Male students in gender studies: constrained choices and opportunities in social sciences at Makerere University, Uganda.

Abstract

This dissertation describes the male students in Gender Studies looking at their constrained choice and opportunities in offering Gender and Development subjects in Social Science at Makerere University. Chapter one includes the background of the study, the problem statement, the general and specific objectives and a sample of the research questions , the history of gender and the theories about men and boys in the field of gender equality. Chapter two presents the reviews of different authors about the perceptions on the factors that influence student’s choice of subject combination, myth and stereotypes to male students and experience of teaching and learning of Women and Gender study courses. The third chapter presents the methodology of the study and among these include: the study design which was qualitative and the case study of Makerere University specifically CHUSS and other students from different colleges where the participants were purposively selected, the area of study, the study population, sample size selection which was basically qualitative research using the key informant interviews, and indepth interviews. Ethical consideration where I had to seek consent from my respondents while ensuring that they are not harmed and their information kept with the highest level of confidentiality. Chapter four presents the analysis of data, interpretation, discussion and findings; in my study I found that most male students outside the discipline of Gender and Development take gender studies as study of women and women’s issues, male students in gender studies are weak and less intelligent, most of men who drop gender and development they think they don’t benefit from gender equality , most of student their decisions are determined by the bystanders and it’s in few scenarios where student take their personal decisions and many others where respondents provided their views on the study objectives of the research topic. The last chapter presents the summary of the findings, discussions, recommendations and conclusion to different stakeholder, references and appendices.