The relationship between research, on the one hand, and policy/practice on the other hand, is complicated and collaboration between scholars in research on higher education (RHE) and institutional research (IR) practitioners is often lacking. This book marks a collaborative effort of a diverse range of South African RHE and IR scholars and asks the overarching questions: What do we know about the utilisation of South African research on higher education (SARHE) and its subset of research known as Institutional Research? How and by whom is this research used? The book begins by looking at the historical underpinnings of SARHE and delineating the shape and size of this body of research. This is followed by a series of case studies on South African Higher Education institutions and governmental bodies, investigating how, when and by whom are research on higher education and institutional research used in the decision-making of these organisations. This book is the first of its kind in South Africa and sets out to lay the groundwork for further research into the use, uptake and utilisation of RHE and IR in this country.

What is transformation in contemporary South African higher education? How can it be facilitated through research and pedagogic practices? These questions are addressed in this edited collection by established academics and emerging research students from nine South African universities. The chapters give us access to students? worlds: how they construct, experience and navigate their complex spheres, on and off campus. By engaging with students as knowledge producers, we transform popular ways of thinking about race, gender, class, sexuality, disability and age as singular and natural markers of difference and diversity.ÿ Rather than taking diversity as fixed and rooted in nature, we explore how diversity is imagined and lived in particular contexts on and off campus.

Higher Education in South Africa should be of considerable interest to higher education researchers outside of South Africa, as well as within, for the general and comparative assessments it makes. The South African higher education researchers included within its covers have clearly engaged with research and writing from many parts of the world, which they have then applied to make sense of their own condition. - Malcolm Tight Lancaster University, UK

This book examines the influence of an important body of international literature on the development of post-apartheid policies in higher education and training and in science and technology. The book also examines a related phenomenon, the so-called 'massification' and democratisation of higher education world-wde over the past two decades.

The overarching aim of this study is to analyse what researchers in South African higher education institutes and science councils mean by the term 'utilisation' ? i.e. what do researchers mean when they indicate that their research findings are being utilised. The data used to conduct this analysis is taken from a national survey, conducted for the purpose of establishing the extent to which research finding in South Africa are utilised. The author played an active role in this survey component of the research conducted for the South African National Advisory Committee on Innovation (NACI). The study also covers the specific dynamics of the utilisation process: How does research utilisation occur and what are the key variables in this process? In answering this question, the author discusses five prominent models of knowledge utilisation that have been put forward over the past three decades: The Two-Communities theory of Norman Caplan (1979); The three models of policy research of Carol Weiss (1991); The Triple Helix model of Henry Etzkowitz and Loet Leydesdorff (1996); The three policy paradigms of Barry Bozeman (1994); and The Contingency Effectiveness model of Technology Transfer (CETT) of Barry Bozeman (2000).

The book is a must read for policy makers, academics, university administrators and post graduate research students in the broad field of education and in higher education studies in particular. The book brings together a wealth of information regarding the imperatives of transformation in Africa’s higher education systems. Not only do some of the chapters provide critical discussion about the conceptualisation of transformation, the majority of the chapters reflect on empirical evidence for transformation in diverse fields of mathematics, science, gender, the training of doctoral students and the governance and management of universities. This central theme of sustainable change and reform runs across the chapters of the book. For students, the book provides exemplars of practical research in higher education. For scholars in higher education and policy makers, specific issues for reform are identified and discussed.

This book outlines successful transformation strategies and efforts that have been developed to assist the South African higher education system in moving beyond its post-apartheid state of being. Through case studies authored by South African higher education scholars and scholars affiliated with South African institutions, this book aims to highlight the status of transformation in the South African higher education system; demonstrate the variety of transformation initiatives used in academic institutions across South Africa; and offer recommendations to further advance this transformation. Written for scholars and advanced students of higher education in international settings, this volume aims to support quality research that benefits the demographic composition of South African academics and students, and offers lessons that can inform higher education transformation in similarly multicultural societies.