This paper is based on a study conducted to establish if academic practice in a university designated as Azania is aligning or diverting from the expectations of the rising knowledge society in South Africa. The paper is motivated by the emerging national needs specific to the production, dissemination and application of knowledge as the country takes steps towards knowledge led development. The general assumption is that academic practice in universities is spontaneously responding to the needs of its changing environment. Thus, to establish the position of academic practice in Azania, institutional and national documents were examined from a neo-institutional perspective through qualitative discourse analysis. The results showed that research, teaching and outreach at the University was responding to national needs. Thus, academic practice in Azania is aligning more than diverting from the expectations of the rising knowledge society. However, considering that the study based on only document analysis a focus on other data sources is recommended.

中文翻译：

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新兴知识社会中的学术实践故事：关注南非的一所大学

本文基于一项研究，旨在确定被指定为 Azania 的大学的学术实践是否符合或偏离了南非正在崛起的知识社会的期望。随着国家采取措施迈向知识主导的发展，在知识的生产、传播和应用方面新出现的国家需求推动了本文的发展。一般假设是大学的学术实践会自发地对其不断变化的环境的需求做出反应。因此，为了确立阿扎尼亚学术实践的地位，通过定性话语分析，从新制度的角度审视了制度和国家文件。结果表明，该大学的研究、教学和外展活动正在响应国家需求。因此，阿扎尼亚的学术实践不仅是在偏离日益增长的知识社会的期望。但是，考虑到仅基于文档分析的研究，建议重点关注其他数据源。