14 he student experience in Sout h Africa PROFESSOR JUDY BACKHOUSE AND DR FATIMA ADAM South African higher education sits, somewhat uncomfortably, between what the introduction for this book describes as ‘Western’ higher education systems and systems in ‘diferent cultural contexts’. South Africa’s irst universities were modelled by British and Dutch colonisers on ‘Western’ universities and newer institutions were developed along the same lines. he higher educa- tion system still looks to the United Kingdom (UK), Australia and Canada for leadership in policy and practice, and institutions strive to emulate the more prestigious ‘Western’ institutions. In many respects, the system is a ‘Western’ higher education system. On the other hand, South African higher education has, since 1994, been forced to confront its position in Africa and is grappling with the meaning and practice of ‘transformation’ and ‘Africanisation’. here are eforts at national, institutional and individual levels to explore alternative institu- tional structures and practices, as well as understandings of knowledge and approaches to research and teaching. However, there is not yet a sense that South African higher education is truly ‘African’ in anything but geograph- ical location. Understanding the student experience of internationalisation in the South African context is not a simple matter. he factors t hat inluence experience are complex and include language, the race and class of the visiting student, the institution and the programme for which they enrol, and the degree of resonance between their previous experiences of education and the environ- ment they ind themselves in. Students studying in South Africa who have a good command of English and experience of education underpinned by similar ‘Western’ epistemologies and modes of learning are likely to feel at home and adapt easily to the educational context. hose who are less familiar with English and whose educational experience is signiicantly diferent are likely to ind it harder to adapt. For South African students studying abroad, their experience difers depending on which country they travel to, particu- larly whether they travel to more or less developed countries. We conclude that results cannot be generalised and that discourses that homogenise the student experience are not useful.