From inside the head to putting it on the table – supporting reflexive decision-making for unpaid female carers considering higher education

ABSTRACT

When unpaid female carers consider whether to pursue higher education (HE), they frequently experience decision-making uncertainties which stem from the structural and cultural challenges associated with their roles as carers. Reflexivity is a critical part of decision-making, as it empowers individuals to mediate between the present and future within the structural and cultural conditions which impact and guide their actions. To investigate the reflexive deliberation processes unpaid female carers engage in as part of their HE decision-making processes, this study analysed data from an in-depth, qualitative Australian study with 15 unpaid female carers who were considering higher education. Dialogic processes including narrative interviews and a card sort activity made visible the array of mental activities involved in reflexive decision-making by carers. Considering the more and less productive types of reflexive inner conversations which had been identified enabled participants to reflexively adjust the efficacy of some of their decision-making processes. This study contributes to the reflective and career counselling literature by theorising the cognitively and emotionally complex personal and structural demands of HE decision-making. By conceptualising reflexive decision-making anew, unpaid female carers and HE institutions can better identify and address the structural and cultural conditions which may be influencing their HE decision-making.

KEYWORDS:

• Decision-making
• higher education
• reflection
• reflexivity
• unpaid female carers

Introduction

In order to try and solve a puzzle, you need to have a clear mind, and I feel like at the moment, my mind is full. (Lucia)

A clear mind is not always there when you look at caring for young ones. What was the question? Sorry. (Faith)

Decision-making about Higher Education (HE) study is frequently undertaken by unpaid female carers. It is a critical means for carers to address precarious financial futures (Parvazian et al., 2017) and achieve long-held dreams (O’Shea, 2014). Yet reconciling multitudes of often-competing priorities requires sustained reflexivity. Opportunities for sustained focus are precisely the conditions that are unlikely to occur for unpaid carers like Lucia and Faith, especially those who are financially and socially vulnerable. Unpaid carers, those who provide unpaid care on a continuing or casual basis for others whether children, parents, siblings, spouses, friends or others, are a large group within the global economy. Their contribution has been estimated at approximately 16.4 billion care work hours each day (Addati, 2021). In 2018, the estimated global value of unpaid carers’ work was US$11 trillion dollars (International Labour Organization, 2018). The majority of this care work is undertaken by women, and it is ‘mostly invisible, unrecognised and unaccounted for in [workforce] decision-making’ (International Labour Organization, 2018, p.xxiv). The time spent on unpaid care work contributes to the global gender pay gap, which is expected to take another 135.6 years to close (Parvazian et al., 2017).

Higher education is often considered by unpaid carers as it has the potential to combat their loss of pay and superannuation and address precarious employment situations that are persistent consequences of unpaid care work. Yet the conditions around making decisions can lead to HE being put off or being seen as out of reach. Understanding more about the intricacies of complex decision-making is an important step in addressing the structural and cultural conditions for unpaid female carers and equipping HE institutions to reconsider their pre-enrolment support. Better support for decision-making will address the global HE widening participation agenda (Alsop et al., 2008; Grant-Smith et al., 2020; Morgan, 2019; O’Shea, 2014) and the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal 4 (United Nations, 2016), which is inclusive of tertiary education (Chankseliani & McCowan, 2021). Understanding reflexive decision-making processes of unpaid female carers by putting them on the table for visible consideration is a step toward addressing these global issues of equity.

Reflective practice, that is ‘active, persistent, and careful consideration’ (Dewey, 1910, p. 6) is at the heart of decision-making. It may be employed at every experiential stage and can be ‘learnt, applied and honed to extract value from experience and learning’ (Fergusson et al., 2019, p. 290). Reflective practices are frequently used to review the acquisition and development of practical knowledge (Wei et al., 2022), to review and enhance the quality of learning (Demmans Epp et al., 2019) and for continuing professional development (Brownhill, 2022). Reflexivity as theorised by Margaret Archer is an extension of reflection as it enables the close consideration of individual reflection as well as structural and cultural conditions. Archer defines reflexivity as ‘the regular exercise of the mental ability, shared by … people to consider themselves in relation to their contexts and vice versa’ (2007, p.4). Individuals rely on reflexivity as a 3D process of discerning, deliberating and dedicating to ‘make [their] way through the world’ and inform future action (Archer, 2012, p. 1).

