A qualitative generational comparison of learning motivation amongst South African students : apartheid and Born- free generations

Abstract

Generational comparisons in a country-specific context are an under-researched area of study. Understanding generations provides insight into social and intellectual change. In a country such as South Africa, with its history of discrimination and division, generational studies are particularly important to bring about understanding of people and their behaviour. This study compares the motivation to attend university of South African university students in a generational context, using specific identifiers rather than generic generational tags. The research aimed to determine whether there were differences in motivation to attend university between the Apartheid and Born-free generations. This was a qualitative study and the population investigated consisted of black, South African students who were registered at a South African university. The sample was collected through purposive and snowball sampling. The sample consisted of eight Apartheid-generation participants and ten Born-free generation participants. Data was collected by asking participants to select a vignette that they identified most with in terms of motivation to attend university. In the open questions that followed, they were asked to elaborate on their feelings regarding their own motivation to attend university and the perceived motivation of others in their generation. The main difference between the two generations was their choice of vignette. The Apartheid generation mostly chose identified regulation as vignette, and the Born-free generation generally chose integrated regulation. In general, the Apartheid generation was far more consistent with how their vignette choice matched their open question responses. The Born-free generation tended to describe several different types of motivation in their open question responses. In general, the Apartheid generation gravitated towards extrinsic motivators, and the Born-free generation towards more intrinsic motivators. This led to the conclusion that South Africa provides a unique environment for the development of generations with distinctive characteristics. As such, the study of generations in South Africa should not attempt to use Western identifiers but foster an opportunity for understanding in their distinctive context.