How might higher education orient professionals towards social justice? The index of pro-public good capabiities in South Africa.
![](https://www2.ingenio.upv.es/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail_invest_invitados/public/fotos_ponentes_semcpi/melanie_walker.jpg?itok=KfXr7qxD)
This seminar will explore a case for how university-based professional education in South Africa might contribute to the public good, in particular to poverty-reduction.
The main arguments are located within the domain of human development which recognizes that while economic well-being is necessary to human well-being, it is insufficient.In this conception of human development the focus is on improving lives and expanding choices and opportunities in a range of dimensions of life.
At the centre of the seminar is a normative ‘Public-Good Professional Capabilities Index’ generated by combining insights from the capabilities approach and ‘ideal-type’ professionalism literature with interviews and discussions with students, lecturers, managers, alumni and non-governmental organizations in five professional fields (engineering, law, public health, theology and social work) in three universities in South Africa.
Prof. Melanie Walker
Chair in Higher Education and Human Development; Senior Research Professor; Director of Centre for Research on Higher Education and Development (CRHED), University of the Free Sate, South Africa.
Ciudad Politécnica de la Innovación
Edificio 8E, Acceso J, Planta 4ª (Sala Descubre. Cubo Rojo)
Universidad Politécnica de Valencia | Camino de Vera s/n
Melanie Walker is Chair in Higher Education and Human Development; Senior Research Professor; Director of Centre for Research on Higher Education and Development (CRHED), University of the Free Sate, South Africa.