Jenda: A Journal of Culture and African Women Studies (2001) ISSN: 1530-5686 ACCESSING HIGHER EDUCATION IN APARTHEID SOUTH AFRICA: A GENDER PERSPECTIVE

Nokuzola Zola Makosana

This paper explores the experiences of twenty-two Black women in four South African universities located in the Eastern and Western Provinces of Apartheid South Africa. The study explores how a select group of women have managed to acquire an education and the sources of funding which made it possible to extend their education beyond the limits that apply to most Black females in pre-democratic South Africa.

Twenty-two women were selected by a referred convenient sampling technique from the four universities identified as sites for the study. These were the Universities of the Fort Hare (UFH) historically African/Black, including the University of Stellenbosch (US) historically White Afrikaaner, University of the Western Cape (UWC) Historically Black/Coloured and the University of Cape Town (UCT) Historically White English. The methodology included participant observation and interviews using a questionnaire guide. Seven women were selected from the University of the Western Cape, nine from the University of Fort Hare, six from the University of Cape Town. There were no Black women from the University of Stellenbosch.

In the South African context, the ability of the family to fund education determines which racial and gender groups will have more access to education than others. Given the racially skewed funding of education in South Africa, the Black population has had limited access to educational opportunities. Thus, the availability of funding has been a major factor in determining educational opportunities for Black women. When resources are limited, many parents, especially in the lower socioeconomic strata, prefer to invest in the education of boys rather than girls. The common belief or notion is that once married, girls will be taken care of by their spouses. Black women have thus been subjected to inequitable limits that restrict their access to higher education.

This paper will begin with the discussion of the general findings, and the ways women have funded both their undergraduate and graduate education. The strategies utilized by the women to adapt to their educational environment are also reviewed. Finally, the discussion examines the challenges faced by the women in acquiring their education.

General Findings

During the apartheid era, race was a primary factor that determined the funding of education in South Africa. The Bantu Education Act No. 47 of 1953 marshalled in state-mandated inequities in the funding of education. The implementation of this act racialized the provision of education in the country, resulting in poor funding of education for the Black population. In consequence, the burden of funding African/Black education was placed squarely on the shoulders of Black parents (Cross & Chisholm, 1990). Black parents have therefore played an important role in funding the education of their children in the absence of, or subject to limited state funding for Black education in South Africa. Families funded the education of their children, whether the households were poor or rich. Parental contribution determined who would go to school and who would not.

Generally, families make a commitment to fund their children’s first degree so as to give them a start in life. Parents prepare for funding their children’s college education in various ways. With reference to the 22 women in the sample, the relatively affluent Professional, Business Professional and Business families invested in insurance policies that usually matured when their children graduate from high school. Families that had fewer resources at their disposal also invested in their children’s education by pooling together family resources. Poor families shared limited resources with siblings, contributing money and taking turns to acquire education. Women from these families funded their own education while others had to make huge contributions to augment family contribution.

Semi-skilled and Migrant families also indicated they have educated their children by the pooling of limited resources. Other funding mechanisms utilized by women from these families included loans and parental contribution, loans and partial scholarships, and contributions from extended family and teachers. These patterns of funding are discussed later in the paper. This strategy of pooling family resources to finance the education of family members is typical for impoverished and marginalized groups like immigrants where the survival of the individual is supported by the family and the community (Peters, 1988; Edwards et al., 1992; Taylor, 1993).

Funding Sources Used by Professional, Business Professional and Business Families

Table 1 describes the various sources that the women used in funding their undergraduate education. These sources include parents, parents and siblings, scholarships, loans, spousal benefits, and the women’s own contributions.

As the table indicates, the various family structures, that is, Professional, Business- Professional, Business, Semi-skilled and Migrant families, funded the education of their children in various ways. Because of their poverty, the Semi-skilled and Migrant families relied mostly on external sources, for example, fellowships and scholarships, and contributions from friends and relatives to fund the education of their children. The parents are reported as the major source of funding for undergraduate education, followed by scholarships and women’s own contribution. The Professional, Business-Professional, and Business families have in most case been able to fund most of the education of their children. This suggests that these families used their economic advantage to secure for their children a bright future.

Table 1

Singular Sources
Multiple Sources
Parents 4
Parents & Scholarships 3

The table also suggests that there are some parents who could pay for the full cost of the education of their children, while others could only do so if there were contributions from other sources. The strategies for funding women’s education follows in the next section. The section begins with a discussion of the methods used by relatively affluent families.

Five women from the Professional, Business- Professional and Business families had their education solely funded by their parents at the undergraduate level. The experience of five of these women whose education was funded by their parents will be discussed below. UFH-6, a daughter from a professional family, says:

In my family it was a given that everyone would go to university. The issue was which university you wanted not how you were going to pay for your education. (UFH-6)

What this woman suggests is that her Professional parents had high expectations for her. Further, as a result of their Professional background, their financial position assured her funding for education that was not available to women born to poor parents with less education.

