The Black African female student fighting for survival: Gendered and cultural challenges of online learning

Abstract

abstract With the onset of the pandemic, online learning has become the default means of education from primary school to tertiary level. In the quest for the education system to continue, a swift transition to online learning was made and both students and educators were left scrambling. Through my lecturing experience I witnessed ways in which online learning has been a crippling experience for many students, leaving them to face a host of challenges. Not only are they dealing with trying to piece together some kind of educational experience, but many students’ lives have been severely impacted by socio-economic factors. Household responsibilities and chores, which mostly fall on the shoulders of Black African female learners, have a severe impact on their ability to participate in the online learning space. Many students living in remote rural areas are unable to access the internet due to limited network connectivity. Several students are also learning from home in conditions that are not conducive to online learning, such as cramped living conditions with no access to proper water and sanitation. Online education gives the illusion of inclusivity, but it truly is an exclusive experience that can only be afforded by the rich. This paper takes the form of an educator’s reflective perspective on online learning at a university in South Africa, and particularly focuses on the Black African female educators’ and the Black African female students’ experiences.