The Journal of Student Affairs in Africa (JSAA) is an independent, peer-reviewed, multi-disciplinary, open-access academic journal that publishes scholarly research and reflective discussions about the theory and practice of student affairs in Africa. JSAA aims to contribute to the professionalization of student affairs in African higher education. It strives to be the foremost academic journal dealing with the theory and practice of the student affairs domain in universities on the African continent, and an indispensable resource for the executive leadership of universities and colleges dealing with student affairs, deans of students and other senior student affairs professionals, as well as institutional researchers and academics and students focused on the field of higher education studies and student affairs. JSAA is published twice a year by the JSAA Editors in collaboration with the University of Pretoria and the ESI Press. The editorial and peer review policy adheres to the Code of Best Practice in Scholarly Journal Publishing, Editing and Peer Review (Academy of Sciences of SA Council/ASSAf, 2018). JSAA is published online. Authors publish free of charge; there are no processing or page fees. Since 2017, JSAA is DHET-accredited in South Africa by the national Department of Higher Education and Training (SA-journals list and DOAJ list). Since 2023, JSAA is proudly included in the Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO), which is South Africa’s premier open-access, full-text journal database managed by the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf). JSAA is indexed and co-hosted by AJOL, DOAJ, ERIC, and SciELO, and indexed in ASCI Database, BASE, InfoBase Index, WorldCat Libraries, Sherpa/Romeo, and Google Scholar. Scopus and other indexing service subscriptions are currently being pursued. IBI Factor 2019 for the Journal of Student Affairs in Africa is 2.2. Please register on the website for alerts about new issues and opportunities.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms: Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-alike 4.0 International License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See: The Effect of Open Access).
Copyright (c) 2025 JSAA https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
Reframing student success: Well‑Being as an ecological imperative for student affairs in Africa
Copyright (c) 2025 Henry Mason https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
Redesigning student affairs in Africa with a care-centred approach to student well-being
Copyright (c) 2025 Birgit Schreiber, Thierry Luescher, Teboho Moja https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
Disorienting dilemmas, self-efficacy and well-being: Exploring student teachers’ perceptions of unpreparedness to teach English
The transition from student to teacher can be a challenging journey. This article explores how perceived unpreparedness – experienced as a disorienting dilemma – influences final-year student teachers’ self-efficacy and overall well-being. Using an interpretive paradigm and a qualitative approach, data were generated through questionnaires, visual representations, and focus group discussions with twelve student teachers at a South African higher education institution. A conceptual framework is developed by merging Mezirow’s transformative learning theory and Bandura’s self-efficacy theory. The case study reveals that while most student teachers initially felt prepared to teach English, self-examination of their preparedness based on teaching practice experiences exposed feelings of anxiety, low self-confidence, and self-doubt, impacting their self-efficacy. The findings reveal that enhancing student teachers’ self-efficacy is essential for their well-being, as higher self-efficacy promotes resilience, confidence, and preparedness for teaching. Emotional health and psychological support are critical for fostering student teachers’ sense of hope, resilience and self-efficacy. Addressing these challenges can help higher education institutions foster self-efficacy development, ensuring that student teachers transition from uncertainty to confidence. This article advocates for a holistic approach to teacher preparation, highlighting the role of higher education institutions, student affairs, and counselling services in strengthening self-efficacy and reducing anxiety through targeted support.
Copyright (c) 2025 Jennifer Sheokarah https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
Copyright (c) 2025 Editorial Team https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
Rethinking higher education: Public and private synergies for student success in Africa
Enhancing student well-being and success through AI-driven mental-health support: A case study of AI mental-health chatbot implementation at a South African university
Mental health is a critical determinant of student success in higher education. University students continue to face significant psychological challenges, including anxiety, stress, and trauma, issues further intensified by the Covid-19 pandemic. These realities underscore the need for accessible, scalable, and technology-driven mental-health interventions. This study investigates the implementation of Wysa, an AI-powered mental-health chatbot, at a South African higher education institution (HEI). Through a mixed-methods design, the research draws on secondary dashboard analytics and primary user survey data to evaluate adoption rates, engagement patterns, and the nature of interventions accessed. Results reveal that AI-driven mental-health tools can offer cost-effective, confidential, and scalable support to students, with evidence of meaningful usage across diverse student groups. However, amongst some student cohorts, adoption is uneven, influenced by the students’ academic disciplines, help-seeking behaviours, and concerns related to data privacy and trust. The study concluded with practical recommendations for integrating AI chatbots into institutional support services, advocating for a blended care model and student-centred digital mental-health strategies suited to the African higher education context.