Another woman, also from a Professional household where both parents had a tertiary education described her privileged status this way:

My father, who was a teacher, paid for my first degree though he was not earning much and my older brother also contributed to my education expenses. (UFH-5)

UFH-3, the daughter of a Business Professional, said that:

My father who was a business owner paid for my undergraduate education. (UFH-3)

A junior lecturer at a Black institution from a Business family also shared that:

My father paid for my first degree as he owned a string of restaurants and businesses. (UWC-3)

There were also instances where mothers assumed full financial responsibility for the education of their daughters. A woman from a Business Professional family said:

My mother who was a nurse paid for my undergraduate education though both my parents owned a business. It took me some time before I realized that my mother was the one who was paying for our education. (UCT- 5)

The respondents’ words highlight the important roles that Black mothers have attached to the education of their daughters. Black mothers see the education of their daughters as a way of escaping poverty and empowering them to deal with racism and sexism that are prevalent in South Africa, society (Howard & Howard, 1994). Gregory (1995), in a U.S. study on Black women in the academy, also highlights the supportive role that Black mothers played in the education of their daughters. She saw this investment in Black women’s education as having a long-term effect for the Black communities as these women contribute financially and otherwise to the upliftment of their communities.

The patterns that emerged from the methods that Professional families used to fund the education of their children show how these parents have been able to mitigate the impact of Apartheid on their families. Their economic power enabled them to fund the education of their daughters with or without help from external sources. On the other hand, families with minimal education or no education at all had to mostly rely on external sources to fund the education of their daughters. These are discussed in the section that follows.

Funding Sources Used by Semi-Skilled and Migrant Families

In examining the sources of funding utilized by the women, I learned that the respondents from the Semi-skilled and Migrant families relied heavily on external sources. In addition to relying solely on family and scholarships, some of the women in the sample who could not rely on one source of funding drew upon multiple sources to fund their education. These were mostly women from the Migrant and Semi-skilled family structures, although a few women from the Professional and Business backgrounds also used multiple sources. The respondents from the Professional and Business backgrounds were augmenting family sources, while those from the Semi-skilled and Migrant families were entirely reliant on external sources as their families had limited or no financial resources to fund their education. A description of the multiple sources of funding described by the women in the sample follows.

Multiple Sources of Funding Undergraduate Education

Table 1 also indicates that 11 women utilized multiple sources (2 or 3) to fund their undergraduate education. Two women from the Semi-skilled and Migrant families utilized three sources to fund their education. Experiences of 8 of the 11 who utilized multiple sources will be discussed below. No definite patterns emerged as the sources varied in nature and specific examples follow:

1. (1) partial scholarship covering part of the tuition and parents paying for the living expenses and books;
   
2. (2) parents and siblings and women themselves paying for some of their books and working for their pocket money;
   
3. (3) scholarships, loans and the women’ own contribution;
   
4. (4) spousal benefits combined with parental support; and
   
5. (5) an extended other helping with funding and scholarship.
   

A respondent from a Semi-skilled family said:

My education at the undergraduate level was funded in multiple ways. In the first year of my four-year study I was awarded a scholarship, in the second year half a scholarship and a half-loan, in the third year I was given a loan and the final year I got a tuition scholarship. During all these years I had to work hard and get good symbols [grades]. My living allowances were absorbed by my mother, as I was living at home and had a part-time job. (UCT-4)

Respondents who came from a Semi-skilled family (UCT-4) and a Migrant family (UFH-8) are shown in Table 6 as having utilized at least three sources that helped them fund their graduate education. Women who grew up in these family circumstances reported having been forced to actively advocate for themselves in order to be able to get an education. Furthermore, they had to be skilled in negotiating for these resources as well as in pooling all sources together to fund their education in the manner in which they did. Such behaviour on the part of the women showed determination, confidence, resilience, and a strong desire for success.

Women contributed to their education in various ways as shown by the example of a woman from a Migrant family who observed that:

I was awarded a partial scholarship by then Transkei government which covered my tuition. I paid for my traveling to and from the university as I was employed as a teacher. (UCT-6)

Another respondent interviewed beyond the sample shared that:

I received limited financial aid from a church organization that covered part of my tuition and books. I lived at home and worked as a sales assistant on weekends and afternoons and school holidays. (UCT- Lecturer)

Where funding for tuition and books was not available, family support still figured prominently in the lives of these women to augment what they were receiving from external sources. And, in some cases, parents would fund the living and traveling expenses. One respondent from a Semi-skilled family said that:

Though both my undergraduate and graduate education were funded by scholarships, my parents still sent me pocket money and my paternal uncle and aunt paid for my traveling costs. (UWC-2)

The uncertainty of funding was a source of anxiety for some of the women. Negotiating bank loans meant that women had to have guarantors, and without a credit history, which is tied to employment, very few Black women were able to get guarantors.

The shortage of financial resources became a burden for some of the women’s family. This is a similar situation to that experienced in the U.S. where Boyd (1974) and Sherman et al. (1994) found a close relationship between funding pressures and the high dropout rates among Black students in tertiary institutions in the U.S. Lack of funds to pay for Black students’ education create instability in their lives by affecting their grades and academic success. For some of the women in this study, the friends outside the family stepped in to help fund their education. One woman (UFH-9) who came from a Migrant family is shown in Table 6 to have utilized help from someone outside her family to fund her education. She said:

I came from a very impoverished family background. Both my parents who had no education could not fund my education. My principal and vice-principal at the girls’ high school that I attended offered to pay for my university education. I think they offered to do so because they were aware of my impoverished family background. I was also a very bright, intelligent young woman. After my first year at Fort Hare, they offered me full scholarship covering tuition, boarding and pocket money. (UFH-9)

A lot of pooling and sharing of limited family resources often characterized the financial situation of the Semi-skilled and Migrant families.

