There are differential patterns of access to higher education for men and women. For many mature female students attending university is not an immediate or ‘natural’ decision, but something that has taken a great deal of consideration and thought. Samantha Shields discusses excerpts from a vignette of one of these female working class students – Aisha (a pseudonym) – to illustrate the challenges of ‘becoming’ and ‘being’ an undergraduate for this demographic group. Read the Study