Dr Nosipho Mavuso at her Nelson Mandela University graduation celebrations in December 2025
Dr Nosipho Mavuso conducted this research first-hand at Walter Sisulu University in Buffalo City, where she lectures in IT.
Her focus group surveys on 180 undergraduate IT students revealed that generic online career tools failed them because they ignored South African realities: affordability, regional inequality and the digital divide.
“These tools are there but they are not designed for our context,” says Dr Mavuso. “The gap is there, and quite visible.”
Her doctoral research, supervised by Mandela University’s Distinguished Professor Darelle van Greunen and co-supervised by Professor Norbert Jere from the University of Fort Hare, identified stark barriers:
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Students at rural universities rarely had career discussions at school
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Universities do not effectively communicate available resources
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Existing AI career tools are static rather than adaptive.
Prof Van Greunen said Mavuso’s research was particularly important in the African context to ensure tools were relevant, effective and responsive to local realities.
“With diverse education systems, evolving labour markets and unequal access to resources across the continent, solutions designed elsewhere may not always reflect African needs,” she said.
“Without context-specific research, AI systems risk relying on data and assumptions from high-income countries, potentially resulting in biased or unsuitable guidance for African learners.
Grounded, local research helps ensure that AI-driven career guidance is not only technologically sophisticated, but also socially relevant, inclusive and genuinely empowering for Africa’s youth.”
The students surveyed for the research told Dr Mavuso they needed career recommendations that showed realistic, achievable options. They did not want American or European-designed systems suggesting careers that do not exist in their provinces or require resources they do not have.
“I’ve seen that students are really struggling, more especially at rural universities,” Mavuso says.
South Africa’s digital divide means a student in Gauteng has vastly different access than one in the Eastern Cape or Limpopo. Cultural values and institutional limitations add further complexity.
She also discovered students who signed up for an IT qualification because it was the only course they could get into, and that many did not really know what the career involved.
Dr Mavuso’s six-component framework addressed this by centring student backgrounds, institutional teaching capacity, AI-driven policies, curriculum design and stakeholder engagement. Unlike one-size-fits-all systems, it is designed to adapt to diverse student circumstances.
The research has practical applications: institutional policy, curriculum development and potentially scalable digital career guidance for similar institutions across developing economies.
Dr Mavuso envisions the system helping students from high school through university. It may also, lead to a reduction in dropout rates by ensuring they choose paths that suit their circumstances and goals.
She describes her research as moving from theory to practice, and she is exploring funding to develop a working prototype, possibly as a human resources research project with students. The study would also need to be expanded to other disciplines, for example, the humanities.
The research aligns with Nelson Mandela University’s focus on innovation and the digital economy. More fundamentally, it reframes career guidance from a privilege of well-resourced schools into something all students can access, regardless of which province or socioeconomic background they come from.