From the excitement of graduation to the struggle for housing, South African postgraduate women face an invisible crisis that jeopardises their academic ambitions, says the writer.
Government funding ends when many students need it most. For thousands of South African women pursuing postgraduate degrees, the search for affordable housing has become a daily struggle that threatens not only their safety but also their chances of completing their studies. Graduation is supposed to be the reward for years of hard work.
Families celebrate, photographs are taken, and students look ahead to the next chapter of their lives. But for many South African women, the excitement of earning an undergraduate degree quickly gives way to a new and unexpected challenge.
The moment they register for Honours, master's, or doctoral study, the financial support that helped them through university often disappears.
The accommodation allowance is gone. So is the money for transport and daily living expenses. Suddenly, students who have already proved they belong at university are expected to find a way to finance postgraduate study on their own.