Reflexivity also attends to structural (material) properties such as roles, institutions, and systems, and cultural (ideational) properties such as the stories and ideas that shape the decisions individuals make (Archer, 1995). These properties can enable and constrain an individual’s personal powers to think, deliberate, believe and intend through their reflexive internal conversations (Archer, 2007, p. 11). For example, the care work that is primarily borne by women (International Labour Organization, 2018) involves multitasking and ‘time squeeze’ (Hess et al., 2020) which chops time into fragments or ‘time confetti’ (Schulte, 2015). Further, care work frequently constitutes long periods of relative isolation during which carers are likely to engage more in internal than external conversations (Archer, 2007). These structural conditions, together with cultural conditions such as women being expected to undertake the majority of care work, inevitably impact opportunities for reflexive decision-making. In order to identify the barriers for reflexive decision-making processes undertaken by unpaid female carers considering HE, this study challenged some of the prevalent structural conditions by taking these internal, reflexive decision-making conversations out of participants’ heads and ‘putting them on the table’.

HE decision-making is often represented in advice on university websites as simple and efficient, a reckoning of pros and cons (Good Universities Guide, 2023; Universities and Colleges Admission Service, 2023), and it continues to be employed as a strategy in career counselling (Marks et al., 2021; Taber, 2019). Our propositions are that: 1) for unpaid female carers, HE decision-making is vastly more complex than a simple pros and cons list would suggest; 2) reflexive practices can clarify and enhance decision-making processes for unpaid carers; 3) knowing more about decision-making processes enables HE institutions to support an underserved equity group to access HE. The aim of this in-depth qualitative study with Australian women was to encourage reflexive decision-making and theorise higher education decision-making in ways to support equitable access.

Materials and methods

Fifteen females with unpaid caring responsibilities who were considering entering higher education were recruited via carer organisations and social networks from a city in Queensland, Australia. Women with a range of care-giving responsibilities including care of children, parents and grandparents took part in a series of three, hour-long interviews which were conducted approximately one month apart and involved a range of reflexive activities including a Mental Activities Card Sort (MACS) which was the focus of the third interview. Qualitative, narrative interviews enable participants’ lived experiences to be foregrounded (Reid, 2017) and were chosen in order to facilitate an understanding of participants’ subjective understanding of their own experiences.

Questions in the first interview focused on how participants were discerning (identifying and considering) HE as a key concern, and the second interview focused on how participants were deliberating (weighing up and prioritising this concern). This paper reports on data from the culminating third interview which asked participants to reflexively consider their answers from the first interviews through questions such as:

• When you consider the question of whether or not to proceed with HE study, which of these mental activities do you engage in?

• Are there any additional mental activities that you regularly engage in?

• What did you notice about these mental activities as processes within your decision-making? Is there anything that surprises you here? Is there anything that concerns you?

Archer (2003) pointed to the complexity of decision-making in a 2003 pilot study where she identified 10 types of mental activities involved in decision-making (see Table 1, Column 1). These mental activities have informed prior sociological studies about reflexive decision-making which have focused on concepts of personal reflexivity (Caetano, 2015); the mental activities engaged in by young people transitioning from state care (Hung & Appleton, 2016); and the ways in which teachers engage in curriculum development (Hizli Alkan, 2022). To facilitate dialogic reflexivity, Archer’s mental activities were made tangible as a mental activities card sort. Dialogic reflexive practice is the collaborative consideration of thoughts and ideas in order to generate understanding (Hall, 2020) within the participants’ contexts (Archer, 2007). Card sort activities are often used in counselling practice as a means of facilitating reflection (Dolliver & Dolliver, 1967). Cards stimulate discussion with clients, facilitate meaning making (McMahon, 2019) and the building of self-knowledge (Osborn, 2019) as clients indicate their preferences or feelings about the cards in question (Saunders, 2015). McMahon has suggested that use of card sorts within counselling sessions provides advantages such as the ‘promotion of inclusivity … a tactile approach, flexibility, creativity … and enhance[d] communication and feedback processes’ (2019, p. 746). In this study participants used physical cards to explore the mental activities of their decision-making when discerning key concerns, deliberating about these and dedicating themselves to action (Archer, 2000).

