She was up against all the barriers faced by a mature student ... anxiety about academic ability, lack of time, self-doubts, stress, a "second-shift" style of living, as well as the extra problems encountered by a single parent -- the lack of adequate day care centers or reliable baby-sitters, the daily uncertainty of domestic emergencies, the feeling that nobody cared, the difficulty of meeting deadlines because of so many responsibilities, and the perennial problem of lack of money. She was driven by the need to upgrade herself so that she could get a better job to support herself and her children.

I cannot stress the crucial importance of ... the acquisition of psychological skills. What we, who are programming for women, find is that endemic in women are feelings of low self-worth, lack of self-esteem and confidence in themselves. It is like a chronic low-grade infection. The statement I have heard over and over again is "There must be something wrong with me"... This social isolation, I'm afraid, is part of our entire socialization process which imbues women with secondary status in our society, and their self-images - the subjective part of their exclusion from the prestigious work of our society. What women do is usually regarded as of secondary importance, or as being frivolous.....

The largest response (in programs) has been, and will continue increasingly to be, for those short-term, skills acquisition courses which are of a self-developmental nature consisting of self-assessment, confidence building, goal-setting, and so on, and transition courses such as how to take a first step. Here women's resource centers have and will have vital roles to play in offering counseling and emotional support services.