Abstract
Orientation: Higher education institutions (HEIs) in the Global South remain complex
organisations that are facing a myriad of challenges. The sector, already reeling from the logics
of the imperial, colonial or apartheid and more recently, neoliberal influences, continues to
struggle to adequately respond to these challenges.
Research purpose: We used South Africa as a case study to explore and to theorise the
challenges that black early career academics (ECAs) are facing as they seek to negotiate their
being and belonging in a South African university.
Motivation for the study: To shine a spotlight on the complex experiences of black ECAs and
how they navigate their being and belonging in a public university.
Research approach/design and method: We used a qualitative interpretivist case study to
explore black ECAs’ negotiation of entry and success in the university. Additionally, we relied
on semi-structured interviews as the main data generation tool.
Main findings: We reveal how mentors/supervisors/line managers play a significant role
in how black ECAs navigate and negotiate their entry, being and belonging in a
neoliberal university. We also reveal an emergent tension between teaching and research,
showing how black ECAs believe that teaching and learning is relegated to the margins at
university.
Practical/managerial implications: Exploring black ECAs experiences in university has
implications for the retention, success and transformation of the higher education sector in
South Africa.
Contribution/value-add: Higher education in general and academic staff development in
particular has an instrumental role to play in ensuring that black ECAs are well supported and
mentored.