Expanding Educational Opportunities in Private Universities and its Impact on Social Inclusion and Diversity in Public Universities in Western Uganda
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.23918/ijsses.v12i2p54Keywords:
Social Inclusion, Diversity, Institutional LogicsAbstract
The research explored the impact of advancing education opportunities in private universities on diversity and social inclusion in public universities in western Uganda. Institutional logic theory underpinned social inclusion and diversity in public universities, whereas marketization, neoliberalism, and institutional theories anchored opportunity expansion. The study adopted a cross-sectional design and quantitative approach. Seven hundred and forty-eight (748) lecturers constituted the target population, from which a sample of 302 responders was obtained. Information was collected through the Questionnaire. Data was analysed using Pearson r correlation coefficient at an alpha level of .05. Expanding opportunities and promoting social inclusion and diversity were found to be positively correlated (r (278) =.54, p =.030). The study concluded that social inclusion and diversity in public universities are positively correlated with the expansion of educational opportunities in private universities. The study recommended that, government implements policies that promote diversity and inclusion and prioritise funding for public universities.
References
Abraham, G. Y. (2020). A post-colonial perspective on African education systems. African Journal of
Education and Practice, 6(5), 40-54.
Abrokwaa, C. (2017). Colonialism and the development of higher education. In Re-thinking postcolonial
education in Sub-Saharan Africa in the 21st Century (pp. 201-220).
Alemu, S. K. (2014). Sehoole, C., & De Wit, H. (2014). The regionalisation, internationalisation and
globalisation of African higher education. International Journal of African Higher Education, 1(1).
Altbach, P. G., Reisberg, L., & Rumbley, L. E. (2019). Trends in global higher education: Tracking an
academic revolution.
Ansarian, L., & Mohammadi, F. S. (2018). Problem-Based Learning in Action: Review of Empirical
Studies. Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities.
Arnhold, N., & Bassett, R. M. (2021). Steering Tertiary Education: Toward Resilient Systems That Deliver
for All. World Bank.
Arthur, G. A., & Kuranchie, A. (2022). Quality Assurance in Private Higher Education Institutions in
Ghana: Practices and Challenges. Social Education Research, 342-353.
Baker-Shelley, A., von Zeijl-Rozema, A., & Martens, P. (2017). A conceptual synthesis of organisational
transformation: how to diagnose, and navigate pathways for sustainability at universities. Journal
of Cleaner Production, 145, 262-276.
Barasa E., Mbau R., & Gilson L. (2018). What do we know about resilience and what can be done to
encourage it? A systematic review of literature on organizational resilience. International journal
of health policy and management, 7(6), 491.
Brewer, J. R. (2024a). A New Instrument for Analysis of Institutional Logics and North/South Partnerships
in Higher Education Practice. (Doctoral Dissertation, Michigan State University).
Brewer, J. R. (2024b). Institutional Logics and North/South Partnerships in Higher Education: A New
Analytical Framework for Practice. (Doctoral Dissertation, Michigan State University).
Brill. Aksom, H., & Tymchenko, I. (2020). How institutional theories explain and fail to explain
organizations. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 33(7), 1223-1252.
Bondarenko, D. M. (2023). Post-colonial Nations in Historical and Cultural Context. Rowman &
Littlefield.
Boughey, C., & McKenna, S. (2021). Understanding higher education: Alternative perspectives. African
Minds.
Buckner, E., & Zapp, M. (2021). Institutional logics in the global higher education landscape: Differences
in organizational character.
Cai, Y., & Mountford, N. (2022). Institutional logics analysis in higher education research. Studies in
Higher Education, 47 (8) 1627-1651.
Cardoso, C. (2020). The challenges facing African universities. Journal of African Cultural Studies, 32
(3), 302-315.
Carpentier, V. (2021). Three stories of institutional differentiation: resource, mission and social
inequalities in higher education. Policy Reviews in Higher Education, 5 (2), 197-241.
Chankseliani, M. (2022). International development higher education: Looking from the past, looking to
the future. Oxford Review of Education, 48 (4), 457-473.
Chun, E., & Evans, A. (2023). The new realm in recruitment tactics : the incorporation of HR and
diversity agendas in the private sector, the public sector and in Tertiary Education. Taylor &
Francis.
Cloete, N., Bunting, I. and Van Schalkwyk, F. (2018). Research Universities in Africa, p. 314. African
Minds.
Cole, L. (2018). Capacity creation and enhancement in Africa: a strategy for effective socio-economic
development. Hungarian J. Afr. Stud. 12, 36.
Conlé, M., Kroll, H., Storz, C. and Ten Brink, T. (2023). University satellite institutes as exogenous
agents in the formation and development of technology transfer ecosystem: . Journal of
Technology Transfer, 48(1), 147-180.
