| Abstract [eng] |
When women join the workforce, which is typically adapted to men, without having the social security or benefits of childcare, caregiving of elderly relatives, or even flexible working hours, they face the motherhood penalty. Longer absence periods in the job market, e.g., due to parental leave, have a significant impact on the socio-economic state of women and their career opportunities. The duration of parental leave in Lithuania is two years, which provides the conditions to further develop one ‘s skills in formal education institutions (e.g., vocational studies, short-cycle studies, or even getting a master’s degree), take part in various non-formal education activities, courses, etc. By doing so, women can more easily reintegrate into the labour market. After having children, it is also very important to develop parental skills, thus, the period of parental leave has to be addressed from an educational perspective. This study strives to reveal what conditions would help encourage the target audience to study and improve their learning experience overall. After having completed the analysis of scientific research papers, and the qualitative content analysis it was seen that despite a considerably long childcare leave period available for the parents, Lithuania lacks more diversity in the fields of financial aid, implementation of universal design principles in various educational institutions and adopting flexible learning strategies for the parents while pregnant, breastfeeding or during the early childcare period for a continuous study process. |
