Abstract
Our version of employability, as we have explained in earlier chapters, includes higher education that educates citizens for work and for life, and which works to advance human development, well-being and agency, acknowledging the historical legacies which continue to affect students’ access, experiences and potential outcomes. This chapter, therefore, focuses on our evidence regarding how universities in South Africa are enabling access and full participation to enhance the employability of students towards such ends, outlining and discussing successes and challenges from the perspectives of the four universities. The evidence cannot be perceived as representative of the whole university system or of similar types of university and we sketch a necessarily broad, rather than empirically comprehensive account of key aspects relevant to South African higher education.
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Notes
- 1.
As Southall’s rich study points out, caution should be exercised in discussions of the relative wealth of the black middle class, whose class position and assets are far from secure and more complicated than might appear. Nonetheless it is fair to say that students who have had the benefit of good schools and whose parents are senior government officials or professionals are considerably better off and better placed to access university than their working class, poorly schooled peers.
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Walker, M., Fongwa, S. (2017). Access and Participation. In: Universities, Employability and Human Development. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58452-6_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58452-6_5
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