Full Description
Between 2013 and 2017, a team of researchers from the Human Sciences Research Council undertook a longitudinal qualitative study that tracked eighty students from eight diverse universities in South Africa and documented their experiences at these higher education institutions. Midway through the study, the student protests erupted and focused national attention on many of the stories we had already heard. In the subsequent years of the study, we also heard from students who were actively involved in these transformation struggles as well as those who sat on the side-lines.
Studying While Black is an intimate portrait of the many ways in which students in South Africa experience university, and the centrality of race and geography in their quest for education and ultimately emancipation. Students voices can be heard directly in a 45 minute documentary that accompanied this study entitled Ready or Not!: Black students' experiences of South African universities - freely available on social media.
Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Abbreviations and acronyms
A note on 'race' in South Africa
Chapter 1 South African students and their struggles: An in-depth view
Literature review
Conceptual framework
Research questions and study design
Navigating the annexes of this book
Chapter 2 Participants and their institutions: Individuals in context
Findings
Family
Community
Schools
Perceptions of success
Visions for life
Institutions of higher learning
Discussion
Chapter 3 Navigating race in higher education and beyond
Findings
Inclusion and identity politics
Understanding legacies of apartheid
Decolonisation and rethinking the university
Discussion
Recommendations
Chapter 4 Gender dynamics and (in)equality of experiences
Findings
Understanding the meaning of patriarchy and gender difference on campus
Progress and challenges in addressing gender equity on campuses
Gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation at university
Discussion
Recommendations
Chapter 5 Language and power as structural barriers
Findings
Language privilege
Background disadvantage
'Good English and accents'
Discussion
Recommendations
Chapter 6 Obstacles to access and participation in universities
Findings
Academic obstacles
Financial obstacles
Financially interlinked obstacles: Accommodation and travel
Additional challenges
Discussion
Recommendations
Chapter 7 Students' perspectives and strategies for success
Findings
Individual factors: Focus, self-reliance and academic interest
Micro factors: Supportive networks
Educational resources
Macro factors: Religiosity
Discussion
Recommendations
Chapter 8 Interventionist research strategies for emancipation
Strategies for emancipation
Discussion
Recommendations
Chapter 9 Conclusion: Skills and systemic change needed
How inequality is manifested
Overall findings of the study
Recommendations
Conclusion
Appendix 1 Ethics: Sample information sheet and consent form
Appendix 2 University sketches
Appendix 3 Recruitment poster
Appendix 4 Annual participant interview schedules
Appendix 5 Participant profiles and biographies
Appendix 6 Social network interview questions
Appendix 7 Recommendations by stakeholder category
References
About the contributors
Index
