Beyond access: Intersectional challenges for Higher Education success in South Africa

Brahic, Benedicte ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9678-8928, Ingram, Nicola, Ramnund-Mansingh, Aradhana, Heyes, Kim ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9029-545X, Seedat-Khan, Mariam and Arun, Shoba (2025) Beyond access: Intersectional challenges for Higher Education success in South Africa. International Sociology, 40 (3). pp. 454-480. ISSN 1461-7242

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Abstract

In South Africa, children of single-headed households (70% of whom are Black) have significantly worse educational outcomes than any other demographic. While the impact of family structures has been scrutinised in pre-18 education, it remains understudied concerning access and success in Higher Education. Based on semi-structured interviews with students and alumni raised in single-headed households, this article explores the interplay of family milieu and Higher Education. Using a Bourdieusian framework, authors identify three key configurations between family and Higher Education fields (alignment, fraught (mis)alignment, and parallel fields), which have a long-lasting impact on individual educational trajectories and the fabric of South African society. Black women remain disproportionately disadvantaged in the post-apartheid university, and the family milieu as a key site of intersectional inequalities remains under-researched. This article reveals the structural impact of transgenerational social reproduction in post-colonial societies and argues for a policy shift away from discourses of individual resilience.