Copyright (c) 2025 Faeza Khan, Naythan Kayser, Matete Madiba https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
Gateway to Success: An integrated academic and student life orientation programme for new first-year students
The transition from high school to university is widely recognized as challenging for many students, but was especially challenging for students who experienced almost two years of disrupted schooling during the COVID-19 pandemic. Pre-pandemic, the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) ran a one-week first year orientation programme. In mid-2021, as the severity of the pandemic was easing, it was clear that new students would need more than one week to adjust not just to university life but also to in-person interactions. As Academic Affairs and Student Affairs leaders we therefore undertook to design and implement an extended, integrated academic and student life orientation programme that would be compulsory for all 6500 new first year students in 2022 called Gateway to Success (GTS). Rapidly changing circumstances meant we had only four months to do this. In this paper we discuss the design of GTS and explain how we could plan it so quickly by utilizing a networking approach combined with a modified agile project management approach we had been developing since 2019. We then provide student evaluation results from 2022, and discuss how GTS was modified in 2023 when pandemic-related restrictions were lifted. We conclude with a discussion of how GTS has been embedded in university structures and processes and contributes to our institutional commitment to student success.
Copyright (c) 2025 Diane Grayson; Elisabeth Brenner, Jerome September (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
Widening university access and participation in the Global South: Using the Zambian context to inform other developing countries by E. Mboyonga (2025). London/New York: Routledge Publishers.
Copyright (c) 2025 Sibeso Lisulo https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
Exploring the value of a fieldwork practicum project at flood relief shelters in KwaZulu-Natal: Reflections of child and youth care students
This article captures data related to a community-based outreach program that was initiated to assist displaced families affected by the floods in the eThekwini district of KwaZulu-Natal. Guided by qualitative research methodology, eleven child and youth care students, from a university of technology were placed at two shelters to offer psychosocial support to those who had lost their homes and loved ones. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews and analysed using thematic analysis. The study found that these community members benefitted immensely from the services offered by students placed at the shelters and that exposure to the physical and emotional hardships of these families created opportunities for the students to utilise their disciplinary knowledge to offer psychosocial support. The study concluded that the university could play a significant role in empowering and supporting disadvantaged community members.
Copyright (c) 2025 Raisuyah Bhagwan, Reggiswindis Thobile Hlengwa https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
“It’s not always neat”: Psychological resources in the messy reality of university life
This qualitative study examined how first-year university students perceive the roles of psychological resources (resilience, hope, and optimism) in relation to student success (academic performance and well-being). Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 13 first-year university students (7 female, 6 male, age range: 18-25). The analysis revealed that resilience played a crucial role in promoting well-being and managing emotional stressors. Students referred to the relevance of hope as a driving force for them to persist in pursuing long-term academic goals. Additionally, hope, especially in the form of critical hope, sustained motivation by combining realistic acknowledgement of systemic challenges with a forward-looking commitment to personal and collective transformation. Optimism helped students reframe setbacks positively and maintain confidence in their long-term goals. The data indicated that these psychological resources form an interdependent ecosystem that students draw on to navigate the complexity of university life. The study emphasises not only the individual importance of these constructs but also their integrative and justice-oriented role in promoting student success. Findings support the need for holistic, contextually responsive student development and support services.
Becoming more private: Broadening the base of South African higher education
In an era marked by declining government funding for tertiary education, the South African PSET sector faces an existential crisis. The silo-fication of the system means that the growing demographic of youth entering post secondary education is limited in the options available to them. The paper explores how reduced government funding has strained public universities, leading to widespread student protests, increased dropout rates, and compromised educational quality. Our focus in this paper is on the role of private higher education and, in its own right, collaborating with other parts of the PSET sector. What is needed is a HE system that facilitates much more coordination and collaboration and for the components of the PSET sector to find ways of working together to create a coherent, integrated network to produce maximal learning opportunities for students and to support the objectives of the NQF Act. This paper serves as a call for policymakers, educational leaders, government, and stakeholders to recognise and leverage the growth capacity of private higher education in shaping a resilient, integrated, and future-proof PSET sector in South Africa.
