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"A Window of Opportunity" - A Qualitative Study of "Sex for Grades" as Social Navigation in Liberian Universities

Sjögren, Anna LU and Dorph, Charlotte LU (2014) MIDM19 20141
LUMID International Master programme in applied International Development and Management
Abstract
The purpose of this thesis is to highlight the phenomenon of “Sex for Grades” in Liberian universities as an intrinsically relevant category of study by illuminating the relationships between agency and structures; structures that may be enabling or constraining. We do this by analysing how female students use their tactical agency and apply this to the theory of social navigation, a theory that has not been applied to education before. The data upon which this thesis is based was gathered in Monrovia, Liberia in January and February 2014. Its focus was to understand the phenomenon from the perspectives of university students, university personnel and ministry representatives. Sex for grades was found to mainly be a heterosexual phenomenon... (More)
The purpose of this thesis is to highlight the phenomenon of “Sex for Grades” in Liberian universities as an intrinsically relevant category of study by illuminating the relationships between agency and structures; structures that may be enabling or constraining. We do this by analysing how female students use their tactical agency and apply this to the theory of social navigation, a theory that has not been applied to education before. The data upon which this thesis is based was gathered in Monrovia, Liberia in January and February 2014. Its focus was to understand the phenomenon from the perspectives of university students, university personnel and ministry representatives. Sex for grades was found to mainly be a heterosexual phenomenon between female students and male teachers. The findings point to a duality between how structures steer the female students toward engaging into sex for grades, and at the same time that it is used as a tactic by the females themselves. The findings also show that sex for grades may be an obstacle to the full participation of women, therefore inhibiting their potential to influence the future path of Liberia. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Sjögren, Anna LU and Dorph, Charlotte LU
supervisor
organization
course
MIDM19 20141
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
Sex for grades, Social navigation, Agency, Liberia, Universities, Gender Structures, Transactional sex, Sexual harassment, Sextortion
language
English
id
4443060
date added to LUP
2014-08-06 11:07:24
date last changed
2014-08-06 11:07:24
@misc{4443060,
  abstract     = {{The purpose of this thesis is to highlight the phenomenon of “Sex for Grades” in Liberian universities as an intrinsically relevant category of study by illuminating the relationships between agency and structures; structures that may be enabling or constraining. We do this by analysing how female students use their tactical agency and apply this to the theory of social navigation, a theory that has not been applied to education before. The data upon which this thesis is based was gathered in Monrovia, Liberia in January and February 2014. Its focus was to understand the phenomenon from the perspectives of university students, university personnel and ministry representatives. Sex for grades was found to mainly be a heterosexual phenomenon between female students and male teachers. The findings point to a duality between how structures steer the female students toward engaging into sex for grades, and at the same time that it is used as a tactic by the females themselves. The findings also show that sex for grades may be an obstacle to the full participation of women, therefore inhibiting their potential to influence the future path of Liberia.}},
  author       = {{Sjögren, Anna and Dorph, Charlotte}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{"A Window of Opportunity" - A Qualitative Study of "Sex for Grades" as Social Navigation in Liberian Universities}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}