The academic profession and the rising knowledge societies in Africa: A comparative analysis of research, teaching and community outreach in Makerere University and the University of the Western Cape

Abstract

This thesis explores the fate of the academic profession at Makerere University [MUK], Uganda and the University of the Western Cape [UWC], South Africa. The study explores higher education as a strategy prioritized to drive knowledge production, innovation, ICT integration, and human resource development to position economies across Sub Saharan Africa among knowledge economies. While the study recognizes that the initiatives in Uganda and South Africa are at a policy rhetorical level hence categorizes the two as “rising knowledge societies”, the policy implications on universities as the main seat of knowledge and innovation in the two countries motivated the study to establish if the academic profession at MUK and UWC is changing in response to the policy interests of the rising knowledge society in the two countries. Using the neo-institutional theory, a cross national comparative concurrent mixed methods design through survey, semi-structured interviews, and document analysis examined the trajectory of academic research, teaching, and community outreach in the two universities. The results show a rather moderate response of the academic profession to national policy needs in the two institutions though aspects unique to each institution exist. That is, academic research is leaning more towards application in both universities. Teaching rests more on learner- centered instruction and performativity in MUK than UWC. Community outreach is changing in MUK contrary to UWC due to institutional rather than national pressure. Overall, institutional reality specific to limited interest and capacity to innovate, enrolment patterns, and the influence of donors in knowledge production in each university sometimes overrule state influence in shaping the priorities of academics in their work. Therefore, the study draws two conclusions, the first is that there is a rather common than divergent pattern in the practice of the academic profession in the two universities. The second is that the academic profession in the two universities exhibits change, which could plausibly be in response to the policy interests of the rising knowledge society in the two countries. This implies that contemporary challenges for the academic profession overlook national socio- economic differences, which emphasizes the idea that universities in Uganda might have demands closely related to those required of universities in South Africa. This thesis extends the debate on how institutions can prepare the academic community for a pragmatic approach to the emerging demands of the knowledge age