Graduation Semester and Year

2006

Language

English

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Sociology

Department

Sociology and Anthropology

First Advisor

Beth Anne Shelton

Abstract

This qualitative study explores how and to what extent the family responsibilities of single-mother students affect their college experience. In-depth face-to-face interviews were conducted with twelve single-mother students who were enrolled at The University of Texas at Arlington during the spring 2006 semester. Participants consisted of five white women, six black women, and one Mexican American woman, all of whom were upperclassman, varied in academic majors, and ranging from twenty to fifty-eight years of age. In this study, three themes emerged identifying how these students employed creative strategies for balancing their responsibilities, their similar attitudes toward their journey through college and decision to return or attend, and their sources of support, empowerment, and personal growth. These women, despite the difficulties they endured in their journey through college, successfully managed the demands of single-parenthood and college.

Disciplines

Social and Behavioral Sciences | Sociology

Comments

Degree granted by The University of Texas at Arlington

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