Acknowledgements
A multiplicity of people and entities has enhanced my capabilities, allowing me to embark on this exciting and exhausting book. Firstly, for funding, I am grateful to NRF Grant No. 86540 which funded my research under the SARChI Chair in Higher Education and Human Development, without which this study would not have been possible. Equally, I am enormously grateful to Alessandra Tosi, the commissioning editor of Open Book Publishers, for making open access publications possible for early-career scholars like me. Similarly, I should also thank Melissa Purkiss, Luca Baffa and Anna Gatti for all your support and hard work during the production process of this book. It has been a pleasure working with all of you. Further, my most sincere appreciation to the two anonymous reviewers for their deep and generous engagement with my work. Thank you for believing in this book and making it even better.
I am equally indebted to Melanie Walker not only for helping me tirelessly with this study and my professional development, but for being more than a mentor in my life. I am grateful for all you have done for me before, during and beyond this book. I would also like to thank Talita Calitz and Nelson Masanche Nkhoma for guiding and supporting me during this study and subsequent bookâyour support throughout this work and your friendship are much appreciated. Thank you for all your help and inspirational conversations over many years. Thank you to Alejandra Boni for introducing me to the Capabilities Approach as well as providing the link to become part of this amazing research programme in South Africa. Without your guidance and leadership in the years prior to this book, my work would not have been possible. To all my colleagues from the HEHD research group, but especially Mikateko Mathebula and Faith Mkwananzi, thank you for your support and help, in addition to our friendship. Your kindness, selflessness and hard work have been a constant source of inspiration to me. Thank you for this and our long conversations about Africa, South Africa and social injustices, which helped me to develop many of the ideas in this book. To my beloved husband, Sander van Leusden, thank you for remaining supportive and caring despite my ups and downs throughout this book. The journey has not been easy, but I could not imagine undertaking it without you. You have been a central pillar of strength for my work. Finally, but not least, to all the DCR co-researchers that took part in the collaborative inquiry, thank you for your enthusiasm, dedication and hard-work despite your academic commitments. Without you this book would not have been possible. I feel grateful for our friendships and to have shared with you all this time during and since the project.