Knowledge Production and Contradictory Functions in African Higher Education

Knowledge Production and Contradictory Functions in African Higher Education PDF Author: Nico Cloete
Publisher: African Books Collective
ISBN: 1920677879
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 314

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Book Description
The dominant global discourse in higher education now focuses on world-class universities inevitably located predominantly in North America, Europe and, increasingly, East Asia. The rest of the world, including Africa, is left to play catch-up. But that discourse should focus rather on the tensions, even contradictions, between excellence and engagement with which all universities must grapple. Here the African experience has much to offer the high-participation and generously resourced systems of the so-called developed world. This book offers a critical review of that experience, and so makes a major contribution to our understanding of higher education.

Knowledge Production and Contradictory Functions in African Higher Education

Knowledge Production and Contradictory Functions in African Higher Education PDF Author: Nico Cloete
Publisher: African Books Collective
ISBN: 1920677879
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 314

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Book Description
The dominant global discourse in higher education now focuses on world-class universities inevitably located predominantly in North America, Europe and, increasingly, East Asia. The rest of the world, including Africa, is left to play catch-up. But that discourse should focus rather on the tensions, even contradictions, between excellence and engagement with which all universities must grapple. Here the African experience has much to offer the high-participation and generously resourced systems of the so-called developed world. This book offers a critical review of that experience, and so makes a major contribution to our understanding of higher education.

The Social Production of Knowledge in a Neoliberal Age

The Social Production of Knowledge in a Neoliberal Age PDF Author: Justin Cruickshank
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1538161419
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 415

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Book Description
Higher education exposes a key paradox of neoliberalism. The project of neoliberalism was said to be that of rolling back the state to liberate individuals, by replacing government bureaucracy with the free market. Rather than have the market serve individuals however, individuals were to serve the market. The marketisation ‘reforms’ in higher education, which sought to reshape knowledge production, with students investing in human capital and academics producing ‘transferable’ research, to make higher education of use to the economy, has resulted in extensive government bureaucracy and oppressive managerialist bureaucracy which is inefficient and expensive. Neoliberalism has always had authoritarian aspects and these are now coming to bear on universities. The state does not want critical and informed graduate citizens, but a hollowed out public sphere defined by consumption, willing servitude to the market and deference to state power. Attempts to reshape universities with bureaucracy are now accompanied by a culture war, attacking the production of critical knowledge. The authors in this book explore these issues and the possibilities for resistance and progressive change.

The New Production of Knowledge

The New Production of Knowledge PDF Author: Michael Gibbons
Publisher: SAGE
ISBN: 9780803977945
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 196

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Book Description
In this provocative and broad-ranging work, the authors argue that the ways in which knowledge - scientific, social and cultural - is produced are undergoing fundamental changes at the end of the twentieth century. They claim that these changes mark a distinct shift into a new mode of knowledge production which is replacing or reforming established institutions, disciplines, practices and policies. Identifying features of the new mode of knowledge production - reflexivity, transdisciplinarity, heterogeneity - the authors show how these features connect with the changing role of knowledge in social relations. While the knowledge produced by research and development in science and technology is accorded central concern, the

Universities as Centres of Research and Knowledge Creation: An Endangered Species?

Universities as Centres of Research and Knowledge Creation: An Endangered Species? PDF Author:
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9087904800
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 280

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Book Description
This book primarily addresses the variety and gaps in higher education across the globe, concentrating on the challenges to transitional and developing countries. It addresses the related issues of research capacity, research productivity, and research relevance and utility.

Markets in Higher Education

Markets in Higher Education PDF Author: Pedro Teixeira
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1402028350
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 361

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Book Description
This volume presents the most comprehensive international discussion yet on the role of markets in higher education. It considers both the political and economic implications of the rising trend towards introducing market elements in higher education. The book draws together leading international scholars in higher education to explore different theoretical perspectives and present new empirical evidence on market mechanisms in higher education in several Western countries.

Measuring Up in Higher Education

Measuring Up in Higher Education PDF Author: Anthony Welch
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 9811579210
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 391

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Book Description
This book examines the quality assessment movement in academic scholarship, as globalization prompts a search for global measures of university services and output. It gauges productivity in terms of universal publication metrics, and considers ranking and research productivity from a comparative perspective. The book considers the use of the “impact factor” as a gauge of publication value, noting that this less important in countries lacking central government appropriations to universities and to research. It argues that pressure to publish in certain journals, and to research topics of interest to English language readers, has been felt differentially in English-language systems, compared to others, but also that performance pressures fall more on younger, more juniour, contract staff, than on senior and tenured professors. It problematizes international comparisons of quality, and analyses the benefits of a zone of ideas and metrics in a common language – promoting international mobility, efficiency, collaboration - but also the costs which are rarely borne equally across countries, languages and cultures. The book provides a strong, evidence-based contribution to major debates in contemporary higher education reforms and the measurement of academic output.

