A brilliant African Lady earns PhD in Statistics while nursing her new-𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 twins, celebrates achievements.

Jesca Batidzirai, a brilliant scholar from Zimbabwe, has achieved incredible success by earning her PhD in Statistics from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, all while nursing her new𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 twins.

Jesca, a lecturer at the university’s School of Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science, focused her doctoral research on the small town of Mtubatuba on the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast.

Her study examined marriage trends, including the ages at which people marry, the reasons marriages fail, and how individuals transition through life changes. “This PhD journey began before I got married, and at that time, marriage was not even on my mind. But now, it feels like it prepared me for marriage,” she shared.

Jesca’s research revealed significant findings, including that many girls under 18 are forced into marriage after becoming pregnant due to familial pressures and the stigma of pregnancy.

“Those less educated tend to marry and divorce earlier compared to those with higher education. Similarly, individuals with no income enter marriage quicker than those with more financial stability,” she explained.

She also advised parents to focus on building their 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren’s careers to prevent situations where young people enter marriages prone to abuse under societal or financial pressures. Additionally, her research found that men remarry faster than women after losing a partner.

In the middle of her PhD journey, Jesca discovered she was pregnant. While adjusting to the news, she and her husband were further surprised to learn they were expecting twins.

“I didn’t know whether to be happy or worried, especially since our financial situation wasn’t great at the time. We had planned for one 𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑦, but suddenly, it was two. It took me two weeks to accept the situation and start planning for twins,” she recalled.

Jesca said her identical twin boys, Nicholas and Xavier, were 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 just as she was completing corrections to her thesis. Now a year later, the twins and their 3-year-old sister Yolanda all joined her during her graduation.

She expressed deep gratitude to her parents, her 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren—who she described as her greatest inspiration—and her supervisors for being supportive.

“Having twin boys while completing a PhD was not easy, but this journey has fueled my drive to inspire girls to pursue their academic dreams without hesitation, regardless of societal biases,” she said.

As a dedicated researcher and lecturer with a passion for the mental health and well-being of women, Jesca is determined to encourage more young girls to take up mathematics and science.

Looking Forward, Jesca’s next steps include supervising theses and continuing to motivate the next generation of women to break barriers in academia and beyond.