Why and how has Carnegie Corporation of New York made grants to strengthen higher education and research capacity in African countries during the last decade?
From 2000 to 2010, Carnegie Corporation of New York was part of the Partnership for Higher Education in Africa (PHEA), a consortium of foundations working to support the institutional development of African universities in nine countries, including their physical infrastructure, technological capacity, management systems, and gender equity. The Corporation provided leadership in the areas of academic support, institutional development (including library and archival support), information and communications technology, and enhancement of opportunities for women. In the 10 years following the end of PHEA, the Corporation gradually shifted its investment focus toward the continent’s intellectual infrastructure, particularly its academic staff and research capacity.
This strategic evolution was informed by the needs identified by African organizations and universities. A 2015 policy brief from the Association for the Development of Education in Africa estimated that less than 1 percent of the global output of scholarly articles came from Africa. African universities voiced the need for more doctoral-trained academic staff, research funding, and supportive policy and institutional climates. Carnegie Corporation of New York’s Higher Education and Research in Africa (HERA) portfolio drew on these insights and input from key institutional stakeholders on the continent in deciding where and how to direct its support.
Building on initiatives established during PHEA, the Corporation supported university partners in Ghana (University of Ghana), South Africa (University of Cape Town and University of the Witwatersrand), and Uganda (Makerere University) to develop master’s, doctoral, and postdoctoral programs from 2010 to 2019. It also supported higher education and research institutions in sub-Saharan Africa to develop academic networks focused on innovation and high-quality research. In addition, the Corporation funded several pan-African convenings on higher education policy and transformation, as well as research and data, to inform discussions by African leaders about their higher education agendas, aspirations, and continental, national, and institutional strategies.
Where did the Corporation direct its support?
The Corporation distributed $134.43 million in grants to strengthen higher education and research capacity in African countries from 2010 to 2019. A total of 164 grants were awarded in this area, with most grant dollars (59 percent) awarded directly to Africa-based organizations, which received $78.94 million in grants. The largest share of these grants was awarded to South African organizations (40 percent), followed by organizations in Ghana (17 percent), Uganda (16 percent), and Kenya (13 percent).
The two largest non-African organization recipients, the American Council of Learned Societies and the Institute of International Education, were administrators of major Africa-based fellowship programs, the African Humanities Program and the Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship Program respectively.
What have been the main objectives of HERA grantmaking?
Developing and retaining the next generation of African academics (NextGen)
- A key aspect of the Corporation’s grantmaking has been to create enabling environments where local priorities and strengths can lead to innovation and growth. To develop and retain the next generation of African academics, the Corporation invested $84.16 million in different types of organizations in the African higher education landscape to enable synergies, expand the capacity of higher education institutions, and foster regional and international networks conducive to innovative problem-solving.
- Investments accounted for 2,144 fellowships – 985 doctoral, 701 postdoctoral, and 458 at the master’s level. African universities received the largest share of NextGen funds ($33.31 million), followed by higher education and research support organizations ($25.13 million), and research and training institutes, centers, and networks ($18.98 million).
- An essential element of the NextGen objective was the development of contextually relevant postgraduate programs at four universities: Makerere University, the University of Cape Town, the University of Ghana, and the University of the Witwatersrand. Projects in this area were developed with the involvement and support of the universities’ vice-chancellors and executive leaders, ensuring that they met each country’s needs and had support from key stakeholders. The four universities, selected based on their capacity to produce academic staff for their countries and regions, have gained extensive international connections and become hubs for the higher education sectors in their countries and regions.
- The NextGen objective also supported the development of networks of institutions to advance excellence in postgraduate research and training while reducing scholars’ isolation, advancing their careers, and providing an effective and cost-efficient mode of strengthening institutions’ research capacity. Several networks were supported, including the Regional Initiative in Science and Education (RISE), the Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA), the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM), and the Partnership for African Social and Governance Research (PASGR).
Building connections between members of the African academic diaspora and African universities
- The Corporation provided $20.35 million in grants from 2013 to 2019 in order to strengthen relationships and enable institutional support for long-term engagements between institutions and individuals among the African diaspora – defined by the African Union as “peoples of African origin living outside the continent, irrespective of their citizenship and nationality and who are willing to contribute to the development of the continent and the building of the African Union.”
