Enhancing Student Support in Higher Education in Southern Africa: Exploring Strategies, Innovations and Challenges

Arguing for a holistic approach to student support, this book explores how to better serve students in African settings through the services and programmes offered at universities, providing empirical studies, case studies and theoretical explorations from four Southern African countries.

Acknowledging the ultimate role of student support services in improving and enhancing the overall student experience, the book includes voices and perspectives of lecturers, students and support staff to gain an on-the-ground understanding of challenges faced. Chapters cover a wealth of themes related to student support and services, such as accommodation and student life, sexual and gender-based violence support services and ICT services, and explore educational settings in Zimbabwe, Malawi, South Africa and Eswatini. The book explores areas for growth and the need for multi-level engagement and responsibility in higher education, where the obligation of curating an inclusive and conducive learning environment is shared amongst all key stakeholders. By shining a spotlight on African approaches and innovations, the book contributes underrepresented viewpoints to the established field of global higher education discourse.

The book will be of interest to scholars, researchers and postgraduate students in the fields of higher education, student affairs practice and higher education administration, as well as African studies. The book will provide useful insights more broadly for international scholars in the global south interested in student support and services in resource-constrained settings.