Student acculturation in the context of "feesmustfall"

Abstract

According to acculturation theory, acculturation orientations are determined by the interactive strength of two individual dimensions, namely (i) a desire to maintain one's own culture, and (ii) a desire to acculturate to popular culture, with combinations of these processes classified as assimilation, separation, marginalisation or integration. What is absent from the predictions of acculturation theory (which are premised on the individual level), as well as the literature, however, is a consideration of individual-level differences which are not theoretically ascribed to cultural influences, but which derive from the individual, such as those predicted by personality theory.Using a sample of 251 economics students in the context of a large South African university, we use logistic regression analysis to test theory predicting the likelihood that students fall into each of Berry's four acculturation orientations, while also testing personality dimensions as explanatory factors. We find neuroticism and age are to be negative and significant predictors of the likelihood to fall into the separation explanatory category. Women and those older than their cohorts are found to be more likely to fall into the marginalisation category. Agreeableness is negatively associated with marginalisation. We discuss the implications of these findings and derive recommendations for university management in order to improve acculturation of students in this context.

Work-life balance, job satisfaction and retention: Turnover intentions of professionals in part-time study

“…Dissatisfaction with work-life balance pressures might be amplified in a family context, if psychological strain (stress) on an individual due to increased time and work pressures (such as those associated with the demands of evening classes that compound work commitments) extends to a partner or other members of a family, as predicted by crossover theory (Pradhan 2016). It bears noting that this cohort was also exposed to the FeesMustFall protests and its aftermath, the experience of which might have been stressful for certain students at this institution (Jogee, Callaghan & Callaghan 2018). Similarly, stress might be 'amplified' through the same mechanism suggested by crossover theory, if an individual's stress has an influence on other members of the family.…”

Academic adjustment and socio-economic legacy effects: Evidence from the years of the #FeesMustFall and #RhodesMustFall protests

“…Since democracy, the student body has transformed racially, although its staff profile has yet to be fully transformed, a key issue brought to the forefront by the #Feesmustfall protests (Jogee, Callaghan and Callaghan 2018). Secondly, given that academic adjustment is key to successful adjustment and performance for an individual (Baker and Siryk 1999), and given that diversity is at the heart of the adjustment process for students in this context (Jogee et al 2018), knowledge of the diminishing consequence of ethnicity between academic adjustment and student performance is important. Any differences in this diminishing consequence would suggest aspects of the academic adjustment process that may continue to transmit discriminatory effects.…”

Do benevolent and altruistic supervisors have higher postgraduate supervision throughput? The contributions of individual motivational values to South African postgraduate supervision throughput

“…The contributions of different sets of values to supervision throughput may be particularly important in developing-country contexts such as South Africa, which require masters and doctoral graduates (skilled human capital) to solve many of their developmental challenges. In South African universities, the academic project has been placed under pressure by the recent #FeesMustFall protests (Bitzer and De Jager 2018;Jogee, Callaghan and Callaghan 2018) and their consequences, particularly given the country's context of resource scarcity. The postgraduate supervision process has not been invulnerable to these disruptions and knowledge of how to improve supervision throughput is of particular importance in challenging contexts that may suffer similar disruptions.…”