Research utilisation in policymaking : a case study of the Centre for the Study of Higher Education at the University of the Western Cape

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT:The aim of this thesis is to explore the relationship between research andpolicymaking in South African higher education, using the Education PolicyUnit at the University of the Western Cape (UWC-EPU) -recently renamed theCentre for the Study of Higher Education - as a case study. The study beginsby examining the various models that explain the nature of policymaking inWestern democracies, as well as the main theoretical frameworks - namelythe two communities theory and the enlightenment model of knowledgeutilisation - that explain the relationship between the production of knowledgeand its utilisation in policymaking. It is argued that, although most of thesemodels were developed to analyse the policymaking process within thecontext of mature democracies, they nonetheless raise important issues fordeveloping countries like South Africa.The study proceeds to provide an overview of the process of policydevelopment in South Africa. It is suggested that a better way ofunderstanding the evolution of higher education policy development in SouthAfrica is to see it as having gone through four phases, each of which marks asignificant turning point within higher education itself, as well as in the broaderpolitical context. The process of the policy development, and in particular therole of (higher education) research within it, is shown as one that was largelydriven by political and ideological imperatives.The study then shifts to a discussion of the CSHE, commencing with anoverview of its organisational history, and highlighting the main objectives ofits research programme and the changes that occurred with regard to itsresearch orientation. These are examined in relation to external factors - forexample the shift from the development of policy frameworks to the focus onimplementation - and in terms of the dynamics that were internal to theUniversity of the Western Cape. This discussion also highlights the challenges that were faced by the EPUs and other progressive academics inthe early phases of the policy development process, namely that of engagingin a 'reconstructive' agenda on the one hand, while undertakingintellectual/scientific work on the other hand. In the case of the CSHE, therewas also the added challenge of contributing to the development of thenascent field of higher education studies.One of the key issues that emerge in the analysis of the interviews, whichform the core source of data collection for this study, is the multifariousunderstanding of the way in which the research undertaken by the CSHE wasto be utilised. The three notions of 'use' that are highlighted - which are alsoembedded in the objectives of the CSHE as set out in its constitution - are thefollowing:• Utilisation as generation of ideas, and particularly as a contribution tothe debates on social reconstruction• Utilisation as input into the policymaking process• Utilisation as contribution to scholarshipThe study shows that there is a mixed assessment of the extent to which theCSHE was able to address these competing - and sometimes contradictory -challenges. In the main, its efforts were hamstrung by a confluence of factors,ranging from its inability to recruit or attract experienced researchers, to theorientation of its research towards critique, something which was a feature ofthe scholarship emanating from the progressive academic community at thetime.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University