The (de)professionalisation of the gay male academic identity: Locking the closet door on South African university campuses

2016 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 40-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacques Rothmann
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Academic Identity ◽  
University Campuses ◽  
Gay Male ◽  
Male Academic

“To Gay or not to Gay, that is the Question”: Permeable Boundaries between Public and Private Spaces of Gay Male Academics and Students in South Africa

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacques Rothmann
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Identity Construction ◽  
Gay Men ◽  
Sexual Agency ◽  
Sociological Study ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
University Campuses ◽  
Gay Male ◽  
Academic Lives

This article was informed by a study which focused on the identity construction and deconstruction of gay male participants, specifically as related to their academic lives. The findings originate from a 2012–2013 qualitative sociological study on the experiences of gay male academics and students on South African university campuses. The article reports on a subset of the data, since it provides an insightful account of these men’s navigation between their communal identification with other gay men in social and private contexts. The author argues that participants’ responses navigate between the heterosexualisation and the homosexualisation of these spaces, in an attempt to gravitate towards or distance themselves from a gay sensibility through temporary assimilation into “gay spaces” in order to negotiate their sexual agency.

scholarly journals Decolonisation and renewed racism: A challenge and opportunity for reconciliation?

2017 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoffel H. Thesnaar
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
South African Context ◽  
Language Policies ◽  
University Campuses ◽  
Sustainable Peace ◽  
African Context ◽  
The University ◽  
Peace And Reconciliation

The university campuses across South Africa have recently been challenged by significantstudent protests concerning issues such as the abolishment of study fees, aspects ofdecolonisation and language policies, to name but a few. This contribution will briefly reflecton these challenges by engaging with the narrative of decolonisation. An area of particularfocus is whether reconciliation is still relevant within the current South African context, giventhe nature of the issues driving the university protests. This contribution will attempt toprovide some recommendation for public theologians to engage with these challenges in aresponsible way in their endeavour to be advocates for sustainable peace and reconciliation.

An investigation into Dental Technology lecturers' discourses of academic identity formation within the emergence of Universities of Technology in South Africa

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Thobani Linton Gumbi
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Identity Formation ◽  
South African ◽  
Academic Identity ◽  
Higher Education System ◽  
University Of Technology ◽  
Institutions Of Higher Learning ◽  
South African Higher Education ◽  
Dental Technology

Post-apartheid restructuring of the South African Higher Education system has brought about significant changes. Institutions of Higher Learning have implemented minor and major changes in their objectives, delivery of knowledge, functions, accreditations and overall outcomes (Du Pre 2006, Reddy 2006, Department of Education 1997). One of the more significant transitions within South Africa’s Higher Education landscape has been the conversion of technikons into universities of technology (UoTs) (Powell & McKenna 2006). This thesis investigates the discourses of academics within a university of technology, exploring their responses to and constructions of institutional shifts. The study has an ontological focus in that it is interested in the ‘being’ of Dental Technology academics. It is interested in the discursive constructions not only of themselves as academics, but also of their work in this changed institutional context. By conducting interviews with the Dental Technology academics lecturing in universities of technology in South Africa, it was the intention to explore these academics’ discourses on institutional shifts. Adopting discourse analysis as the primary method of data analysis enabled the exploration of how academics constructed the notion of academic identity, how they discursively constructed students and knowledge, as well as other core issues related to their work.

scholarly journals Perceptions of students regarding the effects of the implementation of the tobacco control act of 1999 on a South African University campus

2017 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
pp. 49
Author(s):  
Muhamed Waseem Khan ◽  
Varsha Hira ◽  
Firoza Haffejee
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Second Hand Smoke ◽  
University Campus ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Public Places ◽  
University Campuses ◽  
Quit Smoking ◽  
Perceptions Of Students ◽  
Public Areas

Background: Smoking among adolescents is high. In order to curb the habit, restrictions on use of tobacco products in public places were implemented in South Africa. This study aimed to explore students’ perceptions of whether the implementation of smoking restrictions and no-smoking signs have had any effects on smoking behaviours on campus. Methods: A quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted amongst university students, who completed a self-administered questionnaire. Results: Students were aware that smoking causes disease and that second-hand smoke is dangerous. The majority were pleased that there was a smoking regulation in effect, but disagreed that it created a healthier atmosphere. Many would like a total ban enforced in restaurants, clubs, bars and university campuses. They felt that there were insufficient non-smoking signs in public areas. Many smokers stated that they ignored regulations and only a minority stated that the policy encouraged smokers to quit. Conclusion: Smoking among students has decreased over the years. This has been accompanied by an increase in knowledge of the harmful effects of smoking. Regulations have thus had a positive effect; however, additional efforts are required to motivate more people to quit smoking altogether and to prevent young people from taking up the habit. (Full text of the research articles are available online at www.medpharm.tandfonline.com/ojfp) S Afr Fam Pract 2017; DOI: 10.1080/20786190.2016.1254930

scholarly journals “Student Disadvantage”: Key University Stakeholders’ Perspectives in South Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 214
Author(s):  
Oliver Tafadzwa Gore
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Student Affairs ◽  
South African ◽  
University Teaching ◽  
University Staff ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
University Campuses ◽  
Key Stakeholders ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Capability Approach

Universities in South Africa seem to be struggling to create inclusive conditions for black students to succeed in their studies. The persistence of inequality in universities could be partly blamed on the use of the term ‘historically disadvantaged’, which is not defined in policy documents, and this has resulted in universities being unclear on what exactly to address in their transformation. Using the capability approach in this study, it is argued that policy should address the structural, institutional and environmental factors that contribute to student disadvantage, which prevent the development of opportunities and agency among students. Seven semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect qualitative data from key stakeholders who dealt with student affairs (university staff and student representative council [SRC] members) at one South African university with the aim of developing an understanding of student disadvantage from their perspective. The findings revealed that student disadvantage manifests through structural and institutional factors, namely a culture of racism, alienating university campuses, student poverty, university teaching, and gender inequality. The study recommends that universities consider addressing these factors in their transformation. 

South Africa's universities face major funding crisis

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Financial Distress ◽  
Content Type ◽  
University Campuses ◽  
The Past ◽  
Finance Minister ◽  
Vice Chancellor ◽  
Service Staff ◽  
Public Hearings ◽  
The University

Subject Outlook for higher education in South Africa. Significance Protests have erupted across university campuses in recent weeks, disrupting public hearings on the feasibility of free undergraduate education. At one, the University of Cape Town's vice-chancellor was briefly taken hostage. The unrest foreshadows difficult policy decisions amid calls for a 0% fee increase in 2017, which universities warn will result in poorer standards and "financial distress". Impacts If the Treasury fails to resolve the fees crisis, Zuma may use the issue to argue in favour of removing the finance minister. Inadequate funding may see South African universities fall further in international rankings; most slid in the past year. 'Insourcing' of service staff, such as cleaners -- another demand of student demonstrators -- will add to universities' cost woes. Universities will continue to face pressure to remove symbols perceived as valorising colonial- and apartheid-era figures.

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