Table 1. Card titles for mental activities card sort (MACS).

1. Mental activities used in Archer’s (2003) study	2. Additional mental activities derived from participant interviews 1 & 2	3. Most common mental activities suggested by participants
Budgeting	Asking specific questions	Best case/worst case
Clarifying	Comparing	Considering advice
Deciding	Considering	Goal setting
Imagining	Downplaying	Organising
Imaginary Conversations	Meditating	Procrastinating
Mulling over	Knowing	Rolemodel considerations
Planning	Praying	Validating
Prioritising	Worrying
Rehearsing
Re-Living

Each participant was presented with cards which contained the 10 mental activities derived from Archer’s initial study (Table 1, Column 1). An additional eight cards with mental activities that had been frequently referred to in the first two interviews were included for Interview 3 (Table 1, Column 2). Participants were offered the cards one at a time, invited to reflect and think aloud about the mental activities they engage in when considering HE study, and encouraged to discuss each mental activity for as long as they wished. In Archer’s pilot study, participants were invited to consider whether ‘there were any other themes upon which their own internal conversations dwelt’ (Archer, 2003, p. 162). As we sought to invite and understand our participants’ interpretations of their own stories, we likewise invited them to use blank cards to note any additional mental activities they felt they commonly engaged in. Participants added another 15 types of mental activities; the most common of these are included in Table 1, Column 3.

Once each card had been discussed, participants were asked to place their cards in piles according to activities they engaged in: often, sometimes, and rarely, and to reflect on their categorisations. Participants were then asked to rank the cards within each pile according to the ones they felt they engaged in most frequently (see Figure 1 for an example) and were invited to discuss their ranking order.

Figure 1. Example of a participant’s mental activities card sort.

Ethical research approval was granted by the Queensland University of Technology Human Research Ethics Committee (Approval number 4929) and participants provided written, informed consent. Participants’ identities and interview content were deidentified to protect confidentiality. Pseudonyms have been assigned to report the findings.

Data analysis

Braun and Clarke’s (2021) reflexive thematic analysis framework was used as the basis for data analysis in order explore our participants’ subjective experiences, to understand these and to ensure that the analysis was credible. Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and member checked. As per Braun and Clarke’s reflexive approach (Braun & Clarke, 2021), a process of familiarisation with the data began, where recordings were listened to and transcripts were reviewed multiple times. A coding process then commenced where transcripts were coded inductively and deductively, drawing on theoretical codes of structural and cultural conditions, and initial themes were generated. Following co-author discussion, a code book with examples of additional mental activities was created, with examples provided in Table 2. These themes were reviewed and developed via a process of mapping of themes on a whiteboard with co-researchers and then checking the data and literature for other interpretations. As themes were refined, they were defined and named and a process of writing up the findings commenced.

Table 2. Coding and generation of themes example.

Quote	Code	Theme
‘I feel like family and stuff is a lot more important at the moment to me’ (Evelyn). ‘I very briefly looked on the [university] website for career counselling and I couldn’t really find what I was looking … I was probably distracted with a kid on my arm or something’ (Faith). ‘it was actually really valuable for me to verbalize a lot of it and kind of have those reflections’ (Kate).	Prioritising Care work consumes thinking time Value in conversation	Visualisation of mental activities Fragmented and isolated decision-making The importance of opportunities for supported and reflexive dialogue

Results

From the analysis three key findings are proposed: (a) Unpaid carers engage in internally complex decision-making which has not been acknowledged or represented previously; (b) Unpaid carers were working toward HE study decisions largely in isolation and in fragmented intervals of time which are conditions that diminish the effectiveness of decision-making but are conditions that can be changed; (c) intentional reflexive dialogues gave clarity in the decision-making processes which points to effective counselling and HE policy interventions.

