Higher Education, Inequality and the Public Good in four African countries: South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana
Lead Research Organisation:
University College London
Department Name: Humanities and Social Sciences
Abstract
There is widespread agreement amongst policy makers and practitioners across Africa that higher education is a public good, and it has been given significance in the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) agenda. However there are sharply different views regarding what is meant by the notion of public good, and how unevenly distributed higher education connects with this notion. The project aims through the collection of some new data, and re-analysis of existing data sets, to consider what views different constituencies i -students, staff, governance bodies, employers, government, and civil society - have regarding a definition of public good and its connection with higher education.
The study involves researchers working in and on 4 African countries -South Africa, Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria. These have some similarities in their higher education systems but also some differences regarding the size and shape of the public and private sector in higher education in the four countries. However, all have in common unevenly distributed levels of economic growth, and high levels of poverty and different kinds of inequalities. We will analyse the data we collect, and that from past projects and will also look at the existing publicly available information on how higher education links with wages, attitudes, and views of the public good.
From our review of these 3 bodies of data, we will aim to develop an indicator of higher education and the public good that can be used across countries. We will involve stakeholders as our development of this indicator emerges, and at the end of the project hope to be able to offer this to the academic, policy and practitioner community as a useful way to understand the connection between higher education and the public good. We hope that this indicator will help users in interpreting data on levels of student enrolment and progression, graduate destinations, earnings and assist in reviewing arguments about public funding for higher education, when basic education and other sectors of post secondary provision are also in need of support.
The study involves researchers working in and on 4 African countries -South Africa, Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria. These have some similarities in their higher education systems but also some differences regarding the size and shape of the public and private sector in higher education in the four countries. However, all have in common unevenly distributed levels of economic growth, and high levels of poverty and different kinds of inequalities. We will analyse the data we collect, and that from past projects and will also look at the existing publicly available information on how higher education links with wages, attitudes, and views of the public good.
From our review of these 3 bodies of data, we will aim to develop an indicator of higher education and the public good that can be used across countries. We will involve stakeholders as our development of this indicator emerges, and at the end of the project hope to be able to offer this to the academic, policy and practitioner community as a useful way to understand the connection between higher education and the public good. We hope that this indicator will help users in interpreting data on levels of student enrolment and progression, graduate destinations, earnings and assist in reviewing arguments about public funding for higher education, when basic education and other sectors of post secondary provision are also in need of support.
Planned Impact
The research is intended to benefit key stakeholders involved with higher education and the public good -students, university staff, governance bodies, employers, government, and civil society.
Our plans for building impact entail involving key stakeholders from these communities in early design of interviews to be conducted and reflection on how to analyse existing data. This will sensitise these representatives to some of the complexities of how higher education and public good are linked, and how contextual conditions in the four countries affect these views.
Key informants from these constituencies will be interviewed in new data to be collected, and we will share transcripts with participants, and emerging analysis with a community of stake holder. We will also draw on older data collected since 2008 across the four countries.
Selected representatives from these constituencies will have an opportunity to comment on the indicator of higher education and the public good we plan to develop for cross country comparison. They will thus gain insight into some of the processes involved in the development of indicators and the debates they elicit. If we are able to develop a useful indicator of higher education and the public good across countries, all these constituencies will have a publicly accessible and easily understandable tool that can be used to interpret some of the controversial and often confusing data often used as proxies for public good, such as student enrolment, graduate earning, participation in the labour force, professional expertise, and economic growth.
The indicator we aim to develop can be used in discussions of accountability, investment in higher education, and evaluations of the inequalities higher education may entrench as a form of 'public bad'. The indicators may be helpful in guiding public deliberation of the trade offs entailed. All these constituencies will be invited to the dissemination meetings for the project in each country, so that they can offer further views on how useful the indicator will be to them.
Our plans for building impact entail involving key stakeholders from these communities in early design of interviews to be conducted and reflection on how to analyse existing data. This will sensitise these representatives to some of the complexities of how higher education and public good are linked, and how contextual conditions in the four countries affect these views.
Key informants from these constituencies will be interviewed in new data to be collected, and we will share transcripts with participants, and emerging analysis with a community of stake holder. We will also draw on older data collected since 2008 across the four countries.
Selected representatives from these constituencies will have an opportunity to comment on the indicator of higher education and the public good we plan to develop for cross country comparison. They will thus gain insight into some of the processes involved in the development of indicators and the debates they elicit. If we are able to develop a useful indicator of higher education and the public good across countries, all these constituencies will have a publicly accessible and easily understandable tool that can be used to interpret some of the controversial and often confusing data often used as proxies for public good, such as student enrolment, graduate earning, participation in the labour force, professional expertise, and economic growth.
The indicator we aim to develop can be used in discussions of accountability, investment in higher education, and evaluations of the inequalities higher education may entrench as a form of 'public bad'. The indicators may be helpful in guiding public deliberation of the trade offs entailed. All these constituencies will be invited to the dissemination meetings for the project in each country, so that they can offer further views on how useful the indicator will be to them.
