Adjusting to a foreign culture with its own set of values is never easy. Master’s student in Educational Sociology, ‘Mannini Kotele, has prompted Basotho students to open up about their lived experiences of mentally adjusting to the institutional culture at Stellenbosch University (SU). Kotele has completed her master’s thesis with specific focus on how the students adjust to SU’s culture.
Institutional culture refers to how values, beliefs on ways of being and social practices have an effect on social categories such as class, gender and race. This podcast explores the findings from Kotele’s master’s study. It also provides accounts of lived experiences from Timeletso Raphoolo, former Lesotho Students’ Association chairperson, and Thabelang Lephaila, a first year student in Financial Mathematics.