Mothers and higher education: balancing time, study and space

Abstract

Balancing higher education, study, family life and a professional role is a complex task for many women students. Family support, work commitments and feelings of guilt can impact on how mothers carve out time and space for family life and their studies. This paper draws on qualitative research with women doctoral students to examine their use of time and space. Following a narrative line of inquiry with methods of mind mapping and focused interviews, family capital was used as a theoretical lens to analyse the role the family plays in supporting access to time and space. Findings reveal factors that may act as a barrier to a woman’s success and highlight certain strategies that mothers use to find time and space to study. This paper highlights the important role of economic, social, cultural and emotional capital in the family and how access to capital influences study patterns, especially in terms of ‘headspace’.