WLA 2018 Report - Draft 1-2

Methodology
The report is grounded in insights gained by analysing data from primary and secondary research
we conducted with the aim to understand gender parity issues within universities, the work place in
Africa and more importantly here at ALU.
Primary Research
Our primary research comprised of an online
survey and focus group discussions. The
primary research has excluded First year
students as at the time of research (February,
2018) as they had only been at ALU for a
period of 4 months, and we believed their
experience is relatively limited.
Secondary research
Our secondary research encompassed critical
literature review of gender parity reports from
corporates operating in Africa and top-tier
universities across the globe. Some of the key
reports reviewed include Women Matter
Africa (Mckinsey, 2016), Women in the
workplace (Mckinsey, 2017), Gender disparity
in South Africa (Bain, 2017), The status of
undergraduate women at MIT (MIT, 2016) and
The simple truth (American Association of
university women, 2017) and Mckinsey Global
Institute Report (MGI, 2017). In reviewing
these reports, we have gained insights on
[Add insights that we were looking for in the
reports]. Another aspect of our secondary
research was evaluating key articles and
journals on the history of African women and
their evolution in tertiary institutions
Online Survey
Our online survey consisting of 38 questions was
distributed to 132 selected sample of students
(52% of the population size) and received rate
responses and received an 88.6% response rate
accounting 117 students. Survey respondents were
47% Female and 53% Male, fairly representing the
student body composition of 41% Female and
59% Male students. In order to select online
survey participants, a stratified sampling was used
to to ensure proportional representation of
gender, year of study and the different majors.
Survey results were then analysed and discussed
by using group comparison, T-test analysis to
determine significant differences between female
and male groups being compared under various
variables.
Focus group discussions
We held a total of 6 focus group discussion with
close to 50 selected sample of students. The
students were grouped according to gender, study
year and major alternatively for the different group
discussions held. Stories shared in focus group
discussions were used to give an in-depth
perspective of gender parity issues that stood in
our online survey responses.
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