In this study, the author argues that secondary schoolgirls' subjective motivations played a key role in their educational experiences during the late 1990s. The author used ethnographic data and longitudinal interview data. Based on the data, the author suggests that many of the young women in this study saw education as a route to independence or as a way to avoid gender-based maltreatment for themselves and their future children. The author asserts this 'push' factor, combined with the 'pull' factors of increased economic opportunities for young women with high school diplomas, led to increased educational outcomes for girls at this time.