Beyond Isomorphic Research Models: The ASPIRE Framework as a Theory of Mission-Aligned Research Capability Under Constraint
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.65655/OpenChristianPress.2026.106Keywords:
research mission, higher learning institutions, African higher education, research capability, research culture, research centres, students’ dissertations, knowledge translationAbstract
Purpose: Many teaching-intensive, mission-driven, and resource-constrained higher learning institutions are now expected to demonstrate research performance without possessing the fiscal slack, doctoral density, administrative infrastructure, or historical research ecology of the conventional research-intensive university. The result is often institutional isomorphism without institutional capability. This article addresses the unresolved question of how such institutions can convert legitimacy pressure into durable research capability without reproducing the organizational and cost assumptions of the classical research university. Design: The article is a conceptual and framework-building study. It synthesizes scholarship on research culture, entrepreneurial and third-mission universities, students-as-partners, pedagogical scholarship, and socially distributed knowledge production, and integrates these literatures through institutional theory, dynamic capabilities, and Mode 2 and engaged scholarship. Findings: The article develops the ASPIRE framework, a middle-range theory of Aligned and Selective Partnership-based Inquiry for Research Ecosystems. It argues that research capability under constraint emerges when external legitimacy demands are translated into mission-aligned priorities, concentrated through domain stewardship, distributed through dissertation-led inquiry and faculty coaching, and converted through knowledge-translation routines into cumulative institutional value. The framework specifies three interlocking layers, contextual alignment, strategic capability, and inquiry-to-translation processes, and identifies the mechanisms, risks, safeguards, and boundary conditions that govern their interaction. Originality/value: The article reconceptualizes research promotion as an institutional capability rather than a diffuse aggregate of individual output. It contributes a theory of conversion showing how institutions under constraint can transform dispersed inquiry into coherent, cumulative, and legitimate research capability. Practical implications: The framework offers a differentiated research architecture through which higher learning institutions can pursue scholarly seriousness, educational credibility, and societal usefulness without collapsing into prestige imitation, managerial utilitarianism, or symbolic compliance.
References
Adebisi, Y. A., Ukor, N. A., Micheal, A. I., Chinemelum, I. G., Alaran, A. J., Agbeyo, J., Lucero-Prisno, D. E., III, & Mhlongo, M. (2022). Undergraduate students’ involvement in research: Values, benefits, barriers and recommendations. Annals of Medicine and Surgery, 81, 104384. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amsu.2022.104384
Agbaje, O. (2023). Curriculum reform in African higher education: Solving society’s problems and meeting its needs. Curriculum Perspectives, 43, 141-149. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41297-023-00206-x
Ahmad, Z., Sultana, A., & Siby, N. (2025). Building research capacity in higher education: Exploring confidence as a mediator of contextual support and research interest. Innovative Higher Education, 50, 1529-1552. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-025-09823-y
Balandya, E., Sunguya, B., Gunda, D. W., Kidenya, B., Nyamhanga, T., Minja, I. K., Mahande, M., Mmbaga, B. T., Mshana, S. E., Mteta, K., Bartlett, J., & Lyamuya, E. (2021). Building sustainable research capacity at higher learning institutions in Tanzania through mentoring of the Young Research Peers. BMC Medical Education, 21(1), 166. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-021-02611-0
Boyer, E. L. (1990). Scholarship reconsidered: Priorities of the professoriate. The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. https://www.umces.edu/sites/default/files/al/pdfs/BoyerScholarshipReconsidered.pdf
Brankovic, J., Hamann, J., & Ringel, L. (2023). The institutionalization of rankings in higher education: Continuities, interdependencies, engagement. Higher Education, 86, 719-731. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-023-01018-8
Clark, B. R. (1998). Creating entrepreneurial universities: Organizational pathways of transformation. Pergamon. https://www.oktemvardar.com/articles/BRC%20entrepreneurial.pdf
Compagnucci, L., & Spigarelli, F. (2020). The third mission of the university: A systematic literature review on potentials and constraints. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 161, 120284. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2020.120284
DiMaggio, P. J., & Powell, W. W. (1983). The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields. American Sociological Review, 48(2), 147-160. https://www.enriquedans.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/The_Iron_Cage_Revisted_Institutional_Isomorphism_a.pdf
Etzkowitz, H. (2003). Research groups as “quasi-firms”: The invention of the entrepreneurial university. Research Policy, 32(1), 109-121. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0048-7333(02)00009-4
Fussy, D. S. (2018). Policy directions for promoting university research in Tanzania. Studies in Higher Education, 43(9), 1573-1585. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2016.1266611
Fussy, D. S. (2019). The hurdles to fostering research in Tanzanian universities. Higher Education, 77(2), 283-299. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-018-0276-8
Fussy, D. S. (2026). Cultivating a research culture in Tanzanian higher education. Education Inquiry, 17(1), 130-151. https://doi.org/10.1080/20004508.2024.2342012
Geurts, E. M. A., Reijs, R. P., Leenders, H. H. M., et al. (2024). Co-creation and decision-making with students about teaching and learning: A systematic literature review. Journal of Educational Change, 25, 103-125. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10833-023-09481-x