Universities in the Knowledge Economy

Universities in the Knowledge Economy PDF Author: Paul Temple
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136499083
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 287

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Book Description
Universities are fundamental to the contemporary knowledge economy. They directly and indirectly support economic growth in both developing and advanced economies. In addition to their traditional teaching and research functions, they often also have important roles in supporting regional development and urban regeneration, as well as involvement in fostering international relations, in , cultural developments and in enhancing social cohesion. While higher education institutions in many countries are often assigned key roles in economic and social policy prescriptions, exactly what those roles are and how they should be carried out are often unclear. Universities and the Knowledge Economy provides a much-needed theoretical and empirical analysis of these functions, taking a critical look at the complex connections between knowledge creation, the knowledge economy, and higher education today. This volume: Brings together work on these topics by international experts, reporting and analysing recent policy developments and research Shows the significance of the university’s role in the knowledge economy, and the precise roles that it can play. Presents a range of studies showing how universities interact with other knowledge producers and users, and how these interactions can be managed to achieve the most effective applications of knowledge Universities are multi-faceted institutions that everywhere are accorded special status. Universities and the Knowledge Economy examines how these institutions carry our knowledge production and application, and how their distinctive characters affect what they do. . This title is of both intellectual and operational relevance, and would be suitable for those interested in higher education and policy and practice, and in the theory of higher education. Paul Temple is Reader in Higher Education Management and Co-Director of the Centre for Higher Education Studies at the Institute of Education, University of London, UK.

Universities and Strategic Knowledge Creation

Universities and Strategic Knowledge Creation PDF Author: Andrea Bonaccorsi
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN: 1847206840
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 509

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Book Description
'. . . my opinion is that this book not only presents a wide and complete report of an extensive research effort, but also opens new directions for future research advancements in this field, that is very relevant both from theoretical considerations and policy-making implications.' Education Economics 'This book is the first work that brings together comprehensive evidence on research and education activities conducted in European universities. The volume is both timely (current discussion on the European Research Area is based on very poor quality comparative evidence) and important for scholars, practitioners, policymakers and students. It provides a critical assessment of the availability and use of inputoutput data and indicators to measure and map European higher education systems. At a time when universities are being asked to play an increasing number of roles, this book represents a foundation on which scholars and policymakers can start to develop the harmonised statistical infrastructure needed to evaluate, assess and support European universities in their changing roles.' Aldo Geuna, University of Sussex, UK Although the role of universities in the knowledge society is increasingly significant, there remains a severe lack of systematic quantitative evidence at the micro-level, with virtually all policy discussion based on country level statistics or case studies. This book redresses the balance by examining original data from universities in six European countries Italy, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and the UK. The authors provide micro-based evidence on the evolution of the strategic profile of universities in terms of scientific research, contract research, education and the third mission. The result is a highly innovative book that combines detailed national case studies and comparative institutional analyses with state-of-the-art quantitative techniques. Applying for the first time new generations of nonparametric efficiency measures on a large scale, Universities and Strategic Knowledge Creation will be of great interest to researchers and postgraduate students in higher education, economics of science and technology, and innovation studies. It will also appeal to policymakers and administrators in governments, ministries and universities.

Decolonisation of Higher Education in Africa

Decolonisation of Higher Education in Africa PDF Author: Emnet Tadesse Woldegiorgis
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000328562
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 367

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Book Description
This book discusses the status and importance of decolonisation and indigenous knowledge in academic research, teaching, and learning programmes and beyond. Taking practical lessons from a range of institutions in Africa, the book argues that that local and global sciences are culturally equal and capable of synergistic complementarity and then integrates the concept of hybrid science into discourses on decolonisation. The chapters argue for a cross-cultural dialogue between different epistemic traditions and the accommodation 'Indigenous' knowledge systems in higher education. Bringing together critical scholars, teaching and administrating academics from different disciplines, the chapters provide alternative conceptual outlooks and practical case-based perspectives towards decolonised study environments. This book will be of interest to researchers of decolonisation, postcolonial studies, higher education studies, political studies, African studies, and philosophy.

Universities and the Public Sphere

Universities and the Public Sphere PDF Author: Brian Pusser
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136944125
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 250

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Book Description
Universities have been propelled into the center of the global political economy of knowledge production by a number of factors: mass education, academic capitalism, the globalization of knowledge, the democratization of communication in the era of the Internet, and the emergence of the knowledge and innovation economy. The latest book in the International Studies in Higher Education series, Universities and the Public Sphere addresses the vital role of research universities as global public spheres, sites where public interaction, conversation and deliberation take place, where the nature of the State and private interests can be openly debated and contested. At a time of increased privatization, open markets, and government involvement in higher education, the book also addresses the challenges facing the university in its role as a global public sphere. In this volume, international contributors challenge prevalent views of the global marketplace to create a deeper understanding of higher education's role in knowledge creation and nation building. In nearly every national context the pressures of globalization, neo-liberal economic restructuring, and new managerial imperatives challenge traditional norms of autonomy, academic freedom, access and affordability. The authors in Universities and the Public Sphere argue that universities are uniquely suited to have transformative democratic potential as global public spheres.