Two decades after the advent of democracy in South Africa, a review of initiatives designed to promote equity and transformation in three universities in that country highlights the importance of diversity among staff, affirmative institutional cultures, and support for emerging researchers. Over the past decade and more, a group of United States foundations has funded various endeavors related to equity and transformation in South African universities. Since 2005, Carnegie Corporation of New York has provided support for staff development, postgraduate training, and institutional-climate interventions at universities in Witwatersrand, Cape Town, and KwaZulu-Natal. A review undertaken over the past two years for the Corporation by the Cape Higher Education Consortium (CHEC) examined these efforts to retrieve lessons learnt. Findings concluded that of comprehensive support to individual postgraduate students and emerging researchers is key as part of a range of new strategies to tackle the critical challenge of increasing the output of quality postgraduates.
Citation:
Badsha, Nasima and Sharman Wickham. Review of initiatives in equity and transformation in three universities in South Africa. Cape Higher Education Consortium, 2013.
Program: Higher Education and Research in Africa
- Grantee Publication