Organisations
- University College London (Lead Research Organisation)
- the Council for At-Risk Academics (CARA) (Collaboration)
- Open Society Foundation, New York (Collaboration)
- British Council (Collaboration)
- University College London (Collaboration)
- University of Cape Coast (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF JOHANNESBURG (Collaboration)
- Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) (Collaboration)
- Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Collaboration)
- Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (Collaboration)
- University of the Witwatersrand (Collaboration)
- Centre for Democracy and Development (Collaboration)
- University of Cape Town (Collaboration)
Publications
Unterhalter, E.
(2018)
Education and extremisms
Unterhalter, E.
(2019)
Race, class and the post apartheid democratic state
Unterhalter, E.
(2021)
Identitites and education. Comparative perspectives in times of crisis
Unterhalter, E.
(2019)
Race,class and the post-apartheid democratic state
Unterhalter, E.
(2020)
Critical reflections on public private partnerships
Unterhalter, E
(2021)
Education and International Development. An introduction
Unterhalter, E
(2018)
Equity in and through education
Unterhalter, E
(2017)
Privatisation and the public good in education: Scrutinising public private partnerships
| Description | Our award ended in May 2019, but writing and reflection have continued over 2019 -2021, partly funded by additional grants linked to teacher education and the public good and reflections on the Abidjan Principles and public good in higher education. A commission from the British Council for a rigorous review of literature of the links between higher education and development outcomes in low and lower middle income countries led to us utilising the conceptual frame from our initial study to shape the rigorous review, and draw some key policy recommendations. Our preliminary round of literature reviews and discussions across members of the research team highlighted how crucial context is to understanding ideas about higher education and the public good, how necessary consider an alternative indicator framework drawing on ideas of a dashboard. As we review our findings with research participants and stakeholders in January-March 2019, the following appeared as key themes:across all four countries: • Education as a public good has collective dimensions and needs to be accessed by the public. The forms of exclusion associated with higher education (fees, entry qualifications from schools of uneven quality, histories associated with elites) need to be confronted or transformed in developing higher education as a form of the public education system linked to ideas of a social contract. • A public good builds or serves the public sphere for debate and discussion. The ways in which this is done require particular attention to conditions of work, study, and care in higher education institutions. This applies to buildings, pay, organisation and governance, and has implications for families of students and staff. • The knowledge for debate, discussion and service linked to public good cannot be assumed, but must be developed and sustained. • Higher education institutions have particular responsibilities to nurture the culture they emerge from and contribute to, and to challenge prejudice and discrimination. • Higher education institutions have to respond to and engage with the histories of their communities and national development priorities. • Work on higher education, inequalities and the public good requires attention to identify and engage with the conditions of possibility for processes of developing the public good to be sustained. These are not given and are frequently inadequate. In completing the final report of the project in August 2019 we identified findings in three major areas a) Theory building around the relationship of higher education and the public good in Africa b) Potentials and drawback in relation to constructing an indicator of higher education and the public good for Africa c) The skewed nature of the literature on higher education in Africa, with a significant proportion of published studies focusing on South Africa, and very limited treatment of the other three countries in the study. With regard to a) We found Four key facets of higher education and the public good emerge from the analysis of the data, and we consider these need further conceptual work in relation to the literature reviewed in Chapters 5 and 6. From the perspective of this study the themes that have been muted in discussions of higher education and the public good, but which crystalise aspirations expressed by those we interviewed are: • that the relationship of higher education and the public good can be conceptualised as a relationship of serving the society as a whole, but that longstanding inequalities in all four countries, make this neither easy nor straightforward. • that if higher education has a close relationship with public good, access to higher education or the processes of higher education (knowledge exchange, public buildings, formations of professional identity) must be public, take account of all members of society. This raises complex questions around the economics of who pays. • that the notion of the public sphere associated with higher education encompasses not just critique, but relationships of care, solidarity, and responsibility. • That higher education holds a special place in the social imaginaries of a wide range of people. It is conceived as a site of possibility and potential, and the difficulties of realising this, do not dent these aspirations. • that the relationships of higher education and the public good cannot be understood outside an analysis of the conditions of possibility which include formations of social contract. These issues were utilised in framing the conceptualisation for the British Council leterature review With regard to b) we found Ultimately, the quest for a gauge of public good in higher education is a highly important but perilous venture. The task of broadening our understanding of higher education quality from elite publications and Nobel prize winners to a commitment to inclusive development is essential for reorienting the work of the vast majority of institutions in the world, and recognising the vital work they are already doing. Yet, creating an alternative index is challenging and also present some risks. We have developed a dashboard for an alternative indicator and the article on this is currently in review with the International Journal on African Higher education First, there are serious difficulties in obtaining adequate reliable data, particularly in Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria. While institutions hold information on students, taught courses, research, publications and community engagement internally, only a limited amount of this information is in the public domain. While there may be buy-in from institutions for an alternative index - as evidenced by the views of stakeholders - there is limited capacity on the administrative side for collecting and systematising new data, given the other urgent tasks universities are engaged with. Second, there are challenges in the construction of an alternative gauge, as outlined above. Some of the areas that are highly important for understanding the public good (particularly in the intrinsic sense) are very difficult to gauge - for example, dialogical pedagogy, support for difference and diversity, porosity to community ideas and academic freedom. Even in those areas in which it is possible to measure numerically or