Complexity of mental activities in decision-making

Participants identified different reflexive moves that were also internally complex, moving back and forward between timespans and cultural expectations. Different combinations of mental activities were identified as enabling or constraining their decision-making (see Table 3). These mental activities overlapped for some participants, while others saw each activity as unique.

Table 3. Mental activities engaged in by participants (N = 15).

Participants expressed surprise by how many mental activities they were engaging in. However, the categorisations proved to be less important than the reflections they prompted, as each participant was able to reflexively consider the ways in which these mental activities were contributing to their inner conversations and decision-making processes about HE study. Each participant self-identified those that they felt were productive as well as those that were hindering their decision-making. Examples of how these mental activities are associated with decision-making are provided in Table 4.

Table 4. Mental activity examples.

Mental Activities	Sample Participant Quotes
Asking specific questions	I definitely do this, but not in isolation, but again, with the visualization of, ‘Is this moving towards my goal? Is this moving away from my goal?’ Kate
Budgeting	Time and effort. The money portion is an issue. But the time and effort thing, that’s massive. Harriet
Clarifying	Right. Cause I start to plan and think, and it was like, what is really what I want to do out of this? Grace
Comparing	If you are comparing your own experience to another person who doesn’t have the caring responsibilities that you do, maybe the internal dialogue becomes a bit negative and you feel resentful or that there are fewer options for you, compared to other people … when you’re in that negative head space, you’re not coming up with positive solutions or practical solutions. Lucia
Considering (the experiences of others)	I’ve never seen anyone do mature study with a family or with responsibilities and it not cause a huge burden on how they manage life. Samantha
Deciding	You always debate back and forth, not really knowing what direction to take, and I think especially because I feel like I’m only just starting out. Ellie
Downplaying (own desires)	It’s not even being happy with what you’ve got, it’s more like being okay with the meagre bit you can have. Laura.
Imagining	I’ll imagine walking into my house and going into my office and setting things up to talk to clients over the computer. And I’ll imagine driving or walking to a business place … I do quite often use that to try and motivate me. Laura
Imaginary Conversations	Totally. So probably especially with partner. To see how it would play out. If I said this, predict maybe what they’d say. Maxine
Knowing	I will think about out where I need to be and I will know. So, when I make a decision, I’m quite happy most of the time with the decision that I’ve made. Lucia
Meditating	It’s definitely something, as a Christian, you want to make sure that you’re living your life the way you’re meant to. Rose
Mulling Over	Even last night, 2:00 AM, I’m awake, and I have to work out, what are my wishes, to mull over, sometimes. It’s crazy. It’s always 2:00 AM. I probably am not alone. I’ve spoken to a few of my friends about this, and it’s a common attack of the brain that comes with making a decision. Nerida
Planning	I do though, love a good thought-out plan. So once I choose, I will be all in with… I love markers and milestones. Nessie
Praying	All the time. Yeah. Many times over the same issue. Faith
Prioritising	Yeah and that definitely stops you from studying, because I feel like … family and stuff is a lot more important at the moment to me and that feels like I’m prioritising a lot more things and pushing study a lot further back than what I would like to do. Evelyn
Rehearsing	Because it sounds good to you, but then you think, ‘Will I sound like a moron if I say that to someone out…’ Even little things … You clam up and you doubt yourself. And so you do rehearse stuff, but I’m terrible at actually going through with it. Evelyn
Re-Living	You take your experiences, your past lived experiences and go, that’s what it looked like then, that may shape my imagining of what it would look like… I think you use your experiences to shape your expectations. Kate
Worrying	There’s always that anxiety. Whether you’re going to make the right choice or not. Dominique

