HEAPS

Project Overview

The Higher Educational Attainment Inequalities and Single Parent Households in South Africa (HEAPS) project explores how structural disadvantages experienced by children and young people growing up in single-headed households create barriers to accessing and succeeding in South African Higher Education.

Drawing on the narratives of individuals raised in single-headed households who have accessed and/or completed Higher Education, HEAPS interrogates the complex interrelations between family structure, socio-economic positioning, and educational attainment, with the aim of identifying both the barriers encountered and the pathways leading to educational success.

HEAPS findings will inform evidence-based policies and targeted interventions designed to break these cycles of educational exclusion, ultimately promoting greater equity, economic development, and social welfare across South African communities.

This project is supported by the UK Global Challenges Research Fund.

For more information, please contact us at b.brahic@mmu.ac.uk