IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/injoed/v84y2021ics0738059321000808.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Regional inequality in university attainment in seven African countries since 1960

Author

Listed:
  • Simson, Rebecca

Abstract

Inequalities in access to university education are of concern across the world, but many countries in Africa have faced particularly pronounced regional and ethnic inequalities in educational attainment. Have such disparities increased or decreased since the 1960s? Using census data to trace the sub-national origins of university students in seven African countries (Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia) over successive birth cohorts shows that regional inequalities in access have taken a u-shaped path. In the first two decades of independence, as higher education expanded from a low base, graduates were growing more regionally and ethnically representative of the national populations. Since the 1980s regional inequalities have increased in most countries, on account of a growing attainment gap between people born in the largest cities and the remaining populations. This growing educational advantage accruing to those born in the main urban metropolises was initially driven by a slowdown in enrolment growth, coupled with high rates of skills-selective urban migration and higher educational performance in the urban regions. This new urban bias is rapidly changing the composition of the region’s educational elites.

Suggested Citation

  • Simson, Rebecca, 2021. "Regional inequality in university attainment in seven African countries since 1960," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:injoed:v:84:y:2021:i:c:s0738059321000808
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ijedudev.2021.102427
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0738059321000808
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2021.102427?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sarmiento Espinel, Jaime Andrés & Silva Arias, Adriana Carolina & van Gameren, Edwin, 2019. "Evolution of the inequality of educational opportunities from secondary education to university," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 193-202.
    2. Becker, Charles M. & Morrison, Andrew R., 1993. "Observational equivalence in the modeling of African labor markets and urbanization," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 535-554, April.
    3. Ewout H.P. Frankema, 2012. "The origins of formal education in sub-Saharan Africa: was British rule more benign?," European Review of Economic History, European Historical Economics Society, vol. 16(4), pages 335-355, November.
    4. Franck, Raphaël & Rainer, Ilia, 2012. "Does the Leader's Ethnicity Matter? Ethnic Favoritism, Education, and Health in Sub-Saharan Africa," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 106(2), pages 294-325, May.
    5. Goldin, Claudia D. & Katz, Lawrence F., 1999. "Human Capital and Social Capital: The Rise of Secondary Schooling in America, 1910–1940," Scholarly Articles 29429088, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    6. Dongshu Ou & Yuna Hou, 2019. "Bigger Pie, Bigger Slice? The Impact of Higher Education Expansion on Educational Opportunity in China," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 60(3), pages 358-391, May.
    7. Jia Li, 2018. "Ethnic favoritism in primary education in Kenya: effects of coethnicity with the president," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(2), pages 194-212, March.
    8. Krafft, Caroline & Alawode, Halimat, 2018. "Inequality of opportunity in higher education in the Middle East and North Africa," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 234-244.
    9. Francis Atuahene & Anthony Owusu-Ansah, 2013. "A Descriptive Assessment of Higher Education Access, Participation, Equity, and Disparity in Ghana," SAGE Open, , vol. 3(3), pages 21582440134, July.
    10. Simon Marginson, 2016. "High Participation Systems of Higher Education," The Journal of Higher Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 87(2), pages 243-271, March.
    11. Galbraith, James K., 2012. "Inequality and Instability: A Study of the World Economy Just Before the Great Crisis," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199855650.
    12. Carr-Hill, Roy, 2020. "Inequalities in access to higher education in Africa: How large are they? Do they mirror the situation in the metropole 60 years ago?," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    13. Abdul Malik Iddrisu & Michael Danquah & Peter Quartey, 2017. "Analysis of School Enrollment in Ghana: A Sequential Approach," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(4), pages 1158-1177, November.
    14. Peter Darvas & Shang Gao & Yijun Shen & Bilal Bawany, 2017. "Sharing Higher Education's Promise beyond the Few in Sub-Saharan Africa [Enseignement supérieur et équité en Afrique subsaharienne]," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 27617.
