IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i24p12888-d696780.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Achievements and Challenges for Higher Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Rapid Review of Media in Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Inge K. Sonn

    (Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies of Children, Families and Society, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town 7537, South Africa)

  • Marieta Du Plessis

    (Department of Industrial Psychology, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town 7537, South Africa)

  • Carel D. Jansen Van Vuuren

    (Department of Industrial Psychology, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town 7537, South Africa)

  • Janene Marais

    (Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies of Children, Families and Society, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town 7537, South Africa)

  • Emma Wagener

    (Department of Psychology, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town 7537, South Africa)

  • Nicolette V. Roman

    (Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies of Children, Families and Society, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town 7537, South Africa)

Abstract

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic struck globally and has affected higher education institutions (HEIs) and their operations, indirectly impacting the progress of the Sustainable Development Goal 4 achieved thus far. This article addresses HEIs achievements and challenges experienced in the wake of the pandemic. Online news media reports played a facilitative role in providing information to the HEI communities. A rapid review exploring online news media messages relating to higher education at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa was utilised. Narrative synthesis was used to analyse the data. The results highlight HEIs achievements, which aim to ensure that all students receive the same level of education and provision in terms of devices and mental health support. However, challenges were also experienced at HEIs and include students feeling uncertainty and fear regarding completing their education. Furthermore, the results also show that not all students received the same level of education due to contextual factors, thus deepening the existing social disparities in Africa. The pandemic provides an opportunity for HEIs to embed the components of global citizenship education into the curriculum and to work in an innovative way to promote Sustainable Development Goal 4.

Suggested Citation

  • Inge K. Sonn & Marieta Du Plessis & Carel D. Jansen Van Vuuren & Janene Marais & Emma Wagener & Nicolette V. Roman, 2021. "Achievements and Challenges for Higher Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Rapid Review of Media in Africa," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(24), pages 1-14, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:24:p:12888-:d:696780
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/24/12888/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/24/12888/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Teece, David J, 2018. "Dynamic capabilities as (workable) management systems theory," Journal of Management & Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 24(3), pages 359-368, May.
    2. David J. Teece & Gary Pisano & Amy Shuen, 1997. "Dynamic capabilities and strategic management," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(7), pages 509-533, August.
    3. Sohvi Heaton & Donald S Siegel & David J Teece, 2019. "Universities and innovation ecosystems: a dynamic capabilities perspective," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 28(4), pages 921-939.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Baldwin, Carliss Y. & Bogers, Marcel L.A.M. & Kapoor, Rahul & West, Joel, 2024. "Focusing the ecosystem lens on innovation studies," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(3).
    2. Shaker A. Zahra & Olga Petricevic & Yadong Luo, 2022. "Toward an action-based view of dynamic capabilities for international business," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 53(4), pages 583-600, June.
    3. Orozco, Luis Antonio & Sanabria, John Alirio & Sosa, Juan Camilo & Aristizabal, Jeimy & López, Liliana, 2022. "How do IT investments interact with other resources to improve innovation?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 358-365.
    4. Bernd Wurth & Niall G. MacKenzie & Susan Howick, 2024. "Not seeing the forest for the trees? A systems approach to the entrepreneurial university," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 63(2), pages 1-24, August.
    5. Abel Duarte Alonso & Seng K. Kok & Seamus O'Brien, 2019. "Understanding Approaches To Innovation Through The Dynamic Capabilities Lens: A Multi-Country Study Of The Wine Industry," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 23(06), pages 1-30, August.
    6. Maribel Guerrero & Matthias Menter, 2024. "Driving change in higher education: the role of dynamic capabilities in strengthening universities’ third mission," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 63(3), pages 1321-1337, October.
    7. Ayden, Yuksel & Tatoglu, Ekrem & Glaister, Keith W. & Demirbag, Mehmet, 2021. "Exploring the internationalization strategies of Turkish multinationals: A multi-perspective analysis," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 27(3).
    8. Theoharakis, Vasilis & Zheng, Yuyan & Zhang, Long, 2024. "Dynamic strategic marketing planning: The paradox of concurrently reconfiguring and implementing strategic marketing planning," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    9. Islam Bourini & Osama Khassawneh & Tamara Mohammad, 2024. "Towards sustainability in the services industry: Does green top management support stimulate an organization's green operational performance? A moderated mediation model," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(8), pages 7788-7799, December.
    10. Forliano, Canio & Ferraris, Alberto & Bivona, Enzo & Couturier, Jerome, 2022. "Pouring new wine into old bottles: A dynamic perspective of the interplay among environmental dynamism, capabilities development, and performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 448-463.
    11. Marquardt, Leon & Harima, Aki, 2024. "Digital boundary spanning in the evolution of entrepreneurial ecosystems: A dynamic capabilities perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    12. Rogier van de Wetering & Tom Hendrickx & Sjaak Brinkkemper & Sherah Kurnia, 2021. "The Impact of EA-Driven Dynamic Capabilities, Innovativeness, and Structure on Organizational Benefits: A Variance and fsQCA Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-23, May.
    13. Lara Bartocci Liboni & Luciana Oranges Cezarino & Omar Sacilotto Donaires & Maurizio Zollo, 2023. "Systems approach in dynamic capabilities," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(6), pages 863-875, November.
    14. Guifang Wang & Zuraina Dato Mansor & Yee Choy Leong, 2024. "Unlocking digital performance: exploring the mediating role of employee competitive attitudes, behaviors, and dynamic capabilities in Chinese SMEs under high-involvement human resource management prac," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 13(1), pages 1-27, December.
    15. Jing Zeng & Yunlu Yang & Soo Hee Lee, 2023. "Resource Orchestration and Scaling‐up of Platform‐Based Entrepreneurial Firms: The Logic of Dialectic Tuning," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(3), pages 605-638, May.
    16. Hui‐Ru Chi & Hsuan‐Pei Ho & Pei‐Kuan Lin, 2022. "Survival strategies of the sharing economy from the pandemic to a new normal: A dynamic capabilities approach," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(7), pages 3219-3234, October.
    17. Deepa, R. & Sekar, Srinivasan & Malik, Ashish & Kumar, Jitender & Attri, Rekha, 2024. "Impact of AI-focussed technologies on social and technical competencies for HR managers – A systematic review and research agenda," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 202(C).
    18. Klofsten, Magnus & Urbano, David & Heaton, Sohvi, 2021. "Managing intrapreneurial capabilities: An overview," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    19. Mohamed Z. Elbashir & Steve G. Sutton & Habib Mahama & Vicky Arnold, 2021. "Unravelling the integrated information systems and management control paradox: enhancing dynamic capability through business intelligence," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(S1), pages 1775-1814, April.
    20. Nayak, Bishwajit & Bhattacharyya, Som Sekhar & Krishnamoorthy, Bala, 2022. "Exploring the black box of competitive advantage – An integrated bibliometric and chronological literature review approach," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 964-982.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:24:p:12888-:d:696780. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.