Costa Rican Women's Coping Strategies: Adult Learners Staying Alive and in School

This study explored how twenty Costa Rican women attending Colegios Nocturnos (Night High Schools) employed strategies to cope with stress and adversity to remain engaged in learning. We drew upon the transactional model of stress and coping and funds of knowledge frameworks. The research was grounded in three key data sources: semi-structured interviews, WhatsApp conversations, and Photovoice projects. The two research questions were drawn from women's coping strategies and the funds of knowledge frameworks. The findings revealed that to cope, the women relied on a web of interconnected supports such as their own sense of a strong self, family, friendships, and the classroom. This research calls for broader recognition of women's lived realities as essential assets in adult education.