abstract: 'Disruptions create both new opportunities and challenges in higher

  education. In settled times, education systems plod along with an

  assumed and uncritical acceptance of normalcy of the status-quo. When

  the status quo is disrupted, suddenly the patched-up cracks reveal the

  depth and magnitude of the simmering problems of the sector in graphic

  ways.Access and success are arguably the two most poignant indicators of

  the performance of higher education systems. In post-colonial societies

  such as South Africa, access is used to estimate progress in broadening

  participation in higher education, particularly to young people from

  previously disadvantaged communities. Access has two broad meanings:

  increased enrolments and enhanced epistemological impact. Success, on

  the other hand is measured variously but mainly through graduation and

  progression rates across different socio-economic higher education

  students groups and also on the quality of their performances.In this

  article we provide a theoretical discussion of the notions of

  disruptions and their impact in higher education; examine the questions

  of access and success in higher education; and conclude that the chasm

  lying between access by participation and access by success requires

  substantial transformation of a knowledge system that is alien to the

  cultural context of the country; rebalancing and recalibrating the

  broader ideological environment that privileges liberalism while paying

  token attention to social justice and inclusion beyond mere symbolism;

  and a persistent refocusing on emancipatory pedagogies, designed to

  liberate rather than subjugate graduates into pigeon holed choices in

  the labour market which are designed to serve the needs of owners of

  capital as the primary motive of employment.We conclude by identifying

  critical factors that appear to lead to a failure by universities to

  bridge the gap between access by participation and access by success or

  epistemological access.Most of these tend to be structurally embedded in

  the fabric of higher education institutions and the sector and include,

  a persistent coloniality of the sector, disjuncture between the intended

  ideological framework guiding national development and the operating

  economic models and institutional inertia to move beyond the canonical

  bases of higher education based on western epistemes.'
affiliation: 'Maringe, F (Corresponding Author), Univ Witwatersrand, Leadership \&
  Policy Studies, Johannesburg, South Africa.

  Maringe, F., Univ Witwatersrand, Leadership \& Policy Studies, Johannesburg, South
  Africa.

  Chiramba, O., Univ Johannesburg, Fac Educ, Johannesburg, South Africa.'
author: Maringe, F. and Chiramba, O.
author_list:
- family: Maringe
  given: F.
- family: Chiramba
  given: O.
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.20853/36-4-5382
eissn: 1753-5913
files: []
issn: 1011-3487
journal: SOUTH AFRICAN JOURNAL OF HIGHER EDUCATION
keywords: 'access in higher education; COVID-19 pandemic; disruptions; higher

  education; success in higher education; teaching and learning;

  transformation'
language: English
number: '4'
number-of-cited-references: '29'
pages: 6-20
papis_id: 4d99b772fc432031496ef65cb8ffd222
ref: Maringe2022disruptionshigher
times-cited: '0'
title: 'DISRUPTIONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION: MITIGATING ISSUES OF ACCESS AND SUCCESS IN
  THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC'
type: Article
unique-id: WOS:000860555400002
usage-count-last-180-days: '0'
usage-count-since-2013: '1'
volume: '36'
web-of-science-categories: Education \& Educational Research
year: '2022'