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Paper short abstract:

This paper expands the tapestry of capabilities literature that explores diverse ways in which gender and education intersect with other conversion factors like race, ethnicity, socio-economic class and material resources, place and space (see DeJaeghere, 2018; Cin, 2017; Unterhalter, 2012).

Paper long abstract:

There is rich literature on rural youth experiences in South African higher education (Agumba, Simpson & Ndofirepi, 2023; Timmis et. al, 2022; Mgqwashu et al., 2020; Walker & Mathebula, 2020; Timmis et. al, 2019). This literature describes how students from rural backgrounds interact with and are shaped by urban higher education, painting vivid pictures of what these journeys look like, including the complex challenges rural youth face to succeed at university. However, little is presented in this literature about how the lives of rural youth continue to unfold after university, or how this unfolding is affected by gender and geography.

This paper presents narratives that were constructed from qualitative data collected over three years (2021-2023) through a series of annual life history interviews, focus group discussions and storytelling workshops with the same group of 34 graduates (24 men, ten women) who come from rural villages and towns in South Africa. The narratives presented focus on what life looks like for the youth – describing the lives they can actually lead (Sen 1999) – and the everyday realities of navigating life after university. These narratives foreground how the youth understand and describe their own situations and highlight important commonalities, whilst considering how gender and socio-spatial dynamics influence the achievement of valued capabilities.

Specifically, the paper describes the extent to which university education has broadened graduate capability sets to enable their functioning as agents of transformation in rural communities. Importantly, transformation is conceptualised in capabilities terms and situated within discussions about various dimensions of justice (Sen, 2009) - as opposed to discussions about modernisation (which encourage rural-to-urban migration and/or misrepresent rural identities in sub-Saharan Africa; see Chigbu, 2013). Instead, the concern with transformation from a capabilities standpoint focuses on achievable ways to improve rural conditions by increasing the set of valued opportunities that are effectively available for individuals and collectives to make living in rural areas more sustainable (Chigbu, 2015). The paper thus contributes to discussions on gender justice which from a capabilities perspective, can only be achieved if we examine and remove injustices that leave women with unreasonably limited opportunities or choices in life (Nussbaum, 2002; 2000). The paper simultaneously contributes discussions on spatial justice (Soja, 2010), which again through a capabilities lens, can only be reached if we identify and remove socio-spatial injustices that leave rural communities with limited opportunities or choices in life.