The State of Diversity in the Higher Education System of Ethiopia: Connecting Diversity with Performance

​It is widely argued that mission based diversity between higher education institutions (HEIs)  promotes excellence. This paper aims to contribute to this debate by examining the state of diversity and performance in the higher education system (HES) of Ethiopia. To this end, a conceptual framework is developed, and data are generated through document analysis, interview and  from the websites of the HEIs selected as case studies. Primary results demonstrate that, presently, Ethiopia’s HES, as a whole, is best characterized by “moderate” diversity. However, the public wing of the country’s higher education depicts a one-tier mono-institutional arrangement, dominated by multi-disciplinary universities, which are mandated with the same mission. Factors contributing for this include: lack of policy attention, lack of competition and limited autonomy, the introduction of reform programs which promote homogenization, lack of funding and performance evaluation approaches that promote diversity and the presence of centrally defined mission for all HEIs.