Academic Conversation with...Tracy Rogers

by Tracy Rogers

Exploring girls’ educational persistence in Cambodia 

I entered into the world of academia pretty late in life. I grew up in South Africa during apartheid, and never went to university when I left high school. Instead, I worked for a few years before taking the plunge to work and live overseas. I left South Africa a week before turning 21, and have never returned except for two brief visits. I have lived in England, Sydney and Singapore, where I honed my skills in banking, telecommunications, swimming instruction, and teaching English as a second language before I discovered ‘student life’. 

I am currently in my second year of doctoral research and my sixth consecutive year as a student! My PhD research looks into the factors that help encourage and support girls’ educational persistence in rural Cambodia. There has been increased attention being paid in the media about getting girls into school globally (I’m sure you have probably heard of Malala). Some of the barriers to girls’ accessing education include poverty, constraining gender norms, early marriage and/or pregnancy, inadequate school facilities, insufficient secondary schools, and a risk of sexual harassment; either at or on the way to school. There are however, girls who despite the odds against them manage to stay at school and attain secondary school qualifications. Yet, very little research has been done on girls’ educational persistence in low-income countries, with the exception of Nich (2015); Okkolin (2013); Warrington (2013); Warrington and Kiragu (2012). 

Photo: Tracy Roger

For my research, I wanted to know the stories of those girls who had not dropped out of school whilst so many of their peers did. Who, despite being materially-disadvantaged and constrained by restrictive gender norms and practices, had found sources of emotional, academic, practical, and financial support to allow them to remain in school. 

I went on two fieldtrips to Cambodia to work with school girls at two rural secondary schools and young female students at two universities and a vocational training centre. Using creative visual methods, self-managed video interviews, and group discussions, I discovered that a community of supportive individuals fostered the participants’ educational persistence. Amongst the network of family, friends, and other community members, there were two surprising groups of individuals to emerge as supporters of the girls’ education. They were school teachers and brothers. 

You may think that teachers’ offer of support is not a surprising group given their valuation of education. But in Cambodia, teachers are very poorly paid and consequently supplement their income by charging informal fees to students. Much of the core teaching is done during the afternoon ‘tuition’ sessions when these fees are charged. Consequently, many materially-disadvantaged students miss out on core lesson materials. It was thus, surprising to learn that some teachers had offered financial assistance to some of the girls in my study. Whilst others had waved the ‘tuition’ fee on numerous occasions in order to allow the girls access to the lessons. 

 

Photo: Tracy Roger

The second surprising finding involved the sacrifices brothers often made in order to support their sister’s education. According to the participants’ narratives, brothers often took it upon themselves to give up their own schooling to seek paid employment to financially support their sister’s studies. The brothers felt that it was not easy for girls to access secondary school or find paid employment in Cambodia; whereas, boys were able to access school more easily and they had more prospects of finding work. The unconventional moves of brothers in this instance challenge the current rhetoric that boys’ education is often privileged over girls’ education in Cambodia. Obviously, an interesting discussion for me to tease out further in my thesis! 

I am still working through my analysis and have approximately one year left of study. I have thoroughly enjoyed the experience so far. So to those readers who are contemplating doing a PhD, I offer this little bit of advice: choose a subject you are passionate about. It’s a long slog so you have to care about the subject you have chosen to research. In my case, I fiercely believe that girls and boys should have equal access to, and participation in, education. And I absolutely loved working with the girls and young women in my study; listening to their stories, and utilising the advice they offered. Using my study as a vehicle, I hope that their voices can help enlighten key stakeholders about how girls can be supported emotionally, academically, practically, and financially, to stay at school and achieve their educational aspirations. 

Nich, C. (2015). Higher education in Cambodia: Poor rural female students' challenges, motivations, and coping strategies. (Masters), Goteborgs Universitet, Gothenburg, Sweden. Okkolin, M.-A. (2013). Highly educated women in Tanzania - constructing educational well-being and agency. PhD dissertation, University of Jyväskylä. Warrington, M. (2013). Challenging the status quo: the enabling role of gender sensitive fathers, inspirational mothers and surrogate parents in Uganda. Educational Review, 65(4), 402-415. Warrington, M., & Kiragu, S. (2012). “It makes more sense to educate a boy”: girls ‘against the odds’ in Kajiado, Kenya. International Journal of Educational Development, 32(2), 301-309.