Younger motherhood and educational connectedness: "The story starts from here."

This thesis is a qualitative, thematic study grounded in a feminist research framework. It explores the meaning that student mothers give to their educational experiences and connectedness. The stories of 26 student mothers have been explored through 46 extended, unstructured interviews and time spent in their schooling environment. Their stories describe their experiences before pregnancy, during pregnancy and as a mother in education. The three dominant themes discussed by the student mothers are fear and loss, stigma and judgment and hope and aspiration. In this thesis it is recognized that the narratives of these student mothers, like all narratives, are framed in a broader set of social circumstances.