Universities and Economic Development: Sub-Saharan Africa and the Nordic Countries Peter Maassen MPhil HE, HEM 4100, unit 3 24 September 2010

Starting point:  Why are the Nordic universities (and economies) performing so well?  Why are the African universities (and economies) lagging behind?  Paper not about contributions to economic development per se, but about conditions under which universities operate

Higher Education and Development OECD countries and emerging economies: ’knowledge economy’ development strategies and ideologies. Strong political focus on the knowledge triangle, linking research, (higher) education and innovation. Consequence: HE central in research excellence policies, as well as new education & training policies

Higher Education and Development Cooperation  Development cooperation from individual support to public global goods, especially security, environment, knowledge, food, and health care  Emphasis on health care, food, and recently security and environment. Missing link: KNOWLEDGE  What are the consequences of this for the university and its role in development in Sub-Saharan Africa?

“ The university must become a primary tool for Africa’s development in the new century. Universities can help develop African expertise; they can enhance the analysis of African problems; strengthen domestic institutions; serve as a model environment for the practice of good governance, conflict resolution and respect for human rights, and enable African academics to play an active part in the global community of scholars”. (Kofi Annan, in Bloom et al, 2005)

Higher Education Research and Advocacy Network in Africa (HERANA) Aim: Building an expertise Network for contributing to knowledge production and capacity building on Higher Education in Africa

Initial project: Analyse actual and intended investments of ‘Northern’ donors in HE projects in developing countries Report: higher-education-a

Three HERANA components: 1. Education and Training 2. Advocacy 3. Research

1. Education and Training Aim: African experts on HE that are globally well-connected Activity: Joint NOMA-funded Master programme in HE studies (UiO, UWC, Makerere University) Intention: PhD level cooperation between UiO and UWC

2. Advocacy Components: - University World News ( - Publications ( ) - Seminars - HERANA Gateway ( Funding: Partnership for HE in Africa (PHEA)

3. Research Three HERANA Research Projects:  Higher Education and Democratic Development  Higher Education and Economic Development  Knowledge Use in Higher Education Policy-making

HERANA Research Project: Higher Education and Economic Development Two overall aims Macro level: To explore the relationship between economic development policy, and higher education policies Meso/micro level: To understand the ways in which selected universities in Africa are responding to calls for a stronger engagement with the socio-economic development of their country and surrounding regions.

Higher Education and Economic Development Two alternative analytical frameworks:  Narrow economic growth approach  Broad interpretation of economic development approach, linked to access of citizens to basic public goods, such as health care, food, education, work/labour market (Based aot Amartya Sen’s work)

Methodology  Good case approach: OECD countries successfully linking HE and economic development (Finland, North Carolina, S. Korea) Interviews, document analysis and statistics  National economic policy and HE system development in 8 African countries Interviews, document analysis (and statistics)  University responses in 8 African countries to call for stronger engagement in economic development Interviews, document analysis and institutional data

What the project is not doing  Studying the effects of individual development projects  Reviewing the number of donor projects  Examining the overall contribution of each external donor to university development  Asserting that the primary role for HE is development

Actors and relationships which impact on the ‘pact’ National stakeholders (ministries, government, government agencies, employer organisations) External agencies (foreign donors, academic networks, research councils, industry) Institutional stakeholders THE PACT Notions of development Notions of role and value of higher education THE PACT Notions of development Notions of role and value of higher education Actors and relationships with impact on the pact

Four roles for higher education in development Four visions on the role of HE in development: Traditional Development (TD): Higher education as producer of ‘national person power’ (mainly civil service) Institutional (I): The university as a self-governing institution New Instrumental (NI): Higher education as a producer of skilled professionals (particularly doctors, lawyers, teachers, nurses, agricultural specialists) and meeting and responding to ‘community’ needs Engine of Development (ED): The university as the electricity of development in the new knowledge economy

Institutionalisation and academic core / periphery Extended Periphery Lifelong learning, technology transfers, contract/applied research, special projects, etc. Extended Periphery Lifelong learning, technology transfers, contract/applied research, special projects, etc. Coupling (tight/loose) Degree of institutionalisation of ‘third-mission’ of economic development Academic core Degree programmes Basic research Academic core Degree programmes Basic research Institutionalisation and academic core/periphery

Nordic Region 1.Four main countries: Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden 2.Small Region in population: 25 million inhabitants; large in size 3.Integrated Region: politically, economically (incl. labour market), socially, culturally/scientifically (incl. HE & Research) 4.Successful Region: a) Combined GDP: 6-8th in the world b) Leading major global rankings/indexes: Innovation; Globalisation; Social inclusion; Living conditions; Environmental sustainability, etc. c) Effective HE & Research systems: Participation rates; Research output, Research impact; Rankings; FP7/ERC, NSF/NIH