gauge qualitatively, there are still difficulties in capturing what are often complex and broad areas. The dashboard will certainly help in this regard, but it is still restricted in the number of specific indicators included. It is the simplicity of the international rankings that allows them to have such purchase on the imaginaries of policymakers and other stakeholders around the world: a single line on which all institutions can be positioned and on which to judge oneself and one's progress against others. More complex representations are unlikely to have such influence. One specific challenge that a gauge of this type has is in relation to international mobility. A national index assumes that Nigerian students study in Nigeria and then work and contribute to society within Nigeria - needless to say, not true in many cases. The transnational nature of study and employment cast doubt on purely national influences and impacts, and lead us to acknowledge the necessarily regional and global nature of public good. It is also important to consider counterfactuals. Drawing on Amartya Sen's insights in relation to the capabilities approach, empowerment and social justice are not only about what people actually do, but also about what they could do. Graduate employment rates cannot tell us which of those graduates had the ability to get a salaried job, but freely chose to do something else (become a sculptor, raise children etc.). We can also extend this idea to other aspects of the activities of the university. Finally, there is the risk that all of this may simply be counter-productive: that the attempt to measure the university's contribution to the public good may end up undermining it - fostering a kind of performativity that will hollow out the valuable work already underway. These challenges taken together are considerable, but given the stakes, it is important to continue to explore the possibility of alternative forms of measurement in higher education, beyond critique of the hegemonic forms. With regard to c) we found: the ways in which scholarship on or from South Africa has been most widely published, and thus the need to attend to voices from other countries, and from contexts in South Africa, where research has not been routinely located. A second issue concerns the importance of context in understanding trends in higher education expansion in the four countries. This has implications for the ways in which ideas about the relationship of higher education and public good are discussed in interviews, and the data on this analysed. A third issue concerns the different forms of inequalities that have been highlighted in the four countries. In all four issues of income and inequality are noted. But only in South Africa is race a major area of concern in the debate around inequality. Ethnicity is raised in discussion of Kenya, and a focus on region in Nigeria and Ghana may also concern inequalities associated with ethnicity. Thus, there are different dimensions of inequality, which is clearly multi-dimensional, which makes formulating a common idea of public good across all four countries difficult. In February 2020 we have had a book proposal accepted with African Minds which summarises our key findings. The synopsis for the proposal sets out our key findings: This book presents an analysis of how the relationship of higher education and the public good can be understood and enacted drawing on insights from stakeholders in four African countries. It critiques existing conceptual, epistemological, and methodological frameworks (including the existing global ranking systems) associated with these relationships. Drawing on in depth interviews in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa, workshop discussions in each country, and collaborative analysis, an argument is developed that higher education and the public good cannot be conceptualized outside the complex histories of societies and their contemporary relationships, which serve to enable or hinder higher education's enactment of the public good. So while higher education can play a key public good role, especially in relation to knowledge creation, training, building collaborative relationships and spaces for critical engagement, the enactment of this role in severely resource constrained environments raises difficult questions around who pays, both in terms of revenues to be mobilized, and relationships to be formed. We explore further in the book how, as part of its public good role, higher education can make a key contribution to the development of the public sphere in Africa, through nurturing forms of critique, care, and solidarity, but noting, once again, that such contributions do not happen automatically and the conditions of possibility for this to happen need to be documented and evaluated. Higher education is also associated for many stakeholders across the four countries with social imaginaries of public good, but these are often more aspirational than real. Finally, we suggest that contextualised indicator frameworks might be an important resource to help ground and steer these ideas. The COVID pandemic considerably delayed work on the book, but a special journal issue of the International Journal of African Higher Education should go to press in Apil 2021 |
| Exploitation Route | The way of working in a cross national team, with academics at different stages of their career has been extremely fruitful. The co-leadership of the research project with PIs in Uk and South Africa strengthened the insights sand shared leadership was a support to both The recognition of the significance and distinctiveness of the context in different African countries highlights the importance of in depth research at a country level The interplay between theory and empirical investigation has been extremely illuminating The ambition to make work on an indicator participatory and critical has generated useful insight Our highlighting of the regional gaps in relation to literature on higher education in Africa, and the need for more substantive histories in all the four countries should prompt further studies |
| Sectors | Education,Government, Democracy and Justice |
| URL | https://www.researchgate.net/publication/335501851_Higher_education_inequalities_and_the_public_good_Perspectives_from_four_African_countrieshttps://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/departments-centres/centres/education-and-international-development/poverty-education-inequalities/higher-education-inequality-public-good-four-african-countries/higher-education-public-good-news |
