Masters Thesis

Young Hmong mothers’ attainment of higher education: using familial, cultural, and institutional resources.

Title IX has aided in providing many opportunities for girls and women in the education system. However, it is unclear how young mothers who are protected under this law use institutional resources from Title IX, if any are available, to aid them in attaining higher education. Additionally, it is unclear how young minority mothers who have cultural influences use and understand Title IX along with their available cultural resources. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine how young Hmong mothers use familial, cultural, and institutional resources to attain higher education. From interviewing eight young Hmong mothers at California State University, Fresno, three themes arose: (1) use of the family for childcare and financial support; (2) taking advantage of the cultural perceptional shift on education; and (3) institutional resources are rarely used. All of the participants used familial resources more so than institutional resources. This was due to many reasons but one important reason was that they did not have knowledge about Title IX and their rights as pregnant and parenting students. Educational institutions do not need to necessarily have special programs for these students or young mothers in general, but as an institution that provides opportunities to all students, they need to fully understand Title IX and assiduously implement the policies that will help these students with navigating the higher education system.

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