This study was based on the assumption that in Ghana, women who return late to higher education combine domestic and academic work and, in the process, experience tensions and difficulties in the face of cultural and academic prejudice. It employed an interpretive qualitative research approach via narrative interviews with eight mature undergraduate women from different socioeconomic backgrounds in one public university. The intention was to explore their experiences and use the findings to make suggestions for institutional development and learning. The data was collected in May 2009 from a sample of first-and final-year women from the Departments of Sociology and Basic Education in one of the oldest public universities in the southern part of Ghana. The women students found academic work difficult and made reference to gaps in terms of their knowledge deficit, unfamiliar courses and teaching methods. Recommendations from the study include the formulation of an institutional policy on mature women students in particular, and non-traditional students in higher education generally, and the regular provision of professional development programmes for higher education practitioners. Christine Adu-Yeboah &Linda Dzama Forde 401 Morley (2005), exclusivity in HE varies in respect of ethnic minority groups, the physically challenged, mature students (that is, those aged over 25 years), those possessing non-standard entry qualifications and women, among others. For them, this depends on the geographical, economic and cultural contexts. In the case of women, global statistics indicate that rates of HE participation are now slightly higher than for men. This is indicated by a Gender Parity Index of 1.08 in favour of women (UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2009). In North America and Europe, the UNESCO report further indicates that the female participation ratio is one-third higher than that for men, and in Latin America, the Caribbean and Central Asia, as well as the Arab States, females outnumber men or are equal with them. The situation is, however, not the same in sub-Saharan Africa, where the report points out that in 2007, there were 66 female students for every 100 males, or 1.5 times more males than females in HE. This is the lowest such ratio anywhere in the world (UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2009). The reasons for women's under-representation and lack of meaningful participation in HE in Africa include cultural and political obstacles (UNESCO, 2009, p. 6), as well as negative experiences in HE which impede their successful completion (Morley & Lussier, 2009). The implication is that beyond simply gaining access to HE, women's meaningful participation and qualitative experiences are not given due attention (Morley & Lugg, 2009; Morley et al, 2010). Women and Girls' Education in Ghana In Ghana, women's participation in HE has recorded some noteworthy increases. From as low as 3630 in 1993 (Ghana Statistical Service, 2001), women's participation increased to 29,059 in the 2005/2006 academic year (National Council...