South African Journal of Higher Education

Higher Education in Crisis Again: Encroached by Authoritarianism, Unfreedom and Violence

Yusef Waghid — Sun, 27 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Higher education globally is once again at a crossroads, increasingly threatened by authoritarianism, repression, and violence. In this article, I examine how universities – historically sites of critical inquiry, deliberation, and democratic engagement – are being targeted by authoritarian regimes and subjected to escalating constraints on academic freedom. Drawing on global examples from Hungary, Turkey, India, Brazil, and the United States, I accentuate a disturbing pattern: governments seeking to silence dissent view universities as threats, attacking scholars, students, and institutional autonomy. These intrusions are not limited to authoritarian states; even established democracies have shown intolerance toward critical scholarship and campus activism.

In the African context, the struggle for academic freedom is deeply rooted in histories of colonial repression and postcolonial authoritarianism. South Africa, despite its constitutional protection of academic freedom, has experienced violent state responses to student movements like #FeesMustFall, revealing ongoing tensions between democratic ideals and coercive state practices. Across the continent, universities remain both symbols of resistance and vulnerable sites of state control. I posit that the university’s core values – freedom, deliberation, and justice – are indispensable for democratic life. My contention is that higher education must foster critical, ethical citizens committed to the public good. Drawing on the African philosophical tradition of ubuntu, I once again advocate for an education that promotes human dignity, interconnectedness, and justice. In the main, the article is a call to resist authoritarian encroachment and reaffirm the university’s democratic mission. By defending academic freedom and creating spaces for inclusive deliberation, universities can buttress tyrannical action and contribute more plausibly to a more just society.

Longitudinal career construction counselling for a black female student experiencing career indecision

J.G. Maree — Sun, 27 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This article reports on the longitudinal effect of career construction counselling on a black female student experiencing career indecision. Purposive sampling was used to select an adolescent experiencing career indecision. An integrative, QUALITATIVE-quantitative methodology was employed as the research lens, and a longitudinal, seven-year, explanatory, single-participant study design was adopted. The Career Construction Interview (CCI), the Career Interest Profile (CIP), and the Maree Career Matrix (MCM) were used to elicit the participant’s many micro-life stories and key life themes and to co-construct her future career-life story narrative. Adapted thematic data analysis incorporating the analytic style proposed by Savickas was carried out to analyse the data reflexively. In the short term, the participant's psychological self as a social actor was enhanced by confirming her career choice, and her psychological self as a motivated agent was promoted by bolstering her goal-setting capacity and sense of self. Longitudinally, her self- and career identity was clarified and her sense of hope rekindled (the self as an autobiographical author was strengthened). Future research should examine the short- and longer-term effects of the approach described here in diverse career counselling contexts. More information is needed on when drawing on the CCI as a standalone assessment intervention may suffice.

Pre-service teachers’ understanding of how learners can be developed and equipped with constitutional values when teaching Life Sciences topics

J. Ajayi, L. Mavuru — Sun, 27 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Values education is value formation through education that is conveyed through educational goals usually set by curricular documents. Consistent with this, the National Curriculum Statement (NCS) Grades R–12, comprising the Curriculum Assessment and Policy Statement (CAPS), which is the currently used policy statement in South African schools, is underscored by a curriculum philosophy that urges teachers to “equip learners with values” during classroom teaching of all approved subjects. Hence, this study explored preservice teachers’ understanding of how learners can be developed and equipped with constitutional values when teaching Life Sciences topics. A perception–value (P–V) theoretical framework was adapted to underpin the qualitative study. Data were initially derived from the NCS Grades R–12, comprising the CAPS for Life Sciences. Also, through a case study methodology, data were collected from responses to a values–education–driven assignment given to 70 pre–services teachers as participants. Both data sets were analysed and interpreted using analytical approaches involving content and thematic analyses (Bowen 2009). Results show participants’ understanding regarding (i) identification of constitutional values incorporated in Life Sciences topics, either in correspondence with the content/concepts therein, or not; (ii) teaching strategies they can use to nurture the values identified in learners through classroom teaching of Life Sciences. Ultimately, this study created awareness of how teacher–educators could depict pre–service teachers’ understanding of the curriculum (NCS) philosophy of equipping learners with values. This may enhance teacher–educators’ understanding on how to teach pre–service teachers about using the teaching of Life Sciences concepts to foster values education.

