Jatau, Phebe Veronica2010-10-072010-10-072010-07https://hdl.handle.net/11299/94449University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. July 2010. Major: Education, Curriculum and Instruction. Advisor: Dr. Timothy J. Lensmire. 1 computer file (PDF); viii, 347 pages, appendix page 347.The purpose of this research was to share and interpret the stories of young women in Zaria, an urban city in northern Nigeria, in order to illustrate how their unique positions framed their identity and their attitude toward schooling. There has been a huge concern about the increasing school dropout rate among women in the country, particularly in northern Nigeria. The gender gap and inequities that pervade the educational system have remained daunting challenges. Many stories have been told and are still being told about these women and their ability or inability to access formal education. Most of the literature that examines this phenomenon comes at the problem from a quantitative research approach which beclouds important nuances. As such, a one-size-fits-all approach has been used to promote women's education in Nigeria without recognizing difference. In my research, the complexities and complications involved in the schooling process of these women were uncovered in order to deepen understanding about the issues that they grappled with as they went to school. Qualitative research methods, particularly interviews and deep conversations, were used to elicit the seventeen young women's (between the ages of 18 and 30) experiences. I chose these women purposively using criterion sampling and snowballing. Some women self-selected themselves to participate. Postmodernism, postcolonial feminism, socio-cultural perspectives on literacy, and funds of knowledge were theoretical frameworks that helped me to understand the forces at work in these women's schooling. These forces included poverty, ethnicity, religion, and lack of proficiency in English language, which together informed their identity construction and in the end complicated their schooling processes.en-USChild TraffickingGenderLiteracy EducationReligionSchoolingSocial InequalityEducation, Curriculum and InstructionThesis or Dissertation