Investigating Corruption and White-collar Crime in South African Higher Education: A Critical Evaluation of Policies, Systems, and Structures

Using an interpretivist approach, this qualitative volume interrogates instances of corruption and white-collar crime prevalent in South African higher education institutions, and suggests pathways for the proactive detection and prevention of corrupt practices. Contextualizing the author’s practical experiences gained in the higher education sector over the past two decades, this book employs an ethnographical method to explore the complexity of university systems, structures, and functions that make South Africa’s formerly disadvantaged universities more susceptible to corruption. In the midst of highly contested, divisive, and highly politicized ways of reporting corruption in the media, chapters provide critical analyses guided by scientific approaches, robust data sets, and qualitative face-to-face interviews to underpin the reliability of proposed policy amendments intended to detect and prevent corruption and white-collar crime, as well as the suggested closure of loop holes that make the sector vulnerable to, and known for, a high level of criminality. Making a substantial contribution to broader academic debate around corruption and university management internationally, this book will be of interest to researchers and postgraduate students in the field of higher education, higher education management and administration, and education policy and politics. Policy-makers in both the Global South and North are also likely to benefit from this book.