Inequality in Ethiopian higher education: reframing the problem as capability deprivation

The revitalization of Ethiopian higher education (HE) has been underway since the early 2000s. As well as the economic optimism evident in the ‘knowledge-driven poverty reduction’ discourse, social equity goals underscore the reform and expansion of the system. Notwithstanding the widening participation and the equity policy provisions put in place, the problem of inequality has persisted along the lines of ethnicity, gender, rurality and socio-economic background. This paper reviews major equity policy instruments and highlights the enduring inequalities in Ethiopian HE. It argues that this persistence is related in part to the ways in which the problem is represented in policy, and that redressing the problem necessitates framing inequality as capability deprivation rather than as issues of access and disparities in enrolment.     

Positional matters: school leaders engaging with national equity agendas

ABSTRACT

This paper claims a central role for school leaders (principals or head-teachers) in the enactment of social justice policy in schools, who act as key agents or ‘gate keepers’ for what counts as social justice in their contexts of practice. Social justice means different things in different contexts depending on where leaders – who use policy as an opportunity to advance what they think is achievable within the limits of available resources – are positioned in the field and how that defines their stances. Drawing on qualitative data generated through in-depth interviews with ten secondary school principals in two Australian cities, the paper analyses the engagement of school leaders with nationally prescribed equity-related policies. Our analysis shows that, depending on the institutional ethos and resources of schools and their own social justice dispositions, school leaders tend to take different stances towards nationally defined equity agendas. Their responses range from compliance to compromise to contest. The paper suggests that doing social justice in schools can never be unilateral, as policy documents suppose, but is characterised by context-informed policy translation, mediated by a range of interactive forces and interests.     

Knowledge aid as instrument of regulation: World Bank's non-lending higher education support for Ethiopia

In the context of low-income countries, the role of donors in public policymaking is of great importance. Donors use a combination of lending and non-lending instruments as pathways of influence to shape policy directions in aid-recipient countries. This paper reports some findings from a doctoral study on the role of the World Bank in the recent higher education (HE) policy reform process in Ethiopia. It focuses on the nature and impact of non-lending assistance by the Bank to the Ethiopian HE subsystem. Based on an interpretive policy analysis of sector reviews and advisory activities of the Bank, and selected national HE policy documents, the following findings are highlighted. First, as a ‘knowledge institution’, the World Bank produces, systematises and disseminates knowledge through policy advice, policy reports, analytical sector reviews, and thematic conferences and workshops. Second, knowledge aid from the Bank not only has a profound discursive effect on shaping Ethiopian HE policy reform priorities in accordance with its neoliberal educational agenda but also undermines the knowledge production capacity of the nation. The paper also argues that, for an effective education policy support, the Bank needs to shift its modality of engagement from knowledge aid to research capacity building.     

Qualitative inequality: experiences of women in Ethiopian higher education

This article examines the lived experiences of women in Ethiopian higher education (HE) as a counterpoint to understandings of gender equity informed only by data on admission, progression and completions rates. Drawing on a critical qualitative inquiry approach, we analyse and interpret data drawn from focus group discussions with female students and academic women in two public universities in Ethiopia. Individual accounts and shared experiences of women in HE revealed that despite affirmative action policies that slightly benefit females at entry point, gender inequality persists in qualitative forms. Prejudice against women and sexual violence are highlighted as key expressions of qualitative gender inequalities in the two universities. It is argued that HE institutions in Ethiopia are male-dominated, hierarchical and hostile to women. Furthermore, taken-for-granted gender assumptions and beliefs at institutional, social relational and individual levels operate to make women conform to structures of disadvantage and in effect sustain the repressive gender relations.     

Exploring E-Commerce Benefits for Businesses in a Developing Country

Developing countries are home to more than 80% of the world's population, and are the site for growing use of e-commerce. There are theoretical claims that e-commerce could bring significant benefits to firms in developing countries, but we know very little empirically about the actual outcomes of e-commerce implementation. Our article addresses this gap in knowledge through a survey of 92 businesses in South Africa, all of which have moved beyond the basic stage of e-commerce. The findings indicate that e-commerce benefits are, by and large, limited to improvements in intra- and interorganizational communications. More strategic benefits relating to market access, customer/supplier linkages or cost savings were not found in the majority (more than 80%) of organizations surveyed. This therefore limits the likelihood of broader benefits such as incorporation into global supply chains, disintermediation, and improved competitiveness. Turning this somewhat disappointing e-commerce picture around requires a multiprong strategy aimed at building the resources and capabilities of businesses, developing electronic-mediated business routines with partners and customers, and addressing national e-readiness and global trade regulation issues.     

