An Examination of the Contribution of African Immigrants Scholars in Increasing the Knowledge Repository in Institutions of Higher Learning : The Case of North West University

Focusing on the faculty of Human and Social Sciences of the North West University (NWU), this paper examines the contribution of African immigrants in increasing the knowledge repository in Institutions of higher learning. The paper employs quantitative research method and uses content analysis as a data collection technique, in order to tally faculty publication records for the academic years 2015, 2016 and 2017. The sample was 54 African immigrants employed in the faculty of Human and Social Science of the University. The paper found that, African immigrants contribute in the research outputs of the faculty with their significant production of publications in various academic journals as well as contributions in edited books. Furthermore, the contributions of African immigrants goes beyond just journals and book chapters due to the fact they expand the knowledge repository of both the University and South Africa as a whole. Conclusively, these publications are available to various readers and therefore inform the increase in societal knowledge base and have a propensity to shape policy making of various government institutions in South Africa.