Yasmine Dominguez-Whitehead

Background knowledge and epistemological access: Challenges facing Black women in a SET scholarship programme

In promoting access to higher education in an unequal society there is a concern that universities may operate in a manner that values background knowledge associated with those who have access to a privileged class location. The authors focus on background knowledge, its contribution to epistemological access to higher education and how such background knowledge is likely to affect black womens academic success. They analyse interviews with 19 black women from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds who are recipients of a Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) scholarship, utilising Ryles (1945) distinction between knowledge-how and knowledge-that, to understand their challenges in gaining epistemological access to university. Despite the scholarship programmes comprehensive support, the findings suggest that students who enter with background knowledge acquired at well-resourced high schools are academically advantaged. The authors argue that SET scholarship programmes which recruit low-income students are necessary, but insufficient interventions for enabling epistemological access. Further responsiveness is required on the part of the university.

International students in the South African higher education system : a review of pressing challenges

The internationalisation of the South African higher education (HE) system, has involved (among other developments) the steady increase of international student enrolment, particularly from other African nations. While there has been a considerable increase in the percentage of international students over the past few decades, little is known about the challenges they confront and the ways in which socio-political and economic issues facing South Africa and the HE system may impact them. This article focuses on significant features of the South African HE system and considers some of the theoretical challenges faced by international students within this context. Pressing socio-political and economic issues facing South African HE specifically, and the nation more generally, are highlighted and in turn their relevance for challenges faced by international students relating to xenophobia, discrimination and financial difficulties are addressed.

Non-academic support services and university student experiences: adopting an organizational theory perspective

ABSTRACT Recent and continuous transformation efforts at South African universities and the varied challenges facing higher education make it increasingly important to undertake an examination of student experiences that extend beyond the academic realm. This paper presents findings on non-academic support services, as experienced by students. The study was conducted at two South African universities and is grounded within an organizational theory perspective. The data indicate that students’ interactions with those charged with providing non-academic services are characterized by substandard services. Participants’ reports are analyzed and the findings indicate that participants critically construct explanations for the substandard services received. Three overarching themes are considered in accounting for substandard non-academic support services: (1) personal, (2) institutional, and (3) interpersonal. The findings are discussed with respect to implications and recommendations for university management and administration.

Conceptualising food research in higher education as a matter of social justice: philosophical, methodological and ethical considerations

Abstract Globally, food concerns in higher education have emerged as an issue of critical importance. Food acquisition struggles and high rates of food insecurity among students have been documented, yet food within higher education continues to be an under-researched area of study. This paper calls for advancing research that critically engages with food concerns in higher education. The argument is made that food concerns should be viewed as a social justice matter, and a case is made for conducting research on food concerns by adopting an alternative approach to research in this area – a transformative paradigm. The paper advances new insights for the philosophical, methodological and ethical dimensions to researching food in higher education as a matter of social justice. The argument is made that a transformative approach to research is conducive for examining the experiences of those who are marginalised within the context of higher education and confront food challenges.

Language, identity, and ideology: High-achieving scholarship women

This article addresses the linguistic identities of high-achieving women who are participants in a prestigious scholarship programme at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits). We examined how these high-achieving women negotiate and construct their linguistic identities within the context of the universitys Anglicised institutional culture and against the backdrop of South Africas multilingual society. Individual and focus group interviews were examined by employing an experience-centred and culturally orientated approach to narrative (Squire 2008). Our examination revealed that language is both an academic and social intermediary of experience at the university, and that language functions as both an identity marker and an ideology that permeates the university and wider society. How participants transgress and maintain their linguistic identities, as well as how they subvert, and align with, the dominant university ideology is discussed.

Evaluating postgraduate preparation in the South African context

Little work is being undertaken in South Africa to systematically and intentionally prepare undergraduate students to pursue postgraduate studies. This is concerning given the shortage of postgraduate students and the small scale of postgraduate studies. The few programmes and endeavours that exist to prepare students for postgraduate studies are not necessarily evaluated to assess their achievements and shortcomings. This paper provides an evaluation of an academic year-long postgraduate preparation programme, and is specifically concerned with examining subsequent postgraduate enrolment and improvement of participants’ marks. The study draws on both quantitative and qualitative data. The findings indicate that the majority of programme participants proceeded to subsequently enrol in postgraduate studies immediately after completing the programme and that the programme played a role in the pursuit of postgraduate studies. However, the findings also indicate that overall participants’ marks did not improve after participating in the programme. The study brings to light that, while some achievements are possible, the limits of the programme must also be acknowledged.

Pair Programming, Confidence and Gender Considerations at a South African University

As in most Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) fields, women in computer science continue to be underrepresented (Cohoon/Aspray 2006; Ilias/Kordaki 2006). This shortage of women raises critical concerns surrounding women’s rights and their participation in education and science. In South Africa, this shortage is also relevant to the country’s socio-democratic transformation efforts and critical skills shortages. Given that women are under-represented in computer science and that this has social and economic consequences, it becomes increasingly pertinent to conduct an examination that addresses discrepancies between women and men studying computer science at the university level. It is also relevant to examine pair programming as a teaching-learning strategy that may help students (particularly women) succeed.