The South African government broadened participation in its higher education since 1995 as a way of meeting the transformation imperatives of promoting economic growth and reducing inequality. Diversities became multiple, varied and complex with increased enrolments in higher education. The main challenge is the shift of student identity from the ‘traditional university student’ to predominantly the first-generation student, that is, first in their families to enter tertiary education. Enrolment into universities doubled from 500 000 in 1994 to 1 138 011 students in 2021 [Council on Higher Education (CHE), 2023]. Most of the students enrolled at the universities (71%) are first-generation students who struggle to complete their studies, with African¹ students constituting the majority (76%) of the first-generation students (Mgqwashu, 2023, np). Cohort studies reveal that African students underperform compared to their White counterparts. African students had the lowest achievements with a graduation rate of 20.8% compared to the White 28.3% in 2021 [Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), 2024]. These statistics suggest that African students, who are mostly the first-generation students, experience some barriers that prevent them from succeeding. A complexity of factors such as failure to cope with university education, underpreparedness, inadequate finances, inability to use English as the language of instruction, lack of confidence, mental health problems, and lack of a sense of belonging to the university environment prevent first- generation students from completing their studies (Kelly-Laubscher et al., 2018). While most of the literature and interventions target the challenges the first-generation students face, the persistence of low and skewed outcomes suggest the need to employ alternative approaches to understand student needs and improve student success. This study explored the strengths that the first-generation students display to succeed at South African universities in a context of systemic challenges in the South African higher education sector.

A higher success rate of first-generation students in South African higher education is essential to meet the country’s human capital needs for economic growth. Although access into higher education has doubled since 1994, representation of the African students from the country’s population in public universities is still low (21.4%) contrasted to White (48%) students in 2021 [Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), 2024]. The overall proportion of people with a degree in South Africa is lower (14,9%) compared to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries that average 45%, Brazil (22,7%) and Mexico (25.3%), for the age groups 25–34 year in 2020, pointing to the need for the country to increase access [Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), 2024]. Even after enrolling at universities, systemic challenges have contributed to low attainments amongst the students especially first-generation students. External factors of the university that prevent some students from graduating include under-preparedness due to poor schooling, poor socio-economic background, and inadequate information about choice of degree and careers (Khuluvhe et al., 2021; Gore, 2021). After enrolment, first-generation students experience challenges such as the difficulty of adjusting to the unfamiliar university environment, dissatisfaction with the institution, loneliness, inadequate finances for living expenses and transport to and from the campuses, and unconducive accommodation (Ruswa and Gore, 2022). Factors related to the teaching and learning domain including failure to understand content because of the language of instruction and the ‘articulation gap’, that is the mismatch between the academic expectations by universities and the actual skills students bring from schooling associated with inequality in the schooling system (Scott, 2017, p. 37–39). Black first-generation students living far away from the campus experience an intersectionality of multiple vulnerabilities in their daily lives which limit their time spent on studies (Gore and Walker, 2020; Wilson-Strydom et al., 2016).

Universities in South Africa have designed and implemented interventions such as foundational and bridging programmes, student support programmes such as academic mentorship, peer mentoring, academic literacy and reading programmes. However, these interventions have not had the desired result: first-generation students continue to underperform. Low success among first-generation students not only wastes the country’s resources, but also counteracts the country’s efforts to reduce inequality and advance social justice, especially on the opportunities students would have lost and intellectual potential from these individuals (Scott, 2018; van Zyl et al., 2020). It is critical for historically marginalised and first-generation students to obtain a degree so they can access employment and increase their chances of social mobility. University graduates have higher chances of obtaining employment compared to those without a degree. In 2025 unemployment was lowest among the university graduates (23.9%) against those with only secondary school qualifications (47.6%) and those with only primary school qualifications (51.6%) (Statistics South Africa, 2025). This emphasises the importance of improving the success rate of first-generation students in South African universities.

