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The aim of my research is to explore the experiences of women in student leadership at the University of KwaZulu- Natal (UKZN). My research tries to understand challenges that are faced by women who are in student leadership positions and to understand obstacles that hinder women from participating in student leadership The research answered three critical questions: How do the women students describe their leadership experiences? How do the women students learn to lead? How does the environment in which the women lead and learn to lead, affect their leadership experiences? To achieve the above I have drawn on the theory of oppression to understand women student leaders’ experiences as outlined by Young (2000) and Hardiman & Jackson (1997). Young and Hardiman & Jackson suggest that a group of persons are oppressed on the bases that they are different from other groups. The dominant group is privileged in the process while the subordinate internalise their subordination and perpetuate it by conforming to it. The study is qualitative. I used semi-structured interviews as an instrument for data collection. I used purposive sampling. I interviewed women student who have been leading in the SRC in the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal. Findings for study revealed that women student lead and learnt to lead under the oppressive environment. Although the environment where women learnt to lead is oppressive women were able to learn to lead. Further more the environment where women lead had a negative impact on women leadership experiences. Some women chose their traditional gender role over leadership positions. Some because of the hostile environment in the SRC internalised their subordination and became silence. Some women student leaders became aggressive. The study thus recommends the following strategies to be employed by the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal to enhance women participation in student leadership. (1) Leadership program to be included in the curriculum. (2) There should be leadership development program for all first year women students across all faculties. (3) Student parliament to be revived and be monitored. (4) Review of the SRC constitution regarding gender representation / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

Thesis (MSc)--University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / Bibliography. Also available via the Internet.

My aim in this study was to understand and explain the academic performance of married women students in higher education. The study was conducted on married women students who are studying at higher institutions in Nigeria. A mixed research method was used. The study population was drawn from two higher education institutions – a university and a college of education. Focus group conversations and interview protocol were used to gather qualitative data, while a questionnaire and the academic results of participants were used to gather quantitative data. Data were analysed using constant comparative approach – the reported stories that emanated from the conversations with the research participants; the deduced meanings from the interview protocol; and the statistical testing of the generated hypothesis via t-test statistics and Pearson product moment correlation. The findings include the readiness of women students to narrate their experiences, and the hindrances cultural practices impose on their academic performance, amongst other things. This study uniquely reveals that the academic performance of women students in higher education in Nigeria differs between married women students and single women students. However, some women students in this study were satisfied with their academic performance while others were not. They blamed their academic performance on several factors including cultural practices, marital status, financial constraint and so forth. Apart from women students in higher education who were not satisfied with their academic performance, all women students who formed the sample, including those who considered their academic performance to be satisfactory, complained about cultural practices and their effect on academic performance. Despite their complaints, however, the majority of the women student participants in this study, both married and single, continue to support cultural practices. They said that cultural practices, including the ones that are considered harmful to higher education for women and their academic performance, should not be eradicated or changed, as they maintain that these practices make women truly responsible. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Education Management and Policy Studies / unrestricted

Much attention has been devoted to the study of body image and eating disorders in women. A review of the literature suggests that emphasis has been placed on stereotypic disturbances in body image within two discrete populations, the obese and the anorectic (Stunkard, 1976). Further scrutiny of the literature reveals that body image is a vaguely defined concept, one that's assigned a multitude of meanings and measured in a variety of ways (Kolb, 1959). Despite the complexity of studying such a multi-faceted construct, body image has import in its summary of affective, cognitive, and perceptual bodily experiences (Kessler, 1978; Shontz, 1974). Body image is also particularly relevant to the study and treatment of eating disorders (Bruch, 1973).

