This is a qualitative study which seeks to understand how five welfare mothers who attended community college perceive this experience has impacted upon their lives. This study examines via in depth phenomenological interviews and life histories how attending community college changed the women. The individual interviews took place over an eighteen month period. The participants met each other for the first time in a focus group which was held after all the interviews. Using symbolic interactionism as the framework for understanding the process of how the women incorporated the community college experience into their lives, the study found that (1) there was a significant life event that led the women to the community college; (2) initially, the women had great difficulty integrating the community college experience into their lives; (3) that they identified with their professors rather than the other students, and (4) that they became emotionally independent only after achieving a sense of being connected to community college and being accepted as individuals. For each one of them, it was the first time in her life that she was encouraged to have her own thoughts and opinions. In addition, the study found that for most of the participants, the community college experience is an on-going process which continues to affect them. Furthermore, the impact of the college experience affects them beyond their original goal of obtaining viable employment to enable them to "get off welfare". It affects them in the way that they approach their world, how they raise their children, relate to their families, husbands, co-workers, bosses, friends, and lovers. Furthermore, how each now perceives herself as an individual is affected. This study provides insight into the experience of these women and what approaches a community college might implement to facilitate the experience of the student who is also a welfare mother.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UMASS/oai:scholarworks.umass.edu:dissertations-9094 |
| Date | 01 January 1995 |
| Creators | Thompson, Patricia Kane |
| Publisher | ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst |
| Source Sets | University of Massachusetts, Amherst |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Source | Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest |
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