25 September 2022  Issue No: 709

Hopes of a breakthrough in international efforts to reform how researchers and research organisations are assessed are rising, with European universities, research centres, public and private funders, national and regional agencies and other stakeholders being encouraged to create a coalition committed to change.

The US$100 million grant by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to the United Negro College Fund and other organisations that focus on improving higher education for blacks and minority students in the United States is one of the largest such grants yet made. But is it enough?

A longitudinal study conducted in the period after Russia’s 2014 aggression against Ukraine, which confirmed a correlation between the feeling of being understood by others and a willingness to trust or forgive, may hold a key to post-conflict reconciliation processes in other settings.

In its emphasis on specific learning objectives and employability, the draft Higher Education Commission of India bill of 2018 works against Kant’s notion of a university as a place where scholars freely engage in criticism of existing knowledge for the pursuit of truth.

Given the growing influence of China among Africa’s youth, colleges and universities in the United States need to re-examine their recruitment strategies to make them more inviting, inclusive and affordable for African students, most of whom require full or nearly full financial support.

African universities have the expertise, best practices and research capability that can serve as a foundation to shape ‘brand Africa’ in higher education – but many Africans lack the confidence to do so. The importance of accurate data to track success and failures has also been highlighted.

The inclusion of higher education in the Sustainable Development Goals is welcomed, but much more needs to be done to promote access to higher education, including differentiating institutions, reducing institutional inefficiencies and targeting financial support at those students least able to pay fees.

Higher education institutions are conduits through which reparative futures can be cultivated by enabling people to increase their personal agency and by creating an educated citizenry better equipped to forge viable solutions to social and economic problems and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.