Mothering by Degrees Single Mothers and the Pursuit of Postsecondary Education [Hardcover]

InMothering by Degrees, Jillian Duquaine-Watson shows how single mothers pursuing college degrees must navigate a difficult course as they attempt to reconcile their identities as single moms, college students, and in many cases, employees. They also negotiate a balance between what they think a good mother should be, and what society is telling them, and how that affects their choices to go to college, and whether to stay in college or not. 

The first book length study to focus on the lives and experiences of single mothers who are college students,Mothering by Degreespoints out how these women are influenced by dominant American ideologies of motherhood, and the institutional parameters of the schools they attend, and argues for increased attention to the specific ways in which the choices, challenges, and opportunities available to mothers are shaped within their specific environments, as well as the ways in which mothers help shape those environments...
 

InMothering by Degrees, Jillian Duquaine-Watson shows how single mothers pursuing college degrees must navigate a difficult course as they attempt to reconcile their identities as single moms, college students, and in many cases, employees. They also negotiate a balance between what they think, and what society is telling them, and how that affects their choices to go to college. 
 

JILLIAN M. DUQUAINE-WATSON is a senior lecturer in the School of Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of Texas at Dallas.
 

"Jillian Duquaine-Watson casts an insightful eye on how determined single mothers navigate the obstacles of time, money, and a chilly campus climate as they seek to improve their family's fortunes by pursuing a higher degree. These rich stories shatter stereotypes, inspire admiration, and call out for attention."