The contribution of the study is the contextualisation of Yosso’s cultural capital theory (Yosso, 2005) in the geographical context of South Africa, which has a history of disadvantage and high inequality. The study demonstrated that first-generation students in South African universities have a wealth of resources that enabled them to persist in their studies, challenging the deficit view. These strengths are “Belonging to social groups,” “Aspirations,” “Adaptability,” “Perseverance,” “Motivation and hardworking,” “Self-discipline,” and “Resourcefulness.” While “Belonging to social groups,” “Aspirations,” “Adaptability,” and “Perseverance,” align with Yosso’s (2005) social, aspirational, navigational, and resistance capital, what emerged as new from the current study, which is also its contribution, is “Motivation and hardworking” “Self-discipline” and “Resourcefulness.”

Worldwide, first-generation students are marginalised as lacking the cultural, academic and prerequisite skills to manage university education and, therefore, as requiring remedial support. The dominant view is that first-generation students who are ethnic minorities in the USA generally spend only a short time at university and never graduate because they lack aspirations (Carlton, 2025; Kamalumpundi et al., 2024; Spiegler and Bednarek, 2013). Yet inadequate finances, discrimination based on race and ethnicity, and underpreparedness, lack of mentorship, negative role models, fear of debt to fund their university education are problems more prevalent to first-generation students than the traditional ones who experience financial and academic-related stress (Carlton, 2025; Kamalumpundi et al., 2024). Similar perceptions inform Australian literature where first-generation students, mainly indigenous Aboriginal students, referred to students from low socio-economic status (SES), are pathologised. It seems that although there has been an increase enrolment in Australia, first-generation indigenous Aboriginal students are still viewed through deficit theory lenses. They are regarded as a “problem” and are associated with low entry points, poor performance and failure (O'Shea et al., 2016, p. 348). While these students have similar aspirations to those from high SES, low SES are seen as not belonging at university and pathologised as lacking aspirations compared to the traditional students (Gore et al., 2017; Patfield et al., 2021). The mainstream literature in Latin America shows that first-generation students are at high risk of not completing their studies because of not having the cultural, social and economic capital needed for them to succeed in universities (Jarpa-Arriagada and Rodriguez-Garces, 2017; López-Cárdenas et al., 2018; Fernandes, 2019; Webb, 2019). In Chile, for example, higher education is influenced by the neo-liberal policies where the government has reduced funding and opened the market, resulting in the increase of private and commercialised universities. As they anticipate social mobility, most first-generation students in Chile complete their schooling under-prepared for university education and enroll in private universities (Flanagan Borquez, 2017). These students have limited choices about the university and degree programmes to enroll because they rely on the family capital that gives them inadequate guidance, often too late when students complete their secondary schooling (Guzmán-Valenzuela et al., 2022). Additionally, lack of finances, being alienated by the university environment, long distance to campus, stress because of not belonging to the university, and balancing academic responsibilities and paid jobs are some of the barriers to students completing their studies (Flanagan Borquez, 2017; Flanagan Borquez and Soriano-Soriano, 2024). Similarly, South African literature tends to view low SES students through a deficit lens. They are seen as having internal and external shortcomings ranging from cognitive, motivational, cultural, linguistic to familial deficits (Pym and Kapp, 2013; Smit, 2012).

In their attempts to address the low achievement rate, universities could have inadvertently taken the deficit approach and thus contributed to the ineffectiveness of interventions. Embedded within the deficit approach is the view that underperforming students are intrinsically deficient. Bourdieu’s Capital Theory (Bourdieu, 1986) postulates that low-income students, who are mostly the first-generation students, lack the economic, cultural and social capital essential for them to succeed in universities. The theory sees lacking the appropriate economic, cultural and social capital and the underperformance of the low socio-economic and first-generation students as reproducing inequality in universities and contributing little to social mobility of the students. It is clear from the theory that the students’ low socio-economic background is regarded as a deficiency that prevents them from succeeding as the students do not benefit from their families and backgrounds (Bourdieu, 1986). This ignores the various resources and strengths that these students bring to the university. Moreover, universities that use the deficiency approach blame first-generation students for poor performance, seeing them as having problems that need to be “fixed” (Smit, 2012, p. 370). It seems that universities fail to recognise that the reason for first-generation students’ underperformance may lie, at least in part, with their underpreparedness to accommodate diverse students (Gore and Walker, 2020).

