Widening access through openness in higher education in the developing world: A Bourdieusian field analysis of experiences from the National Open University of Nigeria

Felix Kayode Olakulehin,Gurmit Singh

doi:10.5944/openpraxis.5.1.40

Abstract

Bourdieu has argued that higher education is a field that reproduces social inequality, thus complicating how openness widens access to higher education in the developing world. Drawing on the experiences of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), this paper critically analyses and evaluates the rationale, approach, difficulties, opportunities, outcomes and benefits of NOUN’s experience in widening access to higher education in Nigeria using Bourdieu’s field theory. We argue that the success of efforts for openness in higher education in a developing world context involves steering the contradictory tensions of openness and access across competing policy and practice fields. We offer this theorisation as a future social theoretical agenda for reflexive research for improving the effectiveness of praxis to widen access through openness in higher education in the developing world.

Highlights

Today, openness has ascended into the contemporary debate on higher education (HE) globally
The National Open University of Nigeria was established in order to operationalise this ideal
The university functions within a National University system regulated by another government agency—the National Universities Commission—which has a definitive position on the balance of quality and access in higher education

Summary

Introduction

Openness has ascended into the contemporary debate on higher education (HE) globally. While the UKOU focused on being open as to people by not insisting on any formal entry qualifications for its programmes, some open universities in developing countries, such as the University of South Africa, the National Open University of Nigeria, and the Indira Ghandi National Open University, India, have not embraced this dimension of openness These HEIs interpret the ‘people’ dimension of openness to mean increasing the rates of participation of candidates who have the formal entry requirements required to gain admission into traditional higher education institutions. While there is generally support about the potentials of the technology dimension of openness and OERs, analysts have raised concerns that ICTs may serve to exclude the marginalised, and widen the “digital divide” (Lane, 2009; Wiley & Hilton III, 2009) Addressing these wider socioeconomic and cultural issues that affect the dimensions of openness that can be enabled requires considering the role of HE in developing societies. To go beyond the interpretations and dimensions of ‘openness’ within different educational aims presented above, a social theoretical approach to HE research that can contribute to improving the conceptualisation of the openness philosophy is the work of Pierre Bourdieu

Openness philosophy and the work of Pierre Bourdieu

The field of Nigerian higher education

Conclusion