Challenges faced by gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (glbt) students at a South African university

Abstract

This article explores the academic and social challenges experienced by students from the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (glbt) community on campus at a South African university. A qualitative study to investigate some of these academic and social challenges experienced by glbt students at a university campus was conducted. The population of the study was all students from glbt community on campus and a purposive sample of twelve (12) respondents was constituted and a semi-structured interview guide was designed and administered to all twelve (12) participants. Data were audio recorded and transcribed. Content analysis which is a method used to systematically analyse the meaning of communications was used to analyse data. Of central interest were the core themes that speakers referred to, the information or messages that they wanted to pass on to their audience. The findings suggest that glbt students grapple with issues such as labelling, sexual abuse, discrimination/marginalisation and unfairness in the allocation of resources such as accommodation. In response to these cancerous societal ills, the helping professions exhort practitioners to empower vulnerable populations, promote social justice, support client self-determination and keep abreast of current knowledge relevant to professional practice. This article concludes with a set of recommendations on some of the strategies to address the identified socio-academic challenges.