Some of the remedial actions used are counterproductive. For example, students described as underprepared are separated from the mainstream classes and placed in bridging or extended degree programmes which stigmatise them (Calitz, 2018). The result is that the first-generation students are often alienated or disengaged and thus underachieve (McKay and Devlin, 2016). It is also important to recognise that first-generation students are offered a “one size fits all” programme in the bridging and extended degree programmes, as opposed to programmes that take account of their diversity, their access to resources and the systemic challenges they encounter (Mathebula, 2019). Additionally, the deficit approach encourages a negative view of first-generation students, stereotyping them as being lazy and lacking motivation and appropriate culture and socialisation skills. This is counterproductive because it pessimistically implies that first-generation students cannot overcome disadvantage (O'Shea et al., 2016). Equally relevant is that because of the lower expectations of lecturers, inadequate effort is put into assisting first-generation students, which contributes to the perpetuation of inequality and disadvantage.

South African universities need to recognise that first-generation students come to universities with some resources and strengths that can be leveraged to raise their success. The Australian literature reveals that female Aboriginal students succeed because of their persistence within the broader goals they want to achieve, their ability to solve daily problems such as balancing parenting responsibilities and academic life, their confidence in seeking assistance, and their ability to create support network with other women of the same group (Uink et al., 2021). The Australian literature also shows that students from low SES were able to learn independently, were agentic as they proactively sought assistance from their lecturers and were able to manage their time (Macaulay et al., 2023; McKay and Devlin, 2016). Despite the cumulative disadvantages, a complex set of factors enables first-generation students to persist in universities in Latin America. Studies by Flanagan Borquez (2017) and Flanagan Borquez and Soriano-Soriano (2024) report that first-generation students in Chile benefit from familial capital as their families encouraged and supported them emotionally to persist in their studies, helped secure bursaries and technological devices, and created study spaces in the small living spaces they had. Through a practice of “Amalia,” families of these students made sacrifices by going beyond their means to pay for accommodation and living expenses, even in a different town, which might result in debt (Flanagan Borquez and Soriano-Soriano, 2024, 07). First-generation students activated their social capital by feeling at home in the university’s spaces, managing their emotions in the stressful university environment, creating bonds with friends, and seeking help through mentorship, tutorial and study groups (Linne, 2018; Flanagan Borquez and Soriano-Soriano, 2024). These students developed cultural capital by learning the language, expectations, strategies for success, being confident and persistent in their studies (Flanagan Borquez and Soriano-Soriano, 2024). Another study by Linne (2018) reveals that first-generation students developed coping mechanisms such as being part of groups, help-seeking behavior through seeking tutorial services, and participating in an organisation at the university. Despite them working long hours to finance their studies, first-generation students doubled their efforts to catch up and understand the content, and developed new habits to improve their performance, which highlights the adaptive and resilience capitals (Webb, 2019).

Similarly, some studies in South Africa have revealed that hardships associated with their poor socio-economic backgrounds, have allowed first-generation students to develop coping mechanisms, which they can use to their advantage when navigating the university system (Mkhize, 2024; Naudé and Breshears, 2024; Ndofirepi et al., 2023). Their previous experience of overcoming challenges such as lack of finances, being responsible of household and failure during their schooling have made these students resilient and able to persevere (Mkhize, 2024; Motsabi et al., 2020). The need to support their families, social mobility through ending intergenerational poverty, and the pressure from their families and communities to attain a degree were factors that motivated and build resilience among the first-generation students (Alcock and Belluigi, 2018; Naudé and Breshears, 2024; Ndofirepi et al., 2023). In addition to managing multiple responsibilities and even take leadership roles these students demonstrate agency through being motivated, hardworking, and being able to make strategic decisions in their academic lives (Alcock and Belluigi, 2018; Kapp et al., 2014). This suggests that first-generation students have some valuable strengths and resources that universities should fully recognise rather than view these students through deficit lenses despite the intersecting challenges they face.

