ABSTRACT
The conclusion presents key findings emerging from the research, how the original research aims and questions have been addressed and how the study contributes to existing knowledge. The research approach is evaluated with recommendations for future research. In relation to key findings, the research forefronts the available choices and decisions made by the women. Influences from family, friends, and school were significant but so were formal and informal engagement with children. The findings indicate complex intersections between class, gender, and ‘race’ which revealed highly individualised trajectories into university but also some commonalities are identified. Moreover, decisions about course and university were informed and strategic. The findings uncovered the degree of ‘emotion work’ (Hochschild 2003) experienced by the women and how this was intensified by the process of coming to terms with the reality of imagined and idealised perceptions about working with children. These experiences are amplified as the women become entangled in neo-liberal policy agendas which underpin provisions and services in the Children’s Workforce.
