Post-secondary students enrolled in Thompson are often female and measure success in different ways than just the traditional metrics of retention and degree completion, says a report by University College of the North (UCN) associate professor Maureen Simpkins and University of Manitoba assistant professor Marleny Bonnycastle.
Entitled “It’s Home: Listening to Female Post-Secondary Students in Northern Manitoba, Canada,” the report was published by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and supported by the Social Sciences and Research Council of Canada though the Manitoba Research Alliance grant Partnering for Change – Community based solutions for Aboriginal and inner-city poverty.
The report was based on one-on-one interviews with 27 volunteer female post-secondary students or graduates of UCN and the University of Manitoba Northern Social Work Program using appreciative questions to explore participants’ best experiences. Subjects ranged from 22 to 53 years old and had an average (mean) age of 36. A majority had children and 56 per cent were single. Nearly two-thirds – 63 per cent – came from communities outside of Thompson. Overall, at UCN in 2010-11 74 per cent of graduates identified themselves as aboriginal and, in 2012, 80 per cent of students in the school’s faculty of arts were female. Northern social work program students are usually aboriginal and 87 per cent are female.
The report notes that, since many northern students are the first people in their families to pursue post-secondary education, they do not have a the same reference points for success as some other students and so, to them, their accomplishment is not just about creating better future employment opportunities for themselves, but also about setting an example for their children and people from their communities and learning more about their own cultural history and traditions. Many of the interviewees also said that having the ability to pursue their education closer to home in an institution with smaller classes and aboriginal course content made attaining a post-secondary education easier.
“Participants also associate success to the availability of post-secondary education in northern communities as they can then stay immersed in their own culture and northern milieu as well as to keep connected with their families who continue to provide support to the students and their children,” wrote the report’s authors in the discussion section of the document. “This way, there is not the disruption or disconnection between themselves and their communities and this helps them to continue strengthening themselves as individuals and community members. When students defined what success meant to them, they consistently talked in terms of their own personal successes and this was very much connected to their family, children and community. Participants highlighted their contribution to a better life for themselves and their community.”
Looking at other indicators of success is important, the report says, because students who are single mothers and may have responsibilities for looking after extended family may have to complete their education with interruptions, which means they are less likely than childless students to complete a four-year degree within four years, which is the general method by which colleges and universities gauge the success of their students and programs.
