The global ranking tournament: A dialectic analysis of higher education in South Africa (original) (raw)
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Over the past two decades, the key organising principles for higher education transformation, so we argue, have come to be framed to construct the 'ideal type' university along historically produced and colonial/Apartheid hierarchies resulting in the [re] racialised distribution of institutional worth across the system. This paper attempts at disclosing how this is facilitated not only by the policy and legislative architecture of the system, but also by the 'philosophies', 'orientations' and 'praxes' of public agencies and institutions within the sector. In exploring 'excellence' as the governing discourse by which institutional worth is apportioned, we argue that the university sector is systematically being [re] racialised with significant consequences for the higher education transformation project.
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IntroductionRecent protests at South African universities around the question of "race" and identity, particularly as they relate to the question of transformation at the Universities of Cape Town, Stellenbosch, and Rhodes, have brought into sharp focus the debate about the future of the university. What is the new South African university to be? How does the South African university work with its legacy-to continue where it is already engaged in socially transformative work, to begin new initiatives to transform itself in places where it is struggling, and to develop an agenda that shows clearly how it understands itself in relation to the social context in which it finds itself?In this paper, I argue that the contemporary South African university cannot be understood and engaged with outside of an appreciation of its constitutive beginnings. Race is central to these beginnings. But how race takes form, is worked with and deployed in the university is, to be historically ...
Competing in a Globalising World: International Ranking of South African Universities
Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2010
Rankings of higher education institutions are important for students, research administrations, industry and academics. A number of rankings are published internationally, most of which aim to identify the top universities in the world. Developing countries are also interested for relevant rankings that could assist them to develop appropriate higher education policies. In this article we develop a ranking approach based on citations received for articles produced by universities in a variety of scientific disciplines. The approach is relatively simple and has the potential to guide policy. In this context this article identifies the international standing of the South African universities in the various scientific disciplines, compares them with their standing over time and elaborates on the consequences relevant to higher education and science and technology policy.
THE UNIVERSITY IN SOUTH AFRICA AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF SOCIETY
Recent South African history has witnessed a period of political conflict in the transition from the hegemony of the apartheid era to the democratisation of South African society after 1994. In the light of the subsequent transformational discourses in South Africa, it has become necessary to pose the question-to what extent have South African universities contributed to the making of a new South Africa, not only in widening participation but, for example, in constitutional reform and the spreading of an era of social openness and civil society? Such a question, however, requires that the idea of the university, as well as its role in society be reflected upon critically. The history of universities is punctuated by periodic debates on the idea of a university and what is considered to be its proper role in society. The Socratic and Platonic claims that virtue is knowledge and that education produces good men-a humanist philosophy of education-are amongst the casualties of the contemporary modern mega-universities. The image of the university as an ivory tower dedicated to the pursuit of truth and knowledge for its own sake-a metaphysical philosophy of education-has been tarnished by radical and activist movements who acknowledge no social obligations except in some instances of bringing about the violent destruction of the society that supports them. In more recent times the movement towards mass and even universal higher education and the emergence of the multiversity have witnessed a categorical shift in the fundamental idea of a university and its role in society. No longer is truth the fundamental category in the role of a university-the essence of its distinctive role is now declared to be utility. In short, the twenty first century has witnessed an important shift in the role of the university in society, in that the university has become a much more influential scientific institution and a less significant cultural and civilising power. The argument in this essay, therefore, is that the role of the university in South African society post 1994 is beleaguered by a climate of utility whose forces are principally those of democratic politics, mass markets and technological prowess.
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Increasingly, education and in particular higher education, are recognized as imperatives in the economic development and as a means to an end apart from been a necessary tool for sustainability of human capital. The common believe is that having a university certificate is an access to having a better job in South Africa particularly amongst blacks. Therefore, making prospective students to focus on employability while calculating the likely financial benefits of having higher education certificate. However, in the ever-intensifying globalization setting, obtaining a higher education degree is no longer a guarantee of employment. From the human capital theorist, the social dynamics of growth drives participation in higher education believing that the expansion of higher education is moulded by the market forces and the government in response to the economic need for knowledge, skills, and certified professional competences. Using mixed method of analysis, this study challenges the conservative thinking that attainment of higher education not minding its quality is among the most important determinants of the upward movement of the fortunes of average South Africans. It contends that the massification of higher education in South Africa, contrary to the expectations of received higher education, may not likely boost the upward social mobility of South Africans, rather due to poor planning and implementation, graduate may end up joining the band wagon of unsuccessful job applicants who do not understand why they have a degree.
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Since the fall of the apartheid regime South African higher education has begun to undergo a process of fundamental transformation. First-world universities, which were beneficiaries (however unwilling) of past racial inequalities, have had to adapt to the urgent needs of what is a post-colonial and, for the majority of its citizens, a third-world society. South Africa, therefore, provides a particularly sharp example of the encounter between a higher education system established within the European tradition, in terms of both its institutional and its academic culture, and a society in the process of radical change. This encounter has been mediated through the work of the National Commission on Higher Education which attempted to produce a compromise that would enable South African higher education to be both ‘Western’ (in terms of academic values and scientific standards) and also ‘African’ (in terms of its contribution to building the capacities of all the people of South Africa)...
The Comparative Analysis of Rankings in South African and Nigerian Higher Education Systems
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This chapter looks at the comparison between higher education systems in South Africa and Nigeria. Within the comparison, it can be seen that South Africa, due to of its significant investment in higher education, has garnered significant impact in the region. It has two universities, University of Cape Town (136) and the University of Witwatersrand (194), in the global top two hundred universities in the world. On the other hand, Nigerian universities have not performed well in these global rankings. Some of the challenges that have bedeviled the Nigerian Higher Education system can be attributed to limited funding, infrastructure decay, outdated textbooks, obsolete equipment, and poor remunerations for lecturers which have in turn led to the brain drain in the higher education system as staff leave in droves seeking greener pastures and students also looking elsewhere for quality education. On the other hand, the situation in South Africa shows that as the universities are now much more focused on rankings, higher education has become heavily commodified, making higher education much more expensive alienating poor families, as this type of education is out of their reach.