My parents had not finished high school and were both not earning much, but they wished to educate all their children. My oldest sister who was then training as a nurse was the one who paid most of my tuition. She also sent me clothes and paid for my traveling costs. In my final year I worked as a sub-warden (GRA) and received free housing from the university. I have deep respect for my sister. (UFH-8)

This woman emphasized the sacrifice made by her kin to give her an education. Such sacrifices made by siblings and relatives in these impoverished families nurture the development of the strong mutual bonds among family members. External threats like Apartheid racism that had besieged poor Black families forced them to develop internal mechanisms to mitigate the impact of these forces on their members. Family members offered each other financial and emotional support.

Another respondent from a Business Professional family who also depended on the pooling of resources pointed out that:

I can never underestimate the role my parent, aunts, cousins and siblings played in my education as they sent me little but important presents. They sent birthday presents and dresses for special occasions to mention a few. (UWC-7)

One woman from a Professional family who married while a student, and whose husband was a faculty member, used the faculty benefits:

My parent paid for my first year at a university and when I got married after the first year my husband who is a faculty member paid for my education from out his own pocket and university spousal benefits. (UFH- 3)

The experience of respondent UFH-3 shows how kin relations have contributed to the education of the women in the sample. Once married, her husband fulfilled the family obligation to help her achieve her goals. Such arrangements bring both stability and mutual respect in families that support and nurture the efforts of their members to acquire higher education.

In addition to family and extended kin, the women in the sample also tapped the few scholarships and fellowships that were available to fund their education. These were available to the women irrespective of their economic background. The section that follows discusses scholarships as another option open to some of the sampled women.

Scholarships Sources of Funding

While Professional and Business families with steady income were able to help their daughters escape poverty by giving them an education, impoverished Migrant and Semi-skilled families found financial support for their daughters’ education outside the immediate families.

Financial support for women coming from these economic backgrounds came from social agencies such as Non- Governmental Organizations, Foreign Aid as well as scholarships from the business sector. Private citizens also donated funds to universities to give individuals from impoverished backgrounds access to education. The few scholarships that were available helped the women who came from financially strapped socioeconomic backgrounds. Moreover, Table 6 shows that in 10 instances, the respondents relied on scholarships to fund their undergraduate education. These scholarships were open to all women regardless of their economic background. Experiences of 3 of the 8 women will be described to show how the women used the scholarships.

A respondent from a Migrant family said that:

Upon admission to the university, I was offered a full scholarship which covered tuition and living allowance. (UFH- 7)

Another respondent from a Business Professional family pointed out that:

I was guaranteed education though later they awarded me a merit bursary. (UCT-5)

This woman explained that she was guaranteed the funding of her education merely by virtue of being born to a Professional household where her mother was a nurse and her father a business owner. The woman’s privileged economic background assured her that her parents were able to fund her education and enabled her to obtain additional benefits as well.

Some of the women were offered scholarships because they had obtained good grades in high school and at the undergraduate level, and they were awarded these scholarships on both need and merit. Therefore, women from financially stable and impoverished families benefitted from these scholarships. Six women who came from impoverished family backgrounds with bleak prospects for reaching their educational goals were helped by the availability of these scholarships. The availability of the scholarships to women from all economic strata diminished the class distinctions among the women if they got good grades.

The scholarships and parental contributions were sometimes not enough to cover the cost of educating the women in the sample. That meant that the women in the sample had to also make financial contributions in various degrees. There were those who had to fully fund their own education and those who were augmenting other sources. These variations in funding methods are discussed below.

Women’s Own Contributions

Sometimes the women had to shoulder the full financial burden for their education. Three women in the sample paid for the full cost of their undergraduate education. They were all students in the distance learning programme of the University of South Africa. They obtained their undergraduate education while combining full-time employment with the raising of families. These women were forced by socio-political circumstances to study in this manner. One of these women came from a household where her mother was a domestic worker and her father a policeman. She said:

I first trained as a nurse in order to earn money while working and also help my family. I later registered with the University of South Africa and paid for my undergraduate degree. I was fortunate to receive a scholarship for Masters from the University of Durban in Natal. (UCT-3)

A woman from a Professional family paid for her own education.

I was dismissed from the University of Zululand because of my involvement in student politics. The only university that could enroll me was the distance learning institution, the University of South Africa (UNISA). I therefore studied by correspondence and paid for my education as I got married in the process. I lived in my house and had no boarding problems. (UWC- 4)

This woman was barred from studying in any of the residential universities in South Africa because of her involvement in student politics. Although she had financial and socio-emotional support from her family, external forces in her environment shaped her fate in education. A second woman from a Business Professional family pointed out that:

I fell pregnant before I completed high school and my parents who were disciplinarian punished me by taking me out of school. I finished high school studying as a private student while working. I paid for both my high school and graduate education. By that time I was married with two children. (UWC- 5)

Though this woman was from the Business Professional background, she had to fund her education. Her parents’ attitude towards her pregnancy was supposed to be a lesson for her, as they were teaching her to take full responsibility for her own action. Her persistence and perseverance are indications of her commitment to her education.

The previous section has revealed the important role the family and the women themselves have played in funding the women’s undergraduate education. As the 22 women in the sample continued with their education up to the graduate level, new patterns emerged that revealed their determination and strong need for success. These sources are described below.

Funding For Graduate Education

Unlike undergraduate education, graduate education is usually left to the individual. The expectation is that the individual would not only fund his or her education, but would also be able to contribute to the education of other siblings and kin. Table 2 summarizes the sources utilized by the women in the sample to fund their graduate education. At the graduate level, funding through scholarships increased. Only 19 of the 22 women pursued graduate education. Table 2 shows that in 15 instances, the women’s education was funded by scholarships and fellowships. In 9 of the 15 instances, the women relied solely on scholarships.

