Higher education opportunities for women in Botswana were studied through a feminist theoretical framework and a participant conversation methodology. Nine female students, participants in a postgraduate diploma program for secondary teacher certification or a masters program in education, ranged in age from 23 to 49. All but one were first generation college graduates, and all were from a culture that until recently had excluded women from ownership, decision making, and power. The study involved these participants and three researchers, two members of the faculty of education and a visiting Fulbright scholar. The study used an informed conversation method or structured conversations informed by participatory data collection and analysis through interviews, member checks, and a focus group. The researchers and students exchanged life stories. The study provides evidence that these Botswana women realize the extent to which cultural traditions have allowed for the subordination of women to men in Botswana, yet they believe they can counteract that status for themselves. These women clearly articulated their perceptions of the impact of education on their lives, the factors that allowed them this education, the impact of cultural traditions on women's lives, and their possible roles in social change in Botswana. The interview guide and a poem based on the data are attached. (Contains 19 references.) (SLD)