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The Perceived Benefits of International Partnerships in Africa: A Case Study of Two Public Universities in Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo

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Abstract

In recent years, international partnerships have been viewed increasingly as having the potential to help African academic institutions develop the human capacity needed to contribute to African development. Although the rationales for establishing partnerships are often clear, a question that has been largely unaddressed in empirical research is: What benefits do African institutions and stakeholders derive from partnerships? The present study attempts to examine this question by analysing the perceptions of a random sample of 468 university administrators, academic staff, and postgraduate students at two large public universities in Sub-Saharan Africa. Results show that international partnerships resulted in three institutional benefits (institutional capacity, academic effectiveness, and internationalisation) and four personal benefits (academic, cultural, economic, and strategic). The study found both similarities and differences in the extent to which institutions benefitted from partnerships. Moreover, the characteristics of partnership activities were related, in some cases, to the ‘personal’ benefits that African stakeholders derived from participating in these activities.

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Acknowledgements

This article is based on my dissertation research, which I undertook and completed as a doctoral student in the Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy and development, at the University of Minnesota (Twin Cities). I am grateful to Professors Darwin D. Hendel and David W. Chapman for their support and feedback on this research project. I also thank administrators, academic staff, and postgraduate students at the University of Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) and University of Lubumbashi (Democratic Republic of Congo) for facilitating data collection and contributing to this research project.FundingThis study is based on a research project that was supported through a fellowship from the Compton Foundation, a dissertation fellowship from the University of Minnesota Global Programs and Strategy Alliance, a scholarship from the National Society of The Colonial Dames of America in the State of Minnesota, and a Corcoran Research Award from the College of Education & Human Development at the University of Minnesota

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  1. Office of the Provost, Nazarbayev University, 53 Kabanbay Batyr Ave, Astana, 010000, Kazakhstan

    Felly Chiteng Kot

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Chiteng Kot, F. The Perceived Benefits of International Partnerships in Africa: A Case Study of Two Public Universities in Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo. High Educ Policy 29, 41–62 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1057/hep.2015.2

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