Rethinking and researching transformation in higher education : a meta-study of South African trends
Abstract
Transformation is often loosely defined. We argue that the reason for this is its inherent
complexity. Paradoxically, its lack of definition is an asset, which provides an opportunity to
rethink and research transformation in higher education, rather than an urgent problem to be
solved. In this article, the possibilities for researching and rethinking transformation are based
on an exploration of transformation in higher education and the policy directives that
influenced its development in South Africa. A meta-study was used to determine the national
publishing trends in the South African Journal of Higher Education and the way transformation
in higher education is situated in some of the articles in this journal. The population of the
study comprised 1050 articles published between 2005 and 2015 in the South African Journal of
Higher Education. These were analysed to determine the broad national publishing trends.
Thereafter, an in-depth analysis was conducted on 30 of these articles to determine the
approach to transformation in higher education and the context in which it was discussed.
Based on the findings of the analysis, we recommend future directions for rethinking and
researching transformation in higher education.