Responsiveness and innovation in higher education restructuring: the South African case
Muller, JohanAbstract:
This chapter is about the social institutions of higher education in South Africa and their complex relation to the problematic of restructuring. The author states that the term "restructuring" refers to the policy of institutional mergers which is part of South Africa's transformation policies. These policies are directed at equity and access on the one hand or innovation and economic development on the other. The focus of this chapter is to examine the response of higher education institutions to this double-edged exhortation. To what or to whom should these institutions be responsive or relevant? The answer usually is to society and to the market and this forces higher education insitutions to make strategic choices. The chapter is about these choices and how they are arrived at. The author also proceeds to look at recent research in South Africa which assesses the degree to which the universities have changed their curricula in response to national policy imperatives and the degree to which they have changed their research profiles. The chapter concludes by suggesting that universities respond to exogenous pressures for restructuring.
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| Chapter Title: | Responsiveness and innovation in higher education restructuring: the South African case |
| City: | Connecticut, USA |
| Publisher: | Information Age Publishing |
| Date: | 2004 |
| Document Type: | Chapter in Book (Peer Reviewed) |
| Subject Area: | National Systems and Comparative Studies |
| Country: | South Africa |
| Keywords: | Higher Education Restructuring, South African Universities, Responsiveness, Innovation and Higher Education, Post Apartheid, Transformation of higher education, Mergers, Curriculum Changes, Policy |
| Date Added: | 12 March 2007 |