Gibbons, M., Limoges, C., Nowotny, H., Schwartzman, S., Scott, P., & Trow, M. (1994). The new production of knowledge: The dynamics of science and research in contemporary societies. Sage. https://ia801409.us.archive.org/30/items/mode1_2/mode1_2.pdf
Government of Mauritius. (2025). Government Programme 2025-2029: A bridge to the future. https://govmu.org/EN/Documents/Government-Programme-2025-2029.pdf
Guerrero, M., & Menter, M. (2024). Driving change in higher education: The role of dynamic capabilities in strengthening universities’ third mission. Small Business Economics, 63, 1321-1337. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-024-00869-4
Gumbo, M. T., Knaus, C. B., & Gasa, V. G. (2024). Decolonising the African doctorate: Transforming the foundations of knowledge. Higher Education, 88, 1611-1627. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-024-01185-2
Healey, M., & Jenkins, A. (2009). Developing undergraduate research and inquiry. Higher Education Academy. https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/assets.creode.advancehe-document-manager/documents/hea/private/developingundergraduate_final_1568036694.pdf
Hutchings, P., & Shulman, L. S. (1999). The scholarship of teaching: New elaborations, new developments. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 31(5), 10-15. https://doi.org/10.1080/00091389909604218
Jaakkola, E. (2020). Designing conceptual articles: Four approaches. AMS Review, 10, 18-26. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13162-020-00161-0
Mauritius Ministry of Education, Tertiary Education, Science and Research. (2022). Terms of reference for Research and Ethics Committee. https://education.govmu.org/Documents/educationsector/TESR/2022/TOR%20Research%20and%20Ethics%20Committee%20amended%2003.08.2022.pdf
Mercer-Mapstone, L., Dvorakova, S. L., Matthews, K. E., Abbot, S., Cheng, B., Felten, P., Knorr, K., Marquis, E., Shammas, R., & Swaim, K. (2017). A systematic literature review of students as partners in higher education. International Journal for Students as Partners, 1(1). https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v1i1.3119
New England Commission of Higher Education. (2021). Standards for accreditation. https://www.neche.org/standards-for-accreditation/
OECD. (2020). Resourcing higher education: Challenges, choices and consequences. OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/735e1f44-en
Omland, M., Hontvedt, M., Siddiq, F., et al. (2025). Co-creation in higher education: A conceptual systematic review. Higher Education, 90, 1017-1047. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-024-01364-1
Rwanda Higher Education Council. (2024). Guidelines for internal quality assurance mechanisms for higher education. https://www.hec.gov.rw/fileadmin/user_upload/HEC/Publications/Guidelines/Guidelines_for_Internal_Quality_Assurance_IQA__for_Higher_Education-Rwanda.pdf
Rwanda Higher Education Council. (2025). Rwanda higher education sector strategic plan 2025-2030. https://www.hec.gov.rw/fileadmin/user_upload/HEC/Publications/Policies/Rwanda_Higher_Education_Sector_Strategic_Plan__HESSP__2025-2030.pdf
Sangwa, S., Lugero, T., Nsabiyumva, S., & Mutabazi, P. (2025). Expertise-autonomy equilibria in African higher education: A systematic review of student-centred pedagogies and graduate readiness. International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, 9(3S), 5419–5432. https://doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS.2025.903SEDU0394
Sangwa, S., & Mutabazi, P. (2025). From inquiry to impact: Strengthening research methodology for African international trade studies in undergraduate business education. Journal of Ethical Innovation and Impact, 1(2). https://doi.org/10.65655/vcczbt65
Scott, W. R. (2001). Institutions and organizations (2nd ed.). Sage.
Teece, D. J. (2007). Explicating dynamic capabilities: The nature and microfoundations of sustainable enterprise performance. Strategic Management Journal, 28(13), 1319-1350. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.640
Teferra, D. (2025). Research and innovation in African higher education: Setting the scene. In D. Teferra (Ed.), Research and innovation in African higher education: Trends, challenges and prospects (pp. 1-26). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-92909-0_1
UNESCO. (2024a, October 31). Campus Africa: Reinforcing higher education in Africa. https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/campus-africa-reinforcing-higher-education-africa
UNESCO. (2024b, December 10). 2024 UNESCO Forum on higher education in Africa: A driver for sustainable development. https://www.unesco.org/en/higher-education/2024-africa-forum
UNESCO Global Independent Expert Group on the Universities and the 2030 Agenda. (2022). Knowledge-driven actions: Transforming higher education for global sustainability. UNESCO Publishing. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000380519
UNESCO International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa. (2024, December 9). What you need to know about higher education in Africa. https://www.iicba.unesco.org/en/what-you-need-know-about-higher-education-africa
Van de Ven, A. H. (2007). Engaged scholarship: A guide for organizational and social research. Oxford University Press.
World Bank. (2025, April 7). Africa’s Higher Education Centers of Excellence: Celebrating a decade of transformative journey in revolutionizing Africa’s contribution to global research and innovation. https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2025/04/07/africa-higher-education-centers-of-excellence-africa-contribution-to-global-research-and-innovation
Zavale, N. C., & Schneijderberg, C. (2022). Mapping the field of research on African higher education: A review of 6483 publications from 1980 to 2019. Higher Education, 83, 199-233. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-020-00649-5
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Sixbert Sangwa, Jean Bosco Muvunyi, Placide Mutabazi (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
