Decolonising meritocratic higher education: key challenges and directions for change

Abstract

ABSTRACT In the context of the global decolonial movement, this paper aims to identify major challenges faced by higher education institutions by following an integrative literature review as a methodological approach. A review of two main bodies of scholarly literatures – decolonisation of higher education and meritocracy in higher education – showed that higher education is a colonial project in which meritocratic logics have been used to justify social, economic and racial inequalities. The paper identifies that the commodification of life, exclusion of racialised faculties and students and colonisation of their epistemologies are three major challenges. Reorienting the praxes of higher education towards collective well-being, taking action for the meaningful inclusion of faculties and students and embracing epistemological plurality for higher education decolonisation are discussed as three potential directions for change.