Leading change
Cultural change for diversity and transformation
Cultural change requires the disruption of entrenched ways of thinking, acting, relating and performing within the institution, as well as a creative approach to new ways of knowing. For Unisa, changing culture is about creating the university as a home for all in their diversity. It is about making Unisa an equitable and transformed university that values all of humanity.
Realistic demographics
Major strides towards establishing a truly changed culture have been made over the past decades. The university's student demographics now closely approximate those of the country: more than 84.4% of Unisa students are African, 7% are white, 4.7% are coloured and 3.5% are Indian. The number of female students has shown steady year-on-year growth and currently females account for 70.7% of the student population.
Addressing patriarchy through gender activism
Scholarship that addresses gender issues and questions is important as it contributes to overcoming the challenges of gender transformation in society. South Africa and Africa also require home-grown solutions to tackle gender issues. Leading the university’s focus on gender equitability is the Institute for Gender Studies, located in the College of Human Sciences. An interdisciplinary research unit, the institute raises awareness about gender as a major step towards eliminating gender-based violence, homophobia and transphobia, as well as discrimination against women in the workplace and the political arena. A vibrant centre of high-quality research, the institute publishes Gender Questions, a peer-reviewed journal aimed at promoting diverse research on gender issues in South Africa
Democratising access and success
Unisa is known as a provider of fair and equitable access to higher education opportunities. Flowing from its social responsibility to address past inequalities, Unisa has developed a new application and selection process that more effectively addresses historical imbalances without sacrificing quality standards. This process promotes focused attention towards improved student support and the alignment of our new student intake with the available academic capacity and required infrastructure to maximise all students’ chances of success.