Researching student identities and addressing AIDS in Botswana and Zimbabwe institutionsof higher learning

The AIDS pandemic in southern Africa has made the development of sex educational programmes a matter of urgency. These should not be aimed simply at school children but students in the tertiary sector as well. Sex/AIDS education must be informed, I contend, by qualitative research on student identities, and should encourage students to reflect upon themselves and the gendered identities they inhabit in their everyday lives. In this paper I try to demonstrate the kind of qualitative research I have in mind by reporting on interview based research I conducted on student cultures at the University of Botswana. I argue that popular ways of constructing and categorising men and women students may facilitate the spread of HIV/AIDS. I conclude by discussing appropriate sex educational strategies and activities aimed at encouraging critical self reflection