Overcoming multidimensional marginality: the significance of higher education for traditionally reared single mothers living in the outer periphery

The current study gives voice to a group of remarkable returning college students whose lives are defined by multidimensional marginality. These students are single mothers who grew up in traditional families in the outer periphery of Northern Israel, where they still lived at the time of this study. Drawing on the women’s life stories gathered from in-depth interviews, the purpose of the study was twofold: to examine their multidimensional marginality in the context of the complexity of social situations they are required to face and to understand the impact of higher education upon that marginality and upon their lives. The findings demonstrate, quite powerfully, the impact of the participants’ student status on their discourse with their previously excluding family of origin, and the significance of their status for their personal growth process and for their relationship with their children. The process of matriculating into a higher education degree programme, and their continued progress in the programme, enabled these women to become proactive in moving from the margins towards a more central position of affecting and becoming a role model for their children, their families of origin and their communities.