Experiences of African international students in a South African university – A qualitative study

Abstract

South Africa has in latter decades embraced the growing trend of internationalization in higher education leading to greater international mobility of staff and students. Compared to other countries in most of the sub-Saharan Africa region, South Africa has a larger capacity to meet the tertiary needs of students within the region. An increasing number of international students has implications for their academic success, adaptation and wellbeing once in their host country. The current study explored the lived experiences of international students in a South African university, from 5 other African countries. The study adopted a qualitative design, using semi-structured in-depth interviews and open-ended questions. Nine mainly postgraduate students (4 males and 5 females) were recruited using convenient and snowball sampling methods. Data were analysed using thematic content analysis and revealed 5 themes namely "Internationalisation", "experiencing the unforeseen", "access", "social support" and "structural support", with several sub-themes emerging from these. A resulting framework shows "empowerment", "alienation" and "adaptation" as over-arching themes in experiencing the phenomenon of being an African foreign student in South Africa.

Support Services for International Graduate Students at Makerere University

“…The international and Dean of students' offices are the most essential structures designed to support students in their academic, cultural, and social transition to campus. They provide various services, from orientation and advising on immigration compliance, academic, employment, financial, and personal issues to hosting social and cultural programs that help with the adaptation and acculturation process (Kasese-Hara & Mugambi, 2021). The arrival days of international graduate students are crucial for their engagement and integration with the University, the new culture, the environment, and new friends (Ammigan & Perez-Encinas, 2018;Perez-Encinas & Rodriguez-Pomeda, 2017).…”

“…The authors further share that peer relations strengthen student experiences and well-being on campus as students adjust and integrate into the university environment. Hence, given the critical role of peer relations in international graduate students' experiences, institutions need to encourage and facilitate relationships between students and break down pockets of isolation (Kasese-Hara & Mugambi, 2021;Skinner et al, 2019). Despite the importance of peer relations, international graduate students admitted that they do not have a strong social network at their universities and struggle with creating robust social networks (Calikoglu, 2018;Colyar et al, 2023;Kasese-Hara & Mugambi, 2021).…”

Perspective Chapter: Analyses of Literature on the Lived-Experiences of International Post-Graduate Students during COVID-19

“…These studies were done on international students, in general, or on specific characteristics regarding international students. Precisely, the studies of [6,7,9,30] have been carried out on international students in general. Along the same line, other research has focused on types of international students such as international medical and nursing students from low-and middleincome countries [31], international first-year university students [32], inclusion in times of the pandemic [6] and the effects of COVID-19 on international students [8].…”

“…When universities closed for early recess on 18 March 2020, students were asked to vacate university premises and return home [6,30]. As emphasised by [42] such requests seem to have created challenges for local and international students, especially when travelling home was linked to health risks and financial difficulties [6].…”

Pentecostalism and the (de)construction of ‘Otherness’: Experiences of black African students at a South African University

“…Currently, South Africa is host to about 51% of international students from other African countries which represents the highest number of international students in Africa. Scholars such as Kasese‐Hara and Mugambi (2021) also asserts that South African universities have a huge capacity to meet the tertiary needs of students within the SADC region and beyond. According to Statistica (2024) in 2022 about 5.5% of black Africans aged between 18 and 29 years were enroled at higher educational institutions in South Africa which was an increase from 2.6% in 2022.…”