Challenges of doing research in sub-Saharan African universities scholarship opportunities
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Date
2009-01
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Zululand
Abstract
Universities the world over are responsible for research, knowledge generation, scholarship and innovation. They also serve
as conduits for the transfer, adaptation, and dissemination of knowledge generated across the world. Universities are
expected to guarantee the most efficient utilisation of research results and their possible application to economic life.
Globally, universities are facing renewed external and internal pressure as the push for them to meet the changing needs
of society intensifies as a result of trends in the transition towards a knowledge-based economy; massification of higher
education; and the integration and assimilation of Information Technology (IT) into the academic environment. Moreover,
the emergence and use of IT in higher education has led to an increasingly virtual education system, with implications for
the dynamics and conduct of university research. Universities no longer remain sole citadels of research activities, as
private or government research institutes are increasingly involved in knowledge creation and dissemination. The
internationalisation of higher education, coupled with growing student mobility and increased competition for funding, has
recently occasioned efforts to rank universities in terms of their academic quality and productivity at national, regional
and global levels.
Despite the increased demands on universities, they remain constrained by declining state funding, increasing
enrolments, limited physical facilities, etc. New technologies now offer lifelines for African universities to re-engineer and
reposition themselves in order to meet these ever increasing societal demands effectively. This paper discusses the
challenges of doing research in African universities, and assesses the opportunities digital scholarship can engender for
these universities. The focus of the paper is on universities in sub-Saharan Africa, excluding North Africa and to some
extent, South Africa. North African higher education is largely influenced by practices in Europe and the Middle East.
South Africa has had a separate and distinct political history and governance that differs from other African countries. The
country also has a fairly well developed technological and industrial economy, which is quite ahead of other African
countries. Their system of higher education is older (most universities were established during the pre-World War II
phase, while in most sub-Saharan countries, universities were established post-independence, beginning in the late
1950s) and their universities are well endowed with good libraries, well equipped laboratories, long traditions of
scholarship based on European models, and a well established ICT infrastructure that is accessible to both faculties and
students.
Description
Peer reviewed article published under Inkanyiso, Volume 1, Issue 1, Jan 2009, p. 1 - 10
Keywords
Research, digital scholarship, e-research, e-learning, sub-Saharan Africa
Citation
Mutula, S., 2009. Challenges of doing research in sub-Saharan African universities: digital scholarship opportunities. Inkanyiso: Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 1(1), pp.1-10.