Shaping Futures: The Importance of Education and Key Factors Promoting Post-Secondary Education For Marginalized Young Women

This study aims to enrich the sparse body of knowledge on the unique situation of marginalized young women, who receive welfare support services, regarding their integration into post-secondary education (PSE). The study was based on interviews with four focus groups of 21 young women, recipients of welfare support services, from Israel’s socio-economic periphery. The marginalized young women described the importance of the structural resources required for integration into PSE: guidance in selection of the field of education, accessibility of education, access to information, support in realising rights, and financial aid. The findings indicate that their perceptions of the meaning of PSE and the resources required to achieve it are influenced by multiple marginalisation factors.