Table 2

Table 3

Seven of the nine women who received scholarships pursued their post-graduate education in historically White and now integrated South African universities. Seven accepted overseas fellowships and scholarships while the remaining five pursued their graduate education in historically Black institutions.

The overseas scholarships and graduate fellowships sometimes covered travel, living and tuition expenses for themselves and, occasionally, their families who were then included in the package. A woman from a Business Professional family explains below:

I was awarded a full scholarship with costs to do a Master’s degree in science at Rhodes University which I passed with distinction--the first Black woman in South Africa to do so. (UCT- 1)

A senior administrator from a Professional family stated that:

I was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to do a Master’s degree at the University of California in Santa Barbara. I took my two kids with me. The scholarship covered tuition and an allowance for living. I was able to just concentrate on my studies without worrying about finances. (UFH-4)

The Dean at a Black university who came from a Professional family stated that:

Fellowships funded my graduate education and awards from master’s level to doctoral level. These covered all the costs. (UFH- 1)

A Junior Lecturer from a Business Professional family at a Black institution won a scholarship to a British institution and said that:

On completion of my honours degree at the University of Zululand, I was awarded a scholarship to do a Master’s degree in Library Science at British institutions. (UWC-7)

The scholarships are allocated on the bases of merit, need and duration of study. They are made conditional upon the ability to maintain good grades. Those who excelled in their studies got funded. Another Junior Lecturer from a Business family at a Black institution expressed the excitement she felt when she was awarded a French scholarship.

I had taken French as one of my majors at college. The French then offered me a government scholarship to do advanced studies in French. It was heaven on earth. I did an equivalent of two Master’s in French. Though in my final year I had to work for my upkeep. (UWC- 3)

Most of the scholarships covered tuition and living expenses and the women still needed to contribute to their education. Spousal, parents and extended other contributions dwindled as the women progressed with their education. However, this does not mean that the family does not contribute to the education of the women at graduate level, since loans and scholarships had to be supplemented by individual contributions, some of which came from close family members, as shown in Tables 2and 3. Parents continued to support the education of their daughters in many ways. In some cases, the parents would fund the living and traveling expenses. For example, an administrator interviewed in addition to the sample said:

Though both my undergraduate and graduate education were funded by scholarships my parents still sent me pocket money and paid for my traveling costs. (Administrator-UFH)

The respondent’s acknowledges that though the scholarship was of great help to her, family contributions still featured prominently in her education. The women in the sample also utilized multiple sources to fund their graduate education. Seven respondents are shown in Table 2 as dependent on multiple means of educational support. An example is that of a senior administrator at a Black institution who said:

Part of my post-graduate education was paid for by my ex- husband via the spousal benefits which covered 75% of the tuition; the rest I paid as I was working as a teacher then. My parents still continued to feature in my education in various ways. (UFH-3)

The respondent’s experience exemplifies the multiple ways the women in the sample funded their education. In her case, her spousal contribution in the form of employment benefits covered a major portion of her tuition indicating the supportive role some spouses play in the education of their partners. Furthermore, the respondent’s experience shows the communal efforts that are common among Black families in helping their members succeed (Edwards et al., 1992; Hurd et al., 1995).

Among the women in the study, gender not only shaped the women’s opportunities to gain undergraduate education but also their chances of graduate education. Few women were able to pursue graduate education immediately after completing their first degrees in South Africa for various reasons. Some of the women in the sample reported the support they gave to their families, helping to educate siblings, marrying or carrying other family responsibilities after their first degree (Goosen et al., 1989). What this seems to suggest is that family responsibilities affect the women’s decision to continue with both their academic and professional advancement. In this sample, the women’s ages as well as their qualifications and the duration of their employment, which is approximately four years in their current jobs, are testimonies to their statements.

In addition to concrete financial support, the women needed encouragement, motivation and intellectual stimulation to continue and complete their education. These are factors that create an ideal learning environment. In the case of the women in the sample, there were people and individuals who helped to create such a learning environment for them. The following section will discuss the supportive mechanisms used by the women in the sample.

Reported Sources of Social Support for the Respondents

Sherman et al. (1994) identify several factors in the student’s academic environment that can either promote or hinder their academic progress. Among these are parental expectations, attitudes, and personality behaviour. Table 3 below shows how some of these factors played out in the academic lives of the women in the sample. Parents, teachers, older siblings, peers and friends and strong belief in divine spirits are the sources reported by the women in the sample. Individuals were helpful to the women in the sample in a number of ways, and in this section the role of the parents, teachers, peers and friends and others who contributed to this aspect of the women’s support will now be considered.

Parents Role Models and Sources of Encouragement

Parents shape the educational achievements of their children in various ways. A supportive environment provided by the parents of the sampled women helped them gain confidence and succeed later in their lives. The nature of social support that the women received from their environment while pursuing their studies differs from the one they received while growing up in their homes.

