UNIVERSITY OF DURBAN-WESTVILLE

when she fell pregnant in high school and took care of the baby while insisting that she
complete her schooling.
The families strongly supported schooling and had an expectation that the
participants would go to university. When a parent did not have the aspiration for a
university education for their child, relatives convinced parents about the importance of
the university route. In seeking a university education for their children most families
did not have an explicit idea of where the degree would lead, although some families
had aspirations for their children to proceed to medical degrees. Parents saw the
bachelors' degree as providing better opportunities for their children.
During the university days parents and siblings continued to provide a strongly
supportive role. They provided finances for university. Family stories of struggle in
education helped sustain some participants to continue in the face of adversity. The
home provided a safe place to come to when the university world was turbulent. They
provided encouragement and alternatives when failure was experienced. Families
(Tema, Mjoli, Vakalisa, Magi, Bawa) assumed full childcare responsibilities so the
participants could continue with their studies. More generally families provided support
to their children's families.
Because of the family influence and support in their lives, there were times that
individuals felt pressurised to make decisions which pleased their parents more than
themselves. Sometimes these parental decisions worked out and at other times they did
not.
At that point my father laid down the basics. I had to do exactly what he wanted and was not
exercising a choice. I had made such a bad choice of schools and he had wanted to send me to a
good school. Now I just had to do the right thing. The right thing was doing a Bachelor of Science.
[Botlhale Tema]
Family still provided stability and support when the participants married and had
their own families. All the men, except Mokhele, were married and all had children
during their graduate years. All the women, except Maharaj, had children. Magi was
married with two children, Tema was widowed with two children and Mjoli and
Vakalisa were unmarried with two children each. For the women with children their
parents or siblings provided childcare and took responsibilities for the children during
study periods. The women without partners (Tema, Mjoli, Vakalisa) felt secure that
their children were part of their parents' families and this gave them the freedom to
explore their academic and working lives away from their children. In addition, parents
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