The Influence of Gender Relations on Girls' Dropout in Hurungwe District Secondary Schools of Mashonaland West Province. A Review of Available Literature

Girls in Zimbabwe continue to drop out of secondary school at alarming rates, especially in rural districts where patriarchal gender relations shape their everyday experiences. This review of available literature examines how gender relations influence girls' dropout in secondary schools in Hurungwe District, Mashonaland West Province. The underlying argument in this review is that, school dropout is not just an individual or economic failure, but a direct consequence of unequal power dynamics, social rules and cultural expectations between males and females. This implies that entrenched patriarchal structures in social relations of gender actively disadvantage girls forcing them out of the education system. On the other hand specific research focussing on gender relations as a cause for dropout is very limited. In an attempt to fit into that gap, this paper focusses on how existing literature presents girls dropout from secondary schools as an outcome of gender relations. Gender relations are understood here as socially constructed, culturally embedded, and institutionally mediated patterns of power, resource allocation, and role assignment between men and women. The study was guided by Naila Kabeer’s Social Relations Approach. Evident from the review was that retrogressive gender relations remain a significant cause of girls’ dropout from secondary schools. On recommendations, review of available literature calls for concerted effort to address this problem through more research on gender relations in education; gender transformative approaches in the teaching and learning process; and the development of learner cognitive agency (especially for girls) so that they develop an attitude for staying in school until they graduate.

gender relations, girls' dropout, secondary education; Social Relations Approach, Hurungwe district

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