Including young mothers in further education; exploring experiences and creating policy guidelines
Further reading
Abstract
Support for young mothers who are within the UK education system has been found to be inconsistent and ineffective (Evans & Slowley, 2010; Austerberry & Wiggins, 2007; Bullen, Kenway & Hay, 2000) with examples of discrimination and the perpetuation of stereotypes identified by previous researchers (Dawson & Hosie, 2005; Vincent & Thomson, 2010). Despite this, researchers have found that childbearing can lead to increased ambition in relation to education and employment, and the negative effects of child-rearing in adolescence may be mitigated by education (Higginbottom, 2006; Smith & Wayman, 2009; Sullivan et al, 2010). This suggested importance of education for young mothers has been met with variability in the amount and quality of support.
The current research aimed to understand the experiences of young mothers in further education, to illuminate best practice in relation to their successful inclusion. A combined approach using Q methodology and narrative analysis was used with 5 young women. These women were engaged in further education, and were either pregnant or had given birth during their time within the UK education system. Participants individually ranked a set of 41 support strategies, from most useful to least useful. Data from these interviews were analysed using narrative methods and factor analysis.
The participants identified several areas of support as being important for their educational experiences, these included; having a keyworker and one point of contact, having work sent home in an efficient manner, the attitude and respect from staff, flexibility on time at home for maternity and beyond, adjustments during pregnancy such as uniform and exam conditions, providing information about external support and the co-creation of a support plan. Additionally, factor analysis identified consensus statements that represented types of support the participants saw as being most useful, and a number of common themes were identified through conversations about their experiences. These findings are discussed alongside implications for education systems and educational psychologists. The current research culminated in the production of policy guidelines to support pregnant and post-partum mothers’ inclusion in further education.
