Developing Successful Transition Support for Students in Africa: The Role of Academic Advising

The demand for professional student support and transition programmes is increasing unabatedly while higher education in Africa proceeds on its trajectory of rapid expansion and massification even in the context of the changing circumstances presented by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. At the same time as participation in higher education widens, there is also increased pressure for efficiency, relevance, and success, to ensure that students are equipped with relevant knowledge, skills, and competencies, develop personally and socio-culturally, and succeed academically, by making successful transitions into and through higher education and into the world of work and livelihoods. An evidence-based development of high-impact interventions using multiple methods, including student engagement surveys and action research approaches, is a proven strategy (Strydom et al., 2016). The development of context-relevant, high impact cocurricular programmes, support services and interventions by means of a reflective scholarship of Student Affairs and Services (SAS), institutional research and reflective practice, is also an imperative in the professionalisation of SAS in Africa. Transition support for students with various identities and the intersectionality of their identities with other factors such as coming from disadvantaged backgrounds, being first-