| Literature shows there is a rich, cultural history of the lived experiences of the pioneers of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS Church). The members of the church body today also have lived cultural experiences of their own. As a result, this qualitative, critical ethnography research study utilized face-to-face, semi-structured, open-ended interview techniques to collect data from LDS women between the ages of 18 and 30 who were members of the LDS Church. The purpose was to discover the lived cultural experiences pertaining to the women's priorities as it relates to motherhood and higher education. Observation techniques and a focus group were conducted to add to the data. The participants were recruited from a southwestern U.S. state, and purposive sampling was used for the selection of the participants. Findings from the study revealed LDS women have strong beliefs and values tied to higher education, motherhood, family, and faith, the primary focus of which was higher education; motherhood was secondary. This study added to the limited research addressing the lived cultural experiences of LDS women today. |
