"A Window of Opportunity" - A Qualitative Study of "Sex for Grades" as Social Navigation in Liberian Universities

Abstract: The purpose of this thesis is to highlight the phenomenon of “Sex for Grades” in Liberian universities as an intrinsically relevant category of study by illuminating the relationships between agency and structures; structures that may be enabling or constraining. We do this by analysing how female students use their tactical agency and apply this to the theory of social navigation, a theory that has not been applied to education before. The data upon which this thesis is based was gathered in Monrovia, Liberia in January and February 2014. Its focus was to understand the phenomenon from the perspectives of university students, university personnel and ministry representatives. Sex for grades was found to mainly be a heterosexual phenomenon between female students and male teachers. The findings point to a duality between how structures steer the female students toward engaging into sex for grades, and at the same time that it is used as a tactic by the females themselves. The findings also show that sex for grades may be an obstacle to the full participation of women, therefore inhibiting their potential to influence the future path of Liberia.