Detección de Cambios

The notion of choice, such as whether to start a family or raise children, implies agency in the decision making process of the individual. The concept of personal choice makes no allowance for the differences in the ownership of economic, social and cultural capital and its subsequent effects on the provision for opportunity. McNay (1992) suggests that the concept of gender and identity of the self is an active and never completed process. McNay (ibid.) further argues that women’s identities are malleable and change subject to specific consequences and influences at certain times in their lives or in their formative years.

Identity within society has now become highly individualised (Beck, 2002). The importance of women wanting to reconstruct their identities through education after becoming mothers intersects in both Brine and Waller (2004) and Wright’s (2011) research around mature women students embarking on access or childcare courses. The emerging struggles and conflicts of ‘risk, confusion and contradiction’ and the (re)construction of identities (Brine and Waller, 2004: 97) are particularly pertinent in considering the voice of mothers. This may ultimately result in an antagonism or a desire to address their own fulfillment, often accompanied by a need to improve their educational background (ibid.). It is important to consider women as individuals with personal aspirations and free will, as well as their potential roles as mothers and carers. In this respect generations of women did not

have the opportunity to have a career and the social norm was to undertake the role of housewife (Oakley, 1974). Women who experienced the homemaker lifestyle through social expectation of the times may want their daughters to experience life through choice rather than determinism (Oakley, 1974: Reay, 1998b).

In relation to mothers trying to attain their ambitions with young children, Feinstein and Sabates’ 2006 longitudinal study for the Department of Education and Skills (continued by Sabates and Duckworth, 2009) found that the beliefs and aspirations of mothers had a significant effect on their children’s learning outcomes. Although the mothers in their research were women who returned to education to support their children’s learning, their increased knowledge subsequently encouraged the mothers to review their own educational background. The mothers began to understand how their lives were enriched by their new found skills and the work possibilities that opened up for them, which directly addressed their sense of identity and worth (ibid.).

The gendered discourse around parenting and the transformational effect on children’s schooling is significant in women’s and gender studies (Dyhouse, 2002). The exploration of whether any benefits and gains achieved by mothers for their children at primary level can equally be applied to the tertiary system. Harris and Goodall’s (2008) study of engaging parents in their children’s learning drew on Feinstein and Sabates’ large volume of data to give reliability to their own quantitative and qualitative findings, which claims that positive role modelling influences children’s attitudes and behaviours. Despite greater gender equality in parenting, it remains the mothers who predominantly complement, compensate or modify their children’s schooling to gain educational advantage (Reay, 1998b).

Whilst thinking about the role of mothering and how women position themselves as individuals within this role, the work of Bell Hooks (1984) is useful in suggesting that the feminist movement alienated many women because of its attack on the significance and value of choosing to be a

homemaker. She further states that white, middle class women considered motherhood as an ‘obstacle to liberation’ and a trap to keep them tied to domesticity (Hooks, 1984: 133). Hooks’ commentary reflects the differences in the importance to some women of remaining a homemaker and the enforced cultural norms of another. The notion of choice becomes significant in the context of this study, particularly given the advances for women in the workplace and the common necessity of a second income within a family.

McCourt supports the view that working class women up until the 1990s were ‘without voice’ (McCourt, cited in Reinharz, 1992: 242). Belenky et al. (1997) explain that women need to value their intuition in order to develop their self-concept and self-esteem, which ultimately brings their sense of liberation. Belenky and colleagues believe that this subjective knowledge or ‘inner voice’ changes women’s ways of knowing and understanding the world. Personal experiences and narratives need to be acknowledged as crucial in understanding the uniqueness of an individual. Personal identity can be transient through life, and women often have to re-negotiate who they are and their changing roles, particularly if they become mothers (Walshaw, 2006).

Research undertaken using a feminist framework inherently addresses researchers’ duty of care for their participants, as the research process is a reciprocal relationship (Birch and Miller, 2002). Noddings’ (2003) ethical and moral dilemmas of ‘caring’ specifically address the difference between being a feminist and being feminine. Noddings (ibid.: 2) suggests the view of mothers as inherently feminine is ‘rooted in receptivity, relatedness and responsiveness’. This essentialist theory of women is a tension for mothers wishing to stay at home and raise their children, whilst not solely fulfilling the domesticity role (Negra, 2009; Ribbens McCarthy and Edwards, 2011). Ribbens McCarthy and Edwards (2011) also raise the issue of motherhood being a core identity for many women, determined by their moral and social standing. This philosophical argument of mothers’ positioning interplays with the discourse of caring and its changing role between the generations. This is particularly pertinent to consider for mothers who automatically assume

caring roles for their children. Further, the increase in life expectancy means many women are now part of the ‘sandwich generation’ (Apter, 1995) where they are caring both for their children and elderly relatives.