The educational experiences of black students at a 'white' university

Black students constitute. a minority within 'white' universities in South Africa. These students' academic performance has consistently been lower than that of white students. The existing but scarce literature on educational issues with regards to black students has been predominantly a cross-racial comparison of white and black students. The minority status. of black students within 'white' universities, and the need for more extensive study on factors affecting these students, provide a rationale for a study of this nature. This study has avoided cross-racial comparison, since such studies are based on the assumption that racial categories are homogeneous. The study demonstrates diversities within the group of black students. This thesis covers the educational experiences of black students at the University of Cape Town (UCT). The aim of the study was to explore qualitatively what relationship exists, if any, between the students' school, university and home/community lives. Three areas were chosen as focal points: First, it was important to establish a comparison between the students' experiences of school and university. It was important to establish whether students experienced school and university as different. Second, it was important to establish whether students from private schools had very different educational experiences compared to students from the Department of Education and Training (DET). In other words, it was important to establish whether formal South African education is perceived differently by black students who studied in DET schools and compared to those who studied in private schools. Third, the research focused on a comparison between the students' experiences of school and university, and their private lives at home or in their communities. In other words, it was important to establish whether there was a continuity between these two environments or not.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Department of Psychology

Year dc:date.issued

1994

Author dc:creator

• Mabena, P

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Manson, Susan ; Louw, Johann

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/13484

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/13484