Research Paper - How the Environment Effects Mothers Returning to College?

Mothers Returning to College

Introduction

In the current post-welfare reform economy, many mothers, both single and married have chosen to return to college. They face many obstacles as they try to complete their education including childcare concerns, the financial costs of returning to school and developing the time management skills they will need to juggle work, school, and motherhood. In some cases these women have strong support networks that help them to face these problems, but, in others they are entirely on their own. No matter what the individual circumstance is, mothers who choose to return to college must accept that these environmental factors can affect their ability to learn and grow and reach their full potential as a college student.

Environmental Risks

There are many different ways in which the environment can impact a mother's ability to do well in college. According to Reay (2003), one of the main risks is financial. Mothers who return to school must not only pay for schooling expenses, but childcare, and daily living expenses. For working class mothers this means they must attempt to balance work, school, and family concerns. This can affect their ability to learn in several ways. First, financial concerns and the need to not only attend school and care for one's children cuts down on the amount of time that mothers attending college have available to focus on their studies. Since a significant amount of the work done at the college level is done at home in terms of studying for exams, and writing papers, working class mothers may not be reaching their full learning potential in the classroom.

The second environmental factor is that of relationships. When a mother returns to school, her relationships with her family may become strained. Her spouse may have to take on more responsibility in the home, and the children may need to learn to be more independent in terms of picking up for themselves and dealing with their own schoolwork. Women who have strained family relationships may carry this over into the college environment resulting in higher stress levels. Stress plays a significant role in learning at the college level and many students who are under more than the usual levels of stress tend to do poorly in school.

Duquaine-Watson (2007) argues that women, especially mothers are faced with a hostile learning environment when they choose to return to college, or to attend college for the first time. They are faced with the preconceived ideas that many members of a college's faculty and administration have about women, mothers, members of the working class, or racial minorities. In a study of 13 community college students all of whom were single mothers attending college for the first time, Duquaine-Watson (2007) found that many of these women felt marginalized and invisible at the college level.

While community colleges offer many services, these are not typically geared towards smoothing the way for single mothers to attend school easily (such as on campus childcare, or childcare scholarships as part of the financial aid package). Many of the women in this study also reported that they had experienced a certain amount of prejudice, not only in terms of being a single mother, but in terms of the pre-conceived idea that single mothers are all on welfare This can have a negative impact on their ability to learn since they had to combat hostility and prejudice on top of doing well in school.

Another major environmental challenge faced by mothers returning to college is what is termed the "digital divide" by Duquaine-Watson (2006). The digital divide occurs when a single mother, who may not have access to the latest computer technology, or who may not even be computer literate begins attending college, and is faced with the task of becoming computer literate very quickly. Without access to a computer, or the knowledge of how to use a computer single mothers are often faced with severe deficits in comparison to students who are considered to be more traditional. Duquaine-Watson (2006) states that while there are some programs out there to help women develop the computer skills they need, there are very few of them, and there are often long waiting lists for these programs.

One possible solution as addressed by Sullivan (2001) is the online learning environment. While this offers substantial benefits for mothers returning to college such as; less time traveling back and forth to school, fewer strains on family relationships, and less financial expense in terms of the cost of schooling and childcare this environment does have some problems. First, online schools do not offer the face to face interaction with fellow students and with the professor on a regular basis. What this means in terms of the learning environment is that single mothers do not have someone there to assist them with hands on help when it is needed. Second, women still struggled with the need to juggle school and work even though they spent less time in class or in transit than using traditional methods of schooling.

Implications

What this research implies is that environmental stresses such as work, family and relationship issues, lacking skills such as; computer literacy, and a lack of time management skills can have a powerful influence on a single mothers ability to do well in a college learning environment. The results of these research studies also imply that mothers who return to college face a certain amount of discrimination related to their age, gender, or marital status that is not faced by traditional college students. Finally, this research implies that something must be done to assist mothers who are returning to school to adapt to a college environment, and to juggle work, school and family. Colleges must learn to adapt to the needs of mothers who are returning to college because women in this category and other non-traditional student populations are on the rise, and mothers are likely to form a significant percentage of the student body.

Conclusions

It can be concluded that mothers returning to college or attending college for the first time face certain environmental risks that may influence their ability to learn and grow in the college environment. The research indicates that these risks include financial, and familial stressors, as well as the lack of skills necessary in order to do well in a college environment. The main implication of this research is that mothers must be prepared to handle the environmental challenges they might face that can conflict with their ability to succeed in the college environment. If one is not prepared to deal with the risks, juggling college, motherhood, and oftentimes work can be a daunting challenge. Finally, mothers and other non-traditional are the wave of the future. Colleges should attempt to do their best to create a positive environment, and to reduce stressors for these students so that they have the opportunity to reach their full potential.

References

Dianne, R. (2003). A Risky Business? Mature Working-class Women Students and Access to
Higher Education. Gender and Education, v15, n3 , 301-320.
Duquaine-Watson, J. M. (2007). Pretty Darned Cold": Single Mother Students and the
CommunityCollege Climate in Post-Welfare Reform America. Equity & Excellence in Education, v40, n3 , 229-240.
Duquiane-Watson, J. M. (2006). Understanding and combatingthe digital divide for single mother
college students A case study. Equal Opportunties International, v25,n7 , 562-576.
Sullivan, P. (2001). Gender Differences and the Online Classroom: Male and Female College
Students Evaluate Their Exerience. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, v25 , 805-818.