The Transformative Potential of Higher Education : A Qualitative Interview Study of Women’s Lived Experiences in the Gauteng Province, South Africa

Sammanfattning

This thesis puts women’s lived experiences of higher education in center. It was conducted in Gauteng province, South Africa, with a focus on higher educational potential as a transformative process. It utilizes Kimberlé Crenshaw’s framework of intersectionality to explore how overlapping social positions can influence a woman’s life. The thesis adopts a qualitative research design and is based on eleven semi-structured interviews with women from diverse backgrounds, which allows for an in-depth exploration of personal narratives that are experienced. The findings reveal that women continue to be exposed to persistent forms of discrimination across social and institutional contexts, regardless of their socio-economic or racial positioning. It becomes clear that participants develop confidence and empowerment through higher education, thereby asserting a voice within personal and professional spheres that are still dominated by patriarchal norms. At the same time, it is highlighted how these challenges are not only based upon these women’s individual experiences but rather embedded in societal structures and institutional practices. Therefore, the thesis concludes that higher education, based on the participants’ experiences, is regarded both as a source of possibility and a place of disappointment, while it reproduces inequalities, it provides women with tools to challenge and question the dominant norms and expectations of them. Thus, it demonstrates that higher education can function as a transformative space for women, how to navigate and contest intersecting forms of oppression. However, this transformative potential remains limited by the structural inequalities that influence a woman’s life choices and empowerment.