South African University Campus Research Articles

Psychosocial Correlates of Smoking Behaviour Among Students at a Historically Black University

This study examined the influence of family structure and functioning on the smoking behavior of students attending a historically Black university. Participants were 316 students (average age = 21.2 years) at a South African university campus. They completed a smoking behavior survey. The data analyses revealed that family structure and functioning, and parental smoking predicted the students' smoking status. Family context contributes to smoking behavior among young college going adults. Additionally, being male and older age increased the odds of smoking.

Patterns of alcohol use on a South African university campus: the findings of two annual drinking surveys

While alcohol continues to be abused on university campuses around the world, the precise situation on South African campuses is unknown. This paper attempts to address this gap by reporting the results of two annual surveys of alcohol consumption amongst students at Rhodes University, the smallest tertiary institution in South Africa, with an annual intake of approximately 6000 students. The results of a survey using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) suggests that alcohol consumption amongst these students is a public health concern, and likely to result in serious medical and social consequences. KEYWORDS: Alcohol use, binge drinking, South Africa, university students, AUDIT

Producing Homonormativity in Neoliberal South Africa: Recognition, Redistribution, and the Equality Project

Producing Homonormativity in Neoliberal South Africa: Recognition, Redistribution, and the Equality Project

English, language shift and identities: a comparison between 'Zulu-dominant' and 'multicultural' students on a South African university campus

Within the discussion around potential language shift from indigenous languages to English, the article focusses on the impact of English on language use and identities of Zulu students on the Howard College campus of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban. I move beyond macro explanations and thematise the investigation of language shift as the 'study of a people's conceptions of themselves in relation to one another and to their changing social world, and of how these conceptions are encoded by and mediated through language' (Kulick, 1992: 9). I contrast the views of 'multicultural' students, who have received their education in so-called multicultural schools, and 'Zulu-dominant' students, educated in township or rural schools. By means of interviews and focus groups, I explore student perceptions of the roles of English and isiZulu, the effects of English on isiZulu, identity perceptions in this context dominated by English, and student views about their implication in potential language shift. 'Multicultural' students still claim a Zulu identity, but an increasingly 'modernized' identity that is beginning to accommodate considerable use of English. 'Zulu-dominant' students reject 'modernizing' as a shift away from 'true' isiZulu, a variety which is increasingly distant to Zulus in higher education.

Gender aspects of the use of English on a South African university campus

Abstract: This paper seeks an explanation for the current tendency of female students at the University of KwaZulu‐Natal, Durban, South Africa, to select English rather than their L1, isiZulu, for social interactions with Zulu peers. I draw on Labov’s (2001) findings on the prominent role of women in language change, recent work on language shift and changing conceptualizations of gender. I take as given macro factors and instead explore gendered self‐perceptions which might predispose speakers to select one language over the other. I draw on qualitative perception and attitudinal data collected by myself and Zulu research assistants, by means of interviews and focus groups. After discussing labels commonly used, in several languages, for men and women on campus, I consider interactional goals which may be underlying the choice of English: the desire to express politeness and respect, to embody ‘campus style’, to negotiate changing relations with parents, and finally, to negotiate equitable relationships with male students on campus. I conclude that this instance of growing use of English is linked to continued gender inequity in South Africa, and does not necessarily imply impending language shift.

Coming out on a South African university campus: Adaptations of gay men and lesbians

Abstract Despite Africa's sordid view that same-sex behavior is a “social syphilis,” gay and lesbian students at Stellenbosch University in South Africa are developing networks of support and becoming visible both on and off campus. This exploratory study examines the opinions and beliefs of 20 gay and lesbian students (one student identified as bisexual) and the relationship between their social support networks, their involvement in a gay and lesbian Society at Stellenbosch University, and their experiences and interactions with others in college and their community. Findings reveal that some gay and lesbian students remain silent about their sexual orientation due to hostile campus environments and fear of discrimination and victimization. This article concludes with a brief discussion of Afrikaner nationalism vis-a-vis the gay and lesbian community in Stellenbosch.