Phenomenology of Parenting while Schooling among Filipino College Student Mothers in the Province

This phenomenological study sought to explore the lived experiences of student mothers enrolled in a Philippine higher education institution situated in the province. Participants were determined using a purposive sampling technique with the following criteria: currently enrolled in the higher education institution; has at least a child; 20 years old or above. FB Messenger was used in interviewing and gathering the research data. From the thematic data analysis, four major themes were revealed: (1) challenges faced by student mothers; (2) advantages of being a student mother; (3) managing time in dual roles; and (4) support by others. The student mothers face challenges in performing their dual role such as bullying, time management, and financial problem. The student mothers, however, get source of inspiration, respect, school excuses, and important lessons in life. Their parenting experience gives them a strong personality and an inspiration to continue their education pursuits. Though managing time is really hard for them, they are able to surpass it through time management and parental help. Support systems such as their teachers, classmates, parents, friends, and relatives also play a significant role in their lives. This study provides understanding on how to make tertiary education more accessible and transformational most especially to women who handle the dual roles as students and parents.

Meeting the Mental Health Needs of College Student-Mothers during the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is the deadliest public health emergency in the twenty-first century. To mitigate the rapid spread of the virus, institutions around the globe, including higher education, instituted infection control measures such as social distancing and restricted movements with virtual/remote work and learning environments. These changes, including the pandemic-related stressors, are associated with poor mental health among college students. However, student-mothers may encounter an aggravated psychological impact of the pandemic because of their competing and challenging intersecting roles. Multipronged strategies and targeted-mental health services that consider the needs of student-mothers, their children, and families are encouraged to mitigate the pandemic’s impact. Doing so has important implications for public health, policy, and research.

Spouses of Student Mothers in the United Arab Emirates: Enablers or Constraints to Their Pursuit of Higher Education?

The educational status of Emirati women in the United Arab Emirates has developed rapidly over the last five decades, with females now outnumbering males in higher education institutions. Marriage and motherhood often take place during the years of undergraduate study for women, particularly for those from families who retain Emirati cultural traditions of relatively early marriage and childbearing. This study analyses the role which spouses play in their wives’ pursuit of education, using the theoretical gender and development lens to explore whether a transformation of power relations within the marriage takes place for the growth in female participation in higher education to occur. Spousal behaviours are identified and categorized through the gender and development lens as either enablers or constraints to women’s empowerment and participation in higher education, and potential reasons for these behaviours surrounding gender relations are discussed.

Challenges and coping strategies of student mothers of ‘ucc’ college of distance education: The case of the Cape Coast centre

Student mothers in distance education programmes in Ghana have to combine family roles with work and academic pursuits. Therefore, this study sought to find out the challenges and coping strategies of student mothers at the College of Distance Education (CoDE) of the University of Cape Coast (UCC), Cape Coast Centre. In this descriptive survey, a questionnaire was used to collect data from 175 conveniently sampled student mothers attending classes at Cape Coast Centre, CoDE, UCC. The data collected was analysed using frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviations. The findings from the data gleaned that majority of student mothers (a minimum of 71%) performed a lot of laborious non-academic activities daily in their homes and the combination of these roles with their academics pose a negative high effect on their family lives and academics. Unfortunately, the coping strategies they employed were, to a large extent, ineffective. Thus, student mothers have inevitable academic impediments that emanate from the non-academic activities they perform at home, posing challenges to their academic pursuit. Therefore, CoDE, in collaboration with the Counselling Unit of the University of Cape Coast should provide counselling services to these student mothers to be aware of the academic challenges and ways to effectively navigate these challenges to be successful.

Navigating Student Motherhood in a Precarious Urban Context: Perspectives from Higher Education in Uganda

This paper reports findings of a study on young mothers living in Uganda’s poor urban areas which have been politically labeled as informal settlements and therefore not eligible for social services delivery. Although 59% of all school dropouts in Uganda are due to young motherhood, the national education policy, and practice automatically exclude young mothers. Past studies on student motherhood addressed student mothers of all ages, and were not focused on poor urban communities. The qualitative study involved young female participants enrolled in institutions of higher learning aged, between the 17 and 25 and investigated the magnitude of their marginalization and exclusion. Study participants were purposively selected using snowball technique. Data were collected using life history interviews and observation. All interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim, coded, and thematic analysis was done. The key themes are the context of urban poverty and student motherhood, lack of counseling services, poor law enforcement, and abandonment. The paper discusses how the young women navigate motherhood and education, thereby advancing the discourse on student motherhood in precarious educational contexts of urban poverty.