Book excerpt: The book explores concerns about the lack of higher education transformation around issues of equity, curriculum reform, language and race, and how students navigate higher education complexities. Students' self-reflective abilities, creativity and pragmatic approaches to surviving and succeeding are indicators that postgraduate student success is as much internally as externally determined. Each chapter speaks from a uniquely South African perspective. The editors have tried to remain true to the voice of each contributor, while simultaneously providing a coherent body of scholarly work.