Intimate partner violence remains an international public health concern and a human right issue. Fewer studies have been undertaken to address the impact of partner violence on the well being of female university students. The focus has been mainly on adults’ intimate relationships such as marriage and cohabitation. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the factors contributing to the perpetration of intimate partner violence among female university students in Durban. It also seeks to understand the consequences of partner violence as well as barriers in reducing partner violence among female university. The study used mixed methods of data collection. 15 in-depth interviews and three focus groups discussions were conducted in Durban. Consistent with previous research, this study found that young female university students do experience different forms of intimate partner violence, such as physical violence, sexual and verbal abuse by an intimate partner. It also shows various consequences associated with the perpetration of violence against them. Various reasons were reported as barriers in reducing partner violence against female university students. Young women accept partner violence as normal in intimate relationships. Some cases of violence are not reported in law enforcement institutions by young women which make it difficult to prevent partner violence in intimate relationships. These serve as a cause for concern as it put these women at risk of future violence. There is a great need for intimate partner violence prevention programmes in South African educational institutions including the universities. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2011.

Too few Kentucky community college students transfer and persist to earn baccalaureate degrees. This is particularly true in Appalachia Kentucky which has a high rate of poverty and a low rate of baccalaureate attainment. Scholars and economists agree that the fastest way to decrease poverty within a geographical region is to increase the educational level of the citizens. Policy makers in the Commonwealth have established a goal of doubling the number of baccalaureate holders within the state by 2020. This study is framed by a collaborative study which examined the ways in which institutional and student characteristics impact the pathway to the baccalaureate degree for Appalachian community college students in Kentucky. Quantitative analysis was conducted for the student populations who graduated in the summer and spring 2009 from four Appalachian community colleges. A framework was developed that identified two of the colleges as high-impact. The graduates of these colleges were twice as likely to transfer as the students from the two low-impact institutions. The two high performing colleges had partnership arrangements with baccalaureate-granting institutions that offered multiple degree options in or near the community college campus. Four companion studies that examined institutional and student characteristics were conducted. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the ways in which nontraditional-aged Appalachian women attending college as location-bound adults perceive the supports and challenges to baccalaureate attainment. Twenty-four women were interviewed to explore the ways in which they balance their multiple life roles with the demands of their postsecondary studies, to understand their perceptions how Appalachian culture impacts them as students, and their perceptions of the ways in which educational institutions provide them with baccalaureate access. Narrative was used both as the method of inquiry and the object of interpretation. Major themes that emerged from this study included: (1) Adult Appalachian female students are both challenged and supported by their major life roles and (2) Postsecondary institutions provide both support and challenges to this population.

This qualitative study focused on understanding risk influences for sexual violence against female students at the University of KwaZulu Natal, Westville Campus (formerly the University of Durban- Westville) in South Africa with the aim of suggesting intervention strategies for prevention. The participants of the study were male and female students at the University. One hour same gender focus group interviews were facilitated by trained Psychology Masters students of the institution in the afternoons after lectures. Interviews for the male groups were facilitated by males and female groups by females. Participants' responses were captured by tape recorders and then transcribed. Thematic analysis was used to analyse data. The factors that influence sexual violence on campus are discussed within the framework of the Theory of Triadic Influence (TTI).The emergent data of the current study suggested multiple influences for sexual violence within the three streams of influences of the TTI, namely, the intrapersonal, social context and cultural environmental streams of influence. It emerged that sexual violence was a problem on campus and most incidences were not reported to the University authorities. Participants in the current study also revealed a broader understanding of sexual violence than the current definition of rape. The majority of incidences of rape were reported to occur within the first few weeks of the academic year at parties meant to welcome new students. At intrapersonal level first year students' inability to adjust to University life, lack of assertiveness, misinterpretation of a woman's friendly behaviour by male as well as alcohol and drug abuse emerged as factors influencing sexual violence against women at the intrapersonallevel. At the social context level, peer influence among male and female students was found to be another contributing factor for sexual violence against women on campus. Depending on the group norms, male students would be pressured into being violent towards their partners. Female students were found to be pressurized into remaining in an abusive relationship. At the cultural! environmental level, participants revealed beliefs of men's superiority over women and these were reported to be brought about by socialization in society. Based on this study recommendations are made for possible interventions to prevent incidences of sexual violence against women in tertiary educational institutions in South Africa. These include orientation programmes for first year students that will assist them adjust to University lifestyle. Life skills education should be aimed at changing men's negative attitudes and aggressive behaviours as these have detrimental effects towards partners. Social events aimed at entertaining students should be closely monitored in order to eliminate every kind of unacceptable behaviour. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2007.