post-school education and training (PSET) sector
Copyright (c) 2025 Ahmed Bawa, Linda Meyer https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
Resilience, motivation, and persistence in engineering at a South African university of technology
What helps engineering students persist through their demanding academic journey? This qualitative study explores that question through the lens of Ungar’s socio-ecological model of resilience, focusing on senior undergraduates at a South African university of technology. We interviewed seven students and used deductive thematic analysis to trace how resilience operates across multiple layers of their lived experiences. Resilience emerged from dynamic interactions across ecological levels. At the microsystem level, motivation was supported by faculty encouragement, peer relationships, and structured curricula. Family, community support, and mentorship formed strong mesosystem influences. At the exosystem level, institutional infrastructure and policies – particularly challenges related to financial aid and load shedding – both hindered and, at times, strengthened resilience. Macrosystem influences included societal perceptions of engineering as prestigious but difficult, shaping students’ motivations and stress. Rather than viewing resilience as an individual trait, this study reveals it as a socially embedded process shaped by context. We offer practical recommendations for multi-level support: simplify funding systems, invest in empathetic teaching, align curricula with local realities, and strengthen partnerships with families and communities.
Copyright (c) 2025 Morney Mostert, Anita Campbell; Renee Smit (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
Social-emotional competence and personality traits as key drivers for student teacher well-being in a VUCA world
Initial teacher education programs around the globe are aimed at equipping beginner teachers with competencies that will enable them to be successful practitioners in a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) world. In this South African study, aimed at conceptualising the competencies needed by early-career English teachers who specialise in the Senior (Snr) and Further Education and Training (FET) phase (Grades 8-12), data were generated through a mixed-method approach involving qualitative in-depth interviews with heads of departments (HODs), document analysis and quantitative online surveys administered to early-career English language teachers who had completed their studies at a university, focusing on their training and development during initial teacher training. The overall findings of the study suggest that while traditional competencies such as content knowledge (CK), pedagogical knowledge (PK), and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) remain foundational, there is a pressing need to focus more on the development and support of affective domains such as social-emotional competencies and personality traits. These findings highlight the need for institutional practices that promote holistic student teacher development through accessing support services and acquiring the needed competencies to support their wellbeing during their studies and to ensure relevant competence when they start teaching.
Copyright (c) 2025 Janet Kruger, Kotie Kaiser, Maryna Reyneke, Carolina Botha https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
Empowering student agency in academic advising through design thinking: Voices of academic advisors
Design thinking is a human-centred approach that offers practical methods and tools that can be used by academic advisors to enhance innovation, develop meaningful problem-solving strategies, and drive change in student academic advising sessions. Academic advising can be regarded as a critical component of student success; however, many students and advisors struggle to engage deeply in the advising process in a shared and reciprocal manner. This study addresses this issue by adopting a design thinking approach to support students during the academic advising process. The study explored how the adapted design thinking process at a particular institution enhanced student– advisor agency, collaboration, and student-centred engagement. The study employed a qualitative research methodology, drawing on Schön’s (1991) reflective model. Qualitative data were collected from the three advisors’ reflective reports and one focus group interview. Thematic analyses were used to identify key patterns and themes. The design thinking approach gave rise to four key themes: (1) timely and focused advising, (2) knowledge building and information sharing, (3) reciprocal conversations, and (4) agency. The findings reveal that the application of design thinking in academic advising enabled advisors to shift their advising sessions from a prescriptive to a developmental approach, thereby fostering a deeper and more collaborative engagement with students.
Copyright (c) 2025 Subethra Pather, Brittany Ann Adams, Tina Hlanjwa, Michelle Jaftha https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
Exploring character strengths among South African university students: Insights from a WhatsApp-based intervention
Character strengths, such as resilience, justice, and appreciation of beauty, play a key role in student well-being and academic engagement. This study explores the strengths profiles of 302 students at a South African university and evaluates the effectiveness of a six-week WhatsApp-based intervention designed to enhance self-awareness and strengths application. Using the VIA Character Strengths Survey, we found Kindness, Love of Learning and Fairness were the most highly endorsed strengths, while Zest, Bravery and Self-regulation were lowest. Daily reflective prompts encouraged students to apply their strengths in different contexts. Post-intervention survey results from 55 participants indicated that most found the course beneficial for increasing self-awareness (90%) and understanding how to apply their character strengths in daily life (87%). Additionally, 93% of respondents reported that the daily messages helped them understand how to use their strengths to achieve their goals. Findings are discussed in relation to South Africa’s social and cultural landscape, highlighting the potential of low-cost, digital interventions to support student development. While limited to a single institution, this study suggests promise for culturally responsive, strengths-based courses in higher education.