| Description | We undertook a first round of literature reviews and a scan of the existing indicators on higher education in Africa in the early stages of the project. These were presented at a stakeholder workshop in Johannesburg in May 2017, which brought together academics, policy makers, members of government, university leadership,students, and civil society representatives.|The findings were developed and presented at eight international conferences/seminars, and five local seminars at UCL and University of the Witwatersrand. PhD student workshops were held in South Africa and at UCL to discuss preliminary findings. A first stakeholder workshop took place in Johannesburg in May 2017 attended by stakeholders form all four countries in the study. The outcomes of this contributed significantly to the framing of the research design. The literature review was expanded and deepened and the use of software which enhanced search strategies and findings,. These methods will be adapted to a further study commissioned by the British Council in 2020. The research team conducted key informant interviews in all four countries, and an anonymized data set has been prepared and lodged with UK Data services, presentations of research findings by members of the research team have taken place, generally by teams paired from at least two countries. Preliminary research findings were shared at workshops in each country January - March 2019, with key stakeholders form the sector, and the responses to these research sharing meetings were reviewed at a full team meeting in March 2019, and have been incorporated into the project technical report https://www.researchgate.net/publication/335603094_Higher_education_public_good_revised_version Further reflection on these findings with stakeholders, particularly those concerned with teacher education, the Department of Higher Education and Training in South Africa, and members of the South African education research community took place in October 2019 in meetings at the University of the Witwatersrand and the SAERA conference in Durban. Arising from these discussions a book proposal was prepared for open access publishing and submitted to African Minds in January 2020, accepted for publication (March 2020) with a delivery date of July 2020 pencilled for the full manuscript. Work was delayed by COVID in 2020 but is planned for completion in 2023, with some reflections on the pandemic., Three doctoral students associated with the project made progress with their studies and have had access to a wide range of national and international conferences. In 2021- 2022 three research students completed studies and submitted their theses for examination. Some joint publications including the whole team were published in a book on SDG 4 in 2020, and a special issue of the Journal of African Higher Education was developed in 2021 with articles on the project prepared by most members of the team and taken through a rigorous system of peer review. These articles were published in November 2022. A rigorous review of literature on higher education and development outcomes was commissioned by the British Council in 2020 and used to inform commissioning policies in 2020-21. The learning from this literature review and the conceptual underpinnings of the project were used to inform a rapid evidence review commissioned by the DfE to inform the work of SAGE in 2021 (commissioned through UCL IPPO). Presentations from this review of the effects of COVID 19 on higher education in the UK were presented at virtual events in 2021 . These insights contributed to work done on editing a special issue of NORRAG (No 6) published in 2021 on the effects of COVID 19 on education worldwide. The work for the Brtish Council was reported at the wrap up seminar of the SPHEIR project (2022) and in ideas generated for a follow on project and publication. The insights from this extensive work on higher education and its connection with public good fields, particularly basic education, shaped the insights used by members of the HEIPuG research team in the evaluation of the major education reform programme in South Africa, the National Education Collaboration Trust conducted in 2020-2021 and the periodic review of the Faculty of Education at the University of Pretoria, conducted in Novembember 201. Colleagues in South Asia have suggested a possible companion study using similar methods looking at four countries in South Asia )possibly Pakistan, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka) and preliminary discussions on this have been launched linked to reviewing effects of COVID on higher education in both settings. Some of the ideas generated through HEIPuG were used in researching and writing a history of work in higher education in the UK looking at development in Africa, and further thoughts aobut diaspora and decolonisation. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2018 |
| Sector | Education,Government, Democracy and Justice |
| Impact Types | Societal,Policy & public services |
| Description | CEID writing workshops |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Description | Developed review of links between higher education and development |
| Geographic Reach | Africa |
| Policy Influence Type | Citation in other policy documents |
| Impact | Development of research scoping, identification of crises as affecting higher education planning |
| URL | https://www.britishcouncil.org/education/he-science/opportunities/innovation-african-universities |
| Description | HEPDG |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| URL | https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/about/committees/ |
| Description | Nigeria - reflective contribution to NUC Blueprint on the rapid revitalisation of univeristy education in Nigeria |
| Geographic Reach | Africa |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
| URL | http://nuc.edu.ng/ |
| Description | Abidjan Principles |
| Amount | £11,180 (GBP) |
| Organisation | ActionAid |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 06/2019 |
| End | 12/2019 |
| Description | F |
| Amount | R100,000 (ZAR) |
| Organisation | FirstRand Limited |
| Sector | Private |
| Country | South Africa |
| Start | 06/2020 |
| End | 12/2021 |
| Description | GCRF UCL QR |
| Amount | £69,496 (GBP) |
| Organisation | University College London |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 04/2019 |
| End | 06/2019 |
| Description | Global engagement fund |
| Amount | £3,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | University College London |
| Department | UCL Global Engagement Office |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 07/2018 |
| End | 08/2018 |
| Description | Rapid evidence review of effects of Covid 19 on higher education |
| Amount | £32,500 (GBP) |
| Organisation | University College London |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 04/2021 |
| End | 09/2021 |
| Description | Rigorous literature review update |
| Amount | £45,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | British Council |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 02/2020 |
| End | 03/2020 |
| Title | Dashboard for monitoring higher education and the public good |
| Description | A dashboard that uses existing data on higher education collected at national and institutional level to review how far or how close institutions may be to widely accepted ideas about public good |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Interest in adapting this methods for examining higher education institutions in other African countries and in South Asia |
| URL | https://www.researchgate.net/publication/335603094_Higher_education_public_good_revised_version |
| Title | Research instrument |
| Description | A well piloted research instrument for conducting key informant interviews on higher education and the public good. Instrument used in individual interviews and group interviews with senior government figures with responsibility for higher education, academics (some in senior leadership positions), students, and civil society activists. |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Data collected in four countries using research instrument, and analyzed in detailed research report uploaded onto web in 2019. |
| URL | https://www.researchgate.net/publication/335603094_Higher_education_public_good_revised_version |
| Title | rigorous review of literature |
| Description | rigorous review of literature on higher education & development outcomes |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | sharpened focus for policy and research |
| URL | https://www.britishcouncil.org/research-policy-insight/research-reports/tertiary-education-developme... |
