The significance of post-secondary education in Newfoundland: a comparison between the provincial government's white paper on public post-secondary education (2005) and rural women enrolled in liberal arts undergraduate degrees

Bourgeois, Monique F. (Monique Frances) (2009) The significance of post-secondary education in Newfoundland: a comparison between the provincial government's white paper on public post-secondary education (2005) and rural women enrolled in liberal arts undergraduate degrees. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

This thesis examines the significance of post-secondary education for rural Newfoundland women studying liberal arts degrees, and the fit of these experiences and perspectives with Newfoundland and Labrador education policy, as represented in Foundation for Success: White Paper on Public Post-Secondary Education (2005). The research involves semi-structured interviews with eight rural women enrolled in the Faculty of Arts at Memorial University of Newfoundland in 2006/2007, and a qualitative textual analysis of the White Paper. Data were analyzed comparatively using Smith's (1987; 1990a; 2005) theories of institutional texts, neoliberal and critical theories of education (Hart, 1992), Smith's standpoint theory, and social constructionist theories of gender and place (Massey, 1994; McDowell, 1999). I identify five themes in the White Paper collectively portraying post-secondary education as a means to achieve individual and provincial economic success. While rural women do speak of their education in ways consistent with the White Paper, their experiences and perspectives are much more complex, being contingent upon gender and place. I discuss thirteen overlapping themes characterizing the significance of liberal arts education for rural women, and recommend policy strategies that account for the contextual nature and non-economic aspects of rural women's decision making and their liberal arts degrees.

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