- These grants, through the Corporation’s Diaspora Linkages Initiative, went to seven institutional partners, through which 537 diaspora fellowships were awarded. A total of 141 sub-Saharan universities partnered with diaspora faculty at 213 universities in Australia, Canada, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
- The Diaspora Linkages Initiative has explored models of diaspora engagement to strengthen collaboration, postgraduate training, curriculum co-development, and scholarly networks. A few examples: fellowships awarded through the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences focused on field-building in data science in Africa; the University of Ghana used targeted diaspora interventions to rebuild depleted departments, like mathematics and computer science; Wits University’s diaspora program targeted public health and medical sciences alumni to help develop capacity within the Faculty of Health Sciences at Wits; and the Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship Program, the largest program under this objective in terms of both investments and number of countries reached, focused on activities like co-curriculum development, postgraduate supervision, and joint research without a disciplinary focus.
Facilitating higher education policy and research
- Carnegie Corporation of New York spent $15.59 million across 56 grants to support higher education policy and research.
- Through this grantmaking, the Corporation brought together key stakeholders, including country presidents, government higher education officials, senior university leaders and staff, staff and student unions, industry and private sector representatives, and eminent research scientists and faculty from the region. It also supported higher education institutions to collect data to inform their development, and it enabled universities to network and collaborate on research and advocacy efforts on the continent.
- Subobjectives in this grantmaking area included convening high-level policy dialogues, advancing advocacy through research as well as through media and publications, strengthening governance and administration, and facilitating conferences, meetings, and workshops.
- These policy and research efforts enabled African leaders to discuss their higher education agendas and aspirations and to recommend continental, national, and institutional strategies for strengthening the sector.
How has the Corporation’s grantmaking had impact?
The report, Investments in Higher Education and Research in Africa 2010–2019, presents a valuable snapshot of progress even as its objectives are still being addressed. The careers of academics can take years to develop fully, and the strength of university programs often rests on the consistent availability of effective leadership and sufficient human and financial resources. In addition, the relationships among sectoral policy and data analysis, policy influence, and policymaking make the impact of funded activities difficult to detect. Investment in these three areas of higher education and research, however, has set a solid foundation for ascertaining impact as extensive fieldwork continues. Some examples:
- In 2010, the University of Ghana had a faculty–student ratio of 1:35, and less than 50 percent of faculty had a PhD or other terminal degree. Only about 20 percent of faculty were below age 40, and as many as 47 percent were above age 50. By 2016, the faculty–student ratio was 1:29, 66.5 percent of faculty held doctoral or other terminal degrees, and 27 percent of faculty were below age 40.
- The Corporation’s diaspora models have been replicated. For example, vice-chancellors at Kwara State University, Malete, in Nigeria and the University of Johannesburg in South Africa have replicated versions of the Pan-African Doctoral Academy model. The Pan-African Doctoral Academy itself was modeled on Stellenbosch University’s African Doctoral Academy, which received start-up support from the Corporation. The Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship Program has been replicated by Ethiopia and the U.S. Embassy in the Ambassador’s Distinguished Scholars Program to strengthen Ethiopian universities; by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation’s Greek Diaspora Fellowship Program to strengthen Greek universities; and by a component of the Foundation for a Smoke- Free World’s Fellowship and Scholarship Fund to strengthen research capacity in areas related to agricultural transformation in Malawi.
- Several institutions have been strengthened by and in turn have played a role in strengthening the Corporation’s cross-cutting investment objectives. For example, the University of the Witwatersrand received NextGen support, was involved in at least three supported postgraduate training and research networks, was active in the African Humanities Program, received support for the Wits Alumni Diaspora Programme, hosted six diaspora fellows from the Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship Program, and was instrumental in the formation of the African Research Universities Alliance. This example of the Corporation’s multipronged approach to grantmaking, along with those of other funders and the university itself, resulted in an 80 percent increase in scholarly publications over five years, with 87 percent of publications in high-impact international journals. At the same time, the university progressed toward achieving its equity objectives; by 2019, academics from previously underrepresented groups comprised 50 percent of Wits University’s faculty.
To learn more about the Corporation’s grantmaking in higher education and research in Africa and the work of its grantees, read the full report Investments in Higher Education and Research in Africa 2010–2019.
