A lecturer at the Institute of Gender Studies at the University of Venda, Lucille Maqubela, flew to the UK on Monday, after she was offered a Commonwealth Scholarship to undertake a PhD programme in Gender Studies at the University of Warwick.

Maqubela will spend three years in the UK and she will return to her home country in September 2010. After her return, she will be required to work at the University of Venda for two years before taking up a post with any other institution. This is due to the assistance she is receiving from the University of Venda through the staff development programme.

Her PhD studies will focus on the empowerment of women in the workplace, under the title Motherhood as a constraint towards women’s good performance at the workplace.

Maqubela joined the University of Venda in August 2002. She matriculated in Soweto in 1982 and thereafter worked as a secretary at a dry cleaning service before she took up a position as a messenger in a law firm. She saved enough money and studied for a BA in Social Sciences at the University of the North. She acquired her honours degree from the same institution and later acquired her master’s degree from the University of Pretoria in 2000.

Obviously filled with joy, Maqubela said she had been longing for this chance since she was still a young girl. "My educational dreams have finally come true and I am very happy about that. I will carry the flag of the University of Venda and South Africa and I will work hard. There is no doubt that I am going to come back with the PhD. I thank everyone who made me what I am today."

Mrs Wilhelminah Mabogo of the department of public relations and development at the University of Venda wished Maqubela a pleasant stay in the UK and assured her of unending support from the university.