Negotiating learning and identity in higher education: access, persistence and retention

While access to higher education has increased globally, student retention has become a major challenge.

This text analyses various aspects of the learning pathways of black students from a range of disciplinary backgrounds at a relatively elite, English-medium, historically white South African university.

The students are part of a generation of young black people who have grown up in the new South Africa and are gaining access to higher education in unprecedented numbers.