Budgeting and prioritising were the only two mental activities that all participants identified. Budgeting was the mental activity most associated with pushing aside the HE study decision, as it was considered too costly in terms of money, energy, or effort. Dominique had considered master’s level study but remained undecided because of the financial cost. ‘It’s a lot of money that I don’t have. I don’t want a [student loan] debt. I don’t want to be paying that off’. Concerns about budgeting time for study also caused participants to hesitate to commit a HE degree. When asked about the immediate concern when considering study, Nessie said “Time. No time. To be honest, every time someone says ‘Study’, I always think, ‘When?’ The budgeting that would be required in terms of effort was an additional concern. Rose reflected ‘I see other people studying and it’s quite stressful. And do I want that in my life? Do I want that pressure?’ Participants acknowledged that budgetary constraints in the present and anticipated constraints could lead to decisions to proceed with HE study (Laura), to ‘wait’ (Grace) or to decide that it’s ‘Not going to happen’ (Nessie). While budgets were generally conceived of as a constraint on the pursuit of HE, budgeting as a mental activity was seen as an essential part of the decision-making process and is an example of the way in which reflexive moves occur across timespans as opposed to a single point in time.

Prioritising was another mental activity associated with constraints as spending quality time with family tended to push HE study to the side; ‘All of that prioritising has to happen first, and study keeps falling down and down and down’ (Alice). However, one participant indicated prioritising was an enabler; ‘It’s easy to justify that you’ve got all these priorities … but actually … studying is an excellent example to my children’ (Faith). Prioritising also highlighted cultural expectations like ‘duties to your family’ (Alice), and family first, ‘my first thought is to care for the children’ (Faith). Each participant acknowledged that as the woman, she held the primary responsibility for prioritising the needs of her family.

Another high-frequency activity was mulling, with 13 of the participants identifying it as a common activity. Evelyn identified mulling as an activity which she engages in negatively:

I wish I didn’t do this actually … when you mull over something, you talk yourself out of it. … Whereas if you got it out of your head and maybe talked it through with someone … it would be much better than mulling over something … I do that too much.

Alice likewise identified mulling as ‘Probably the thing I do the most’ and noted that ‘I don’t get anywhere. I just do all of that in my head’. Reflection on mental activities such as mulling proved valuable as participants were able to identify mental activities which were not helpful in their decision-making as well as those that were more productive like planning, clarifying, and deciding.

All participants expressed surprise and appreciation of the broad range of mental activities they are engaging in. Additionally, visualisation brought clarity to the inner conversations. When reflecting on her card sort Harriet exclaimed ‘That absolutely looks like my brain. Just like, a million tabs open at once’. Maxine reflected that ‘It’s been useful to have it all as a visual, rather than just that playing in my head’. The mental activities and reflexive moves identified in this study demonstrate the complexity of the inner conversations unpaid female carers are engaging in when considering HE. Supported reflexive practices also informed future actions to progress the decision-making process, especially where decision-making was occurring in isolation and in fragments of time.

Fragmented and isolated decision-making

Conditions of repeated disruptions were evident for every participant through the constant, unpredictable demands of their care work. Building on Schulte’s (2015) idea of carers experiencing time as fragmented, this paper proposes that carers experience fragmented decision-making. Fragmented decision-making occurs when continual interruptions disrupt the process of discerning and deliberating, so that the connections and momentum that lead to strategic evaluation and dedicating to a course of action become less likely. Fragmented decision-making processes have been recognised as challenging for governance during the COVID-19 pandemic (Domenici & Villarreal, 2022), however, the same complexity is not associated with the HE decision-making processes of unpaid carers. This study shows that additional emotional and social complexities entangle their time, focus and energy. Recognising the structural conditions and impact of fragmented decision-making is important to affirm carers and address conditions to create change.

