This study aims to explore how young coloured girls, aged 16-17, give meaning to sexuality. Coloured girls’ are often marginalised in South African research and debate around gender and sexuality. This study focuses on coloured girls in two different social and economic contexts in Durban. The one context is Wentworth which remains a predominantly coloured working class area. The other is a middle class former white area in Glenwood Durban. The study draws on qualitative research using interview methods to focus on eight girls in these two areas. Three of the girls emerged from Glenwood whilst five others live in Wentworth. The aim of the study was to understand the ways in which class impacted on their meanings of sexuality. Gender, race and class are intertwined social constructs which assist in the formulation of sexual identities. This study investigated the similarities and differences between the two groups of coloured girls. They differed in relation to: their mindsets regarding everyday life, for example the girls from Glenwood interacted with boys from all four racial groups and had a better understanding of their different cultures. The girls from Wentworth found boys from racial groups other than coloured more attractive due to lack of knowledge of them. Thus the girls from Glenwood were open to multi-racial relationships whilst the girls from Wentworth were afraid to do so, as they would be subject to ridicule from the community. In Wentworth ones status is defined by clothing, cash and cars and in order for these young girls to be successful in this community they must affiliate themselves with boys/men who can provide such things; even if they come at a high price. In this study the girls were similar in that they all wanted to be independent, wanted to finish school, find good jobs, and buy their own cars, thus we see the feminine agency of coloured girls from two different socio-economic contexts. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Edgewood, 2011.

This program evaluated the effectiveness of the program interventions implemented during the 2002-2003 school year in the Riverside County Office of Education's Cal-SAFE pregnant and parenting minor program. Two researchers divided the twelve school sites, gathered data and formulated information to assess the effectiveness of the program on continuance or completion of high school after teen pregnancy.

Department of Curriculum Studies and Education Management / DEd

MA (Psychology) / Department of Psychology / In South Africa, today, teenage pregnancy is on the increase, resulting in social and public health problems. The Department of Health (2002) indicates that, nationally 16.4% of the teenagers become pregnant every month. The Department also states that 26.4% of Grade 8 learners, 13.4% Grade 9 learners, 12.6% Grade 12 and 13.3% Grade 11 learners, fall pregnant every month. Many of these teenage mothers are confronted with various health problem, for example, HIV/AIDS, psychological (for example, high stress) and social problems (for example, lack of parenting skills, neglect, poverty, and low educational attainment). These problems have far-reaching consequences on the mothers. For example, many teenage mothers drop-out of school, attempt to commit suicide, as well as take part in prostitution and robbery. Many are unemployed and this puts the welfare of their children at risk. This research study was qualitative in nature. The exploratory phenomenological design was used in this study to explore the experiences or challenges of teenage mothers on social support as pregnancy interferes with all aspects of their lives. For example, it jeopardises teenage mothers’ relationships with their parents who are the main source of support for the young mothers. If this relationship is broken, it reduces the chances of the young mother’s success. These factors contribute to an inadequate parent-child interaction and diminish the infant’s development. Support during pregnancy and after birth is vital for a teenage mother. If her future and mental health are to be bright, then she needs to have strong social support. Non- probability sampling methods were used, namely purposive and snowball sampling. Pre-testing was done with four teenage mothers who had the same background as those in the main study. Data were collected from six teenage mothers through semistructured face to face interviews which required teenage mothers to answer a set of predetermined questions. The question asked allowed probing and clarification of answers. A tape recorder was used and the language used was Tshivenda. All ethical issues were adhered to throughout the study. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was used to analyse the collected data. The findings from the interviews were integrated to avoid repetition. From the analysed v data, the following themes emerged: Challenges experienced by teenage mothers; Support system for teenage mothers; and Coping strategies for teenage mothers. Analysis of data revealed that lack of social support for teenage mothers was a major problem and this was collaborated by literature. These findings revealed that teenage mothers experience many challenges compared to the support they get from significant others. In this study, the researcher found that doing field work with teenage mothers with low educational backgrounds is very challenging because they do not understand what research is all about. The researcher realised that there is more that South African needs to do to encourage people to support teenage mothers. Whilst the work done at Tshikuwi is appreciated, the researcher feels it is too little too late considering the number of teenage mothers who continue to lack support. The researcher recommends that teenage mothers who experience challenges should take the initiatives to start projects that will boost their confidence. Teachers who teach life science orientations should, in the meantime, focus on teaching learners about the consequences of not having support either from family or partners and communities.