Nordic Region Nordic HEIs and their Performance HEIs: 7 (No) + 8 (DK) + 20 (Fi) + 16 (Swe) = 51 universities 8 (DK) + 5 (Swe) + 28 (Swe) + 31 (Fi) + 23 (No) + 8 (No) = 102 colleges “Shanghai ranking”: 7 Nordic universities in top 100; (24 in top 500) European Research Council (ERC), first three rounds: Nordic researchers: 80 Grants (= 9%) FP7 Cooperation: At least 1 Nordic partner in almost 50% of all selected projects Research Production/Impact: all Nordic countries among most productive and highest impact countries

African case studies (HERANA project)  Botswana: University of Botswana  Ghana: University of Ghana  Kenya: University of Nairobi  Mauritius: University of Mauritius  Mozambique: Eduardo Mondlane University  South Africa: Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University  Tanzania: University of Dar es Salaam  Uganda: Makerere University

Analytical framework: Three inter-related factors  The nature of the pact between the universities, political authorities and society at large.  The nature, size and continuity of the university’s academic core.  The nature, management, size and institutionalisation of externally-funded projects at universities.

Pact between university and society Definition : A ‘pact’ can be defined as a fairly long-term cultural, socio-economic and political understanding and commitment between universities, political authorities and society at large of the identity or vision of universities, what is expected of universities, and what the rules and values of the universities are. Indicators include: 1.The nature of the national development framework. 2.Role of the Ministry of Education. 3.Funding consistency

Pact: findings Nordic countries Overall: strong pact between university and society Result: strongly institutionalised environment for the universities Characteristics: relatively high level of mutual trust; consistent high level of public funding; growing strategic capacity of universities Variety in national development strategies and role/nature of Ministries responsible for universities

Pact: findings African countries Overall: weak pact between university and society Result: weakly institutionalised environment for the universities Characteristics: low level of mutual trust; inconsistent and low level of public funding; no strategic capacity of universities, weak Ministries of Education Variety in national development strategies

Indicators wrt strength of academic core 1. Ratio of undergraduate to postgraduate enrolments (2000 and 2007) 2. Ratio of student enrolments across broad fields of study (SET, Arts & Humanities, Commerce) (2000 and 2007) 3. Masters and doctoral level graduation rates 4. Ratio of academic staff to students (2000 and 2007) 5. Percentage of academic staff with PhD degrees 6. Research output in terms of staff publications (ISI) 7. Institutional contribution to research funding as percentage of the total institutional budget (2000 and 2007) 8. Proportion of funding from government agencies (e.g. research council or national commission) (2000 and 2007)

Academic core: findings In African universities:  Undergraduate enrolment 80-90% of total enrolment.  Postgraduate enrolment growing more rapidly than undergraduate.  Overall enrolment growth in Science & Technology  Postgraduate graduation rates very low  Academic publication output almost negligible In Nordic universities:  Undergraduate enrolment 30-50% of total enrolment  Postgraduate enrolment growing more rapidly than undergraduate.  Relatively decline in Science & Technology enrolments  Postgraduate graduation rates relatively high  Academic publication output high

University Total number of articles (2007) University of Botswana126 University of Dar es Salaam70 University of Nairobi136 University of Ghana101 University of Mauritius26 Makerere University233 Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (SA)94 University of Oslo3,483 University of Helsinki4,001 University of Copenhagen3,894 (in 2005) Number of articles in refereed academic journals (2007) for selected universities

Indicators wrt institutionalisation of externally funded projects 1. Sustainability 2. Capacity building 3. Relationship to academic core

Externally funded projects: findings Nordic countries: Main external funder: national Research Council & EU/FP7 Driven by academic excellence, and strategic, national priorities. Part of pact between university and society at large Contributes to: Increased academic output Quality of research (through competition) Capacity building in academic core Development of dynamic centres of excellence

Externally funded projects: findings African countries: Main external funder: development aid (donor) agencies Driven by poverty reduction and community development Funding based on development aid programme/agenda in home country Contributes to: Decreased academic output Negligence of research Lack of sustainability (projectization) Decreased capacity in academic core Keeping ‘pockets of excellence’ in a niche

Conclusions 1. Pact  African universities operate in a development vacuum with a weak Education Ministry with limited funds, and strong sector Ministries with no funds  Variety wrt Nordic universities: from operating in a strong explicit national development framework to operating in a development vacuum. Overall consistent high level of public funding.

Conclusions 2. Academic core  African universities are dynamic: e.g. growth in postgraduate enrolment; growth in S&T students. Lagging behind in postgraduate enrolment and graduation; and especially in research output.  Nordic universities dynamic: e.g. growth in postgraduate graduation rates and academic output

Conclusions 3. External funders  Development agencies have a negative impact on African universities in the sense that they reduce the capacity of African universities to (further) develop their academic core.  No link between investments of developing agencies in African universities and the foundations under the pact between universities and society in their home country

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