Non-traditional students: perceptions of problems which influence academic success

Abstract

A research project which attempts to ascertain student perceptions of the problems they perceive as influences on their chances of academic success at a South African University is described. A questionnaire was used to measure the nature, strength, generality and persistence of perceived problems, as well as to illuminate the qualitative dimension of student perceptions of reasons for their experiencing such problems. The sample of students came from a group of non-traditional (black African, English second-language speakers) students at a University which has traditionally catered for a largely middle-class, white and English home-language speaking student intake. The results of the research project are described within the broader South African context and within the context of an Academic Support Programme which has been designed to assist non-traditional students in a particular University context. The results of the research project are also compared with the results of a similar study which was conducted at the University of Zambia in 1984.