Navigating Misalignment: Agency, Cultural Capital and Student Success in Engineering (feat. Dr Disa Mogashana)

In this episode, we speak with Dr Disa Mogashana, whose work explores how identity, structure, and access shape success in engineering education. Drawing on her own experiences as a student and her research on cultural capital and student agency, Disa reflects on the often invisible systems that determine who thrives in university spaces and who must work harder simply to belong. Our conversation moves from personal narrative to institutional practice, exploring how educators, universities, and industry can better recognise misalignment and design environments where students are supported not only academically, but relationally and structurally.Links:JSU-EWB Innovate ArticleResources on Cultural Capital: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3649652Teaching Matters (article on pages 46-48): ⁠https://drupalwebprod-files.up.ac.za/Public/2025-11/teaching-matters_vol-2.zp272198.pdf?VersionId=5Di_rBMtDitORx7dZUTRpPHmO0.EP6lg⁠Mogashana, D., Case, J.M. & Williams, K. (2022). How ADP students navigate enablements and constraints of the programme: An exploration of structure and agency. South African Journal of Higher Education, 36 (2), 204-221. ISSN 1753-5913. ⁠Mogashana, D., Basitere, M., Ivala, E.(2023). Harnessing students’ agency for easier transition and success in higher education in South Africa: A qualitative account of the role of a life coaching intervention. Journal of Student Affairs in Africa 11(1), 49-63). DOI: 10.24085/jsaa.v11i1.4206 Mogashana, D. G. (2015). The interplay between structure and agency: How academic development programme students 'make their way' through their undergraduate studies in engineering. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Engineering & the Built Environment ,Department of Chemical Engineering. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/16601Ideological Positioning of Extended Curriculum Programmes – A Case Study of a Large South African Research University