Browsing by Author "Singh, Suchitra."

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A sociological study of the family influences, educational experiences and aspirations of a group of South African Indian female students at the University of Durban-Westville.
(1995) Singh, Suchitra.; Jansen, Jonathan David.
Abstract not available.
The challenges faced by teenage mothers when balancing their child rearing responsibilities with academic excellence in three secondary schools in Inanda.
(2006) Zondo, Mthokozisi Stephen.; Singh, Suchitra.
The focus ofthe study is on the provision ofequitable education to girls who leave school due to their pregnancy related predicaments. The study explores the challenges faced by these young women in schools. The study was conducted in an informal settlement on the outskirts of eThekwini. Through the employment ofqualitative methods, using semi structured interviews and open-ended questionnaires I was able to show that in a country which ensures access and success ofevery child to education without learners being unfairly discriminated in any way, teenage-mothers face hardships in balancing their educational needs and social responsibilities. Through a series ofinterviews the study draws attention to some ofthe challenges facing the education of female learners who have children while at school and endeavoured to uncover the ways in which schools respond to the needs ofthese teenage-mothers. The findings ofthe study outlined the challenges faced by teenage mothers in schools and the role played by the school. The study concluded with the implication and recommendations for all stakeholders involved in the education process.
The effects of sexual harassment on rural secondary school female learners in Ndwedwe circuit, KZN.
(2006) Ntuli, Thabisile Kim.; Singh, Suchitra.
Schools face a serious problem of sexual harassment inflicted on female
Factors that explain gender based-violence [sic] amongst secondary school learners in the Inanda area.
(2006) Nkani, Frances Nomvuyo.; Singh, Suchitra.; Singh, Suchitra.
The prevalence of gender-based violence in South African schools has been identified by the research and the Department of Education has acknowledged its existence. However, little has been done to alleviate the problem. Female learners are continually victimized by male learners at school. The purpose of this study was to examine the factors that explain gender-based violence amongst learners from three secondary schools in the Inanda area. Inanda is a predominantly informal settlement area on the outskirts of Durban, in South Africa. This study has largely focussed on female learners as victims of gender-based violence perpetrated by male learners. Both quantitative and qualitative methods had been adopted through which data was collected. School records were reviewed and one perpetrator and the victim were chosen from each school. The two participants were then, interviewed in order to get both perspectives. The data collected revealed that there are other kinds of gender-based violence besides those that were identified from the records review. The findings from the interviews outlined the factors that explain gender-based violence in schools. In conclusion, some recommendations were made in the light of the findings.
Gender imbalances in positions of leadership at schools.
(2003) Nandraj, Shameel.; Singh, Suchitra.
In South Africa women are grossly under-represented in educational management. This study reports on the possible reasons for gender imbalances in positions of leadership at schools. The study uses feminist theories as a lens to understand the various forces that give rise to gender imbalances in positions of leadership at schools. In order to arrive at an understanding of how women managers perceive their under-representation in school management, quantitative data was gathered from 53 women managers in the North Durban Region using the survey questionnaire. This data was used to provide the study with baseline information to pave the way for an in-depth qualitative study. As part of the qualitative study, four respondents were selected using the purposive sampling technique to provide rich data. The data was then collated with the intention of understanding possible reasons for gender imbalances from the perspective of women educators within a broad social, political and historical context. Evidence from the data reveals that while gender equity policies have signaled the need for social justice and transformation of management structures in schools, there appears to be a serious disjuncture between policy and practice. It is apparent that equity policies have failed to address the 'gendered' crisis at grassroots level. Men's dominance in educational management and the numerical marginalisation of women remains a hurdle. Data reveals that women are highly qualified, highly skilled and intrinsically motivated, and yet grossly under-represented in management structures in schools. The women managers in this study reflected on the gender stereotyping that pervades both their personal and professional roles. They recommend the creation of organisational cultures at schools that reflect a commitment to gender equity.
Intruders in the sacred grove of science? : a critical analysis of women academics' participation in research in the humanities and social sciences.
(2000) Singh, Suchitra.; Jansen, Jonathan David.; Patitu, Carol.
