Teenage pregnancy and motherhood as barriers to girls’ access and success in education in a South African township: a qualitative study.

Abstract

This qualitative study aimed to examine the ways in which pregnancy and motherhood influenced a group of 16 purposely selected teenage girls living in a South African township to drop out from school. The study addressed the following research question: In what ways do pregnancy and motherhood function as barriers to teenage girls’ access and success in school? Located within the social constructivist paradigm, the study utilised a qualitative research design to address the research question. The data generation methods included in-depth individual interviews with the 16 participants, field notes and my reflective research journal. To understand the factors that influenced the girls’ or their parents’/guardians’ decision making regarding schooling, data analysis is informed by the gender socialisation theory (Elkin, 1968) and Bronfenbrenner’s (1977; 1979) ecological systems theory. Data was analysed using the thematic analysis method and the themes were used to inform the findings from the study. The key findings of this study suggest that most of the pregnancies were unplanned and/or unwanted. As such, they brought feelings of shame, regret and remorse to the participants as they felt that they had disappointed their parents and families. The findings suggest that a number of factors forced the girls to dropout of school. Some were suspended from school (despite the country’s policies prohibiting their exclusion), while others were pulled out of schools by their parents or guardians as punishment or to look after their children. Further, the girls reported feeling overwhelmed by the competing demands of motherhood and schooling, and were therefore, forced to withdraw from school to take care of their children. Stigma and rejection, withdrawal of support, including childcare and financial support, also forced some of the teenage mothers to leave school. At the personal and social level, discrimination and bullying from peers, inability to balance mothering responsibilities with school work also led to school dropout. However, for some, they saw their dropout from school as a temporary setback, and were determined to go back to school and complete. Their reasoning was that, with an education, they would be able to get out of poverty and to better take care of their children. The thesis draws implications for policy makers, curriculum developers, teachers and others stakeholders regarding interventions that would ensure adequate policy implementation in schools, and provision of support for pregnant girls and young women in the community and schools to enable them to stay and complete their schooling.