Student well-being has gradually become a topic of interest in higher education, and the accurate, valid, and reliable measure of well-being constructs is crucial in the South African context. This study examined item bias and configural, metric and scalar invariance of the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) for South African first-year…

Medical students' transition from high school to university can lead to academic and social challenges, disconnection from university life, and possible drop out. Hence, some medical education institutions use remediation programmes to address these transition challenges. This study used a social learning and integration theory to identify factors…

University students were regarded as a vulnerable population as they not only had to endure significant levels of mental health problems and financial distress, but also academic challenges in the transition to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hence, the tumultuous nature of the pandemic and consequent sheltering as well as other…

This qualitative study explored the benefits of peer group support for first-year South African students who live in university residences. A case study design was adopted and data were collected from first-year students via focus group interviews at a selected South African university. Thematic analysis revealed the benefits for first-year…

Research on student support in the global North indicates possible benefits of life coaching interventions in improving students' persistence and well-being. There is emerging research on life coaching interventions and their potential benefits in the South African higher education context, but empirical evidence is scarce. We report results from…

Student counselling centres are struggling to meet the demand for mental health services, which has intensified in recent years. This challenge calls for innovative ways to address the mental health needs of students. During the COVID-19 pandemic the peer helpers at Emthonjeni Student Wellness at Nelson Mandela University facilitated innovative…

The closure of universities as a response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic affects all students and has a far-reaching economic and psychosocial impact, especially for those students who come from marginalized and impoverished contexts. International research reports that students have struggled to cope with learning under unprecedented…

This article reports on a qualitative study that explored self-care practices among first-year students in managing stressors related to the first-year experience in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Qualitative data were collected using a purposive sample between March and June 2022. A total of 26 first-year students registered at a…

In South Africa, many students enter university without the skills required for success in higher education. Extended curriculum programmes (ECP) were developed to provide students who showed potential but were underprepared with the necessary foundations to achieve success in higher education. Student support services are essential to student…

Universities in South Africa have the potential to advance various dimensions of human development, including well-being. However, this potential can be constrained by historical processes of oppression and the negation of indigenous ways of being and doing. Applying the capabilities approach (Sen, 1999) as a normative framework for the outcomes…

Graduate transitions and pathways do not naturally involve moving smoothly or sequentially from education into the world of work. Instead university graduates move through employment, entrepreneurship, unemployment and continued further education as they generate livelihoods. For African universities to be student-centred, with a focus on student…

This article presents a collection of narrative examples on how a cohort of African graduates, who are beneficiaries of a scholarship from a global foundation, understand and practice giving back. The scholarship programme aims to cultivate and support a network of like-minded young leaders who are committed to giving back by providing training…

Technology is key to making education systems more resilient to disruptions. In the South African higher education sector, technology will continue to play a much larger role than the years preceding the COVID-19 pandemic. Technology, however, cannot replace the value gained through social contact and concerns about relational disengagement in…

Student affairs practitioners and researchers are well positioned to contribute holistically to student success and as such could play a strategic role in the transformation of higher education. The aim of this article is to illustrate that a key strategic objective of student affairs is to contribute significantly towards student success. This…

This reflective article focuses on the Chemical Engineering Students Association (CESA) at a South African university, which was established as a voluntary student organisation to alleviate the problems of student isolation and inadequate orientation programmes by promoting student-centredness and development. The article aims to examine CESA's…