Knowledge production or research in South Africa, as elsewhere in the world, does not occur within 'innocent' spaces devoid of personal, social, political, economic and cultural contexts. Research in the Humanities and Social Sciences has been largely the domain of white, male academics operating within positivistic, western, or eurocentric paradigms that have consequently cast all differing modes of knowledge production as 'other'. Research has been 'normalised' within particular frames of reference that have often served to marginalize knowledge production emanating from other contexts such as a feminist perspective or a black perspective. This thesis presents a critical analysis of the participation of women academics in research in the Humanities and Social Sciences in South Africa. I argue in this study that the discourses and practices of the academy have traditionally operated to marginalize, and continues to marginalize women effectively excluding them from the arena of research. Whilst there are many studies that have been conducted investigating women in academia, the emphases have been essentially on establishing baseline data such as the numbers and positions women occupy and explanations for the situations that exist. There are, however, very few studies that have extended the analysis to focus on women as researchers and knowledge producers within academia as is the case with this study. I also advance the analyses by arguing for a shift from the widely accepted conceptions that cast women academics as the problem and focus attention instead on the often hostile culture or climate of academia. I argue further that the historical exclusion of women and more especially black women, from the production of knowledge or research has contributed to the exclusion of women from positions of power in the social, cultural, political, economic and academic contexts. My own passion for these issues is directly linked to a conviction that in its public absence, and in the assumption that knowledge about gender is largely irrelevant to the possibility of social justice, lies some of the deep roots of women's complex degradations. This study grew out of my participation in the former Centre for Science Development's (now part of the National Research Foundation) audit of women academics and researchers in the Humanities and Social Sciences in South Africa and was carried out in three phases. The first phase entailed a secondary analysis of the audit data, drawing comparisons between the national findings and the findings for the province of KwaZulu-Natal. Besides conducting a general analysis the data was also disaggregated according to the historically designated racial categories to establish how black women, in particular, were faring. Having established a statistical picture, the second phase was concerned with exploring the qualitative understandings of women academics in research, through the eyes of six black women academics from KwaZulu-Natal. The six women in the study were selected from the University of Durban-Westville, the University of Zululand (both historically disadvantaged institutions) and the University of Natal (a historically advantaged institution). Although it is my contention that all research is necessarily autobiographical, the third phase of the study turned my 'subtext' of being the researcher who is simultaneously 'other' into 'text'. In the autobiographical data I author and reflect on my own experiences as an academic and researcher who is 'other'. Conducted in a style that challenges the mainstream or what is described as 'male-stream' conventions and understandings of research practice, I inscribe the personal into the 'scientific' by employing an autobiographical, feminist 'gaze' throughout this study. The narrative style of communicating parts of the study to the audience, and my attempt to blur the divide between researcher and researched, express a significant feminist desire to infuse the generic aspects of feminist theory, feminist methodology, feminist practice and feminist politics into each other. Finally the insights gained from this study about the general participation of women academics in research and more especially, the position and experiences of black women academics, including myself, achieve many objectives. Not only does it provide baseline information for the province of KwaZulu-Natal in relation to the national trends but also serves to unpack this baseline information with respect to the historically designated racial categories and deepens our understandings of the problems through insights into the day-to-day lived experiences of black women in particular. All of which are integral to informing equity and redress initiatives designed to bring about transformation and democratisation in the arena of research in the humanities and social sciences.
Pregnant at the wrong time : experiences of being a pregnant young woman while schooling : selected Lesotho cases.
(2005) Mokobocho-Mohlakoana, Karabo M.; Singh, Suchitra.
