Parental Support for Rural Female Students’ Progression in Advanced Level Sciences in one Province of Zimbabwe

Abstract

In general, the patriarchal society indoctrinates rural females into accepting subservient positions in numerous domains (i.e., education). It is against this background that this study was geared towards establishing the extent to which parent support the rural female students’ progression in education, with specific reference to Advanced Level sciences. Therefore, the study was driven towards comprehending what motivates and influences rural female students to progress in Advanced Level science subjects. Data analysis and interpretation were grounded in pragmatist paradigm and mixed method approach, with personal interviews and semi-structured questionnaires as instruments. The sample for this study was comprised of 130 Advanced Level rural female students who were progressing in science subjects chosen using stratified random sampling. The quantitative data being scrutinised through the use of frequencies and percentages, and non-numerical data was analysed in accordance with the derived themes. The results acknowledged that female students in the targeted rural school encountered various gender-based challenges (i.e., labelling of science as ‘masculine’) in Advanced Level science teaching-learning. It was further noted that there existed limited encouragement from their parents when it comes to them venturing into Advanced Level sciences. This study concluded that from the rural female students’ viewpoint their parents to a larger extent are seen as not valuing their progression in Advanced Level sciences. In this context, parents are recommended to be sensitised on the relevance of promoting rural female students’ progression in Advanced Level sciences. From the results, it is advanced that work on how to transform societal views towards rural female students’ progression in Advanced Level sciences.