A capabilities approach to female graduates’ post-secondary academic and career-related goal pursuit in Siem Reap Cambodia

Abstract

This research uses Sen’s capabilities approach to examine two central questions: “how do female graduates, in Siem Reap, Cambodia, achieve their academic and career-related post-secondary goals?” and “how do personal, social and environmental factors contribute to or inhibit their post-secondary goal achievement?” Individual interviews with fifteen female secondary school graduates around Siem Reap, Cambodia revealed that interactions of environmental, social and personal factors are powerful forces in goal attainment, and that creative navigation of these factors, which supports Sen’s concept of instrumental agency, forms the foundation of academic and career-related post-secondary goal achievement for female graduates. Of particular importance is female graduates’ engagement of a number of external supporting factors, guiding the identification of multiple paths to their post-secondary career and academic pursuits. The findings contribute to the body of literature in girls’ resilience, education and well-being, which supports national development in Cambodia and indicates a need for a holistic approach to supporting post-secondary pursuits.