Fragmented decision-making initially looked like mulling, creating the appearance of a lack of momentum. However, mulling was recognised by participants as an outcome of fragmented decision-making when there are not sustained brackets of time to identify productive and unproductive reflexive moves in decision-making. Isolation was evident even during conversations with peers as it was noted that within their social groups, little to no conversation about HE study decisions occurred due to little time, and little shared interest or language for reflexivity, as shown in Table 5.

Table 5. Conditions which constrained reflexive sharing of study-related thoughts with peers.

Conditions	Sample Participant Quotes
Time for only surface conversations:	‘Well it’s not always, you get the opportunity to really talk in depth … even if they get to the heart of values, it’s only ever quite surface’ (Maxine).
Interlocutors with vested interests in maintaining the status quo:	‘I can’t talk to [husband] about it completely honestly because he’s affected by the results. Or my parents.’ (Nessie).
Isolation from other adults:	‘If you’re a stay-at-home mom, you don’t always talk to people. You spend a lot of time talking about Bluey or something and not actually having real conversations’ (Faith).
The language of reflexivity is new:	‘It’s not often that we sit down and go, ‘What’s going on in my head? The cards really prompt it’ (Maxine).

Without opportunities for focused HE study conversations, most participants were attentive to the HE study experiences of friends and relatives. For some, observations such as ‘She’s [friend] studying, so she doesn’t see her kids that much’ caused some hesitations (Faith), as did the way study ‘hangs over their heads. [It] puts me right off’’ (Rose). These observations prompted further reflexive considerations when the opportunity for supported dialogue which intentionally focused on the issue of HE enrolment was provided.

Dialogic reflexivity

Each participant identified that the interviews and MACS activity enabled focused, dialogic reflection on their decision-making processes. They became aware of the complexity of their inner conversations, which they described as ‘chaotic’ (Harriet), ‘a big, tangled mess’ (Laura) and a ‘scrambled mess’ (Faith). This often left them feeling ‘overwhelmed’ (Alice; Faith) and as if they could not ‘see things clearly’ (Grace). Having a dedicated period of time in which to reflexively consider with a trusted other the mental processes they were engaging in, provided new perspectives on these ‘messy’ inner dialogues. ‘Just having someone else break down my own inner dialogue, because it can be quite chaotic up in there. So to have someone go “Do you think that’s because of this?” is really helpful. It’s really helpful’ (Harriet). These dialogic, reflexive sessions enabled all participants to gain insights about their own decision-making processes, to note what was recurring, to appreciate their complexity and to understand that they were not alone in the challenge of decision-making, as shown in Table 6.

Table 6. Reflexive dialogues: participant realisations.

Participant Realisations	Sample Participant Quotes
The range of complex mental activities:	‘This is awesome actually. The main thing that surprised me is how much we think in our head’ (Evelyn).
Their inner conversations were providing direction:	‘Instead of it being this big, tangled mess … I was able to go home and go, okay, well, we want to do study and this is why we want to do it and what’s going to happen’ (Laura).
A reduced sense of isolation:	‘This is made me think, ‘Actually, there’s probably a whole lot of other mums or carers out there that are like having the same questions because the system is not really set up to support us in that’ (Faith).
Their load could be shared:	You know that you might not be any closer to making the decision but you feel like that the problem is halved by being able to share it’ (Lucia).

Through the reflexive dialogues, participants identified cultural and structural constraints that had been influencing their decision-making. Kate reflected that ‘If no one’s ever talking about it and you’re just going back to work because you think you should … you might be missing the opportunity to feel empowered to make the right decision for you’. The opportunity to share their inner thought processes provided personal benefits. These included validating and reasonably contemplating the goal of HE, rather than pushing it away to consider ‘later’ without adding to carer guilt (O’Shea, 2015). Theoretical language around decision-making brought clarity to the processes, the mental effort of the HE decision-making process and awareness that cultural constraints are shared and not just personally challenging. Most importantly, it provided an opportunity to reflexively consider the shaping of their own stories in the present and for the future.