With a low academic outcomes, South African universities are concerned with finding ways of how to support the first-generation students to persist. While persistence refers to students’ ability to complete their degree programmes; motivation, having self-efficacy, sense of belonging, and a positive perception of the value of the curriculum are essential for their success (Tinto, 2017). Tinto (2017) observes that although self-efficacy is essential for students to complete their studies, first-generation students lack the belief and confidence that they will succeed. To develop self-efficacy and confidence, universities should encourage the students to participate in the university’s peer support programmes, confidence-building programmes such as leadership programmes, and social events that give students the opportunity to develop social networks. As most first-generation students are alienated by the institutional cultures especially in the historically white universities in South Africa, creating friendly environments and activities that foster shared academic and social experiences and pedagogical practices that engage students is key for the persistence of the students (Tinto, 2017).

The above literature has revealed that first-generation students are regarded as lacking the required attributes and capitals that universities require because of the low socio-economic backgrounds. Only a limited amount of literature has focused on the strengths that the first-generation students bring into the universities from their backgrounds, which contributes to their success.

Labelling and ‘othering’ students masks the competence that disadvantaged, first-generation students have. Universities do not take full account of their competence when designing interventions to help address the challenges these students face. They also tend to have a single way of approaching learning and teaching that places traditional students at the centre and non-traditional students at the periphery (O'Shea et al., 2016). One way of creating a conducive environment for the first-generation students in South African higher education would be through decolonising² teaching methods, pedagogy and university spaces (Mbembe, 2016; Ndlovu-Gatsheni, 2020). Recognising alternative knowledges, which resonate with the lives of the first-generation students, as opposed to the dominant Eurocentric knowledge, could facilitate a move away from deficit thinking in South African higher education.

University lecturers, researchers and university management do not pay adequate attention to the needs of marginalised students as they tend to view their situation as normal and expected (Smit, 2012). The knowledge gap that this study addresses is that while there is considerable amount of literature on the challenges students face, there has been limited focus on what enables the first-generation students to succeed. It is possible that universities have ignored valuable attributes that the first-generation students have such as perseverance, motivation, and the ability to navigate the unfamiliar university spaces (Kapp et al., 2014; Mathebula, 2019). This study therefore responded to the following research: What strengths and resources can first-generation students draw on to increase their chances of success in the context of systemic challenges they face at South African universities?

When the strengths and resources of these students already have are fully recognised, universities can leverage them to design more effective student support programmes.

The study drew on Yosso’s (2005) cultural capital theory to explore the valuable strengths and resources that first-generation students have already developed during their school studies before entering university. Universities can use the valuable strengths and resources to improve the success rate of these students within a context of systematic challenges. Although Yosso’s (2005) cultural capital theory was developed to improve the success rate of the marginalised students in the context of the USA post-school education, the high levels of inequality in South African higher education and society makes it appropriate for this study. The theory helped us to view first-generations students through a positive lens, making it possible to consider the knowledge and skills they already have rather than the negative lens of a deficit approach. This theory also allowed us to recognise students’ agency through exploring the decisions made and the actions taken that enhanced their wellbeing and academic success at university. The argument presented in this study is that first-generation students have a wealth of resources gained from their diverse backgrounds, that can be leveraged for success at university. Yosso (2005) lists six forms of capital:

Linguistic capital refers to the skills obtained through the ability to communicate in multiple languages.

Combining these capitals makes it possible to gain a multidimensional view of the cultural wealth and strengths that first-generation students have. By recognising and expanding their cultural wealth and strengths when articulating the challenges students face, universities can design and implement effective interventions for the success of the first-generation students.

The study employed qualitative methodology. Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and in-depth interviews were used to gather data from final-year students at a university in South Africa. Final-year students were selected because they were close to completing their studies and could be regarded as successful and able to reflect on their experiences since their enrolment at the university. Nevertheless, the limitation of having selected that group excluded some students who dropped out between the first and final years of the studies. This is considering the high dropout rate of 33% among contact students in a cohort set to complete their study within the three years [Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), 2024]. A total of five FGDs with between 6 and 10 participants each and additional 15 in-depth interviews with different participants were conducted. Seventy-three students took part in FGDs and interviews, which were conducted online. Different students took part in the FGDs and interviews based on the availability of the students with those students who indicated that they were unavailable to participate during scheduled times of the FGDs being asked to participate in the interviews on the times convenient to them. Simultaneously, the use of the FGDs and in-depth interviews enabled both collective and individual perspectives to be captured, encouraging those who could have been uncomfortable to speak about their experiences in a group setting to speak freely (Guest et al., 2012). Whereas the FGDs were between 70 and 90 minutes long, the indepth interviews lasted an average of 45 minutes. All the FGDs and interviews were conducted in English, a language that all the students were comfortable with. Topics covered in the FGDs and in-depth interviews included challenges students faced, aspects of their lives contributing to their persistence, and how the university could support them to complete their studies.

