Higher Education in Africa

Abstract

Africa is known as the cradle of humanity; scientific evidence shows that the continent is where it all started for the human species. Unsurprisingly, it is contended that early forms of higher education existed in Africa well before the contemporary universities came into existence. However, today the large majority of least developed countries are found in Africa and the continent’s higher education institutions have been struggling to keep pace with the standards set by those in the developed countries. The present higher education landscape in Africa is an extremely dynamic one and research in African higher education has contributed in finding solutions to the practical problems that the sector faces. This article provides an overview of key resources on higher education in Africa. First, resources that provide comprehensive overviews of the generic issues pertaining to African higher education are presented. Subsequently, studies on higher education in Africa are grouped in key themes that correspond to key research areas. The themes are General Overviews, National Development, Policies and Governance, Access and Equity, Research, Assessment of Education Quality, Academic Profession, and Internationalization. While the themes can be seen as reasonably distinct from each other based on their primary focus, they do possess some conceptual similarities. For example, some studies under the internationalization category also relate to the academic profession or students’ outcomes.