Discussion

This study demonstrates that unpaid female carers engage in complex combinations of reflexive mental activities during HE study decision-making and can be theoretically established as much more than a yes or no, and more than a list of pros and cons. During the final interview, some participants indicated that they were more likely now to enrol in a HE program, while others decided they would not, or that this was not the right time for study. Addressing structural barriers like reducing isolation and providing time and opportunities for supported dialogue led to greater clarity and confidence in decision-making for all participants. These conversations also led to a heightened awareness for participants that their own response to the question of whether to pursue HE study has been uniquely shaped and that their decision is wholly valid.

The Mental Activities Card Sort drew on Archer’s (2003) methodologies and was designed to support our participants to reflexively consider their HE decision-making processes. As anticipated, all participants shared that the use of the MACS was an enjoyable, meaningful, and empowering process. It enabled deep consideration of the mental activities that participants were engaging in as part of their internal conversations. Previously, the mental activities were enmeshed, and participants could see only ‘a mess’ of issues. This led some of them to feel that they were not progressing in their decision-making and overwhelmed by the HE decision. Use of the cards prompted deeper reflections and insights than questions alone may have and enabled them to draw connections between their mental activities and their HE decision-making processes. This activity enabled participants to reflect spontaneously and openly about their inner conversations.

Reflexive decision-making for carers was cognitively, emotionally complex work where strategic evaluation and prioritisation was occurring under conditions of disrupted focus and time, leading to fragmented decision-making. As outlined in Table 3, this paper contributes new theoretically informed conceptions with more than 15 additional types of perceived mental activities added to Archer’s original 10 types (Archer, 2003). Additionally, the mix of mental activities was different for each participant. This suggests that there is no typical pattern for a carer or counsellor to follow and highlights the value of individualised attention. The MACS activity highlighted that structural and cultural conditions like fragmented time and isolation were contributing to the complexity of unpaid carers’ decision-making. The combination of fragmented structural conditions and many types of deliberations could have confounded deep reflective practice, however new language gave substance to elusive ideas. Carers could then prioritise and sort those ideas by putting them on the table. The combination of the visual support and dialogue provided additional ways to reconnect the thought processes and prompt participants to think about how they were thinking. The study participants all better understood some of the reasons why their metal load was so heavy, and what was influencing their decision-making. The MACS also provided the participants with multiple prompts to tell their own stories, together with the opportunity to share often closely held thoughts and dreams.

Prior to participation in the study, our participants demonstrated little personal awareness of the structural properties or ideologies that could be discouraging their HE study pursuits. Rather, the HE study decision was seen as a personal choice and individual problem to be solved – a view perpetuated by neoliberal representations in HE institutions of students as independent, unencumbered learners (Nash & Churchill, 2020; O’Shea, 2015). Without other interlocutors to explore ideas, or sustained periods of time to engage in the back and forth of deliberation, it is hard to sort out the tangle of ideas that can inform a decision. Some participants further noted they felt discouraged about speaking with significant others about their HE study deliberations (see Table 5). If, as Archer asserts, ‘reflexivity enables us to act purposively’ (2000, p.201), then supported reflexive conversations can provide these women with guidance regarding their place as carers and prospective HE students.

Attention to reflexivity in terms of the types of mental activities utilised in career decision-making for unpaid female carers is relatively new for the career education field. Attending to the structural and cultural conditions for unpaid carers is also new for studies in reflexivity. Studying reflexivity in specific contexts can illuminate how ‘structural properties, such as vested interests, and cultural properties, such as ideology … can motivate by encouraging and discouraging people from particular courses of action without their personal awareness’ (Archer, 2007, p. 17). This research adds to studies such as Caetano (2015), Hung and Appleton (2016) and Hizli Alkan (2022) that are not focused on carers, but do draw on Archer’s concepts of reflexivity in decision-making.

