| Popis: |
It is a daunting task to balance motherhood with the requirements of academic life. For generations, married women who decided to continue their academic endeavor remained to have household responsibilities. This social obligation, combined with academic life’s demand, generates a clash of roles. This qualitative-phenomenological study explored and described the academic experiences of married women students. The instrument used to obtain the essential information was the researchers-made interview guide questionnaire which was validated by experts. Eight student-mothers were purposively chosen to participate in this study. Results revealed that majority of participants encountered academic difficulties like managing time, taking care of the baby when sick, finishing all school work, and becoming homesick. To cope with these challenges, the participants relied on doing what were relevant, making things fast, multi-tasking, and dividing school and family time wisely. The results implicate that academic institutions may consider intervention programs for student-mothers and may include as part of their corporate social responsibility. Education is undoubtedly a source of empowerment and development. It should be noted that to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs of gender equality and empowerment, women’s education is needed. |
