Desire for motherhood among women with higher education: conflict, change and permanence

Abstract This paper analyzes the perceptions and meanings of motherhood for a group of women with high education, married or in consensual union, with no more than one child, residents of a mid-size city. Data come from sixteen semi-structured interviews conducted in 2018 in the municipality of Governador Valadares, MG. Results show that although motherhood is a desired and valued event, the decision is loaded with doubts regarding the difficulties to reconcile raising a child with the desire for freedom and professional growth. Doubts emerge as motherhood continues to have a prominent place in women’s lives, even within a rather avant-garde group. Becoming a mother remains a significant event in their lives. Conflicts generated by the simultaneous existence of the desire to be a mother and the new individual projects unveiled to women defies the common perception that links schooling to reproductive intentions.摘要 本文针对巴西米纳斯吉拉斯州瓦拉达雷斯州长市（Governador Valadares, MG）的一组女性展开研究：她们均受过高等教育，已婚或处于自愿伴侣关系，育有至多一名子女，且居住于一座中等规模城市。研究数据来源于2018年在该市开展的16场半结构化访谈。研究结果表明，尽管母亲身份是一项备受期许与珍视的人生事件，但相关决策始终裹挟着诸多疑虑——女性普遍担忧难以兼顾育儿责任与对个人自由的向往，以及职业发展的诉求。即便在这个相对前卫的群体中，母亲身份依然在女性生活中占据核心地位，此类疑虑也随之显现。成为母亲仍是她们人生中的重要节点，而“想要成为母亲的意愿”与“女性所拥有的全新个人发展规划”之间产生的冲突，也打破了“受教育程度与生育意愿正相关”的普遍认知。