Too often, discussions about higher education in Africa have revolved around hardships that many African universities encountered in the past, along with challenges that they might face in the future. These discussions, however, tend to blind participants to the transformative processes that are occurring in the present on campuses across the continent. Weaving Success: Voices of Change in African Higher Education hopes to reframe the discussion about higher education in Africa by sharing stories of individuals whose dedication, vision, and actions have elicited innovative changes at many African universities over the past decade. They are stories of countries and individuals finding pioneering ways to overcome steep obstacles and use their ingenuity and determination to develop effective means of teaching, research, and service in challenging environments.
Weaving Success centers on nine countries whose universities received support from the Partnership for Higher Education in Africa: Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda. It weaves together voices from people in these countries who used this support to bring about transformative changes at their respective universities: a professor of chemistry in Ghana who utilized new technologies to upgrade his institution’s facilities; a lecturer in Nigeria who, despite resource constraints, managed to produce high-level research on sickle cell disease; a budding lawyer who broke free of her society’s traditional gender roles and became the first in her family to earn a bachelor’s degree. Together, these interconnected voices add up to tell a larger story of systemic change across campuses and national boundaries.
With stunning photos throughout along with numerous tales of success by professors, university administrators, and students, Weaving Success recounts the transformation of African universities over the past decade from a deeply human perspective.
Please Note: Weaving Success is available for download in a variety of electronic formats. In the text box to the right, you can download the book for free as a PDF file and as a Flipbook that is compatible on all personal computers and BlackBerries. You can also access the book as a free app for all Apple devices (iPhone, iPad, etc.), and as a Kindle version for a small fee.
Table of Contents Chapter 1: Planting Seeds
Chapter 2: Setting the Context
Chapter 3: The Invisible Thread
Chapter 4: Innovations in Learning
Chapter 5: From Basic Needs to Broader Impacts
Chapter 6: Journey to Academic Freedom
Chapter 7: Crossing Boundaries, Building Bridges, Opening Doors
Chapter 8: New Life Blood
Chapter 9: Developing Research
Chapter 10: Dirty Hands, Fine Minds
Chapter 11: Networking a Continent
Chapter 12: Shaking the Money Tree
About the Partnership for Higher Education in Africa Launched in 2000 under the leadership of four foundation presidents—Susan Berresford (Ford Foundation), Gordon Conway (Rockefeller Foundation), Jonathan Fanton (John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation), and Vartan Gregorian (Carnegie Corporation of New York)—the Partnership for Higher Education in Africa (PHEA) grew to encompass three additional foundations: the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the Kresge Foundation. The Partnership, which closed in 2010, was a response to trends toward improved governance, public policy reform, and the increasing participation of civil society organizations in a growing number of African countries. Foundations sought to support the priority given to education in general and especially the indispensable contribution of higher education to social and economic development. PHEA represented both a belief in the importance and viability of higher education in Africa and a mechanism to provide meaningful assistance to its revitalization. To learn more about the event to commemorate PHEA that was held at the Institute of International Education, please click here.