COVID-19 and Emergency Remote Learning and Teaching: A Mixed Methods Analysis of the Mental Well-Being of Academics at a Higher Education Institution in South Africa

Sun, 27 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The purpose of this study was to investigate how academics at a South African higher education institution (HEI) adapted to emergency remote learning during the COVID–19 pandemic and how it affected their mental well–being. Using a concurrent mixed methods equal status design, an online survey was completed by 248 academics, which included demographic data, the 12–item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ–12) to measure mental well–being, and open–ended questions. Slightly more than one half of academics (54.1 per cent) reported losing much sleep and 81.4 per cent reported that they were under stress. Further, 28.6 per cent of participants had feelings of being unhappy or depressed and 31.1 per cent reported losing confidence. Almost one third of academics (31.9 per cent) had GHQ–12 threshold scores above 3 that is indicative of a mental health problem. A principal components analysis yielded two sub–scales: Perceived Mental Health (distress/anxiety) and Adaptive Behaviours (social function). In our study, being a woman, permanently employed, not having children, and being a lecturer were associated with lower perceived mental health; also, being permanently employed and living alone were associated with lower adaptive behaviours. In the context of ongoing online learning pedagogies and working from home, the mental well–being of academics in HEIs should be effectively supported, with differentiated/tailored/personalised approaches.

Exploring the barriers to online student learning support services: A review

P. Enwereji, A. Van Rooyen — Sun, 27 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Online education has been proven by several scholars as a convenient, flexible, and successful means of teaching and learning. Given the rate of student dropout in online learning, and the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, this study explored the barriers to online students’ learning support services. A qualitative research approach was applied, and a non-empirical methodological approach was adopted. In this case, literature sources were reviewed to identify the barriers to online learning support services. One hundred articles related to e-learning were downloaded from Google Scholar, 80 of the articles were deemed irrelevant and discarded, and 20 articles were analyzed and used for this study. During the analysis, multiple barriers to online learning were identified and documented, and related barriers were later grouped into themes. Findings depict that the barriers to online learning as being personal constraints, enabling conditions, social interactions, pedagogy, technology, and motivational issues. The study, therefore, recommends that institutions providing online teaching in South Africa, and in other parts of the world, should ensure that there is adequate communication between students and academics. The study further provides appropriate recommendations to alleviate online learning barriers identified by the study. These institutions must guide and offer comprehensive motivation to ensure each student will learn with utmost enthusiasm.

Reflectivity towards improving postgraduate student research supervision: A digital lens on the University of Namibia

E. Haipinge, N. Kadhila, L. M. Josua — Sun, 27 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The purpose of this paper is to explore student supervision in research at the University of Namibia and propose interventions that enhance effective postgraduate student research supervision using digital technology. The paper employed Barry Stierer’s methods of critical reflection dictated by the three domains namely, criticality, reflexivity, and praxis. These methods are further used to support critical reflection of the context and make interpretations related to the use of technology to enhance student supervision in higher education institutions in general and at the University of Namibia in particular. This paper revealed that student supervision in research is not taken as a mean to enable pedagogic access. There is no institutional common procedures or model of postgraduate student research supervision leading to academics adopting the supervisory methods they have experienced when they were supervised. The paper contributed to theory, practice and policy that research supervision is taken as a common sense than a scientific approach. However, it recommended that postgraduate student research supervision can benefit from digital technology just like teaching and learning as well as assessment.

Anchor Universities and Communities: The Power of Community Engagement

B. J. Johnson, M. Hlatshwayo — Sun, 27 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Engaging with communities and the public is a powerful role that universities can play in anchoring themselves in society. In this paper, we argue that to fulfil this role effectively, universities must be conceptualised differently, moving beyond the notion of their three missions, with community engagement no longer treated as an afterthought. We propose the helix conception, a combination of Cooper’s (2017) “quadruple helix” and Carayannis, Barth and Campbell’s (2012) “quintuple helix”, as a theoretical and practical approach to restructuring how universities anchor society, especially during the challenging time of the “polycrisis”.

