38: Academic Mentorship in Higher Education

The Academic Citizen

In 2016 the Department of Higher Education released a report which stated that almost half (47.9%) of the students who start university do not finish their degrees and a large majority of these are black. Dr Nosipho Mngomezulu took time to discuss these statistics with Leila Abdool Gafoor, the Team Leader for Psychological Services at PsyCaD at University of Johannesburg to interrogate why this is so and why particularly students from historically disadvantaged background make up the majority of the dropouts. Dr Mngomezulu also looks into how universities through mentorship can support students in graduate programmes who come with little understanding of the complex landscape of higher education and how different philosophies in graduate programs drive expectations for academic excellence and ideal career pathways. Produced, scheduled, edited and researched by: Simbarashe Honde