The realisations participants made through use of reflexive dialogic practices [See Table 6] suggest that encouraging reflexive decision-making in HE counselling/advisory settings, using specific tools such as MACs can support female carers in their HE decision-making. HE institutions and career counselling services can productively draw on these theoretical insights to address higher education equity concerns. HE institutions that represent HE study decision-making as a simple matter of considering pros and cons in their online or in person advice need to change their messaging as part of their widening participation agendas and provide prospective student carers with access to career counselling services prior to study. Supported opportunities to reflexively consider HE study may facilitate enrolment, retention and a successful student experience. A decision to pursue HE has the potential for a decision to impact not only the decision-maker but those who are cared for as part of broader family and social relationships. Investing in unpaid carers is also a step toward the achievement of broader social equity goals.

Conclusion

Processes that enable participants to recognise these mental activities and take them out of the head and put them on the table promote reflexive decision-making in multiple ways. Reflecting on the mental activities they commonly engage in assists carers to identify the broad range of their mental activities, affirm their complexity and recognise that it is not an individual problem but one shared by other carers. By putting their cards on the table, carers are able to participate in a supported conversation, thereby reducing isolation. The cards also provide a point of connection across time periods as carers discern and deliberate about which mental activities are more or less productive.

Deciding whether to engage in higher education should be an exciting decision, yet it is frequently fraught for unpaid female carers. This study points to practical, structural support for decision-making from universities in providing career counselling for prospective students, including acknowledging the challenge of decision-making about higher education for unpaid carers. There is tremendous power in assuring female carers that their stories do indeed matter. The work of carers is far too often unrecognised, unrewarded and undertaken in solitude. It is important for a carer in this position to feel seen and heard.

It’s great that someone’s taking this tiny little magnifying glass and looking at my little story.

(Nerida)

It is powerful for carers to recognise that their one ‘little story’, while important in and of itself, is actually part of a much bigger narrative with the potential to change the status quo.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

Notes on contributors

Deborah Munro

Deborah Munro is a lecturer in Education and a PhD student. Her present research considers the ways in which persistent gender inequalities limit women’s choices with regard to furthering their education, which in turn hinder women’s career opportunities and economic advancement. Deborah teaches post-graduate and undergraduate classes in career education and trauma informed practice.

Jill Willis

Jill Willis is an Associate Professor in Education. She evaluates the social structures of assessment and learning spaces, to make recommendations for improving teacher and student agency. Her current projects include co-leading the ARC Linkage Accessible Assessment; and the ARC Linkage Accessible Assessment; She is the Australian lead researcher on the SSHRC Preparing Assessment Capable Teachers project. Jill has a strong track record in collaborative partnerships and innovative methodologies.

Andrew Gibson

Andrew Gibson is an information scientist specialising in reflexive cognition and expression. Andrew’s research includes theoretical inquiry into the value of reflexive thinking for learning, as well as applied socio-technical investigations into how people express reflexivity. Much of this work has been developed within the transdisciplinary field of learning analytics. Andrew’s research outputs have included conceptualisation of a specialised mode of reasoning, Trans epistemic Abduction, computational models relating reflective writing to reflection and metacognition, and open source reflective writing analytics software including the ARC Linkage Accessible Assessment; project. Andrew holds a PhD in Information Science, a Bachelor’s degree in Educational Studies, Postgraduate diploma in Information Technology, and Diploma in Teaching.

Melinda Laundon

Melinda Laundon is a postdoctoral research fellow in the Australian Cobotics Centre. Melinda’s research interests include the higher education policy environment, and in the management and organisation studies field, performance, recognition, learning and development. Melinda’s work is often based on interdisciplinary approaches combining public policy, employment relations and HRM theory. Recent and current research projects include evaluation of learning and teaching, teaching philosophies of university educators, and reward and recognition in the Australian finance sector. Melinda’s career prior to academia was in the Australian Public Service, most recently as the Australian Research Council’s Assistant Director, Research Performance and Analysis. Melinda holds a PhD in Management, a Masters in Management and a Master’s in Public Policy.