This dissertation consists of three essays focused on policies that hold the potential to reduce gender and socioeconomic gaps in the developing world. The first two chapters focus on higher education while the last chapter focuses on STEM gender gaps during primary school. Chapter 1 looks at the impacts of new transportation infrastructure on access to college, college choice, completion, and early labor market outcomes. I use novel geolocated administrative data and a difference-in-differences strategy that exploits the rollout of two new public transportation lines in Lima, Peru. I document that a 17% decrease in commuting time to college correlates with a significant 6% rise in enrollment rates, predominantly observed in private educational institutions. Notably, among the beneficiaries of this transportation policy, female students tend to opt for low-quality private colleges connected to the newly established transportation lines. Conversely, male students are more likely to enroll in public colleges, which are more geographically dispersed across the city. I use a college choice model and find that for every standard deviation increase in post-graduation expected wages, male students exhibit a willingness to commute up to 55% longer than their female counterparts. Furthermore, over the medium to long term, improved transportation accessibility is associated with a 12% boost in college graduation likelihood and a 6% increase in access to white-collar employment. Chapter 2 studies the effects of an increase in college-quality information on graduates’ labor market outcomes. It takes advantage of new higher education reform that regulates universities’ compliance with a set of basic quality standards and awarded or denied operating licenses based on it. This new regulation resulted in 50 closures out of 144 institutions. Using administrative labor market data, I estimate a difference-in-differences approach that takes advantage of the staggered nature of licensing decisions. Using administrative labor market data and a staggered difference-in-differences approach, we find positive effects of positive news about graduates’ human capital: within one year of the licensing announcement,wages increase by 8%, employment by 7%, hours worked by 8%, and the likelihood of being employed in a large firm and the public sector by 6% and 5%, respectively. Most effects are concentrated among graduates with shorter or no tenure at their current job, while we don’t find significant effects for workers with longer tenure. This suggests that uncertainty about workers’ productivity is reduced over time, with public signals affecting workers’ welfare. Chapter 3 studies the case of a program that provides weekly science workshops to primary school girls and evaluates whether this program improves educational achievement, attitudes, and aspirations using an experimental design in Peru. We find no significant effects on girls’ academic performance until after 2 years of the program. However, we find that girls who participated in the program are more overconfident about their grades in science, have strong negative perceptions of non-STEM majors, and trade-off school time for personal projects.

It is not an uncommon feature anymore to find young mothers in Venda secondary schools busy with their studies. These young mothers, referred to as schoolgirl mothers in this investigation, do however, battle in general with their studies and experience problems different from those of ordinary schoolgirls. It was, therefore, decided to launch an investigation into the problems related to the learning situation of such schoolgirl mothers. The formation of relationships by the adolescent has been used as a point of departure for this study. Contrary to expectations, the empirical investigation has revealed that schoolgirl mothers maintain basically good relationships with themselves, their studies and others. On the other hand, their academic achievements are significantly lower than those of ordinary schoolgirls. Further research is necessary to shed more light on the situatedness of schoolgirl mothers in general and in Venda secondary schools in particular. / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

