**8. Summary**

The chapter employed a QDA aimed at presenting the leadership challenges and gaps to facilitate community engagement among the four purposefully selected South African universities. The authors conclude that community engagement occupies a subordinate position compared to the three responsibilities of the university. Lessons drawn from this chapter are that strategic leadership is important to inspire and influence resource allocation internally and externally. In the exclusion of community engagement in the strategic plan, universities will not have clearly defined performance indicators and monitoring measures to evaluate the process. When there is an identified leader to drive community engagement, such as in the top-performing universities, there are concentrated efforts to achieve the set goals. While there are perpetual problems in the allocation of funds across the universities, the major hindrance is the lack of willingness and drive to use the available resources to pursue community engagement across the university disciplines and programmes. Finally, the global absence of a common definition of community engagement within the respective universities is a serious handicap because faculties use this as an excuse from taking the expected responsibilities.