Young women who enter college or those pursuing graduate education for the first time or are returning for graduate studies have different needs. However, they all needed support in making the transition from one level to the next, and the intensity of that support again is determined by the needs and the past experience of the women. Parents have the ability to mold their children’s educational behaviour in many ways. Table 4 shows parental role modeling and encouragement as having been important in the women’s lives in 13 instances. A respondent who came from a Professional family shared that:

My parents set examples for us kids, by actually setting up levels of aspirations, goals to be achieved and hard work and honesty of purpose. (UFH-2)

Another woman from a Semi-skilled family had this to say about her parents:

My parents set the pace for the family in the field of education. It was a generational thing in my family as we were expected to follow in their footsteps. (UWC-4)

These parents motivated their daughters to achieve in order to continue family traditions of success and also to pass down family wealth in terms of education. Hurd et al. (1995) saw parental encouragement and role modeling among African American families as not only validating their children’s success but also as instilling racial pride in a racist society. Similarities between the African American experiences and those of the women could be drawn as both were confronted with pressures of racism and sexism.

A woman from a Business family background stated her family’s expectations in this way:

Our parents always encouraged us to dream about the future. They always told us that education was the key to our future. (UCT-1)

Parents equipped their daughters with inspiration and encouragement that helped them to thrive in hostile environments. These women survived the Apartheid education, which had created conditions of deprivation in the schooling of Black children, including such things as shortage of textbooks and overcrowded classrooms.

Mothers seemed to have had the greatest impact on their daughters’ education. Mother wanted all kids in the family to be educated and had related her own ups and down in life as an example of the importance of education. (UFH-7)

Another respondent coming from a Migrant family said:

My parents who were poor always encouraged me to get an education especially my mother. She really suffered during the course of my education as at one time she was labeled as a bad wife by my paternal uncles who did not see any purpose in educating a woman. (UFH-8)

Table 4

Summary:
Parental role modeling and encouragement = 13
Divine intervention = 8
Formal mentoring = 8
Distant role model = 5
Peers/Friends = 5

A woman from a Business Professional family who greatly admired her mother said this:

Mother who was a nurse always knew what she wanted in life and father was always there to give advice to us wherever there was a need. (UCT-5)

Fathers were also mentioned as having been the source of inspiration for their daughters.

Father believed in me and was always positive. Since then I never looked back and dwell on misery. (UFH-4)

Children tend to internalize their parents’ aspirations and this then becomes the driving force for their academic success. They learn by observing and sharing ideas with their parents about their future. Such interaction between parents and their daughters helped the women set high standards for themselves. For example, a respondent from a Business family shared that:

I want to be one of the few professors of library and information science. The reason is obvious:

to be the role model for others as I had none. (UWC- 6)

These women want positions of power where they can influence the process of change. They wanted to fill a vacuum where there was no Black woman in a position. Two women wished to set the national trend and a respondent from a Professional family said:

I see myself promoting more doctoral students at this university. (UFH-7)

The second woman stated that:

I see myself involved in the transformation of the educational curriculum, thus improving the education system in the future South Africa. (UFH-6)

Some are setting their eyes on doing developmental-related work, transforming education, reaching out to communities and empowering them. Others talked about opening language institutes, promoting both indigenous and foreign languages that were formerly not available to Black people. A woman from a Business family said:

I hope to open a language institute in South Africa where all indigenous and foreign languages will be taught for instance a third of African countries are Francophone and we need to communicate with them frequently. (UWC- 3)

Setting up independent consulting firms is the dream of some of the women. The focus of their consultancy work is gender and women’s empowerment. Other women dream of developing and implementing multicultural curriculum to reflect the diversity in the country. A respondent from a Professional family shared her dreams this way:

I hope to focus my energies on diversity and multiculturalism in order to bring in those who had been denied access in the past. Senior managers will be my target they also need to be sensitized as they are usually assumed to be beyond training. (UFH-2)

Others talked about their commitment to teaching and research and their intentions of improving their expertise and skills in order to produce the next generation of educators. For a Junior Lecturer coming from a Semi-skilled family, her energies were to be directed in the following manner:

I hope to go back to University and finish my Ph.D. and head the department where I will promote more Black student at both master’s and doctoral level. (UCT-3)

This woman felt the need to support the new generations of students coming from disadvantaged backgrounds. It seems that the women’s experiences of hardship motivated them to create a less hostile environment for those who will be following in their footsteps.

The dreams and wishes of these women are a reflection of their past deprivation and the commitment to improving their race. In deprived communities, individual success is often perceived as tantamount to group success and the individual is often expected to contribute to the betterment of the whole (Edwards et al., 1992; Frazier, 1995). In these communities, education is perceived as a community investment as successful individuals serve to validate possibilities for future generations. Hurd et al. (1995) point out that success in African American families is associated with racial pride. African American children have to continuously prove their ability to succeed because of all the racial stereotypes associated with this group in the U.S. The experiences of African Americans in the U.S. correspond to those of Black South Africans whose success despite Apartheid debunks beliefs about their inferiority as a race. Therefore, educational success in both communities is associated with racial upliftment because of all the historical prejudices that both groups encountered. Community support therefore becomes one of the ingredients that contributes to the success and achievement of individuals from marginalized groups.

In addition to having parental encouragement and role modeling, the women in the sample also reported reliance on divine intervention as another source of strength for them while they were students. Their views are presented below.

