Mums Who Study: Foundation
Objectives of the Charity
The Mums who Study Foundation is a charity whose purpose is to advance education by establishing a scholarship for women with children (mothers) undertaking higher education in an approved Australian tertiary institution.
What is the Foundation?
The Mums who Study (MWS) Foundation is a registered charity that aims to provide financial support to women with children who are studying. At the moment we are only able to offer scholarships to women residing in Australia.
How did it come about?
Evidence! Like any good researcher, I followed the facts.
My own research showed quite clearly that women who are studying as well as raising a family can suffer financially and in some cases, this suffering can be significant.
This is “Diana” who shared her experiences with me:
It's been a huge burden. When I was doing my Honours degree there were times I wouldn’t know how I was going to feed my kids...having to delay paying bills and wondering what are you going to feed the kids other than rice or bread.
And Rachel explained:
“You cut down to the bare necessities. That’s how you survive it”.
Anna left school in Year 11 and found herself a single parent working at a public swimming pool.
"I didn't want to be stuck in a dead-end job with two little kids and be a single mum as well. I really wanted to better myself. I knew if I could go to uni I could get something better."
As Rachel explained, after her divorce…
“It wasn’t a fluffing around thing anymore. I had to get educated. There was a lot of real purpose in it. It was about putting myself in a position where I could properly care for my children.”
Valerie described her motivation to study as being…
“About the opportunity to earn money. Having the opportunities for my kids to do the things I guess we didn't get to do as kids. That aspect really comes down to earning power.”
I knew that these women were sacrificing and, in many cases, scrimping and scraping to get through their studies... but this is a group that understands that studying is a choice and a choice they are deliberately making. They are prepared to make the sacrifices because they believe in a better future. They know they are playing the ‘long game’ and they have hope and faith that their efforts will be rewarded.
So...why the need for a charity then?
Well, alongside the grit and determination I have been witness to over the six years that Mums who Study has been around, I have also seen women withdraw or postpone their studies because of financial difficulties or due to lack of resources required for their course. Putting fees aside, some courses have high associated costs (think textbooks, specialist equipment, long periods in placements where they have to pay for additional childcare costs...there are many different things that crop up) and at times studying is seen as an “optional hobby” by her partner, so women are forced to leave their studies to find paid employment.
We are a brand new charity so understandably we can’t do as much as we want... AT THE MOMENT... but over time we plan to grow and become more self-sustainable through the earnings from our Academy.
Find out more about the Mums Who Study Academy
In the meantime, we would gratefully appreciate your support and if you are interested in finding more about how you can make a tax-deductible gift to support our work, please click here.
Make a donation
MEET OUR SCHOLARSHIPS MANAGER
Well, before I introduce you to our Scholarships Manager - Susan Bosch - I must tell you this:
If you want to know where Mums who Study came from, where my drive and motivation comes from, how I have the self-belief to think we can do amazing things with this Foundation, you must first understand this: It starts here with this woman. My Mom. Alongside my Dad, who also went back to university in his 40s, my parents are the most inspirational and dedicated people you can imagine and it was by sheer good fortune I landed in their bassinet. By their example and because of their excellent role-modelling everything became possible for us. It never crosses my mind to think I can’t do something, I simply think “how can I do this?” and then set about finding a solution. For those life lessons, passed on to me by my parents, I will be forever grateful.
Meet Susan Bosch - Scholarships Manager.
We arrived in Perth, 1992, with 5 children and two containers of household goods still in transit to discover the place was in recession! Any plans we had soon fell in a heap as the only jobs advertised in the newspaper were for 2 lawyers, 2 jackaroos (we had no idea!) and a pastry chef.
Living on our wits and savings for over a year, I eventually managed to get a job as a PA. It was quite a step backwards from my previous challenging, but exciting, position in a university where I had basically knocked on the door and was offered a position there and then. But, children have to be fed and watered, educated and clothed and beggars can’t be choosers.
The years came and went and I was wanting more so enquired at a University. I really wanted to do something in the English language line but my first choice of uni only offered full time, during the day. No good to me with the said 5 children.
Things did begin to improve when my husband started work and at the ripe old age of 46 I applied for a uni place and enrolled in a Bachelor of Communication part time. I won’t say things were easy as I was adding more to my workload of working full time, ferrying children around to school and after school activities and then trotting off to 6pm lectures and various tutorials. What I will say is that I was fired up with a renewed zest and thirst for learning. It also meant that I was leaving my family to fend for themselves, unsupervised homework, eating my “dinner” in the uni car park and driving home after 9pm usually in the dark. It also meant working well into the night, every weekend - every available waking minute.
It took 5 years for me to graduate with a B.Comm (Public Relations). What I didn’t mention was my burning desire to wear a cap and gown before I left this earth! My burning desire hit the kerb as caps and gowns didn’t run parallel to undergrad degrees!
No problem - back I went for that coveted cap and gown and finally got my wish when I did a post grad qualifying as a K-7 primary teacher.
In between degrees, I undertook a Master of Social Science degree but unfortunately was unable to complete it as the prac work was impossible at the time with work commitments.
It could be said that I have a love of learning and even though it was difficult at times to buckle down and get on with it, I was proud of my achievements. Perhaps my biggest achievement was to pass that love of learning on to my children, who went on to obtain several degrees each and even today some are still studying further. I am well pleased with myself!