This study is an exploration of participants' experiences of being pregnant as young women. The study attempts to respond to the following set of questions: What are the issues that surround young women's pregnancy in general? How has history shaped the construction of womanhood, family, sexuality, motherhood and young women's pregnancy? What are the beliefs, perceptions and policies surrounding young women's pregnancy and that underlie responses to it and how might they (beliefs, perceptions and policies) be changed? How do issues of sexually transmitted infections and HIV/AIDS among young women interact with issues of pregnancy? What are the ways in which schools, students and pregnant young women handle the issue of pregnancy, the continuation of pregnancy while schooling, and the implications or impact on the women's career trajectories? What are the experiences of women who have been pregnant at young ages with regard to their education (including the implications for it)? The study utilized a feminist research methodology to interact with women who have been pregnant while schooling. In addition, the study employed feminist research to establish the way in which the Basotho construct young women's pregnancy and to decipher the basis for the way this is constructed. A survey questionnaire was used to generate baseline data on the current interactions of school and young women's pregnancy. The storied lives of pregnant women have been shared in the study in their Lesotho context, a small mountain Kingdom completely land locked by South Africa. In-depth interviews were conducted with eight previously pregnant women while some past pregnant women were accessed by the use of focus group interviews. Additional interviews were conducted with principals, parents, siblings, proprietors, and partners of past pregnant young women. The researcher’s autobiography as a previously pregnant young woman was also used. The data in the study was analyzed at different levels. The first level was a narrative analysis of the eight stories, including the autobiography, which have been presented as their stories. Data from the focus group interviews was analyzed by picking up themes from the interviews and presented by discussing the themes together with some of the direct words of the participants to reinforce the discussion. A cross sectional narrative analysis was done for principals, parents, siblings, proprietors and partners. A narrative analysis was also done for a separate principals ' survey. At the final stage the study brings together information that relates to the research questions. The analysis of the experiences of young woman's pregnancy has been illuminated by the interrogation of who constructs these experiences, what the constructions are and what they are based upon. Each story in the study is unique and not dependent on another however, it is interesting to note that the way young women's pregnancy interacts with the family, partner, school and religion has much to do with the social construction. The sudden altering of context of "good girl" to "bad girl" causes a sharp shift of the pregnant young woman's experiences, thus the fluid nature of social construction is observable. The negotiations that occur as individuals struggle to handle pregnancy are brought forward. The study has not gone without observations on the challenges faced. The study has also moved from the context based possibilities to the way forward.
The working conditions and careers of KwaZulu-Natal women teachers.
(2002) Ponnusamy, Marimutu.; Singh, Suchitra.
Women activists in teacher unions such as Sadtu claimed that there was a disjuncture between what the South African Constitution says about gender equity and what is happening in reality. This study was undertaken to investigate this claim from the women teachers' perspective. This study explores how the social, cultural, political, historical, economic and educational factors influence the conditions of work and careers of the women teachers in KwaZulu-Natal. In this study, an historical outline of the contribution of various philosophies and attitudes to the relative position of KZN women from 1845 to 2000 is given in an attempt to seek solutions to the gender equity problem in education. The study also uses the racial perspectives to investigate the feminists' claim that Black women suffer triple oppression - that of gender, race and class. An extensive exploratory study using a multiple method approach, incorporating data from documentary research, surveys and interviews leads to the presentation of a well etched picture of the KZN women teachers. A large sample of 339 educators participated in the study. The major findings of the study include the following aspects: About 64 percent of the teachers in KZN province are women. Despite their majority in the teaching profession, their contribution to education is grossly undervalued. The most visible sign of this discrimination is the under-representativity of the women educators in managerial and decision-making positions in the education hierarchy. This stems from patriarchy which is still prevalent. Women are excluded from male dominated areas through socialisation and male resistance to change. Although about 98 percent of the women are certificated teachers, the majority of them have only a matriculation certificate as academic qualification. This stems from the historical under-investment in the girl child's education by parents and the State. About 67 percent of the women teachers are married and 68 percent have children. The majority of them believe in the tradition of marriage and are very comfortable with the multiple roles they perform. However, the majority of the Black women derive little satisfaction from teaching at the moment because of the tough working conditions and the lack of respect from learners, parents and KZNDEC officials. Presently the Govt's R & R policies cause uncertainty and frustration for the teachers. The work environment at historically Black schools can be unsafe with robbery and muggings which happen in the school grounds. Women teachers are presently on a par with the men in economic terms. The most significant aspect of the empowerment is the ability to leave their pension benefits to their husbands or dependents upon their death, this gives them a new identity, that of benefactors. Through its affirmative action policies, the State is giving preference to women when promoting personnel to managerial posts. Overall, the women teachers are still overworked and, therefore, relatively underpaid. Because of the role overload they are prone to ailments, frustration, stress etc. Therefore, it is recommended that their retirement age be reduced; the calculation of pension benefits for previously disadvantaged women teachers be corrected; women's health be given priority attention; childcare be provided at the workplace. In addition, more research on KZN women teachers' issues needs to be undertaken as this is only a baseline study. This study confirms the women teachers' claim that thus far the new Govt has addressed only the class issues and not the issues of race and gender.