BLACK UNIVERSITY-STUDENTS IN SOUTH-AFRICA - THE INFLUENCE OF SOCIOCULTURAL FACTORS ON STUDY AND PERFORMANCE

Ethnographic research was undertaken to determine which, and how, soci ocultural factors influence the academic performance of black students at a distance-education university in South Africa. A contextual and individualistic-holistic approach to case studies was applied. Perform ance was found to be related to various sociocultural and other factor s that included: inadequate preparation for schooling, poor conditions and teaching in schools, unfamiliarity with the university's culture of learning, inefficient learning styles, problems with the organizati on of study and the use of available study time, language difficulties , economic, and physical environmental factors. Underlying these inter linked factors are the politics of apartheid and black cultural ideas and way of life.