ABSTRACT
Academic study, as described by the research participants, involves personal struggles not least because of demanding workloads, having to accept 'gaps in knowledge' and because of having to 'prove' oneself. 'Academic apathy', as mentioned by some of the participants, covers a range of issues, such as students not attending lectures or attending but not contributing to class discussions, occupying themselves instead with their iPads. The concept of 'Eurocentrism' raised in the narratives has gained popularity throughout universities with the spread of relativist approaches to ethnic attainment research which build on the idea of multiple 'realities' and 'truths'. Whether students received academic support or not depended, according to some research participants, largely on the willingness of the lecturer to provide academic support and on how well students got on with the lecturers. Teaching-related experiences recounted by the research participants varied considerably, and, just as with academic support, each research participant related both positive and negative experiences in relation to teaching.