| Title | Interviews with teacher educators |
| Description | Data collectged from interviews with teacher educators in Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | Teaching session developed for P/G module |
| Title | Project dataset |
| Description | Anonymized transcripts of interviews conducted in four countries |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | This dataset has been deposited with UK Data Services and will be made public after their quality review. Members of the research drew on the dataset in2019 in authoring the main project report ( published on https://www.researchgate.net/publication/335603094_Higher_education_public_good_revised_version) and in developing a chapter forthcoming in a book in 2020 Forthcoming Allais, S., Howell, C., Molebatsi, P. Posholi, L and Unterhalter, E. 'Universities, the public good and the SDG vision' in Wulf, A. ed. Grading Goal Four: Tensions, Threats and Opportunities in the Sustainable Development Goal on Quality Education (Rotterdam: Brill/Sense). In addition a book is in preparation with African Minds and a special issue of a journal on higher education in Africa is in preparation, |
| Title | research on tertiary education and development published 2010-2020 |
| Description | Database of research published in English on higher education and its impact on development |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Used by British Council in developing funding award and future research initiatives on higher education and development |
| URL | https://www.britishcouncil.org/research-policy-insight/research-reports/tertiary-education-developme... |
| Description | British Council |
| Organisation | British Council |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | In 2020 under contract to conduct a rigorous literature review on higher education and development (published 2020) . Builds from earlier research conducted on teacher education in Nigeria commissioned through British Council. In 2021 contributions made to SPHER Learning Exchanges Week, December and SPHEIR wrsap up seminar (2022) |
| Collaborator Contribution | Drawing on ideas, discussions, and knowledge of literature sources generated through the project |
| Impact | Collaboration on ideas for follow ons from SPHEIR , including deployment of AGEE framework (2022-3) Presentation at SPHEIR wrap up seminar (2022) Presentation to SPHER conference (December 2021) Literature review (Howell, Unterhalter and Oketch published 2020.) Multi-disciplinary team involving work with economics of education, disability studies, women and gender studies, comparative education, and education and international development. Report on teacher education research Unterhalter, E., North, A., Ezegwu, C. and Shercliff, E. , 2018, Teacher education, teacher practice, gender and girls' schooling |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | CARA |
| Organisation | the Council for At-Risk Academics (CARA) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Chaired series of presentations by academics from Syria to Cara Syria Programme Symposium Meeting, December 2021 Discussions with CARA on possible project collaborating with UCL supporting Afghan women excluded from higher education |
| Collaborator Contribution | Helped build understanding of context of higher education under conditions of emergency and displacement |
| Impact | Presentations to symposium; discussions of roundtable on education for Afghan women after Taliban bans |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | CODESRIA |
| Organisation | Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa |
| Country | Senegal |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Promoting the project to networks of academics working on higher education in Africa, UK and USA |
| Collaborator Contribution | Commitment to collaborate and publish articles based on the findings from this project in a special journal issue (published 2022) Promotion of the work of this project to funders, such as Open Society Foundation. |
| Impact | Special Issue of Journal of Higher Education in Africa, 2022, Vol 20, No 2 - a number of articles already highly cited, although published only very recently |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | Centre for Democracy and Development, Abuja |
| Organisation | Centre for Democracy and Development |
| Country | Nigeria |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Participation in joint deiscussions on research design, analysis and publication during life of HEIPuG project, Findings from four country study of higher education, inequality and the public good in Africa study, presented at a one day meeting in Abuja in January 2019 with representation from student organisations, Vice Chancellors of selected Nigerian universities, the National Universities Commission, academics, and civil society. Members from the South African and UK research teams joined in the discussions with colleagues from Nigeria. Collaboration has continued linked to a join research study on private schools in Lagos, and publication of outputs of research on higher education in Nigeria , June 2022 |
| Collaborator Contribution | Presentation at Abuja meeting (2019) included an in depth paper on the findings from interviews in Nigeria as well as a cross country presentation of data from Ghana, Kenya and South Africa. This was followed by robust debate on the key challenges of higher education in Nigeria and reflecting on what light the project findings threw on these |
| Impact | http://jibrinibrahim.com/reviving-the-nigerian-university-system/ Publication co -authored with Professor Jibrin Ibrahim on education in Lagos, and interviews arranged through Centre for Democracy and Development related to the Abidjan Principles in Nigeria and decolonization and teacher education in Nigeria. Article by Dr. Jibrin Ibrahim included in Special Issue of Journal of Higher Education in Africa scheduled for publication June 2022 |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | Department of Sociology and SARCHI Research Chair in Teaching and Learning, University of Johannesburg |
| Organisation | University of Johannesburg |
| Country | South Africa |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Participation in research design, data collection, analysis, and authoring project outputs. Participation in meetings and conferences to co-present and share research findings internationally . Co-authorship of book proposal submitted to African Minds and accepted for publication 2020. Participation in 2021 in Advisory Committee for SARCHI Research Chair in Teaching and Learning 2022 presentation of seminar, University of Johannesburg on gender and education, and adoption of AGEE framework at an instiution level |
| Collaborator Contribution | Participation in research design, data collection, analysis, and authoring project outputs. Participation in meetings and conferences to co-present and share research findings internationally . Co-authorship of book proposal with African Minds. Submission of article for Special Issue of Journal of Higher Education in Africa, published in 2023. Participation in discussion of plans for Research Chair in teaching and Learning Participation in expert survey on AGEE dashboard, 2022 |
| Impact | see all outputs co-authored with Siphelo Ngcwangu and Mthobisi Ndaba Participation in launch events for Research Chair (2021 and 2022), research seminar at University of Johannesburg, July 2022 Abstract submitted to UKFIET by Linda Chisholm and Elaine Unterhalter (March 2023) |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights |
