Resource Availability and Provision and Female Students’ Participation in Physical Education and Sport in Tertiary Institutions in Masvingo, Zimbabwe

The study intended to establish how resource availability influenced the participation of female students in Physical Education and Sport (PES) in tertiary institutions in Masvingo District, Zimbabwe. The article adopted a qualitative paradigm and the descriptive survey method. The interview and focus group discussions were used to collect data. Data were presented in narrative form and analysed qualitatively in line with the aim of this study. The sample comprised eighteen female students who were studying PES as a specialisation subject and two PES specialist lecturers purposively selected from the two tertiary institutions. The findings revealed that there were imbalances in resource availability and provision in PES between male and female students. Financial sponsors appear to prefer funding males to females. The biased provision and allocation of financial, material and human resources tended to hinder the participation of female students in PES. The research also found that there was absence of female role model and mentors, and this was a militating factor in female students’ participation in PES. The study recommended that tertiary institutions introduce awareness programmes where chief sponsors for PES are sensitised so as to avoid gender bias in resource provision between male and female students. It was also recommended that teacher training colleges and universities create more opportunities to train and upgrade female specialist lecturers and personnel in PES as a way of nurturing possible role models and mentors.