Secondary School Libyan Female Graduates and How They Experience Sociological Factors with Regard to Their Academic Achievement and Aspirations
Open Access DepositedLibya cultivates high-achieving female students but lacks the institutional structures to fully absorb them. The research contributes an authentic, insider perspective to the literature on Arab and Muslim women’s education, advocating for culturally appropriate policies that modernize higher education and professional sectors to harness this vital national human resource.
This qualitative study investigates the educational and professional trajectories of ten female Libyan graduates from an English-language secondary school in Tripoli. Framed by postcolonial and womanist theory, the research explores how social factors (teachers, peers, school) and cultural factors (family, religion, traditions) shape their academic achievement orientation and future aspirations. Data was collected through indepth interviews and was analyzed thematically. Findings reveal that familial influence, particularly from self-made fathers and sacrificially supportive mothers, is the most potent cultural engine of ambition, creating a powerful familial contract of reciprocal obligation. The secondary school served as an important social sanctuary, encouraging critical thinking and a global mindset
however, it also created a “bubble” that led to profound dissonance upon entry into Libya’s rigid public university system and gendered professional landscapes. Participants navigated these constraints through gendered pragmatism, strategically negotiating career and life choices within cultural norms, and by drawing on personal Islamic faith as a vital tool for resilience and identity. The study concludes that these women embody a distinct form of negotiated empowerment, challenging Western narratives of oppression. Their experiences highlight a critical systemic failure
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