| Organisation | Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights |
| Country | Switzerland |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Discussed and worked towards building research project and dialogue about how Abidjan Principles could be used in reviewing work on inequalities in higher education (joint research proposal, presentation at workshop and public webinars). Funding bid unsuccessful, but exchanges on levels of privatization in higher education continued. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Discussed research proposal and dissemination outlets (workshop and webinars) |
| Impact | Small research project developed (2019): Not successful Gideon & Unterhalter (2020) book contains chapter on Abidjan Principles Seminar paper on privatization in health and education in development (2023) |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Higher education, inequality and the public good in four African countries |
| Organisation | University of the Witwatersrand |
| Country | South Africa |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | sharing insights about future research collaborations and putting in joint bids for additional work; co-supervision of two PhD students registered at Wits doing projects directly linked to project supporting the perspectives in their work; one post doc associated with the project, where capacity building work is taking place. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Two research associates at REAL Centre working as research assistants to PI (Stephanie Allais). Hosting of stakeholder workshop in Johannesburg (may 2017). Co-authorship of bids in development. Research sharing workshops held in Johannesburg (May and October 2019). Assistance with organizing interviews for project on teacher education and decolonisation |
| Impact | Higher education, inequality and the public good : Report on Johannesburg Workshop, may 2017 on line at http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/10041212/1/Howell_Higher_Education_Inequality_Public_Good.pdf; Presentations at UKFIET conference, September 2017; Presentation at SRHE conference, December 2017; presentation at QSS seminar, February 2018; presentation at African studies seminar, December 2017. Presentation at EQIPPPS/CITE seminar, Cape Town, October 2017; preparation of bids under GCRF hub call and call for training; collaboration in GCRF network EQUIPPS; Article in University World News, January 2018. Presentation at CIES, conference 2018, SAERA conference, 2019. Presentation at HDCA and UKFIET conferences, 2019 |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | Human Sciences Research Council |
| Organisation | Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) |
| Country | South Africa |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Participation in collaboration on research design, data collection, analysis, presenting project findings, and authoring project outputs linked to NECT evaluation and work of HEIPuG team |
| Collaborator Contribution | Participation in collaboration on research design, data collection, analysis, presenting project findings, and authoring project outputs linked to NECT evaluation and work of HEIPuG team. |
| Impact | See all project outputs co-authored with Sam Fongwa. Co-authorship of book proposal in preparation with African Minds Collaboration with Michael Cosser and HSRC team on evaluation of NECT (National Education Collaboration Trust) South Africa - 2020-2021 |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | IPPO |
| Organisation | University College London |
| Department | UCL Public Policy |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Built from knowledge generated from HEIPuG project to develop conclptual diagram to underpin research on effects of COVID on higher education in the UK and approaches to researching mitigations |
| Collaborator Contribution | Guidance on developing rapid review of evidence, and preparing reports for government departments in the UK |
| Impact | Rapid evidence review prepared for DfE. Presentations to IPPO meetings Incorporation of insights from literature review into literature reviews commissioned by UNESCO and Lumos Comparative work on review of effects of COVID on higher education in Japan begun (2023) through EPPI Centre |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Open Society Foundation |
| Organisation | Open Society Foundation, New York |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Contributions to OSF planning meetings on higher education policy work (2019) Participation in discussions with OSF team on gender (2021) |
| Collaborator Contribution | Critical commentary on papers in development, Plans for joint seminars |
| Impact | Presentation of slides with project outputs to OSF internal semianr. Publication of chapter by Sonia Languille (OSF) on PPPs in higher education in Senegal in book co-edited by Elaine Unterhalter Peer review of articles from project for SI Journal of Higher Education in Africa Team discussions (2021 and 2022) |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | REAL Centre, Wits |
| Organisation | University of the Witwatersrand |
| Country | South Africa |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Collaborated on research design, reviews of data collection, analysis, literature reviews, conference presentations, and developing research outputs. Collaborations on project leadership and management, co-supervision and mentorship of PhD research students, advice on publications, involvement in plans for future research collaborations. Drafted book proposal submitted to open access publisher (African Minds)and accepted for publication (2020). Work on book ongoing in 2023 Support ot PHD supervision, 2020-2021 leading to PhD completion and submission by one student (2022) |
| Collaborator Contribution | Collaborated on research design, reviews of data collection, analysis, literature reviews, conference presentations, and developing research outputs. Collaborations on project leadership and management, advice on publications, involvement in plans for future research collaborations. Co-authored book proposal submitted and accepted by open access publisher. REAL Centre innovation of a regular weekly writing workshop for all staff adapted by CEID, UCL as a two weekly writing workshop for staff and doctoral students Collaborated on development of articles from research project for Special Issue of journal Journal of Higher Education in Africa co edited journal SI (published 2022). |
| Impact | All outputs listed co authored with Stephanie Allais, Lerato Posholi, Palesa, Molebatsi, Mtho Ndaba, Cecilia Selepe. Co-authored book proposal accepted by African Minds. Mentorship with regard to conference presentations for Palesa Molebatsi and Mtho Ndaba. PhD thesis completed -=Mtho Ndaba Mentorship of articles published in SI Journal of Higher Education in Africa (Ndaba, Molebatshi) I |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | University fo Cape Coast |
| Organisation | University of Cape Coast |
| Country | Ghana |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Discussions and collaborations on research design, ethics review, data collection, analysis, and discussion of research findings. Collaborations on conference presentations. Co-authorship of book proposal accepted by African Minds for publication in 2020. Exploration of more formal institutional link up under discussion |