Stalinist Plan: A Challenge to Public Administration in Universities

M. Khanyile — Sun, 27 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Universities face the challenges of substantial reforms such as new managerialism, corporatism, neoliberalism, McDonaldisation, entrepreneurialism, massification, decolonisation, and many other approaches, philosophies, and practices that influence the original idea of the university. In competitive environments, new managerialism in the public sector can be a means of achieving more efficient, flexible, and adaptable management, thus, the permeation and manifestation of new managerialism in public higher education engender business practices and private‒sector ideas. Furthermore, these transformations include globalisation and internationalisation, mass participation and vocational credentialing; business‒like administration and internal product and performance regimes; quasi‒market competition between institutions; and the part marketisation of teaching and research and services. These managerialist ideas, embedded in a neo‒liberal conception of globalisation, have specific implications for higher education in the sense that they have the potential to limit contribution to future public administration research and graduate products to serve as public servants. Compounding the situation is academic capitalism, academic entrepreneurs, entrepreneurial academics and the commodification and commoditisation of a public good (education).

Furthermore, even research universities seem to be giving way to entrepreneurial universities and are associated with the emergence of corporate universities. The university’s entrepreneurial behaviour is seen in professors’ perspectives on the university’s role in knowledge dissemination ‒ innovation agents being entrepreneurial academics and academic entrepreneurs ‒ the former resembles innovative university members, while the latter resembles a typical start‒up entrepreneur. This “Stalinist plan or new managerialism or new functionalism” and entrepreneurialism represents a healthy capitalist enterprise and propel thinking about whether or not universities pursue epistemologies, ontological scholarship, research and curriculum to improve public administration. This conceptual paper identifies complexities in propelling universities to a higher fitness landscape in producing public administration research and graduates. This is because a public university now fends for itself as it influences distinctive segments of the economy and militates against origins of public administration.

Decolonisation of Health Sciences curricula as a vehicle for transformation in Higher Education: A scoping review

R. Koch, J. Pool, Y. Heymans — Sun, 27 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Inclusive curriculum transformation is crucial in Higher Education (HE). Decolonisation is considered a necessary intervention that offers opportunities to reimagine curricula, broaden access, and foster inclusivity. However, the full potential of decolonisation remains untapped due to contradictory perceptions and the absence of substantive decolonial theory. This scoping review explored how the decolonisation of Health Sciences curricula can be used as a vehicle for transformation in HE. A systematic search of online academic databases was conducted and included 31 relevant articles. Deductive and inductive coding was used to analyse the data, through which 14 decolonial actions were identified and presented as an action framework. By identifying and organising the main concepts used in the literature and proposing an action framework to decolonise curricula within the field of Health Sciences, this study contributes to the ongoing discourse of how decolonisation can be used to bring about transformation in HE.

Contribution: Findings contribute to the development of decolonial theory and highlight the benefits of decolonising Health Sciences curricula. This scoping review sets the stage for further research to build on this action framework, develop practical guidelines to guide curriculum change and evaluate and measure decolonisation efforts.

The reliability of peer assessment in a final-year information systems course

S. J. Kruger — Sun, 27 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The perceived lack of reliability is one aspect of peer assessment that makes educators reluctant to use it in their teaching. This study was done among third‒year information systems students who had to assess two assignments of their peers by using rubrics. The rubrics differed in the sense that the one was more detailed requiring less subjective judgement while the other one was less detailed and required more subjective judgement from assessors. To determine the reliability of the peer assessment process, all the assignments of the participants in the study were re‒assessed by the lecturer and the marks compared. While the reliability of the peer assessment of both projects was acceptable, the assessment of the assignment requiring less judgement was more reliable compared to the assignment requiring more subjective judgement. A survey done among the participants revealed that they were happy with their marks and with the effort put in by their peers in assessing them. A significant number of students believed their peers awarded them higher marks for both assignments; however, this was only found to be the case for the assignment requiring more subjective judgment. It was also found that while the ratings of one peer rater resulted in reliable marks when the detailed rubric was used, it was not the case for the rubric requiring more subjective judgement. This study provides motivation for educators to use peer assessment as fears about the reliability thereof is unwarranted provided that properly designed rubrics are used, and students are adequately guided through the process.

