Probing the Lived Experiences of Tertiary Studying Mothers: Basis for Policy Making

Abstract

This study The Lived Experiences of Student-Moms in BulSU-SC: Guide for Policy Making was geared to understand the plights of the student-mom on their pursuit for tertiary education. This study included all the student-mothers who are enrolled in Bulacan State University Sarmiento Campus (BulSU-SC) for SY 2018-2019. The data was taken from the Gender and Development Office of the said campus to ensure that all possible informants are included. The study further discussed the concerns of these student-mothers from the different departments of the institution from: admission, retention, student leaves, student organization, guidance and counselling, classroom performance and interpersonal relationships. This study wanted to understand the tedious life of student-moms as they perform their dual roles: student and mother. This research made use of phenomenological approach in understanding the lives and experiences of the student-moms in BulSU-SC. The participants in this study included all the student-mothers. In order to ensure that number of informants was maximized, the researchers made use of snowball technique, which made use of the primary informants endorsing students with similar status. This was conducted between the months of September 2018 – April 2019. It was found out that despite the rigorous efforts of the government to elevate the living condition of solo-parents and student-mothers in the country, institutions for education, such as BulSU-SC failed to initiate and conceive provisions in its student handbook that will cater to the needs of student-moms. This endeavour is not only an eye opener about women’s rights but this serves as a concrete example that discrimination despite the effort of the society to improve and elevate the living conditions of women, some sectors as minute as the group of student-moms become unnoticed. From this research, it is recommended that gender sensitivity and awareness may not only be the advocacies of Gender and Development Office, but the office should be bold enough to initiate and conceive policies that will make the of experience studying mothers in the institution as they pursue education, habitable.