| Collaborator Contribution | Discussions and collaborations on research design, ethics review, data collection, analysis, and discussion of research findings. Collaborations on conference presentations. Article in preparation for Special Issue of Journal of Higher Education in Africa to appear in 2022 Networking to involve University in research project on AI and Education Discussions (2021) on possible co hosting international conference for 2023 or 2024 |
| Impact | All project outputs co-authored with Christine Adu-Yeboah |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | University of Cape Town |
| Organisation | University of Cape Town |
| Department | Statistical Sciences Cape Town |
| Country | South Africa |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | This one-day workshop was a collaborative endeavour between colleagues from the Centre for Education and International Development (CEID) at UCL, Institute of Education (IOE) and the School of Education at the University of Cape Town (UCT). It took place on 11 September 2018 at the IOE in London and brought together a small group of academic researchers from the IOE and UCT concerned with exploring issues of decolonisation and decoloniality in the context of universities and their relationship to the public good in post-colonial societies. The workshop was particularly concerned with understanding what a commitment to decolonisation would mean for universities involved in the professional development of teachers practising within or being trained to practice within contexts marked by high levels of inequality and legacies of violence. The workshop was intended to build on emerging research findings from a larger ESRC Newton Funded project that CEID is involved in on higher education and the public good in four African countries and to draw on a number of reflective processes taking place in both universities around their curricula offerings and associated course development. The workshop programme was organised around two broad themes. The morning session, lead by the CEID researchers was focused on unpacking and exploring some of the key conceptual issues around notions of decolonisation and decoloniality in the context of universities and the public good, especially drawing from the African and Latin American contexts. The intention of the afternoon session lead by the UCT researchers was then to consider these issues in relation to teacher education and begin to formulate ideas around the kind of curricula concerns and research tasks that are important to take forward. These themes were explored through presentations from all the researchers who brought a richness to the discussion by drawing on their own areas of experience and work and then relating these to the issues the workshop sort to explore. Especially valuable here was the variety of insights that were shared, including those emerging from long histories of involvement in teacher education policy development, the training of practitioners, researching higher education and advocating for necessary institutional change, especially towards more equitable and socially just higher education systems. The list of participants is attached as Appendix A. Central to the discussion throughout the day was the complexities of the contexts in which universities are operating and what this means for how the issues of decolonisation and decoloniality are understood and the economic, social and political conditions that enable or restrict necessary institutional and systemic change to address them. A central theme that emerged across the discussions was the extent to which issues of decolonisation and decoloniality problemitise notions of the public good - making it much harder then to understand how universities are (or are not) contributing to, or enabling the enactment of, the public good of what needs to happen for this to happen in more substantial ways. The final session of the day was focused on discussing how the rich discussion could be taken further. Overall there was agreement that in many ways the workshop had only managed to raise and discuss some of the issues around a complex and highly contested area of concern for both universities. It was therefore felt that an important first step towards broadening and deepening debate about the concerns of the workshop would be to explore the development of a journal article that would capture some of the thinking that emerged and put this into the public domain. It was agreed that the IOE team would therefore develop a draft framework for this and circulate it for further discussion. It was also agreed that both universities would explore how best to strengthen their research capacity in this area and in doing so begin to develop a stronger and expanded research network, especially with researchers beyond the two countries. |
| Collaborator Contribution | See above |
| Impact | Outcome of this collaboration was a research grant application to the SRHE (not funded) and one to the UCL internal GCRF awards programme (funded) for 2019 |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | 2nd anniversary of launch of Abidjan Principles |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presentation and reflection of achievements associated with using Abidjan Principles and next steps |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.right-to-education.org/news/second-anniversary-abidjan-principles-and-two-years-unpreced... |
| Description | Decolonisation and diaspora in thinking about education and international devleopment |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Lecture at REAL Centre discussing history of IoE and ideas about diaspora and decolonisation |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzFDTVulWq8 |
| Description | Higher education and development |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presentation of rigorous literature review |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.britishcouncil.org/going-global/about/past-events/2020 |
| Description | History of IoE |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Looked at the colonial history of IoE and some of the implications for deconomial work |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/2022/06/24/ioe-at-120-empire-decolonisation-modernisation-and-dislocatio... |
| Description | In country sharing research findings - Kenya |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Purpose of research findings meeting • To present to key stakeholders in each of the four countries an overview of the key research findings emerging from the reviews of conceptual and empirical literature and facilitate engaged discussion on these to feedback into the final synthesised project research report. • To present to key stakeholders in each of the four countries an overview of the key research findings emerging from that countryand facilitate engaged discussion on these to feedback into the final research report on that country. • To present to key stakeholders in each of the four countries a synthesised overview of the key research findings emerging across the four countriesand facilitate engaged discussion on these to feedback into the final synthesised project research report and other publications (book, journal articles). • To present to key stakeholders in each of the countries a draft framework for the development of an indicator of higher education and the public good that draws from the project findings and facilitate through structured group activitystakeholder input into the finalisation of the indicator. • To provide an opportunity to verify and validate the emerging findings from the project with key stakeholders across the four countries and address any questions or concerns that stakeholders may have about the research. • To bring together stakeholders and researchers from each country with some of the researchers from the other countries to facilitate the sharing of ideas and a deepened understanding of the concerns of the project in each context and across the region. