THE EXERCISE OF MULTIPLE SOCIAL ROLES BY FEMALE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS ATTENDING EVENING CLASSES: a study at the Faculty of Education of the Eduardo Mondlane University

Abstract

Women have been playing more social roles in society. This fact can be observed in many women groups, including those that attend evening classes, who, apart from being students, still have many other social roles. From these observations, this study was conducted with the following aims: (a) to identify the main social roles played by female university students that attend evening classes; and (b) to understand the strategies used by those students to conciliate their multiple social roles with the role of university students.  Building on qualitative data collection and descriptive-exploratory approach, the study was developed under the ethnographic methodology. A semi-structured interview and a social-demographic questionnaire were administered to 15 female students, selected throughout a non-probability sampling, based on purposive and snowball criteria. Data analysis was attained through the Content Analysis technique. The findings confirm that female university students do play multiple social roles according to the roles’ attributed means. On the other hand, the study reveals that, preferably, the strategies used by those students to conciliate their multiple social roles are based on personal resources and on social support, as described by the coping theory.