194 pages
244 x 170mm
May 2011


Most studies of adult education align it with life change, but this research-based book tells a different story. It reveals how mature women who are training to work in childcare within the voluntary sector seek continuity in their lives. They engage with activities that connect aspects of their family, workplace and educational experience, and thus construct a sense of personal identity through these linkages.

Drawing on data from 150 students enrolled over ten years on a diploma course in an FE college, Hazel Wright uses the women's biographical narratives to capture new theoretical perspectives on educational and life-choices. Her study, which links to Amartya Sen's Capability Approach, reveals how a vocational course embracing broad liberal goals contributes to the realisation of various unplanned social benefits within the students' local communities. We gain insights into their needs and wants and see how their strengths and choices create stability in their lives. Opening with an informative historical overview, the book concludes with a concept catalogue of the ideas borrowed from sociology, psychology and economics used in education books.

Women Studying Childcare's lively theoretical analysis and wealth of narrative detail are relevant to early years' practitioners and to women students. For educational providers and childcare employers it offers insights that will support the recruitment and retention of mature students and staff.