Evaluation of an Augmented Reality Application for Learning Neuroanatomy in Psychology

Neuroanatomy is difficult for psychology students because of spatial visualization and the relationship among brain structures. Some technologies have been implemented to facilitate the learning of anatomy using three-dimensional (3D) visualization of anatomy contents. Augmented reality (AR) is a promising technology in this field. A mobile AR application to provide the visualization of morphological and functional information of the brain was developed. A sample of 67 students of neuropsychology completed tests for visuospatial ability, anatomical knowledge, learning goals, and experience with technologies. Subsequently, they performed a learning activity using one of the visualization methods considered: a 3D method using the AR application and a two-dimensional (2D) method using a textbook to color, followed by questions concerning their satisfaction and knowledge. After using the alternative method, the students expressed their preference. The two methods improved knowledge equally, but the 3D method obtained higher satisfaction scores and was more preferred by students. The 3D method was also more preferred by the students who used this method during the activity. After controlling for the method used in the activity, associations were found between the preference of the 3D method because of its usability and experience with technologies. These results found that the AR application was highly valued by students to learn and was as effective as the textbook for this purpose.     

Access to languages other than English in Australian universities: an educational pipeline of privilege

ABSTRACT

This article explores factors contributing to unequal patterns of access to languages other than English (LOTE) in Australian universities. A critical analysis of qualitative and quantitative data generated through interviews, surveys and document analysis reveals that underrepresentation in LOTE courses in Australian universities is attributable to: (a) unequal access to LOTE learning areas at the school level; (b) low tertiary entrance scores that do not grant access to elite universities that offer broad LOTE course options; (c) differential prior international learning experiences that inform dispositions towards intercultural competence, including proficiency in LOTE; and (d) limited provision of LOTE courses in regional university campuses. We conclude that access to foreign language courses in Australian universities is not equitable, and in the context of globalisation opportunities, this poses a risk of reproducing social disadvantage alongside other structural factors such as socio-economic status and regional background.     

Metaphor as a methodological tool: identifying teachers’ social justice dispositions across diverse secondary school settings

This article investigates the social justice dispositions of teachers and principals in secondary schools as inferred from their metaphoric expressions. Drawing on a Bourdieuian account of disposition, our focus is the use of metaphor as a methodological tool to identify and reveal these otherwise latent forces within our data. Our analysis shows evidence of redistributive, recognitive and activist conceptions of social justice. We argue that these three social justice dispositions may be insufficient to meaningfully address persisting inequalities in the school system and that a capability-based social justice disposition – absent in our data – is needed. We conclude by highlighting that: social justice dispositions can change; a valid interpretation of metaphors requires ‘contextual stabilization’; and metaphors for social justice are differently constructed in different contexts, influenced by the different social, cultural and material conditions of schools.     

Social justice intents in policy: an analysis of capability for and through education

Primarily developed as an alternative to narrow measures of well-being such as utility and resources, Amartya Sen’s capability approach places strong emphasis on people’s substantive opportunities. As a broad normative framework, the capability approach has become a valuable tool for understanding and evaluating social arrangements (e.g. education policies and development programmes) in terms of individuals’ effective freedoms to achieve valuable beings and doings. This paper explores the recent emergence of ‘capability’ in Australian education policy, specifically in the Australia in the Asian Century White Paper. We explore capability as a framing device and reveal how its various meanings are at odds with the scholarly literature, specifically Sen’s conception of capability and its implications for social justice in and through education. The analysis shows that the social justice intent of a capability approach appears to be overtaken in the White Paper by an emphasis on outcomes, performance and functionings that seek to serve the nation’s economic interests more than the interests of students, especially the disadvantaged.