International and Southern African Perspectives on Choice and Decision-Making of Young People in Higher Education

Abstract

Choice and decision-making in higher education have become significant areas of endeavour internationally. The rise of neoliberalism and the market in higher education seem to have fuelled this growth. Simultaneously, there has been an increase in commercialised higher education, where students have become customers or consumers and where the fundamental business principles of recruitment, retention and customer satisfaction have grown in stature, rivalling fundamental educational principles and values. A brief discussion of the theoretical underpinnings behind choice and student decision-making in higher education is presented. The review identifies ten descriptors of the nature of emerging research on choice and decision-making in higher education in Southern Africa; it further suggests that qualitative studies tend to be predominant.