Student accounts of space and safety at a South African university: implications for social identities and diversity

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dc.contributor.authorShefer, Tamara
dc.contributor.authorStrebel, Anna
dc.contributor.authorNgabaza, Sisa
dc.contributor.authorClowes, Lindsay
dc.date.accessioned24/02/2018 15:45
dc.date.available24/02/2018 15:45
dc.date.issued2018
dc.description.abstractTransformation efforts in South African higher education have been under increased scrutiny in recent years, especially following the last years of student activism and calls for decolonization of universities. This article presents data from a participatory photovoice study in which a group of students reflect on their experiences of feeling safe and unsafe at an urban-based historically disadvantaged university. Findings highlight the way in which historical inequalities on the basis of social identities of race, class, and gender, among others, continue to shape experiences, both materially and social-psychologically, in South African higher education. However, and of particular relevance in thinking about a socially just university, participants speak about the value of diversity in facilitating their sense of both material and subjective safety. Thus, a diverse classroom and one that acknowledges and recognizes students across diversities, is experienced as a space of comfort, belonging and safety. Drawing on feminist work on social justice, we argue the importance of lecturer sensitivity and reflexivity to their own practices, as well as the value of social justice pedagogies that not only focus on issues of diversity and equality but also destabilize dominant forms of didactic pedagogy, and engage students� diverse experiences and perceptions.en_US
dc.identifier.citationShefer, T. et al. (2018). Student accounts of space and safety at a South African university: implication for social identities and diversity. South African Journal of Psychology, 41(1): 61 � 72en_US
dc.identifier.issn0081-2463
dc.identifier.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0081246317701887
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10566/3528
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.privacy.showsubmitterFALSE
dc.publisherSAGE Publicationsen_US
dc.rightsThis is the author-version of the article published online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0081246317701887
dc.status.ispeerreviewedTRUE
dc.subjectDiversityen_US
dc.subjectHigher educationen_US
dc.subjectPhotovoice researchen_US
dc.subjectWell-being
dc.subjectSafetyen_US
dc.subjectSocial identityen_US
dc.subjectStudent experience
dc.subjectStudentsen_US
dc.titleStudent accounts of space and safety at a South African university: implications for social identities and diversityen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US

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