African migrant and African Australian tertiary education experiences: Exploration through the lens of acculturation

The subject of African migrants’ acculturation and tertiary education experiences remains largely absent from the acculturation literature and warrants further exploration. The present study explored African migrants and African Australians' acculturation and experiences of tertiary education within Australia, addressing the notable literature absence. We conducted 10 semi-structured online interviews with African migrant and African Australian current and former tertiary students about their acculturation, tertiary education experiences, and influencing factors. Data were analysed using a reflexive thematic analysis approach, with two main themes and five subthemes generated. The generated themes captured the ways in which participants balanced Australian and home cultures, including the facilitating and hindering aspects of each culture, and the effect these had on their tertiary education experiences. These findings offer important implications for informing tertiary education policy, including the identification of alterations to enhance the tertiary education experiences of culturally diverse students. • Host culture adoption and home culture maintenance influence education differently. • Students reported needing to balance cultures when accessing tertiary education. • Supportive aspects of both host and home cultures facilitate tertiary experiences. • Racism and limited cultural consideration in Australian culture hindered tertiary experiences. • Community expectations in African culture hindered tertiary experiences.