FSNT was established in 2005 after a wide consultation with female students from the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) and it became a fully-fledged organization in 2010 when it was registered with Zimbabwe Youth Council and it was later registered as a trust in 2013. The Network’s concept was born out of its current director’s personal experiences as a female student activist, advocating for academic freedoms for students within TEIs.  Being the only female student leader at the time, she observed that there were gendered barriers to female students’ participation and involvement in decision making processes within TEIs and the wider society.

This experience inspired her to initiate the FSNT and her dream was to see the voices of female students in TEIs being amplified and their concerns addressed. Exclusion of female students from leadership meant that their voice was not heard, their needs were not addressed, their aspirations, particularly, were not given space to flourish and those who dared to participate were labelled and subjected to various forms of abuse.