Coping with pregnancy in an academic environment: The case of pregnant student-teachers in Enchi College of Education, Ghana

Abstract

Pregnancy in an academic environment poses exclusive challenges for student expectant mothers, requiring them to balance academic responsibilities with the demands of the pregnancy. Guided by Lazarus and Folkman’s stress and coping theory as well as Cohen and Wills’s social support theory, this study explored the coping experiences of pregnant student teachers in the academic environment, their causes, and their effects on educational attainment. A qualitative research approach was used for the study. The study employed an explorative research design, which helped the researchers to gain a deeper understanding of the phenomenon under study. The target population for the study was all pregnant student-teachers in the college who were at least eight weeks pregnant at the time of the research.  A purposive sampling technique was used to select 15 pregnant student-teachers for data collection through a semi-structured interview guide, and the data were analyzed thematically. The study found that student-teachers used suppression and self-motivation, as well as family support and encouragement, as coping strategies. College did not expel pregnant student-teachers as previously done because of requests from mothers to have at least a child before completing college and the desire to have a child since younger generations in society were giving birth; to secure a relationship with partners was identified as a cause of pregnancy on campus. The study found effects including re-sitting examinations, poor concentration, difficulty in studying, and difficulty in attending lectures and Supported Teaching in School (STS) activities. The study recommended that society should be sensitized to stop putting pressure on women in school to avoid most of them sacrificing education for childbirth. A further study could also be conducted to examine the effectiveness of the coping strategies employed by student-teachers on their academic attainment.