Gender-related policy guidelines’ impact on rural female students’ participation in sciences at advanced level

Abstract

The number of rural female students participating in sciences at the Advanced Level in Zimbabwe, is conspicuously under-represented. It is in this context that this study was centred among others issues on identifying policy guidelines that are used to initiate rural female students’ participation in sciences. In addition, this paper aims to show how these guidelines have been used to instigate rural female students’ participation in sciences. These laid the ground for the paper to establish the impact of these policy guidelines on rural female students' participation in sciences at the Advanced Level. This idea was grounded in a methodological approach comprised of the transformative paradigm, and qualitative approach. The sample comprised of thirty participants who were purposively selected from rural female students doing sciences or other subjects at the Advanced Level. A content analysis was used in order to collect data generated through the document analysis, the focus group discussions, and in-depth personal interviews. One of the major highlights was that though there existed various gender-related policies guidelines (i.e., international treaties, national and school-based), participants had limited knowledge about them. In, addition, this study revealed that though these guidelines were in existence their application in promoting the participation of rural female students in sciences at Advanced Level was still not systematic. Thus, there existed a gap between policy intentions and the reality on the ground pertaining to the promotion of rural female students’ participation in sciences. This was more pronounced in the selected rural secondary schools where female students are under-represented in sciences at Advanced Level. Hence, the conclusion that though policy guidelines were recognized, they are yet to have an impact on rural female students’ participation in sciences at Advanced Level. This creates the need to encourage rural female students to take a centre stage in all activities earmarked at empowering them.

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