In the academic year 1996/1997, the number of women undergraduates enrolled on degree courses at UK universities for the first time in history surpassed the number of men (Dyhouse, 2006). Year-on-year, statistics continue to indicate that women outnumber men in higher education (HE). Feminist scholars have noted that, as a consequence, women’s participation in HE has in recent years been constructed as an unequivocal ‘success story’, with women widely regarded as both outnumbering and outperforming men (Dyhouse, 2006; Leathwood and Read, 2009). This thesis seeks to trouble the notion that women really are the educational ‘winners’ by virtue of their gains at the point of access by highlighting some enduring gender inequalities within HE – that is, women's uneven experiences of the cultures and structures of HE by gender, class, ethnicity and discipline. Using a qualitative case study design, this thesis seeks to explore the everyday ‘lived’ experience of a small number of women undergraduates studying either a science, technology, engineering or mathematical (STEM) discipline or arts/humanities discipline at one high-performing British university. Using a combination of focus group interviews and 14 longitudinal case studies of individual women (comprising participant-kept diaries, in-depth interviews and email interviews), this study seeks to provide a detailed understanding of women's lives both inside and outside of their course and their negotiations of academic achievement, disentangling some of the complex processes involved in identifying with, and specializing in a discipline over time. In this study, a ‘patchwork’ theoretical approach has been adopted in order to conceptualise women’s identities, incorporating insights from feminist post-structural theory, new material feminisms and Becky Francis’ (2012) concept of gender monoglossia and heteroglossia as re-worked from Bakhtin (1981, 1987). This study indicates that women's gender and academic identities are intricately interwoven and often complex, contradictory and precarious – with women differently taking up and discarding dominant discourses of the ‘ideal’ and ‘successful’ university student in line with their distinct classed, ethnic and ‘aged’ backgrounds. This study also highlights the role that academic disciplines play in shaping women’s lived university experience both inside and outside of formalized learning contexts. In particular, the data suggests that the discourses of academic success open to the women were uneven, and powerfully shaped by the science/arts divide. Yet this study also highlights how the high-performing university was constructed by many women as a positive and freeing space, offering up a variety of discourses of student success.

This study investigated the social factors affecting female Hispanic transfer students. The importance of the study relates to the relatively low graduation rates for this population and the fact that the Hispanics represent the fastest growing segment of the population in California. This study explored the topic through qualitative inquiry leading to the formation of a grounded theory. The population was limited to female Hispanic students under the age of 30, who transferred from a local 2 year college, and who applied for graduation. There were two groups: (a) neither parent attended college, and (b) at least one parent attended college. Data collection occurred in three stages: (a) collection and review of demographic data, (b) rating importance of involvement factors, and (c) guided questions to facilitate opportunity for discovery. The most universal finding was that family was their most influential social connection regarding support to attend and graduate from college. This finding was true irrespective of parental educational level. Most of the students felt their experience at the 2 year college was an extension of high school . All of the students had at least some fear about transferring and all of the students held down jobs while attending college. Each student had very a different experience in this process. This led the researcher to caution college and university decision makers to be careful not to oversimplify solutions to this issue. Faculty support was found to be particularly important in this study because the time students did spend on campus was almost exclusively in the classroom. This confirmed that faculty provides a key opportunity for individual attention and support for persisting to graduation. Other researchers should further examine the concept of the Three Connections in Social Integration : (a) personal connections, (b) extra curricular connections, and (c) academic connections. Examine the concept of the Five Stages to Graduation : (a) early experiences, (b) decision to attend the 2 year college, (c) the 2 year college experience, (d) transition, and (e) the 4 year college experience.