Dealing with the scourge of sexual violence and harassment in universities

By Sharon Dell – Acting Africa Editor. In this week’s edition, there are two contributions which raise the pressing problem of gender-based violence, sexual harassment and gender inequality on African university campuses. In Africa Analysis, Ayenachew A Woldegiyorgis takes the prevalence of sexual violence towards women on Ethiopian university campuses as a starting point for a discussion on gender inequality in the country’s universities, while in Africa Features Tunde Fatunde reports on how a recent sex-for-marks scandal at a Nigerian university highlights not only the prevalence of the scourge, but the collective complicity of society and its institutions which serves to drive it.
   As an antidote to rather grim subject matter, a news report by Munyaradzi Makoni about a fellowship programme run by the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences Next Einstein Initiative aimed specifically at women scientists, provides evidence that female empowerment is happening in some quarters of academia.
   In other news from around the continent, we report on the recent launch of the first African Research Universities Alliance centre of excellence which is to be based at the University of Cape Town in South Africa; Kudzai Mashininga reports from Zimbabwe on a new government-driven plan to create university towns or cities around higher education institutions; and Maina Waruru reports on a recent announcement of the fellows and projects for the 2018 Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship Program.
   In World Blog, Nita Temmerman questions whether single, high-stakes exams effectively measure genuine student learning and suggests other methods of assessment that provide students with constructive feedback to help them improve. More...