Abstract:
Female students who conceive during their
studies at the
university face challenges balancing
between motherhood and studies. These challenges can affect their ability to successfully accomplish
academic goals. This study investigated the challenges faced by student mothers and adopted the role
conflict theory
as the theoretical framework. The objectives of the study were to det
ermine the
academic challenges,
establish
financial challenges, to examining
the child
-
care challenges, and
identify coping mechanisms
used by student mothers at
Kirinyaga University, Ken
ya. Cross
-
sectional research design
undertaken using
snowballing sampling technical data collected using
questionnaire
and
analyzed using descriptive statistics. 69.2% of respondents’ indicated their
children had experien
ced health problems,
41% had misse
d class since having a child. 25.6% of the
respondents
disagreed with the perception that they are unable to
concentrate on their studies. 53.9%
were unable
to access school facilities. These findings will be used by the Medical Department and
the Guidance and Counseling Department to
advise
interventions for student mothers as they
continue with their studies.
