ABSTRACT
This chapter draws upon a Bourdieusian framework to explore the narratives that a group of student-mothers offered as they described their experiences of studying for a foundation degree which aimed to upskill and retain school-based teaching assistants. Eight group and 12 individual interviews enabled 47 learners to tell their stories. All were studying at a university in the North of England. In contrast to the official aspirations of the programme’s designers, many students claimed that their studies were motivated by a desire to achieve a change of career. They maintained that they had experienced considerable levels of workplace alienation and that their employment bestowed limited access to economic, cultural and social capital. As they struggled to navigate a way through the challenges of higher education, they had needed to modify the ways that they offered care to family members, school pupils and teachers. Feelings of sadness and guilt often accompanied these changes. Reframing and revising what they regarded as reputable care partially mitigated against the emotional distress that feelings of being ‘careless’ or caring-lite fostered.
