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A journal article. ; The rapid numerical growth of African universities has prompted little evolution in institutional forms. Some universities may embrace a specialized disciplinary focus such as agriculture, education or science and technology, but in structure and process they remain remarkably similar. Little institutional differentiation has occurred within higher education systems, and legacies from the pre-independence era still shape the form and substance of African universities in important ways. These include the high cost model of publicly funded residential instruction, strong curricular emphasis on the humanities and social sciences, and an elitist orientation. As a result, these systems have been hard pressed to meet the rapidly rising social demand for access to university education in a context of significant economic, political and technological change. The challenge is daunting, but African governments and their universities have begun to respond. What lessons can be learned from this emerging experience? The following discussion draws upon current examples of promising practice to suggest options for African governments, universities and donors to consider in their efforts to foster higher education reform.

A ZJER journal article. ; The rapid numerical growth of African universities has prompted little evolution in institutional forms. Some universities may embrace a specialized disciplinary focus such as agriculture, education or science and technology, but in structure and process they remain remarkably similar. Little institutional differentiation has occurred within higher education systems, and legacies from the pre-independence era still shape the form and substance of African universities in important ways. These include the high cost model of publicly funded residential instruction, strong curricular emphasis on the humanities and social sciences, and an elitist orientation. As a result, these systems have been hard pressed to meet the rapidly rising social demand for access to university education in a context of significant economic, political and technological change. The challenge is daunting, but African governments and their universities have begun to respond. What lessons can be learned from this emerging experience? The following discussion draws upon current examples of promising practice to suggest options for African governments, universities and donors to consider in their efforts to foster higher education reform.

In two decades, Brazil has shed the image of a stagnant agrarian state and emerged as one of the world's largest agricultural exporters. The price of this metamorphosis has come high: land, resource, and capital concentration; massive rural-urban migration; shortfalls in domestic food supply; and ecological deterioration along the expanding agricultural frontier. Major transformations in the structure of agricultural production have accompanied these changes, and they have led to new patterns in the organization of agricultural work and associated social relations in production. Perhaps the most visible social product of agricultural modernization has been the temporary wage laborer, known commonly in Brazil as the boia fria.

A severe crisis grips all levels of education in Sub-Saharan Africa. Economic stagnation leading to major cuts in public support has resulted in declining remuneration for teachers and professors, inadequate material support and maintenance, and a general decline in quality at all levels. The issues raised in this book are germane to a central concern of educational reform, namely the ability of formal systems of education to supply highly skilled professionals - in this instance economists - who in turn can contribute significantly to economic development. The chapters of this book were first presented as papers at a seminar on doctoral level education, held in Cape Town, South Africa, in May 1993. (DÜI-Phl)