It is not an uncommon feature anymore to find young mothers in Venda secondary schools busy with their studies. These young mothers, referred to as schoolgirl mothers in this investigation, do however, battle in general with their studies and experience problems different from those of ordinary schoolgirls. It was, therefore, decided to launch an investigation into the problems related to the learning situation of such schoolgirl mothers. The formation of relationships by the adolescent has been used as a point of departure for this study. Contrary to expectations, the empirical investigation has revealed that schoolgirl mothers maintain basically good relationships with themselves, their studies and others. On the other hand, their academic achievements are significantly lower than those of ordinary schoolgirls. Further research is necessary to shed more light on the situatedness of schoolgirl mothers in general and in Venda secondary schools in particular. / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

L’enseignement secondaire des filles existait en France avant les cours Duruy (1867). Il se définissait par une réalité sociologique, celle d’institutions pour les filles de la bourgeoisie. En 1871, l’Alsace et une partie de la Lorraine furent annexées à l’Empire allemand ; la plus grande partie de la Lorraine resta française (académie de Nancy). En Alsace-Lorraine, l’enseignement secondaire des filles était donné dans les écoles supérieures de filles. Ces écoles étaient publiques ou privées. Le meilleur moyen de connaître leur fonctionnement est la rédaction de monographies. Dans l’académie de Nancy, seul l’enseignement public était qualifié de secondaire, mais on ne peut pas exclure les institutions privées. La démarche monographique est employée ici aussi. L’extension de l’étude jusqu’en 1940 permet d’observer l’uniformisation de l’enseignement secondaire. La seconde partie de la thèse traite des enseignants puis des élèves : on étudie les origines et la construction des identités. / Girls’ secondary schooling existed in Alsace and in Lorraine before the Cours Duruy (1867). It was defined by a sociological reality, which was that of institutions for daughters of the bourgeoisie. In 1871, Alsace and a part of Lorraine were annexed by the German Empire; Lorraine’s largest part was still French (Académie of Nancy). In Alsace- Lorraine, girls’ secondary schooling was given in Higher Girls’ Schools. Those schools were public or private. The best way to know how those institutions worked is to write monographs. In the Académie of Nancy, only public schools were called secondary schools. However we can’t exclude private institutions. The monographic way is also used here. The extension of the study until 1940 allows observing the unification of secondary schooling. The second part of the thesis discusses the teachers and school girls : we study the origins and the construction of identities.

MPM / Oliver Tambo Institute of Governance and Policy Studies

MPH / Department of Public Health / Unplanned pregnancy is a major medical, social and public health problem worldwide. This problem affects learners’ performance and leads to a high learner drop-out rate at schools. The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors influencing unplanned pregnancy among high school learners in the Collins Chabane Municipality, Limpopo Province, South Africa. A quantitative study using survey methods was used. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data. The total sample size was 362 female learners ranged between learners whose ages ranged between 16 and 24. Only female learners in the school were recruited to participate in the study. Validity and Reliability were ensured. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 25.0 program. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to summarize and present the data. Permission to conduct the study was obtained from the Department of Education, Limpopo Province, the Malamulele Circuit and the Principal of the school. Informed consent was obtained from parents on behalf of female learners under 18 years of age. Confidentiality and anonymity was ensured. The study found that about 58.2% of adolescents had used contraceptives, while 64.1% indicated that they needed more information on contraceptive methods and their use. The study also found that about 71.8% of the respondents had abstained from sexual activities in order to avoid unplanned pregnancy. Unplanned pregnancies were found to be associated with ignorance of the consequences of sexual activities, information about sex from their peers and the power imbalance in sexual relationships between male and female adolescents. It is recommended that adolescents be given adequate information about contraceptives, addressing the advantages, disadvantages, side effects and how to manage their side effects. This would help mitigate against the negative attitudes that the adolescents have toward contraceptives owing to misinformation and misconceptions. In addition, school health nurses should use Information Education Communication (IEC) materials on family planning to increase awareness about family planning and to prevent unplanned pregnancies. The IEC materials should be in the most common languages of Limpopo Province, i.e. Sepedi, Xitsonga and Tshivenda for clear understanding of the content. / NRF