Datzberger, S. (2018). Why education is not a solution to poverty: Lessons from Uganda. World
development, 110, 124-139.
Daun-Barnett, N. J and John, E. P. S. (2018). Public policy and higher education: A new look at
college preparation, access, and success. Routledge.
Fantauzzi, c., Frondizi, R., Colasanti, N. and Fiorani, G. (2019). Creating value in the fifteenth
entrepreneurial university: marketization and merchandising strategies. Administrative
Sciences, 9(4), 82.
Ferreyra, M. M. (2017). The supply side of the higher education expansion. In At a Crossroads:
higher education in Latin America and the Caribbean, 199-230.
Friedland, R. (2017). The value of institutional logics. In New themes in institutional analysis (pp. 12-
50).
Edward Elgar Publishing Garde Sanchez, R., Rodríguez Bolívar, M. P., & López Hernandez, A. M. (2021).
Which are the main factors influencing corporate social responsibility information disclosures on
universities’ websites. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(2),
524.
Gebreiter, F. (2022). A profession in peril? University corporatization, performance measurement and the
research-imposed publication output increase: The case of the UK REF Accounting academia as
a sustainable career. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 87, 102292.
Glynn, J. (2017). Opening doors: How selective colleges and universities are expanding access for high-
achieving, low-income students.
Hagenmeier, C. C. A. (2021). Equal opportunities within higher education partnerships: Conceptualizing
the concept in different contexts.
Hastings, M. (2019). Neoliberalism and Education. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education.
Oxford University Press.
Haveman, H. A., & Gualtieri, G. (2017). Institutional logics. Oxford research encyclopedia of business
and management.
Hillman, J. R., & Baydoun, E. (2019). Quality assurance and relevance in academia: a review. Major
challenges facing higher education in the Arab world: Quality assurance and relevance, 13-68.
Irene, B. N., & Hussain, T. (2021). The accessibility and affordability of education in Sub-Saharan Africa:
The debate on low-cost and private higher education institutions. In The Education Systems of
Africa, 859-885.
Iruonagbe, C. T., Imhonopi, D., & Egharevba, M. E. (2015). Higher education in Nigeria and the
emergence of private universities. International Journal of Education and Research, 3(2), 49-64.
Jun, E., Birchfield, M., De Moura, N., Heer, J., & Just, R. (2022). Hypothesis Formalization: Empirical
Findings, Software Limitations, and Design Implications. ACM Transactions on Computer-
Human Interaction (TOCHI), 29(1), 1-28.
Kim, C., Kim, Y., Rhee, M., & Kim, B. K. (2023). Pathways to exploration in higher education: status-
and institutional logic in public and private higher education institutions. Higher Education, 1-17.
Lebeau, Y., & Oanda, I. O. (2020). Higher education expansion and social inequalities in Sub-Saharan
Africa: Conceptual and empirical perspectives (No. 2020-10). UNRISD Working Paper.
Magumba, M. (2018). Strengthening Uganda's Education System. Available at SSRN 3525146.
Mahmud, R. (2017). Understanding institutional theory in public policy. Dynamics of Public
Administration, 34(2), 135-148.
Makdisi, G. (2019). Rise of colleges. Edinburgh University Press.
Ministry of Education Uganda (2016). Recognized tertiary institutions in Uganda. https://www.education.
go.ug/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/List-of-Recognized-Universities-Other-Tertiary-Institutions-
2016.pdf
Mlambo, V. H., Mlambo, D. N., & Adetiba, T. C.(2021). Higher Education Expansion in South Africa:
problems and possibilities. J. Soc. Soc. Anthropol, 12, 30-40.
Morphew, C. C., Fumasoli, T., & Stensaker, B. (2018). Changing missions? How the strategic plans of
Northern European and North American research-intensive universities must balance these
competing trends.identities. Studies in Higher Education, 43(6), pp.
Moshtari, M., & Safarpour, A. (2024). Internationalization of higher education: challenges and strategies
for the[minimize]educational systems in East African countries with a famously low GDP. Higher
Education, 87(1),89-109.
Mukhwana, E. J., Kande A., and Too, J. (2017). Lessons from Transforming University Education in
Africa
Mushemeza, E. D. (2016). Academic Staff in Higher Education in Africa: Opportunities and Challenges
Naylor, R., & Mifsud, N. (2019). Structural inequality in higher education: Creating institutional cultures
that enable all students. Perth: National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education.
Ndlovu-Gatsheni, S. J. (2017). The emergence and trajectories of struggles for an'African university': The
case of unfinished business of African epistemic decolonisation. Kronos, 43(1), 51-77.
Neary, M., & Winn, J. (2017). Beyond public and Private: a framework for co-operative higher education.