Copyright (c) 2025 Anita L. Campbell; Sean Paul Abrahams (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
Experiences of health sciences students residing on campus during university recess: A photovoice study
In South Africa, health sciences students who live in university residence must often remain on campus during university recess to fulfil work-integrated learning obligations. Some of the observed challenges during this time are relocating to a temporary residence, having limited access to supplies and services as well as concerns about safety. These challenges were further aggravated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Yet, literature on factors and dynamics that affect student well-being and learning during these periods is sparse. The purpose of this study was therefore to explore the experiences of health sciences students residing on campus during recess at a specific university. Participatory research utilising the photovoice method was conducted. Four health sciences students volunteered to participate in three workshops to complete the research process. Captioned photographs and narratives were used to document their on-campus experiences during university recess. During a public photo exhibit, which concluded the project, essential stakeholders wrote anonymous reviews in the visitors’ book. Collaborative thematic data analysis was performed, leading to the identification of four themes: (1) sharing personal space, (2) support services and structures, (3) security, and (4) personal development. The findings revealed a sense of lost belonging due to inadequate support during recess, which could affect student learning and well-being. Remaining on campus during recess can have adverse effects on students’ learning and well-being, due to experiences of extreme loneliness and feelings of being out of place. At the same time, this period can create opportunities for quiet self-reflection and personal growth. Using methods such as photovoice to document these experiences can empower students to advocate for necessary institutional changes. Future research should include more participants from various disciplines and extended recess periods to better inform policies and guidelines.
Copyright (c) 2025 Palesa Kekana, Deirdre van Jaarsveldt, Mikateko Mathebula https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
Copyright (c) 2024 Editorial Team https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
Advancing student success in higher education through scholarship
Copyright (c) 2024 Birgit Schreiber, Thierry Luescher, Teboho Moja https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
Copyright (c) 2024 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
Advancing the scholarship of integration for impactful, sustainable and holistic student success
Copyright (c) 2024 Neo Pule, Matete Madiba, Irene Mohasoa https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
Exploring Student Representative Council’s Experiences at Historically White Universities: A Meta-Narrative Review
Student representation has been conceptualised and studied in different ways and by different researchers for more than 10 years. Despite the vast studying of student representation, the number of meta-narrative reviews are scattered in literature and are insufficient to show the summarised or over-arching developments that have taken place in student representative councils (SRC). This article focuses on providing a summary of the occurrences that affected student representatives in historically white universities (HWU) from 2011 to 2022. To provide a map, a focused literature search that describes and compares the different conceptualisations and studies of student representation experiences at HWU and to make sense of the research area, a meta-narrative review was conducted. The resources for the review were found through scoping and systematic searches of electronic searches, journal articles and book chapters. The major themes found through synthesis and analysis included experiences of diversity, experiences of disruption, the use of protests and the development of policy promoting transformation in HWU. The review concludes by highlighting the significance of understanding the experience of student representatives by pursuing a scholarship of integration that consolidates university governance efforts that strongly impact holistic student success.
Copyright (c) 2024 Kitso Morgan https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
Using action and grounded theory techniques as evidence-based design for an academic advising programme
Academic advising, if done effectively, can play a significant role in supporting student retention. However, as a relatively new field in South Africa, there is limited, locally contextualised, research into advising interventions and their effectiveness. We therefore need evidence-based approaches that will lead to more intentionally structured, and shareable practices that meet the needs of our context. With this paper we detail a methodology through which we were able design an evidence-based, academic advising programme which, we argue, is both effective and academically rigorous. We show how we used the principles of action research, supported by grounded theory analytical techniques, to develop a programme for students facing exclusion at SAU. We collected feedback in cycles, where the student ‘voice’ from one cycle (n=352), informed the design of the next cycle. Programme evaluation data (n=122) from a third cycle was used to assess the effectiveness of this approach. The results indicate a positive association of the new capability developed in students, with the designed learning activity. This suggests that the approach was effective. The method we describe has application across a wide variety of student development initiatives and can support effective, intentional design and sharing of such practices.
Copyright (c) 2024 Riashna Sithaldeen https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0