Exploring the lived experiences of African immigrant students at tertiary institutions in the Gauteng region

Abstract

Historically, the trends in literature have focused on educational migration from the less developed global South to the more developed global North and not migration within the global South. To add a voice to the growing South-to-South migration patterns, this qualitative study aimed to explore African immigrant tertiary students’ socio-cultural and academic experiences within the Gauteng region in South Africa. The study was located within a phenomenological theoretical framework and used semi-structured interviews to explore the lived experienced of four participants. The data was analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), where four super-ordinate themes were identified. These included 1). The initial experiences of South Africa as an immigrant student, 2). Experiences relating to language use 3). ‘Us’ and ‘them’ in the university experience, and 4). The learning experiences of African immigrant students. The implications of the findings for African immigrant students and recommendations for future research conclude the study.