Dr Angelique Wildschut is a Research Director in the Equitable Education and Economies research division at the Human Sciences Research Council and a Research Associate in the Sociology department of the University of Pretoria. She holds DPhil in Political science from the University of Stellenbosch and has 20 years of practical experience in conducting research and leading research teams in investigations that consider the interface between education and the world of work. Angelique has expertise in Sociology of Work and Occupations in South Africa, with a specific focus on the medical and nursing professions, artisans and gender. All these areas of research deal with different forms of social and structural exclusion and access as they present in various sectoral systems and particularly as they translate within the world of work, analysed by the variables of gender, race, sex, identity, skills and capabilities.

Previous and current experience and special projects
In her role as the Senior Manager for Research and Policy at the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), Dr Wildschut led the work on the Impact of NSFAS funding on academic performance which led into a 2020 publication in the Journal of Education. Her work on labour markets absorption of NSFAS graduates reported on high absorption into employment but low graduation rate, noting the significant role of race, gender and university type as predictors of whether NSFAS alumni find employment, thus raising imperative policy questions about how NSFAS supports equitable transitions from education to work.

Publications and highly relevant or major achievements/positions
Dr Wildschut’s publication record spans the authoring and co-authoring of several peer-reviewed journal articles and chapters in thirty-six books, fifty-two research reports and other forms of dissemination such as policy briefs, conference presentations, radio interviews and non-peer reviewed papers that deal with the themes of education, training and labour market outcomes, occupational milieus as well as identities and the role of symbolic boundaries.