This is a final submitted pre-print version. To cite the article:Posti-Ahokas, H. 2013. Empathy-based stories capturing the voice of female secondary school students in Tanzania. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 26(10), 1277-1292.Tanzania, like many other African countries, has had a rapid expansion of its secondary education sector. This has resulted in large numbers of secondary school graduates struggling to build a future through continuing education or finding employment. 2 Students are faced with the difficult task of assessing their opportunities in the face of various challenges and making plans to build a better life. The research presented uses empathy-based stories to identify which elements were considered important by the students in determining their success in education. The analysis of narrative data represents a shared cultural meaning on the social and cultural support available to students. The findings suggest that using empathy-based stories as a methological tool can provide valuable insights for culture-sensitive and intercultural research through its ability to widen the context of discovery.