Open library of humanities, 3(2). Chicago
Nureev, R., Volchik, V., & Strielkowski, W. (2020). Neoliberal reforms in higher education and the import
of institutions. Social Sciences, 9(5), 79.
Nwokike, C. E., & Nwadike, C. (2023). Assessing the Impact of Socioeconomic Factors on Access to
Quality Education in Nigeria. POLITICS, RELIGION& EDUCATION, 193.
Odhiambo, G. (2018, December). The role of Kenyan universities in national development.In FIRE:
Forum for International Research in Education (Vol. 4, No. 3).
Odugbesan, Y. A. (2017). Rebuilding the social fabric: challenging and transforming unwarranted
influences in the educational institutions in Nigeria (Doctoral dissertation, Rutgers University-
Graduate School-Newark).
Oketch, M. (2016). Financing higher education in sub-Saharan Africa: some reflections and implications
for sustainable development. Higher Education, 72, 525-539.
Prakhov, I., & Bugakova, P. (2023). Regional accessibility of higher education in Russia. British Journal
of Sociology of Education, 44(3), 558-583.
Pratt, M. G., Sonenshein, S., & Feldman, M. S. (2022). Moving beyond templates: A bricolage approach
to conducting trustworthy qualitative research. Organizational research methods, 25(2), 211-238.
Pucciarelli, F., & Kaplan, A. (2016). Competition and strategy in higher education: Managing complexity
and uncertainty. Business horizons, 59(3), 311-320.
Riccomini, F. E., Cirani, C. B. S., Pedro, S. D. C., Garzaro, D. M., & Kevin, K. S. (2021). Innovation in
educational marketing: a study applied to Brazilian private higher education institutions. Journal
of Marketing for Higher Education, 1-21.
Rizvi, F. (2020). Reimagining recovery for a more robust internationalization. Higher Education Research
& Development, 39(7), 1313-1316.
Rodríguez, M. A. T., González-Monteagudo, J., & Padilla-Carmona, T. (2021). Employability and
inclusion of non-traditional university students: Limitations and challenges. IAFOR Journal of
Education, 9(1), 133-151.
Salmi, J., & D’Addio, A. (2021). Policies for achieving inclusion in higher education. Policy Reviews in
Higher Education, 5(1), 47-72.
Sempungu, G. (2013). Joint education provision: a relief or challenge to quality education services in
Uganda: A study in Buganda region (Master's thesis).
Scott, C. (2021). Managing higher education for a changing regulatory environment. Public
Administration and Policy, 24(1), 7-20.
Scott, C. L., & Ivala, E. N. (Eds.). (2019). Transformation of higher education institutions in post-
apartheid South Africa. New York, NY: Routledge.
Smith, D. G. (2020). Diversity's promise for higher education: Making it work. JHU Press.
Soda, G., & Furlotti, M. (2017). Bringing tasks back in: An organizational theory of resource
complementarity and partner selection. Journal of Management, 43(2), 348-375.
Stander, E., & Herman, C. (2017). Barriers and challenges private higher education institutions face in the
management of quality assurance in South Africa. South African Journal of Higher
Education, 31(5), 206-224.
Sun, S. L., & Liang, H. (2021). Globalization and affordability of microfinance. Journal of Business
Venturing, 36(1), 106065.
Tamrat, W. (2017). Private higher education in Africa: Old realities and emerging trends. International
Journal of African Higher Education, 4(2).
Taye, T. A. (2021). Rethinking pan-Africanism: The quest for supra-state formation and authentic
development in Africa. International journal of African renaissance studies, 16(1), 31-51.
Teixeira, P. N. (2023). Markets in higher education: from systemic to institutional marketization. In
Research Handbook on the Transformation of Higher Education (pp. 51-68). Edward Elgar
Publishing.
Toft, J. (2021). Neoliberalism. In Encyclopedia of Social Work.
Wanjala, G., J., Mochama, G., J., & Rotich, S. (2023). Differentiated unit cost funding formula and
implementation of the core mandates of public universities in Kenya. TIJER-International
Research Journal 10 (3), 157-168. ISSN 2349-9249.
Warshaw, J. B., & Upton, S. (2020). Hybrid logics in the resource strategies of US public research
universities. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 44(9), 1289-1303.
Woldegiorgis, E. T. (2024). Internationalisation of Higher Education Under Neoliberal Imperatives: The
Political Economy of Student Mobility in Africa. In Critical Reflections on the
Internationalisation of Higher Education in the Global South (pp.13-31). Emerald Publishing
Limited.
Yoder, Z. P. (2020). Influence of remaining unmet financial need on the persistence behaviors of students
enrolled at a small, private, liberal arts institution of higher education (Doctoral dissertation,
James Madison University).
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 International Journal of Social Sciences & Educational StudiesInternational Journal of Social Sciences & Educational Studies applies the
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic Licence (CC BY-NC 2.0)