Role for universities in lucrative African creative and cultural industries

By Karen MacGregor – Acting Global Editor. In the latest article in our “Africa: University Leadership” series, Donald Otoyo Ondieki and Emily Achieng’ Akuno propose that vice-chancellors create enabling environments for creative and cultural industries, which contribute 5% of Kenya’s gross domestic product but remain neglected by government and higher education. In World Blog, Tom Abeles argues that there is not enough money or qualified academics to achieve world-class or flagship universities in the developing world.
In Africa Features, Esther Nakkazi reports on a decision ahead of elections in Uganda to outlaw journalists from reporting on parliament if they do not hold a degree – which has sparked lively debate over the value of university qualifications. Wachira Kigotho unpacks a survey showing that Sub-Saharan Africans comprise just 2% of foreign students offered postgraduate places in the United States last year.
In Commentary, Marguerite Dennis suggests how international student mobility may change in a world shaped by ongoing terrorist attacks. Following the recent terror attack in Pakistan, Rafia Zakaria proposes alternative initiatives to military power to help make campuses in the Muslim world more secure. Rui Yang says that the future success of rising East Asian universities may be undermined by the toxic academic culture in the region, while Edward Vickers argues for more – not less – support for the humanities and social sciences in Japan’s national universities. Elizabeth Balbachevsky contends that Brazil’s academically excellent University of São Paulo nevertheless lags behind what one would expect from a ‘New Flagship University’ as portrayed in John Douglass’ new book. And in a Special Report on last week’s conference of America’s Council for Higher Education Accreditation, Mary Beth Marklein looks at the OECD contention of a need for an international comparative assessment of graduate outcomes. Read more...