This is a qualitative interpretive phenomenological study grounded in a feminist research
ethic that draws on the narratives of fourteen young women, aged fifteen to eighteen. Semistructured
interviews were conducted to explore the young women's experiences of
pregnancy, motherhood and education. The aim of this Book is to examine how the young
women believed becoming pregnant in their teenage years shaped and influenced their
lives, with a particular focus on their education. The dichotomous constructions of teenage
pregnancy in public, political and academic discourses as either highly problematic or as a
positive and remarkable turning point are critically considered. Attention is paid to the
value judgements that underlie these constructions of teenage pregnancy, problematising
the kinds of agency that are positioned as appropriate for young women.
The young women who participated in this research framed their pregnancy as an
opportunity to change and improve their lives through education. They defined success
through traditional definitions of citizenship and inclusion and viewed themselves as either
socially included or socially excluded on the premise of whether they obtained paid
employment. It is argued their narratives are shaped by feelings of stigma and shame and
by recognition of their frequent positioning as 'problems' to be fixed. It is asserted that both
constructions of teenage pregnancy as either 'negative' or as a 'positive' turning are
invariably problematic as both overtly value and uncritically privilege education and
employment. It is argued that both constructions position young women as projects to be
worked on and to be transformed and improved, providing a limited and limiting definition
of a successful and positive life.