Institutional culture towards addressing social justice in Sub-Saharan Africa higher education institutions

L. M. Luvalo, M. Linake, C.E Cishe — Sun, 27 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This article explored the role of institutional culture in instilling social justice in the workplace, sometimes referred to as organisational justice. The concern is whether institutional culture plays any role in social justice at higher education institutions. In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in the role institutional culture can play in enhancing organisational justice, due to workplace injustices that persist at institutions of higher learning. In the past decade, research has focused on discrimination, gender issues and corruption in the workplace. However, there has been little focus on changing the organisational culture of an organisation where managers need employees to achieve their objectives, sometimes to the detriment of social justice. Employee job performance and satisfaction are considered key variables that can influence organisational performance, and this pressure may lead to work injustice and affect teaching and learning. In the process of describing the role institutional culture can play towards enhancing organisational justice, we used the views of academics, students and support staff and analysed institutional policies from several universities that are part of the space and spatiality project in Sub‒Saharan Africa by means of a qualitative enquiry. This article established that the culture of an institution plays a pivotal role in entrenching or affecting justice at institutions of higher education. The findings revealed that there is, generally, non‒non-compliance with institutional policies which affects teaching and learning, thereby contributing to workplace injustice which negatively affects various stakeholders in institutions of higher learning. The article recommends that an institutional‒wide policy monitoring and evaluation system be developed and implemented and that the culture of the institution be aligned with the policies in place.

The role of lecturer personality on student performance: A self-study

Y. Madolo, A. Thengimfene — Sun, 27 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This study investigates the role of lecturer personality on student performance. Lecturer personality is considered to be an important factor in determining the quality of the teaching and learning experience for both students and lecturers. It is suggested that a lecturer’s personality can have a major impact on the way students learn, as well as their overall learning experience. The focus of this article will be on a selected lecturer from a selected South African higher education institution (HEI). This study explores the effects of this lecturer's personality on their student’s performance. It examines the factors that contribute to the student's success to becoming a junior lecturer, led by the lecturer’s modelling of professionalism, enthusiasm, passion, accessibility and approachability, amongst other factors. To accelerate the conceptual debates of this article, qualitative research methodology is employed alongside the Social Cognitive Theory. Scholars note that there is a reciprocal effect between personal, environmental and behaviour factors that affect learning outcomes. This is the reason why this theory is employed in this research about the personality of this lecturer. Consequently, findings are that positive personality traits of a lecturer model good behaviour and encourage good performance towards students.

Decolonisation of the curriculum through the integration of indigenous knowledge in higher education

M. V. Makokotlela, M.T. Gumbo — Sun, 27 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Recently there has been increased research interest in the decolonisation of the curriculum in higher education. Indigenous knowledge (IK) is the key aspect through which the curriculum in higher education can be decolonised to ensure its relevance to indigenous students and expose non–indigenous students to alternative forms of knowledge. This phenomenological study explored the decolonisation of the Environmental Education (EE) module in the Bachelor of Education Honours through integrating IK at the University of South Africa (Unisa) through interpretive paradigm and sociocultural theory. The study engaged document analysis and participant observation. Data was analysed and relevant themes were formed. The findings revealed that the University’s Strategic Plan drives decolonisation of the curriculum; the integration of IK was more evident in Tutorial Letter (TL) 102 of the EE module; there was minimal evidence of the integration of IK in TL105; IK was almost absent in TLs101, 104 and 103; and IK was only minimally introduced later in TL101 through the glossary of translated terms into African languages. The study contributes to attempts to decolonise the curriculum in higher education.

Taking a seat at the table: The value of private higher education in South Africa

L. Meyer — Sun, 27 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

In marketing, perception is reality. This scholarly discourse investigates the inherent bias manifested in the perceived disparity between qualifications conferred by private higher education institutions and public universities within the South African context. It is argued that Private Higher Education Institutions (PHEIs) are integral to the education system. Government funding for students who elect to study at a PHEI would be a strategic investment in the nation's future. The article begins with a summation of the higher education (HE) landscape in South Africa, highlighting the target student enrolment numbers set by the National Development Plan 2030 and the need for additional investment in the sector in its entirety. The article raises the question of what makes a qualification from one institution more valuable than a qualification from another registered within the same quality assurance and accreditation framework where students can articulate from private to public Institutions and vice versa.