Divine/Spiritual Intervention

Religion as a factor in women’s lives was earlier raised in the family context when the women learned religious ethics. Religion also played an important role in retaining women in school. The summary of Table 4 shows that in eight instances, the women reported a strong religious influence in their academic achievement. They reported that the strong religious beliefs they espoused helped to keep their motivation high. Furthermore, the women explained that they found sources of courage and support by participating in religious activities. For example, one of the eight women from the Professional family said:

I accepted Jesus Christ in my first year at university. I learned to devote my life to him. He has been my guiding light. (UFH-5)

To some women, guidance with their studies came from God in this way:

God showed me the way to success with my studies. I worked hard and totally devoted my life to my studies. Through the wonderful works of God here I am today in this institution as a senior faculty member. (UWC-6)

This woman’s strong religious commitment was a motivational force that pushed her to work hard and to be able to achieve in life. Another woman from a Semi-skilled family pointed out:

I joined the Student Christian Movement which sustained my believe in God. I found study pals in the movement as we all shared common goals, that is success in our academic life. (UCT-3)

As seen above, the women’s voices indicate the power of the religious ethics in motivating them to succeed. Frazier (1995) in a U.S. study noted the strong tradition of spirituality among African American families as an enabling factor, providing positive vision and affirming success. The Protestant ethics of hard work, devotion, dedication and notions of neighborliness have led to the women applying themselves to their studies in preparation for their future. For the women in the study, the biblical world they prepared themselves for was the academy they entered later as faculty members.

While religious principles propelled some women to work harder, it also enforced moral restraint on others, as exemplified by the experience of the woman below. She said:

My religious upbringing as well as my church does not encourage indulgence in worldly activities. (UWC-3)

The above woman attributed her lack of interest in distracting and non-productive extracurricular activities to her strong religious upbringing.

The women say that their religious beliefs are still as strong as they were when they were students. They strongly believe that God is the architect of their fortunes and misfortunes. These women’s experiences show how religion helps to mold the moral character of individuals growing up in religious communities. It also enforces the values of hard work and success that are seen as Christian virtues. Billingsley (1986, 1992), Hill et al. (1993), and Gregory (1995) in their studies of Black families in the U.S. have drawn a close correlation between religion and achievements in Black families.

In addition to strong religious commitment among the women and parents, role-modeling values of success teacher also played an important role in their lives. These are the teachers who had an impact in the lives of the women in the sample in various ways. Below, the women describe how their teachers influenced their success.

Formal Mentoring Teachers

Teachers were mentioned many times as the sources of inspiration for their students. These teachers created a learning and nurturing environment for the women. The teachers’ positive perceptions of their students’ abilities helped the women gain confidence and develop positive attitude towards learning. Other teachers’ perception of their students influenced their decision to be benefactors for them. As noted earlier, one respondent from a Migrant family pointed out:

My principal and vice-principal paid for my first year college education. (UFH-9)

This respondent’s teacher shows the commitment of some teachers to the education of their students. These are teachers who understood the connection between socio-economic conditions and achievements. Their intervention in this respondent’s higher education gave her an opportunity to attain higher education.

For a junior faculty whose parents were Semi-skilled, the behaviour of the teachers had the following effect on her:

My African American instructor in Counseling whose teaching style was accommodative of other viewpoints. She was always positive and had encouraged us women in class to study hard. (UWC-2)

This woman and her peers were encouraged by teachers to go on with their studies. The respondent reported that their instructor’s positive perception and reception of them helped to develop their cognitive skills and emotions. These teachers modeled possibilities of success for the women. They also validated their experiences in these institutions (Orenstein, 1994; Gregory, 1995). Furthermore, for various reasons, their students liked these teachers. For example, a respondent from a Professional family shared that:

I liked the way my instructor carried herself, her teaching style, and she had a number of publications to her name and had a warm disposition towards her students. (UWC-5)

These teachers were admired because of their exemplary behaviour, professionalism, teaching style, and warmth, and were modeling desired behaviour for their students. A woman from a Professional family who had learned new ways of looking at the world had this to say:

My teacher taught me to be a critical thinker and never take things at face value. I also learned to develop the love of and appreciation of languages. (UWC- 4)

Another woman from a Semi-skilled family shared that:

My Human Relations teacher taught me to be a good listener, appreciate divergent cultures and views. This was a phenomenal experience for me coming out of South Africa with the prejudice in the country. I learned to be a multicultural counselor in every sense of the concept. (UWC-1)

Even when these women had contact with their teachers over a short span of time, the teachers still had great influence on the women.

I have always had people I looked up to in and outside my family. I remember a graduate student teacher who taught us for a short while I was doing matric (grade 12). In the first place, she would tell us that as Blacks, we need to be educated.

Secondly, her behaviour impressed me and she was a very good teacher and good communicator. (UFH-8)

These teachers were admired because they had nurtured the independence, personal growth, and cognitive development of these women. They did so through modeling desired behaviour and by also pushing their students to achieve.

Women who had individuals to support them reported some measure of satisfaction with their curriculum, learned to be independent and came to realize where their interests were. One respondent made this comment, “I enjoyed history as a subject and now live for it as a teacher” (UFH-6). The women claimed to have benefitted in a number of ways from their teachers. For example, a former graduate of a historically Black institution stated:

My leadership qualities both academically and socially were nurtured. I topped my class and also excelled in sport. (UWC-5)

Commitment on the part of some teachers who were also faced with adverse conditions was a stimulant for their students. They viewed their experiences as empowering. The statements made by respondents from the Universities of the Western Cape and Fort Hare reflect this. Among the sampled women, there were women who neither benefitted from parental role modeling nor from the support of their teachers. Under these circumstances, peer support became a cornerstone to the women who felt completely on their own. The experiences of the women in the sample are discussed below, reflecting patterns that emerged.