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | In country sharing of research findings - Nigeria |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Purpose of research findings meeting • To present to key stakeholders in each of the four countries an overview of the key research findings emerging from the reviews of conceptual and empirical literature and facilitate engaged discussion on these to feedback into the final synthesised project research report. • To present to key stakeholders in each of the four countries an overview of the key research findings emerging from that countryand facilitate engaged discussion on these to feedback into the final research report on that country. • To present to key stakeholders in each of the four countries a synthesised overview of the key research findings emerging across the four countriesand facilitate engaged discussion on these to feedback into the final synthesised project research report and other publications (book, journal articles). • To present to key stakeholders in each of the countries a draft framework for the development of an indicator of higher education and the public good that draws from the project findings and facilitate through structured group activitystakeholder input into the finalisation of the indicator. • To provide an opportunity to verify and validate the emerging findings from the project with key stakeholders across the four countries and address any questions or concerns that stakeholders may have about the research. • To bring together stakeholders and researchers from each country with some of the researchers from the other countries to facilitate the sharing of ideas and a deepened understanding of the concerns of the project in each context and across the region. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://opinion.premiumtimesng.com/2019/01/25/reviving-the-nigerian-university-system-by-jibrin-ibra... |
| Description | In country sharing research findings - Ghana |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Purpose of research findings meeting • To present to key stakeholders in each of the four countries an overview of the key research findings emerging from the reviews of conceptual and empirical literature and facilitate engaged discussion on these to feedback into the final synthesised project research report. • To present to key stakeholders in each of the four countries an overview of the key research findings emerging from that countryand facilitate engaged discussion on these to feedback into the final research report on that country. • To present to key stakeholders in each of the four countries a synthesised overview of the key research findings emerging across the four countriesand facilitate engaged discussion on these to feedback into the final synthesised project research report and other publications (book, journal articles). • To present to key stakeholders in each of the countries a draft framework for the development of an indicator of higher education and the public good that draws from the project findings and facilitate through structured group activitystakeholder input into the finalisation of the indicator. • To provide an opportunity to verify and validate the emerging findings from the project with key stakeholders across the four countries and address any questions or concerns that stakeholders may have about the research. • To bring together stakeholders and researchers from each country with some of the researchers from the other countries to facilitate the sharing of ideas and a deepened understanding of the concerns of the project in each context and across the region. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | In country sharing research findings South Africa |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Purpose of research findings meeting • To present to key stakeholders in each of the four countries an overview of the key research findings emerging from the reviews of conceptual and empirical literature and facilitate engaged discussion on these to feedback into the final synthesised project research report. • To present to key stakeholders in each of the four countries an overview of the key research findings emerging from that countryand facilitate engaged discussion on these to feedback into the final research report on that country. • To present to key stakeholders in each of the four countries a synthesised overview of the key research findings emerging across the four countriesand facilitate engaged discussion on these to feedback into the final synthesised project research report and other publications (book, journal articles). • To present to key stakeholders in each of the countries a draft framework for the development of an indicator of higher education and the public good that draws from the project findings and facilitate through structured group activitystakeholder input into the finalisation of the indicator. • To provide an opportunity to verify and validate the emerging findings from the project with key stakeholders across the four countries and address any questions or concerns that stakeholders may have about the research. • To bring together stakeholders and researchers from each country with some of the researchers from the other countries to facilitate the sharing of ideas and a deepened understanding of the concerns of the project in each context and across the region. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | OSF presentation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Supporters |
| Results and Impact | Outline the study design and some key findings to inform Open Society Foundation's strategic policy discussion |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Panel discussion on decolonization and the history of the Institute of Education |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Discussion of history of thinking about education and international development at IoE (Institute of Education) and ideas for decolonization |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ioe120-the-london-review-of-education-and-journeys-towards-decolonisa... |
| Description | Presentation on using Abidjan Principles |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Workshop on using Abidjan Principles and link between research in law/human rights and social research on equality and public good in education |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Seminar at University of Johannseburg |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Discussed different ways to think about gender and education and the evolution of the AGEE framework and how could be used at a higher education institute |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.uj.ac.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/uj_sarchi-tl-_gendereducation.pdf |
| Description | Teach out |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | To discuss higher education and public good issues in Africa and similarities and differences with Uk |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Writing workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | The process of developing the thinking behind a published research article was shared by two members of the research team with postgraduate students and fellow academics, charting the ways in which research ideas develop through to publications., Ways of supporting writing were shared. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |