ABSTRACT
Using critical realism as an analytical paradigm and borrowing insights from decoloniality, this chapter reports on a study carried out at a comprehensive South African university to establish students’ experiences of the transition from extended to mainstream diploma programmes. Necessitated by several factors, some of which are a result of the legacy of apartheid, extended diplomas are undertaken by students who complete their studies in four, instead of three, years. The participants were drawn from students studying extended diploma programmes in engineering, management and humanities at three campuses of the university in 2016. A qualitative approach employing focus group interviews was used to gather data. The results of the study showed that a combination of different forms of collective and individual agency influence the students’ transition to mainstream programmes. While some of the influences were positive, others were negative. The need for both individual and collective agency to be consistently relied on by the students to mediate a seamless transition is an inescapable imperative. Amongst other recommendations, the chapter suggests decolonisation and transformation of the institutional structures responsible for the students’ academic navigation of the first mainstream year.
