Abstract
This study examines rural students’ experiences of entering and progressing through higher education in South Africa. It contextualizes the subjectivities, positionings and knowledge practices that rurality might invoke for students coming from rural contexts and how it might frame their success and belonging at university.
Despite the growing volume of literature exploring rural students’ experiences at university, not much has been written about the importance of the skills, knowledge practices and experiences that rural students bring with them into higher education space. A number of studies have mainly focused on student access and success in higher education from a general perspective. Emerging studies on rurality in South Africa suggest that the voices, perspectives, and generalized characteristics of university students from rural backgrounds have long remained understudied. Accordingly, recommended interventions generally target remediation from a deficit perspective; that is, such interventions are designed to make students fit into the world of higher education. In light of this, this study fills this scholarly gap by focusing on the voices and perspectives of rural students who talked about their experiences of negotiating multiple obstacles in accessing and succeeding in higher education. The thesis employs the notions of space, social capital, communities of practice and social justice to further problematize and deepen understanding of the skills, knowledge practices and experiences that rural students utilize to engage with the curriculum.
Qualitative methodology informed this thesis. To collect data, I first analyzed twenty-four digital documentaries that were produced as part of the SARiHE project. To gain more depth and insight and for triangulation purposes, I conducted eighteen semi-structured interviews as well as two focus groups. The findings reveal the profound inequalities that these students experienced in attaining higher education. The students revealed that they encountered numerous obstacles to their learning at the university as the experiences, abilities, skills and knowledge that they possess are neither acknowledged nor valued in the university.
Despite all these barriers, these students did not allow themselves to be defeated; instead, they became active agents by developing strategies to resist, negotiate and navigate the institutional barriers and social norms that constrained their conditions of
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existence. Though constrained by unequal structures of power and knowledge, they responded by making decisions and devising strategies to negotiate and resist barriers when they could. Being aware of the inequalities present and yet strive for educational success, it might have seemed as though these students were merely conforming to the norm but they were also, in some ways, resisting marginalizing forces by making meaning of their lived experiences within this discourse.
Implications for future studies and suggestions for improving the trajectory for rural students in higher education are also discussed. The main goal of this thesis is to contribute to knowledge and theory development in research on educational equality and social justice in addition to providing insights that may inform policy making.