Peer Support

Tinto (1987) and Cabrera et al. (1993) reported peer support and informal mentoring as one of the ingredients that fosters perseverance among college students. The support peers give each other also helps new students adapt to new environment. Table 9 shows that in five instances, peer support was reported by the women to have been important in their lives as students. These were women who in large part, had no role models. While some had role models, they still found peer support, equally important in their lives. Those respondents who did not have role models in their immediate environment further relied on their own stamina, resilience, and confidence. Additionally, they identified sources of support that sustained them throughout their educational career. A Senior Lecturer shared that:

I relied on advice from older students. I took a collection of funny courses when I did my undergraduate from Zoology to Botany and Political Science. I just wanted a variety of courses that would help me later should I decide to be a teacher. (UFH-7)

In the absence of expert advice and guidance, peer support helped the women to adjust to their academic environment. For other women, support came from friends and peers that they met in the course of their studies. Some friendships were developed individually or in group situations. For example, a senior faculty member said:

I formed study groups with some of the women I met in my Economics and English classes. We studied together, pushed each other to complete our assigned work on time. In addition we visited each other’s home during vacation. I am still in touch with twoof the women in the group. (UFH-3)

For some women, friends and acquaintances helped them manage the challenges they faced, when they combined motherhood and academic life in a foreign country. One stated that:

Combining student life and motherhood especially in a foreign country was no fun. Little extra time I had was devoted to my kids who were in school and were also learning to adjust to a foreign environment. The friendships that I developed with both my peers and other people in the college helped us to survive in a foreign country. (UFH-4)

There were women who were also sustained by friends who began college with them. A respondent from a Professional family shared her fond memories of college this way:

I enjoyed college, had good company and developed good friendship with most of the people I met in college. The classes were like family as they were small. Some of the friends have been my lifeline when I was a new faculty member at this university. (UFH-6)

Again, the role of the peers in the respondent’s academic life helped to sustain her motivation and made her college life a rewarding experience. Others were involved in residential life by enriching the learning experiences of other students. One woman from a Professional family said:

I was counseling new students and also acted as a peer counselor. Later I was appointed the resident senator. (UWC-1)

This woman served as a role model for others and also helped to create a “warm climate” for new and old students using her counseling skills. She extended herself to others because of the positive reception and perception that she received from her teachers and parents. Thus, the experiences of these women suggested that women who received positive influence from their environment developed self-confidence, resilience and sensitivity to fellow students and the plight of those less fortunate than themselves (Manzo-Kennedy, 1994; Kuh, 1995). According to Smith et al. (1995), such actions on the part of these women are an indication of a feminist mission to nurture, guide, coach and empower each other. For instance, three women in this study remember their group undertaking the following project:

We adopted a daughter of one of the women who was working as cleaner in our dormitories. We raised funds to help this woman send her daughter to a teacher training college where she graduated after three years. She is now a teacher and that was one of our greatest accomplishments as an organization. (UFH-8 and 6)

Such behaviour on the part of these women shows their commitment to the upliftment of their race. Their action could be equated to those of the women’s educational societies among educated Black women in the U.S. that dedicated themselves to achieving equity for the Black population through various community projects (Gregory, 1995). The Young Christian Women’s Movement was mentioned several times and among other things promoted “sisterhood” among the women. This organization helped women adjust to the university environment by pairing members as secret pals. The women say that friendships, which developed from such arrangements, are still cherished by them to this day. Emphasis in this organization was also on morality among the members. Religion was a strong component of this organization as meetings were opened with prayers and readings from the Bible. It is suggested that it is in instances like these that peer support becomes indispensable to women’s academic survival. Older and returning students also play a crucial role by orientating newcomers, sharing experiences with them, and helping them develop a sense of commitment to their studies. Such peer support helps women adjust to sometimes unwelcoming and hostile environments. What the respondents added to enrich their academic lives is discussed below.

Some women added recreational activities to enrich their academic lives. They mentioned aerobics classes and dance, supported a football club, and travelled to various campuses with the club. A junior faculty member from a Semi-skilled family at a Black institution remembers her experience in a predominantly White institution in this way:

There were very few Black students on campus when I started my undergraduate education. I got involved in recreational activities, for instance, I enjoyed the aerobics classes. (UWC-2)

Many historically White institutions admitted Black students without having any supportive programs in place. Feelings of isolation resulted in some of the Black students admitted early at these institutions dropping out of their programs. Sherman et al. (1994) mention several factors that predict student’s retention in colleges, and among those is the availability of strong support persons who were not available to women who attended historically White institutions.

The impact of the lack of models coupled with lack of proper advisement at some universities result in students making choices that some regret later in their lives, for example, those who wished to be entertainment artists but were channeled to areas in which they had little interest. Furthermore, Black schools had no guidance counselors and there were few diverse models to emulate in the community. This resulted in indecision on the part of some students, while others knew what they wanted to be. Merriam et al. (1987) and Sandler (1992) have highlighted the importance of mentors in motivating and retaining women in institutions of higher learning.

Though the women in the sample got financial, emotional and intellectual stimulation from some of their teachers, the general climate in institutions of higher learning is still hostile to women. The experiences of some of the women in the sample bear testimony to that statement.

