Francophone transnational students, social exclusion and the challenges of adaptation at a South African University of Technology

Abstract

This article emerges out of qualitative data gleaned through semi-structured interviews with fifteen Gabonese and Congolese students at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) in Cape Town. It draws on theoretical conceptions such as transnationalism, social exclusion and migrant adaptation, to interrogate the social experiences of francophone students and their tactics for dealing with exclusionary practices from peers and staff. Using selected excerpts from the data, this article attempts to analyse characteristics of transnational student life, patterns of social exclusion and the challenges of adaptation experienced by the francophone community in this teaching and learning space. Against this backdrop, the article seeks to make sense of their learning experiences and the implications for the broader challenges of studying in a post-apartheid higher education institution.