Furthermore, the article explores the constraints experienced by students eligible for financial assistance but excluded from eligibility by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) when electing to study at a PHEI. The article emphasises the significance of addressing these biases and advocates for promoting the equitable treatment of PHEIs and public universities within the domestic HE landscape. The article highlights the need to improve access to HE and foster social justice in the South African HE system.

Unconventional times in Higher Education: Lived experiences of South African student support champions during the Covid-19 pandemic

D. Scholtz, S. Williams — Sun, 27 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The COVID‒19 pandemic necessitated swift changes to remote teaching and learning. This study explored the experiences of student support champions comprising teaching assistants, tutors, mentors, and retention officers) in providing affective and content support via remote modalities to first‒year students. The study focused on insights gained during remote learning. This adaptation to change speaks to resilience thinking, ‘being able to withstand or overcome adversity and unpleasant events and successfully adapt to change and uncertainty’. Learning to be resilient and adaptable to rise above challenges, is simultaneously transformative to create new ways of thinking to deal with current situations. This study resides within the interpretivist paradigm and draws on the subjective experiences and understandings of research participants within a university of technology. Surveys were conducted to garner insights and experiences and were analysed according to emergent themes of challenges, improvements, and future practices. Data revealed that despite the demands placed on student support champions, they managed to cope with their studies and acquired attributes, dispositions, and values beyond the formal curriculum. Thus the study shows that times of complexity present opportunities for resilience and transformation to changing circumstances.

Generative Artificial Intelligence Tools to Augment Teaching Scientific Research in Postgraduate Studies

M. A. Segooa, F. S. Modiba , I. Motjolopane — Sun, 27 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Scientific research is the cornerstone of postgraduate studies. However, various challenges hinder the progression and success of postgraduate students, which also affects throughput, students experiencing challenges in formulating their proposals due to limited knowledge of problematising their research.Too much time goes into the proposal phase, either prolonging the study period or abandoning the research project. Modern generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools can now support the research process. This article aims to present a research tool supporting facilitators in the African context to integrate various AI tools in postgraduate research teaching and learning. A systematic literature review was used to analyse research articles and grey literature; thus, identifying the review steps and tools which developed the ResearchBuddie artefact, supporting the research activities. Generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, Elicit, and Research Rabbit assist research activities. However, these tools must be made more cohesive and easier to use for all students. Therefore, increasing awareness and accessibility must be facilitated such that these tools can be leveraged to support the research process. A tool, such as the ResearchBuddie artefact, may accelerate the writing process and enhance the quality of the proposal. The ResearchBuddie may also assist postgraduate students in other research processes as they conduct their studies, primarily the literature review section. Additionally, the supervisors may use the ResearchBuddie artefact to augment their supervision; more so, this could be a valuable tool for educators who teach postgraduate research programmes.

Cost efficiency versus disruption: Are traditional universities doomed?

C. Serfontein — Sun, 27 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Internationally, universities face the consequences of the disruption caused by the Fourth Industrial Revolution, accelerated by COVID–19. Traditional universities have lost their competitive advantage due to rapidly changing skills needed and online learning gaining momentum. Historically, universities benefitted from higher levels of enrolments, also increasing their tuition fees above inflation with researchers indicating their concern, but failing to address the reason(s) for this increase.

To assess the extent to which universities are geared to face the disruption of potentially declining enrolments with limited opportunity to increase tuition fees in the future (relevance of skills, more competition, students having more choices), it is imperative to assess why tuition fees increased above inflation in the past. The focus of this quantitative research study is to establish the level of efficiency of managing Expenses amongst a sample of sixteen publicly funded South African universities from 2010 to 2019. The data was secondary data in the public domain.

Serious levels of financial distress caused by declining enrolments have already been reported in many universities in the United Kingdom (UK), Europe, the United States of America (USA) and Australia. The research question addressed in this article is to assess what the reasons are for the abnormal increases in tuition fees in the past with the intent to assist universities in the future if (when) the disruption of declining enrolments and lower tuition fees is realised.

Although this study focused only on South African universities, the unique contribution of this research is the methodology applied using Management and Cost accounting to assess the efficient management of expenses at South African universities from 2010 to 2019.