The Need for a New Language? How Historically Disadvantaged InstitutionsFootnote** The label ‘Historically Disadvantaged Institution’ or ‘Historically Black University’ (HBU) carries with it a host of connotations and a number of conceptual challenges. Cooper and Subotzky (Citation2001, 3) indicate that ‘because of marked variations in history and current profiles, Historically Black Universities and Technikons have been sub-divided into historically African Historically Black Universities and Technikons and historically non-African (Coloured and Indian) Historically Black Universities and Technikons’. The distinction made between HBU/HWU and the HDI/HDA mask other differences. Although there are commonalities, not all HDIs are alike. One key area of difference is around funding – some were governed and funded through apartheid ‘homeland’ structures and others were not. Another key area of difference relates to geographical location – some were located in or close to large urban centres which means that they have advantages over rural universities, and more recently the effect of mergers and new categories of institutions that were created makes labelling much more complicated. Additionally, the creation of new universities adds a new complexity as these institutions have no apartheid history. Will these conceptual issues needs to be unpacked, this article does not aim to tackle these distinctions, rather it will refer to UWC as an HDI.
Grapple with the Effects of Labelling in Higher Education: The Case of the University of the Western Cape
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