Untold Micro-Level Factors That Hinder the Pursuit of Higher Education by Ethnic Minority Students: A Study of Chewa Communities in Zimbabwe

Abstract

Purpose: This study focused on micro level factors that hinder the pursuit of higher education for its praiseworthy. The focus was on students from 3Chewa ethnic minority communities located in commercial farms in Zimbabwe. Design: A phenomenological research philosophy and a constructivist research approach guided this qualitative study. Interviews, focus groups and in situ observations were used to collect data from 24 participants. Thematic procedures were used to analyse the data. Findings: Results show that 83% of students in the research sites were not pursuing higher education. These students were employed as unskilled labourers in their respective host commercial farms. The problem was rooted in the ethnic communities‟ historical background of non-participation in higher education. The other key findings are disengaged parents, peer pressure, lack of role models and availability of farm employment in contrast to the souring graduate unemployment in Zimbabwe. This study offers three policy recommendations that could be used to address the problem. Originality: The use of the cultural-perception framework is a paradigm shift from the „race and colour divide‟ lenses that are traditionally used to investigate inequality in higher education. The formulated framework provided a fresh angle for identifying barriers that are camouflaged in contextual vulnerabilities that are rooted in historical foundations of immigrant ethnic groups.