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Formation of academic identity of political science students at a South African higher education institution

Gladys Manyi Ashu

Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences, Walter Sisulu University, Mthatha, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0083-2320

Abstract

Higher education institutions serve as crucibles for shaping students´ identities. Despite much research on students´ identity formation, studies in the discipline of political science are limited. This study delves into the views of final-year political science students regarding the objectives of their studies, specifically examining whether they view their academic journey as a catalyst for personal transformation and the key causal mechanisms that facilitate or impede identity formation. Using an intensive approach, the research relies on in-depth interpretative data gathered through interviews with 12 students majoring in political studies, selected using snowball sampling. The morphogenetic framework, rooted in Archer´s social realism, provided the theoretical foundation for this investigation. Qualitative data analysis reveals emerging themes that show that the student’s objectives in enrolling in the discipline were to improve their employability and acquire skills to uplift their communities. Many constraints and enablements also affected the students, although some used their agency to realise identity change through their discipline. It is recommended that the student discipline agency be developed and that graduate attributes that are consistent with the teaching and learning strategies of the discipline be formulated.

Keywords: Agency, Disciplinary identity, Higher education, Morphogenetic framework, Political science students, Teaching, and Learning

How to cite this article: Ashu, G.M. (2025). Formation of academic identity of political science students at a South African higher education institution. African Perspectives of Research in Teaching and Learning, 9 (1), 46-59.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.70875/v9i1article4