2000, 2004, 2008, 2012) 92
Figure 5.9 S outh African-African and rest of Africa enrolments and graduates:
Average annual growth rate (2000–2010) 92
vi
List of tabLes and figures
Table A5.1 Th e 59 countries of origin of the 2012 international PhD graduates 107
Table A5.2 P hD graduates of 2012 according to nationality and gender as a
percentage of the total (1 879) graduates 108
Chapter 6
Figure 6.1 M akerere and Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University:
Research project funding by funding type (2013) 123
Chapter 7
Table 7.1 A verage basic salaries of academics and permanent secretaries in Kenya 137
Figure 7.1 R atios of high-level knowledge outputs to professors and
associate professors 131
Table A7.1 B asic salaries of academic staff (2013) (in USD) 146
Table A7.2 B asic salaries of professionals in diplomatic careers (2013) (in USD) 146
Table A7.3 B asic salaries of professionals from the tax authorities (2013) (in USD) 146
Table A7.4 B asic salaries of professionals in the judicial system (2013) (in USD) 147
Table A7.5 B asic salaries of researchers in public universities and research centres
(2013) (in USD) 147
Chapter 8
Table 8.1 G ross domestic expenditure on R&D (GERD) 151
Table 8.2 D ependency on foreign funding for R&D in 2010 (%)
(sub-Saharan Africa only) 152
Table A8.1 S elected ‘milestones’ in science and technology governance and
policy-making, by country 164
Table A8.2 F unding bodies in the 17 selected countries 165
Table A8.3 Th e rise of science granting councils and competitive research funds
in sub-Saharan Africa 169
Chapter 9
Table 9.1 E stablishment of the councils/commissions 180
Table 9.2 C ouncil/commission composition and appointments (2012/2013) 181
Table 9.3 S ources of funding for councils/commissions (2012) (%) 182
Table 9.4 F unctions associated with different tertiary/higher education system
governance roles 184
Table 9.5 O verview of governance roles fulfilled by councils/commissions
(2012/2013) 185
Table 9.6 R egulatory functions undertaken by councils/commissions (2012/2013) 186
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Knowledge Production and contradictory Functions in aFrican HigHer education
Table 9.7 Distributive functions mandated for and/or undertaken by councils/
commissions (2012) 187
Table 9.8 Monitoring and data functions undertaken by councils/commissions
(2012/2013) 188
Table 9.9 Advisory functions undertaken by councils/commissions (2012/2013) 189
Table 9.10 Coordination functions undertaken by the councils/commissions
(2012/2013) 190
Table A9.1 Examples of council/commission monitoring activities 200
Table A9.2 Examples of council/commission coordination activities 201
Chapter 10
Table 10.1 Indicators of interconnectedness and scores per indicator 216
Figure 10.1 E ngagement as connectedness between external constituents and the
academic core 212
Figure 10.2 A rticulation and linking to the academic core as dimensions of
interconnectedness 213
Figure 10.3 Th e distribution of interconnectedness scores at two universities (n=99) 220
Figure 10.4 Th e interconnectedness of engagement projects at Makerere University 221
Figure 10.5 Th e interconnectedness of engagement projects at Nelson Mandela
Metropolitan University 222
Figure 10.6 W eighted proportional funding sources of engagement projects 224
Figure 10.7a C urrent shape of engagement activities at Nelson Mandela
Metropolitan University 226
Figure 10.7b P roposed shape of engagement activities at a comprehensive university 226
Chapter 11
Table 11.1 Demographic background of students 240
Table 11.2 P redictors of citizenship competences 250
Table 11.3 Th e probabilities of student engagement contributing to
citizenship competences 255
Figure 11.1 S chematic concept map of the HERANA Citizenship Module 237
Figure 11.2 S chematic concept map of the revised HERANA Citizenship Module 256
Chapter 12
Table 12.1 HERANA data on masters and doctoral enrolments (2011) 279
Table 12.2 H ERANA data on full-time academic staff (2011) 280
viii
ACRONYMS AND
ABBREVIATIONS
AOSTI African Observatory of Science, Technology and Innovation
BRICS Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa
B-TEC Botswana Tertiary Education Council
CHET Centre for Higher Education Transformation
COSTECH Commission for Science and Technology (Tanzania)
CREST Centre for Research on Evaluation, Science and Technology
CSHE Centre for Studies in Higher Education (University of California, Berkeley)
CSIR Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (Ghana)
DFID Department for International Development (United Kingdom)
DHET Department of Higher Education and Training (South Africa)
DST Department of Science and Technology (South Africa)
FIRCA Inter-professional Fund for Agricultural Research and Council (Côte d’Ivoire)
FONRID National Fund for Research and Innovation for Development (Burkina Faso)
FTE full-time equivalent
GDP gross domestic product
GERD gross domestic expenditure on research and development
G-NCTE Ghana National Council for Tertiary Education
HEMIS higher education management information system
HERANA Higher Education Research and Advocacy Network in Africa
IAU International Association of Universities
ISI Institute for Scientific Information
K-CHE Kenya Commission for Higher Education
MAK Makerere University (Uganda)
M-CNAQ Mozambique National Council for Quality Assurance
M-TEC Mauritius Tertiary Education Commission
NCHE National Commission on Higher Education
NDP National Development Plan
NEPAD New Partnership for Africa’s Development
NMMU Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (South Africa)
ix