This sample was deemed adequate as saturation was reached, a point when data repeats itself, demonstrates richness and ceases to generate new insights (Morse, 2015). To obtain diverse views, the first-generation students that were invited to participate in the study were drawn from those studying eight modules that were purposively selected from the eight faculties, based on students’ performance (four underperformance, two average performance, and two high performance). This stratified purposive sampling resulted in a balance of participants across the different academic backgrounds yielding a wide range of learning experiences (Creswell and Poth, 2018) while monitoring the recruiting process ensured a fair representation of participants across the various performance levels (see Table 1).

After the audio files were transcribed verbatim, data were coded and thematically analysed with the aid of NVivo 14, a qualitative software package. Descriptive coding was initially implemented to identify the categories of text with similar meaning, which were then merged to form subthemes, and subsequently themes. The process involved identifying patterns of text with similar meaning, assigning codes to text, and clustering of the related codes to form subthemes. The subthemes were then merged to form themes from which meaning was derived to before building a story. Although Yosso’s (2005) cultural capital theory guided the analysis, this did not entirely influence the process as new themes were allowed to emerge. The themes that emerged from the data were belongingness to social groups, aspiration, adaptability, perseverance, motivation and diligence, self-discipline and resourcefulness. Ethical procedures were observed throughout the study. We obtained ethics approval from the university and ensured that participation was voluntary by using a consent form that made it quite clear that they could refuse to participate. Additionally, confidentiality was achieved through not sharing the data with people outside of the research team and using pseudonyms to anonymise the data.

The findings reveal that first-generation students belonged to and benefitted from their membership of social groups, were driven by the goals they wanted to achieve, and had the navigational capacity and perseverance to succeed in their studies despite the difficulties they encountered. It is equally significant that first-generation students were self-motivated and hardworking because of the need to attain their goals and improve their socio-economic condition and that they were self-disciplined and resourceful.

Findings demonstrate that first-generation students had a wealth of resources ranging from motivation and diligence, aspirations, perseverance, belonging to social groups, resourcefulness, self-discipline, and adaptability. These assets were instrumental in the success of students which contradicts the dominant belief based on the deficit view that first-generation students lack the requisite skills including motivation, aspiration and socialisation needed for them to succeed in universities (Yosso, 2005). Our findings reveal that these first-generation students had developed skills in their previous experiences, studies, and social lives. As a result, they were able to draw on socio-economic background and schooling experiences to meet the challenges and demands of university life, which contributed to their success. This is an alternative view to the dominant perspective that views first-generation students as entirely disadvantaged (Calitz, 2018; McKay and Devlin, 2016).

The findings also illustrate the first-generation students’ capacity to use their agency, make decisions, take the initiative, and act on them to achieve what they value at the university. First-generation students had the adaptability skills “Navigational capital” and perseverance skills “Resistance capital” contrary to the view that they lacked the skills to navigate the university system and persist with their studies (Yosso, 2005). First-generation students are self-driven and responsible for their learning to attain their aspirations through using available resources maximally as a means of successfully negotiating the complex university systems. Students with high self-efficacy, which is the belief that they will succeed, tend to engage with their university tasks more and persist until the task is completed despite the difficulties (Tinto, 2017). Zimmerman et al. (1992) explain that through having high self-efficacy, students become self-regulated and influence their learning and achievements and can apply appropriate strategies to acquire the knowledge and skills for achieving their goals. Because of their high self-efficacy, these first-generation students circumvented the daily challenges they confronted, bounced back after having failed and dropped out of the degree programmes they were studying, and were likely to graduate as they were in their final years. Most students were also likely to achieve their career aspirations of finding employment after graduation [Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), 2024] and improving their own lives as well as that of their families and communities.

