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Does Equal Representation Equal Empowerment? A Case Study of Tanzanian Female-Identifying Students and Their Female President

Gunnarsson, Maja LU (2023) SIMZ31 20231
Graduate School
Abstract
In March 2021, the first-ever female president in Tanzania, Samia Suluhu Hassan,
was inaugurated. This thesis explores how female-identifying students in Tanzania
feel empowered by the representation provided by the female president and how
identity influences this. This is assessed through a case study of
female-identifying social science university students in Tanzania, answering to
two research questions:
1. How does the presence of a female president impact female-identifying
students in Tanzania’s sense of empowerment?
2. How does identity influence female empowerment through representation?
Catering to the lack of previous qualitative research on the topic of female
representation and empowerment, and the attempt at... (More)
In March 2021, the first-ever female president in Tanzania, Samia Suluhu Hassan,
was inaugurated. This thesis explores how female-identifying students in Tanzania
feel empowered by the representation provided by the female president and how
identity influences this. This is assessed through a case study of
female-identifying social science university students in Tanzania, answering to
two research questions:
1. How does the presence of a female president impact female-identifying
students in Tanzania’s sense of empowerment?
2. How does identity influence female empowerment through representation?
Catering to the lack of previous qualitative research on the topic of female
representation and empowerment, and the attempt at assessing students’ feelings
and individual experiences, the thesis applies semi-structured interviews and
thematic analysis as its methods of data collection and analysis. Feminist theory
and Pitkin’s (1967) theory on political representation, and in particular descriptive representation, make up the theoretical framework.
The results show that the female president did indeed influence the students’ sense
of empowerment in some aspects, but not in all. While all students experienced
empowerment in terms of improving their perceived opportunities, the evidence
for increases in their actual opportunities and their power to choose and meet their prospects and goals was not as strong. Lastly, none of the students showed a
change in her power to refuse what she had not chosen herself.
As for identity, the thesis could not conclude on any correlation between
demographic markers of identity, or the similarity and differences in the students’
and president’s identities. Supported by findings in previous literature, the thesis instead suggests that the inability to understand female empowerment by
descriptive representation indicated that future studies need to examine another
dimension of Pitkin’s (1967) framework on political representation - namely
symbolic representation. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Gunnarsson, Maja LU
supervisor
organization
course
SIMZ31 20231
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
female empowerment, political representation, descriptive representation, female head of state, university students, Tanzania
language
English
id
9119468
date added to LUP
2023-06-21 15:37:03
date last changed
2023-06-21 15:37:03
@misc{9119468,
  abstract     = {{In March 2021, the first-ever female president in Tanzania, Samia Suluhu Hassan,
was inaugurated. This thesis explores how female-identifying students in Tanzania
feel empowered by the representation provided by the female president and how
identity influences this. This is assessed through a case study of
female-identifying social science university students in Tanzania, answering to
two research questions:
1. How does the presence of a female president impact female-identifying
students in Tanzania’s sense of empowerment?
2. How does identity influence female empowerment through representation?
Catering to the lack of previous qualitative research on the topic of female
representation and empowerment, and the attempt at assessing students’ feelings
and individual experiences, the thesis applies semi-structured interviews and
thematic analysis as its methods of data collection and analysis. Feminist theory
and Pitkin’s (1967) theory on political representation, and in particular descriptive representation, make up the theoretical framework.
The results show that the female president did indeed influence the students’ sense
of empowerment in some aspects, but not in all. While all students experienced
empowerment in terms of improving their perceived opportunities, the evidence
for increases in their actual opportunities and their power to choose and meet their prospects and goals was not as strong. Lastly, none of the students showed a
change in her power to refuse what she had not chosen herself.
As for identity, the thesis could not conclude on any correlation between
demographic markers of identity, or the similarity and differences in the students’
and president’s identities. Supported by findings in previous literature, the thesis instead suggests that the inability to understand female empowerment by
descriptive representation indicated that future studies need to examine another
dimension of Pitkin’s (1967) framework on political representation - namely
symbolic representation.}},
  author       = {{Gunnarsson, Maja}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Does Equal Representation Equal Empowerment? A Case Study of Tanzanian Female-Identifying Students and Their Female President}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}