(Non)fungibility of socio-cultural capital for rural-based students in South African universities

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2640092
AutoresNonhlanhla P Khumalo, Nonhlanhla Khumalo (0000-0001-5169-3765, Durban University of Technology, autor de correspondencia), Nyamadzawo Sibanda (0000-0002-2950-7767)
Año2023
Volumen19
Número1
Fecha de publicación2023-08-31
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaThe Journal for Transdisciplinary Research in Southern Africa (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1817-4434 • E-ISSN: 2415-2005
EditorialAOSIS (PUBLISHER • ZA)
DOI10.4102/td.v19i1.1321
OpenAlexW4386375186
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas3
Referencias citadas36

The number of university students coming from rural areas has significantly increased in South Africa in the last two decades. While this is a positive sign of inclusive social growth and development, the fact that 70% of South African universities are still located in urban areas creates challenges for a number of these students. This is also compounded by the fact that most rural schools in South Africa offer sub-optimal preparation for post-school activities. As such, the first barrier for most of these students is negotiating various levels of access to higher education (HE), using forms of social and cultural capital that may be incommensurate with urban-based HE institutions. Using an in-depth review of literature on the subject of rural education, transition to higher education, student success and reflections on the professional experience of the authors in student support services in higher education. This study argues that since most South African universities are “urban enclaves”, students from rural areas take time to adapt and accumulate relevant socio-cultural capital to enable them to thrive and succeed. The transition of students from rural schools to urban-based universities is a socio-cultural as much as it is an epistemological mobility. As such, this “troubled transition” of rural students can be ameliorated through a trans-sectoral or transdisciplinary transitional intervention to simultaneously enable epistemological access and create commensurate socio-cultural capital. However, previous interventions on student transition have been generic and lacked the nuanced intersectional analysis of rurality on student access and success. Transdisciplinary contribution: The study proposes a trans-sectoral or transdisciplinary transitional space in which education institutions (basic and HE) collaborate with government and non-state partners to ensure sufficient and effective transition, especially for rural school learners

Access to Higher Education · Cultural capital · Economic growth · Geography · Higher education · Pedagogy · Political science · Rural area · Rurality · Social capital · Social science · Sociology · Education Systems and Policy · Tourism, Volunteerism, and Development · Youth Education and Societal Dynamics