The linguistic and familial capitals did not emerge explicitly from the student data. This shows a limitation of the cultural capital theory (Yosso, 2005) when applied to the context of South African higher education. The absence of linguistic capital among the first-generation students can be explained by the historical inequality in South African context. Most of the first-generation students attend the poorly resourced schools that do not charge fees. After being taught using indigenous languages, students struggle to use English, which is the main language of instruction at university resulting in them performing poorly (Kelly-Laubscher et al., 2018; Scott, 2017). Furthermore, first-generation students’ family backgrounds and culture misaligned with the university’s culture that was Eurocentric and resembled the middleclass, which explains the absence of the familial capital among the first-generation students (Yosso, 2005). Consequently, these students could not relate the knowledge they learnt from their families to the university’s culture and expectations as their families and kin did not have university experience. The South African universities have been blamed for advancing the Western knowledge systems neglecting the indigenous knowledge systems (Mbembe, 2016). Decolonising universities could therefore help the first-generation students to easily adjust to the university environment and connect what they learn at university to their lives (Ndlovu-Gatsheni, 2020).

“Motivation and hardwork,” “Self-discipline” and “Resourcefulness” are the additional strengths that emerged from the findings, which are not outlined in Yosso’s Theory (Yosso, 2005). Whereas the dominant literature views first-generation students as lacking discipline during their studies, for example lacking time management skills and failing to balance academic work and social life (Gore and Walker, 2020; Macaulay et al., 2023), what is different from previous studies is ‘Self-discipline’ that emerged as a strength in this study as first-generation students drew on the diligence developed from their past experiences of hardships including experiences of leading, taking care of their siblings and managing their lives in child-headed households. This is especially significant in the context of South Africa where the country has the highest inequality in the world³, with most black families experiencing poverty partly because of the apartheid legacy and mismanagement and corruption by the post-apartheid governments. Moreover, this study reveals ‘Resourcefulness’ strength that the low-income students had which is not well pronounced in previous studies. The experience of surviving with limited resources in poor households developed resilience in them and for them to be resourceful during their studies. While the context of limited resources prevents most students from accessing and completing their studies in South Africa, it can motivate, build resilience and contribute to students being resourceful. The above findings are significant for university management and policymakers to develop interventions that take into account these strengths so that first-generation students can succeed.

The study has revealed that first-generation students had the following strengths and resources that enable them to succeed: motivation and diligence, aspirations, perseverance, belongingness to social groups, resourcefulness, self-discipline, and adaptability. If these strengths and resources that students have are fully recognised by universities and reinforced through support programmes, the success rate of the first-generation students is likely to improve. By fully recognising these strengths and resources, policy makers, practitioners and researchers in universities can help students to develop their agency.

The study recommends that universities identify ways of improving students’ Sense of belonging to social groups, Aspirations, Adaptability, Perseverance, Motivation and diligence, Self-discipline and Resourcefulness. This can be achieved through creating platforms for students and encouraging them to build social networks and participate in groups events, intensifying outreach programmes on degree choices and careers before students enroll at the university, intensifying orientation programmes to help students adapt to the university environment, and implementing activities that enhance student motivation such as participating in public events and receiving recognition and constructive criticism. Universities need to foster self-discipline through peer mentorship programmes to strengthen students’ resolute commitment to studies to attaining their goals, to encourage and help students to thrive in the context of available resources as a way of promoting resourcefulness, and to provide a platform for senior first-generation graduates to share their experiences with first-year students. These interventions should be implemented together with changes that aim to decolonize the curriculum, teaching methods and university environment so that first-generation students can relate, enabling them to complete their studies. Future research could focus on a mixed-method study to establish the link between these strengths to measurable outcomes such graduation, throughput and retention. The limitation of the study is that it was conducted at a single South African university implying that the strengths identified might not apply to other universities in the country and other countries globally. Nonetheless, readers can choose the strengths that apply to their contexts.