ABSTRACT
It has long been thought that women’s greater engagement in paid work and education would contribute to the achievement of equality. What women have found is that in their endeavour to have this ‘all’ they end up ‘doing it all’. Paid work and education become additions to the seemingly intransigent nature of women’s responsibilities for domestic care. Women who return to education experience pressure to ‘maintain their overall performance in all of their roles’ (Blaxter and Tight, 1994: 167). In consequence, they ‘juggle’ their commitments to fit studying into an already full life. They read while ironing, answer the door while correcting an essay draft and keep a book behind the till during the evening shift (Blaxter and Tight, 1994). In addition, Blaxter and Tight (1994) note that ‘juggling’ easily becomes ‘struggling’ given the major responsibilities that women have to manage.
