During their first year of study at university, many students encounter challenges in developing learning strategies that align with success in the courses in which they are enrolled. The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic heightened the challenges as universities were compelled to transition to online learning. Therefore, this study investigated…

The transition in learning trajectories, academic pressures and stressors associated with financial and societal pressure that South African postgraduate university students experience places them at risk of mental health difficulties. For these students, their mental well-being has been further threatened due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the…

Does historic school engagement buffer the threats of disrupted schooling -- such as those associated with the widespread COVID-19-related school closures -- to school engagement equally for female and male high school students? This article responds to that pressing question. To do so, it reports a study that was conducted in 2018 and 2020 with…

South African higher education (HE) cannot be compared to any other country's HE systems due to the unique political landscape and structural narrative that it has undergone. Subsequent to the reorganisation of HEIs in 2004, a number of complexities arose. These included accessibility to education across race and the alignment of the South African…

Despite the support structures offered at Open distance e-learning (ODeL) higher education institutions, slow completion and attrition attest to postgraduate students' challenging study experiences. This qualitative and interpretivist case study examines postgraduate students' experiences of counselling support at an ODeL institution in South…

The outward migration of skilled migrants has disproportionally affected the Global South, particularly in countries in Africa, producing what is commonly referred to as 'brain drain'. Within this literature, there has been considerable focus on the future migration intentions of international students, who symbolise skilled migration. However,…

The closures of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) due to the COVID-19 pandemic meant that face to face classes had to be put on hold. However, the growth in information and communication technologies (ICT) made it possible for HEIs to continue with their core activities remotely, primarily using learning management systems (LMSs). The overuse…

Every sector in the twenty-first century makes use of technology for its activities, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic and higher education institutions are not exceptional. However, the cohorts enrolled in the selected higher education institution are from technologically challenged backgrounds. This suggests that in their previous…