EXPERIENCES OF FEMALE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS WHO GREW UP IN FATHER ABSENT HOMES
EXPERIENCES OF FEMALE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS WHO GREW UP IN FATHER ABSENT HOMES

Summary/Abstract: The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of female university students at a selected university in Zimbabwe who grew up for a larger part of their childhood without their biological fathers. The research adopted an explorative case study design and used semi-structured interviews to collect data on the lived experiences of the students. A total of fifteen participants aged between 20 and 25 years were selected for this study using snowballing sampling technique. Data was analysed using the thematic content approach. Results indicated that the majority of female students who grew up in father absent homes turned out to be resilient as they had gone through difficult periods in their lives. The nature of father absence had varying effects on the female students with those who were abandoned by their fathers expressing anger and sometimes even hatred towards the father. A common feature among all the participants was that they had unstable romantic relationships and some looked up to their boyfriends to fill the void left by their absent fathers. This study recommends that future researchers should explore the psycho-social differences that exist between women who grew up in father absent homes and those that grew up with their fathers.

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