scholarly journals Aspirations for Higher Education: Evidence from Youth Living in Kenneth Gardens Municipal Housing Estate (Durban)

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ndwakhulu Stephen Tshishonga ◽  
Zethembe Mseleku
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Young People ◽  
Career Guidance ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
National Development ◽  
Access To Higher Education ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Poor Access ◽  
Entry Requirements

This paper explores the obstacles that prevent young people from accessing higher education. Inadequate and unequal access to higher education internationally and in South Africa, in particular, has undermined young people’s potential to contribute to national development. In South Africa, limited access to higher education for the majority remains a major problem. Hence, young people are underdeveloped socially, economically and academically. Thus, lack of educational opportunities relegates young people to the periphery of the mainstream socio-economic development. This paper uses Kenneth Gardens as a case study to interrogate a lack of access to higher education and its implications for youth vulnerability and non-participation in their own development. The research was qualitative in nature. The imperial data were solicited from semi-structured interviews with Kenneth Gardens youth. In addition, participant observation was used as a research instrument. The major findings from the research were the lack of aspirations as one of the major obstacles that hinder youth from accessing higher education, and the research also found that lack of funding, lack of awareness and inability to meet the minimum university entry requirements were underlying factors. Additionally, a lack of career guidance in schools and unemployed graduates were found to be fundamental for poor access to higher education.

scholarly journals The Role of Higher Education Institutions in Preparing Youth to Manage a Sustainability-Oriented Future Workplace

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 107-128
Author(s):  
Mona Betour El Zoghbi ◽  
Wim Lambrechts
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Higher Education ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Young People ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Policy Document ◽  
Collaborative Processes ◽  
Environmental Events

Aim: This paper aims to highlight the different forms, levels and pathways of engagement with climate change and sustainability of young people living in different contexts of vulnerability and adaptability. It explores different perspectives and viewpoints of youth regarding complex and uncertain issues related to climate change and sustainability as well as their future role on the workplace.Research Methods: The critical interpretivist study was conducted in the Netherlands and South Africa, and participants were undergraduate and postgraduate university students from diverse socio-demographic and academic backgrounds in the two countries. The study applied various methods of data collection including focus groups, interviews, policy document reviews as well as participant-observation at several youth and environmental events and forums.Conclusions/Findings: Key findings highlight the importance of building resilience and empowering academic and civic platforms that enhance young people's competences to manage sustainability-oriented lifestyles and workplaces through critical, creative, and collaborative processes.

scholarly journals From Women in Development to Gender and Development? A case study of a women's organisation: (AMA) Asociacion de Mujeres de Acosta, San Ignacio de Acosta, Costa Rica

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Matilda Hegarty
Keyword(s):  
Costa Rica ◽  
International Development ◽  
Rural Women ◽  
Development Policy ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
National Development ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Gender And Development ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Women In Development

<p>This dissertation documents research conducted with the 'Asociacion de Mujeres de Acosta'  (AMA), in a mountainous rural region of Costa Rica, in Central America. AMA was originally set up to counter some negative effects of Costa Rican society, such as 'machismo'  and the rural depopulation of women to the capital San Jose. The association implemented a Women In Development (WID) approach, which enabled women to gather and generate an income. The aim of my research is to examine the evolution of AMA since its inception, and to assess its current status in light of international shifts in development policy from WID to Gender And Development (GAD). It provides a rare opportunity to assess an organisation's evolution and its impact on women over a 30-year period. It also enables me to build on Kindon and Odell's earlier research with the organisation in 1990. The research uses qualitative data collected through semi-structured interviews, participant observation, a focus group, a questionnaire and field notes, from five months of fieldwork in the community with members of AMA. The key findings show that AMA membership has decreased since its inception in 1980. Compared with results from previous research with AMA in 1990, my findings reveal that AMA has been slow to embrace international policy agendas and continues to adopt a WID approach. AMA does not yet reflect international and national development trends associated with gender and development, particularly in light of some similar organisations in Central and South America. While benefits have accrued to some of AMA members, they do not yet earn a decent wage to satisfy their needs. There are major intergenerational and interscalar issues, which are similar to those identified in 1990. These concerns are associated with power imbalances inside and outside of the association, traditional attitudes towards women due to the culture of 'machismo', and lack of appropriate information and funding sources. These issues appear to be stifling change and raise serious questions about the future sustainability of the association, as well as the relevance of international development policy changes for rural women in associations like AMA. Women of AMA are now looking for new projects and beginning to think about including men in the association. These slow changes, if enacted, may enable the organisation to survive another 30 years.</p>

scholarly journals Cufflinks, photos and YouTube: the benefits of third object prompts when researching race and discrimination in elite higher education

2020 ◽  
pp. 146879412097260
Author(s):  
Constantino Dumangane
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Young People ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Black British ◽  
Counter Narratives ◽  
Research Techniques ◽  
Sensitive Issues

Research suggests that interviews, unaided by additional methods, may be an ineffective way to explore young people’s experiences with sensitive issues. Researching minority youth’s experiences on personal or emotionally charged issues requires research techniques that enable young people to reflect on issues in a way that reduces the potential discomfort involved in such discourse. This article discusses the methodological approach of incorporating interviews with ‘third objects’ via photos, cufflinks and video in a study aimed at facilitating conversations with black British university men about the significance of their parents guidance during their formative and adolescent years, and their experiences with racism during their higher education studies. The overarching message of this article is that when exploring personal and sometimes emotional topics, the implementation of third object visual and physical prompts with semi-structured interviews can contribute to the depth of findings by unearthing the seldom heard counter-narratives of marginalised ‘others’.

Conceptualising quality following conflict: Afghanistan’s higher education policy

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 441-451
Author(s):  
Daniel Couch
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Economic Growth ◽  
Quality Assurance ◽  
Education Policy ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Higher Education Policy ◽  
National Development ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Critical Conversation

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the dominant conceptualisation of quality in Afghanistan’s higher education strategic planning and policies, and consider the implications a broader conceptualisation of quality might have within Afghanistan’s conflict-affected context. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on data from document analysis and semi-structured interviews, the author identifies the dominant policy conceptualisation of quality. Findings The dominant conceptualisation of quality in Afghanistan’s higher education policy documents aligns with the sector’s primary policy purpose of promoting economic growth. However, quality assurance processes were developed with significant input from international actors, and replicate global norms for quality assurance. Whilst this is important for validity and legitimacy, at the same time it can be delegitimising for local stakeholders, and can limit opportunities for conceptualisations of quality which genuinely engage with the particularities of Afghanistan’s broader conflict-affected social context. Research limitations/implications Introducing conceptualisations of quality in Afghanistan’s higher education policy which de-centre economic growth, and rather re-position social goals of cohesion and political sustainability as a central understanding of quality higher education, opens possibilities for the sector’s contribution towards national development. Originality/value There is limited published research into conceptualisations of quality within low-income and conflict-affected higher education contexts in general, and Afghanistan in particular. This paper intends to extend a critical conversation about the non-economic dividends a quality higher education sector can offer in such contexts.

Improving access to higher education in South Africa

1998 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. van Harmelen ◽  
C.W.I. Pistorius
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Access To Higher Education
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