    15. Marginson, Simon, 2018. "Higher education, economic inequality and social mobility: Implications for emerging East Asia," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 4-11.
    16. Charles M. Becker, 2008. "Urbanization and Rural–Urban Migration," Chapters, in: Amitava Krishna Dutt & Jaime Ros (ed.), International Handbook of Development Economics, Volumes 1 & 2, volume 0, chapter 35, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    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. Simson, Rebecca & Harris, J. Andrew, 2022. "Diversity and liberalisation reforms: Evidence from the University of Nairobi," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    2. Stelios Michalopoulos & Elias Papaioannou, 2020. "Historical Legacies and African Development," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 58(1), pages 53-128, March.
    3. Duan, Yide & Zhang, Haotian & Wang, Wenfu & Ao, Xiaoyan, 2022. "The effects of China's higher education expansion on urban and rural intergenerational mobility," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    4. Leoné Walters & Manoel Bittencourt & Carolyn Chisadza, 2023. "Public infrastructure provision and ethnic favouritism: Evidence from South Africa," Economics of Transition and Institutional Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(1), pages 33-65, January.
    5. Monica P. Lambon-Quayefio & Robert D. Osei & Abena D. Oduro & Isaac Osei Akoto, 2020. "Understanding the relationship between Consumption Inequality, Inequality of Opportunity and Education Outcomes in Ghana," Working Paper 7fb837eb-0c6e-4b0e-973b-7, Agence française de développement.
    6. Buckner, Elizabeth & Khoramshahi, Ceara, 2021. "Does the private sector expand access to higher education? A cross-national analysis, 1999-2017," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    7. Laura Maravall & Jörg Baten & Johan Fourie, 2023. "Leader selection and why it matters: Education and the endogeneity of favouritism in 11 African countries," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(3), pages 1562-1604, August.
    8. Chen, Chen & Frank, Vanclay, 2020. "University social responsibility in the context of economic displacement from the proposed upgrading of a higher education institution: The case of the University of Groningen Yantai campus," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    9. Saint-Paul, Gilles, 2019. "From Microeconomic Favoritism to Macroeconomic Populism," CEPR Discussion Papers 13434, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    10. Bühler, Mathias, 2024. "Who Benefits from Free Trade?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    11. Rey, Sergio, 2015. "Bells in Space: The Spatial Dynamics of US Interpersonal and Interregional Income Inequality," MPRA Paper 69482, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Thorvaldur Gylfason, 2019. "Inequality Undermines Democracy and Growth," CESifo Working Paper Series 7486, CESifo.
    13. Bramoullé, Yann & Goyal, Sanjeev, 2016. "Favoritism," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 16-27.
    14. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/gmkj8k1vf8tpbdue5q2emsepp is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Till Treeck, 2014. "Did Inequality Cause The U.S. Financial Crisis?," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(3), pages 421-448, July.
    16. Erickosowo Tiku & Kevin Sylwester, 2024. "The importance of ethnicity in perceived school and clinic quality in Africa," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 44(2), pages 672-689.
    17. Dimitri B. Papadimitriou & Michalis Nikiforos & Gennaro Zezza, 2019. "Can Redistribution Help Build a More Stable Economy?," Economics Strategic Analysis Archive sa_4_19, Levy Economics Institute.
    18. Sanghamitra Bandyopadhyay & Elliott Green, 2016. "Precolonial Political Centralization and Contemporary Development in Uganda," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 64(3), pages 471-508.
    19. Elena Popkova & Svetlana Meshkova & Evgeniya Karpunina & Elena Karpushko & Marina Karpushko, 2016. "Developing Countries as New Growth Poles of Post-Crisis Global Economy," Contemporary Economics, University of Economics and Human Sciences in Warsaw., vol. 10(2), June.
    20. Ha-Joon Chang & Antonio Andreoni, 2021. "Bringing Production Back into Development: An introduction," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 33(2), pages 165-178, April.
    21. Alex Izurieta & Pierre Kohler & Juan Pizarro, 2018. "Financialization, Trade, and Investment Agreements: Through the Looking Glass or Through the Realities of Income Distribution and Government Policy?," GDAE Working Papers 18-02, GDAE, Tufts University.

    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:eee:injoed:v:84:y:2021:i:c:s0738059321000808. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/international-journal-of-educational-development .

    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.