Overcoming Special Obstacles

Sherman et al. (1994) contend that the ability to overcome barriers is among the predictors of students’ persistence with their education. For the women in the study, attending college meant several things. Some say that being at university was an opportunity for them to grow spiritually and intellectually, while others say it was a matter of survival. However, the women explained that the environment they were in forced them to strive to do the best work they could, despite the absence of role models in their college or in their families. An administrator at a Black institution whose parents were both professionals stated:

I have no role models nor did I have any in the past. I’ve been looking for one. I honestly dread that question of role models as the assumption is always that everyone has or had them. I can’t think of anyone. (UFH- 4)

A faculty member also from a Black university whose parents owned business stated:

I had no role model in school nor did I have proper advisement on my course of study. I wanted to be a scientist but ended up in the arts department. Fortunately, I am enjoying teaching in the arts faculty. (UFH-5)

Three women in the sample who were at Black institutions at three different times reported not having any role models. Respondents without advisors and confidantes reported less satisfaction with their curriculum, as exemplified by respondents UWC-5 and UFH-4 above.

Not only did some experience isolation as a result of lack of support, but some encountered discrimination. For example, a woman from a Business Professional family who graduated from a historically Black institution and moved to a historically White institution remembered the challenges she had to overcome:

From day one in class, both students and lecturers had certain assumptions about my intellectual abilities. The lecturers did not take into consideration my disadvantaged background and I was expected to do as good if not as best as the White students who were coming from an advantaged background. I had to double my energies and slowly earned their respect. I graduated cum laude at the end. (UCT- 1)

This woman said that racism was a fact of life in her academic career and also said that she learned to survive by working hard and overcoming the stereotypes that confronted her. She had no support from her White instructors and fellow students, and said that she has vivid memories of all the prejudices and assumptions made about them. Her experiences reflect the findings of Smith et al. (1995) who emphasized that institutional racism and gender create a de-comfort zone for Black women and other minorities in the U.S. Also Fassinger (1995) elaborates on the responsibility of the teachers to restructure classroom interaction to promote cooperation among students and be sensitive to the needs of students who might be overwhelmed by the new environment. Such efforts are helpful in retaining students, especially those from the marginalized groups.

For some of the women, university life brought back painful memories as their lives were disrupted because of their involvement in student politics. A woman who was the only girl in her family and the victim of repression at South African universities said that she remembered that time vividly, and showed no signs of bitterness when she said that:

I was banned from studying at any of the universities because of my involvement in student politics. I ended up doing my degree by correspondence with the University of South Africa. (UWC-4)

Many students, especially in Black universities, felt that education alone would not bring about change to the unjust South African society, as evidenced by the countrywide student unrest of 1976 and 1985. As a result of their active participation in student and broader community struggles, they had their academic lives disrupted for good, as in the case of UWC-4. Some students left the country to join the liberation movements, while others were banned to remote areas or imprisoned, while others were killed for their opposition to an unjust political system.

Accessing and Financeing Higher Education: Black Women in Apartheid South Africa

This paper investigated how the sampled women managed to acquire higher education, and the sources they used to fund their education to surpass the level accessible to most Black women in South Africa. Patterns that emerged as funding sources are strong parental contributions at the undergraduate level, scholarships that dominated at the graduate level, women’s own contributions, spousal benefits and combinations of other sources. It can be said that the families of these women continued to play an important role funding their education, thus alleviating economic pressures that have forced the majority of Black women to discontinue their education and be locked up in low-paying jobs.

The women’s strong belief about the value of education developed in their families has enabled those who dropped out before completing their degrees to come back and finish them. It has also encouraged the majority to continue with their education and attain terminal degrees, which have enabled them to secure high-ranking positions within the South African education system. Therefore, socio-economic pressures play an important role in opening and limiting educational opportunities for students from impoverished families. Several other studies have identified economic pressures as the damper in Black women’s ability to acquire higher education (Boyd, 1974; Gregory, 1995; Yamatoni et al., 1995).

The lack of these funding sources for students coming from impoverished households and families creates psychological tensions which later impact on their academic performance. Poor performance then limits their chances for merit scholarships as well as their success in academe. In this study, the availability of funding was important, for it is the key to determining access to institutions of higher learning in addition to good grades. What these findings reveal is that if opportunities are to be increased for students from historically marginalized groups, more money should be poured into their education.

The experiences of the women have also shown that if limited forms of support are not available, and there is absence of critical others in terms of mentors, supportive peers, and faculty of the same racial and gender background, very few women will persevere with their education. Few women will be available to nurture future generations in academia. The education of women is a social capital as it gets redistributed in the community. For example, the students who had mentors either at home or school and were enjoying their education took it upon themselves to create a nurturing environment for others and those who came after them. Others from the University of Fort Hare funded the education of an employee’s daughter. Their altruism supported the findings of Smith et al. (1995) who stated that student altruism is influenced by positive environmental factors in both their academic and social lives.

Furthermore, these women have engaged in feminist work by nurturing, coaching each other and empowering the marginalized in institutions of higher learning and in their communities. Thus, the more there are educated women, the more the benefits for families and communities because of backward linkages women continue to value. One of the many ways that the backward linkages have operated in the past is demonstrated by Howard et al. (1994) and Gregory (1995), who have documented the active participation of African-American women in community upliftment programs before and after slavery. Their achievement was not only theirs but for the upliftment of their race as some mobilized communities for political empowerment. In addition, Bright et al. (1994), Gregory (1995), and Howard et al. (1995) have highlighted in their studies the value of educating women for the institutions of higher learning and the communities at large. Therefore, the education of women should be a priority in post-Apartheid South Africa.

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Copyright 2001 Africa Resource Center, Inc.

Citation Format

Makosana, Nokuzola Zola (2001). ACCESSING HIGHER EDUCATION IN APARTHEID SOUTH AFRICA: A GENDER PERSPECTIVE. Jenda: A Journal of Culture and African Women Studies: 1, 1.