What are the barriers to being a mother studying an undergraduate degree?

Abstract

My name is Grace, a 21-year-old woman navigating my way through motherhood for the first time whilst completing my final year of university, studying Health and Social Care. I fell pregnant with my son within the second year of university and gave birth to him at the start of the first year. Throughout this period, I found myself really interested in journalling. I would write in my journal my thoughts and feelings at certain stages of both my prepartum and postpartum journey, whilst studying my degree. This really helped me to connect not only my emotions but to also discover various barriers I found whilst juggling motherhood and my university degree. This is what led me to wanting to carry out my dissertation in the form of an autoethnography. I believe that stories shared by me on my motherhood and student journey would really help to inspire other students with babies or expecting. The main aim of this autoethnography is for universities to pick up on the barriers and struggles of studying for a degree whilst being a mum and to put more in place to aid and motivate these students to be able to carry on with their degree whilst being a mother. I feel as though during my studies this year although I’ve had an immense amount of support off lecturers to help me to carry out my studies online there have been a few barriers to my university experience as a mother. Becoming a mom has shaped me in many ways both emotionally and physically. It has made me a stronger person, and I now believe that not only do I have a different outlook on life, but I also have a new focus and purpose in my life. My studies have always been very important to me however, since becoming a mum they have been precious to me. This is because I aspire to be the best role model to my son and inspire him to aim high within his educational studies and go on to have a successful future with a career he wishes to pursue. As a 21-year-old first time mum balancing my home life and studies hasn’t been easy. I feel as though I have learnt a lot about myself along my journey to motherhood. I have underestimated my strength and determination. This year has been challenging but through my dedication I’ve got where I wanted to with my degree. I metaphorically would describe my journey through my last year of university as a rollercoaster. This is because I’ve had many highs where I have had strength to do well and lows where I was struggling to juggle life as a mum and life as an undergraduate.