Educational trajectories of student mothers and fathers in differentiated universities: UIA and UAM-C

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to analyze the educational paths of students who are also mothers and fathers. We worked with the ethnographic method, for which the authors carried out frequent visits during a year and a half to two Mexican universities: the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM), Cuajimalapa Unit, and the Universidad Iberoamericana (UIA). Twenty-four interviews were conducted with students who are also parents at both institutions, and it was found that both mothers and fathers who are enrolled at the university have disadvantages in terms of educational continuity and difficulty in combining academic and family responsibilities. It was confirmed that women invest more time in caregiving, while men use to combine paid work with educational activities. Finally, there are inequalities in educational outcomes according to social origin; thus, mothers and fathers who come from low socioeconomic strata have cumulative disadvantages that make it difficult for them to fulfill their credits and to graduate from higher education.