TY - JOUR
T1 - The Perceived Benefits of International Partnerships in Africa
T2 - A Case Study of Two Public Universities in Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo
AU - Chiteng Kot, Felly
N1 - Funding Information:
Various initiatives suggest that the focus on partnerships is likely to continue to increase in Africa. In the United States, for instance, Fischer and Lindow (2008) noted: ‘African universities have become the focus of intense interest by US universities, foundations, and donor agencies convinced that without stronger higher education, the continent’s development prospects will remain bleak’ (A21). In 2007, a number of organisations established the Africa-US Higher Education Initiative, a project funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). In 2010, the US Department of Health and Human Services created the Medical Education Partnership Initiative to support medical education and research in Sub-Saharan Africa. A quarter of medical schools in this region are said to be part of this network (Kristiansen, 2013a). Many other partnership projects with African institutions have been initiated or supported by private foundations. One notable example is that of the Partnership for Higher Education in Africa, a 10-year project established in 2000 by a number of US foundations to coordinate their support and help strengthen higher education in nine African countries (Lewis et al., 2010; Parker, 2010). Recently, the Carnegie Foundation initiated the African Diaspora Fellowship program that focuses on research collaboration, curriculum co-development between African and North American academic institutions, and the training/mentoring of graduate students (Foulds and Zeleza, 2014). Other partnerships, such as the Human Heredity and Health in Africa initiative, supported by the National Institutes of Health and the Welcome Trust (Kristiansen, 2013b), are jointly supported by public and private organisations.
Funding Information:
This study is based on a research project that was supported through a fellowship from the Compton Foundation, a dissertation fellowship from the University of Minnesota Global Programs and Strategy Alliance, a scholarship from the National Society of The Colonial Dames of America in the State of Minnesota, and a Corcoran Research Award from the College of Education & Human Development at the University of Minnesota.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 International Association of Universities.
Copyright:
Copyright 2016 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2016/3/1
Y1 - 2016/3/1
N2 - In recent years, international partnerships have been viewed increasingly as having the potential to help African academic institutions develop the human capacity needed to contribute to African development. Although the rationales for establishing partnerships are often clear, a question that has been largely unaddressed in empirical research is: What benefits do African institutions and stakeholders derive from partnerships? The present study attempts to examine this question by analysing the perceptions of a random sample of 468 university administrators, academic staff, and postgraduate students at two large public universities in Sub-Saharan Africa. Results show that international partnerships resulted in three institutional benefits (institutional capacity, academic effectiveness, and internationalisation) and four personal benefits (academic, cultural, economic, and strategic). The study found both similarities and differences in the extent to which institutions benefitted from partnerships. Moreover, the characteristics of partnership activities were related, in some cases, to the 'personal' benefits that African stakeholders derived from participating in these activities.
AB - In recent years, international partnerships have been viewed increasingly as having the potential to help African academic institutions develop the human capacity needed to contribute to African development. Although the rationales for establishing partnerships are often clear, a question that has been largely unaddressed in empirical research is: What benefits do African institutions and stakeholders derive from partnerships? The present study attempts to examine this question by analysing the perceptions of a random sample of 468 university administrators, academic staff, and postgraduate students at two large public universities in Sub-Saharan Africa. Results show that international partnerships resulted in three institutional benefits (institutional capacity, academic effectiveness, and internationalisation) and four personal benefits (academic, cultural, economic, and strategic). The study found both similarities and differences in the extent to which institutions benefitted from partnerships. Moreover, the characteristics of partnership activities were related, in some cases, to the 'personal' benefits that African stakeholders derived from participating in these activities.
KW - African higher education
KW - cross-border partnerships
KW - international cooperation
KW - international partnerships
KW - partnerships benefits
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U2 - 10.1057/hep.2015.2
DO - 10.1057/hep.2015.2
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84958212006
VL - 29
SP - 41
EP - 62
JO - Higher Education Policy
JF - Higher Education Policy
SN - 0952-8733
IS - 1
ER -