Voices from Lacuna: Women in Academia

INTRODUCTION PARTICIPANTS

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graduate students. Initiatives, 59 (1), 33-43.Corbin, J. & Strauss, A. (2008). Basics of qualitative research, 3rd Ed. Thousand Oaks,

CA: Sage Publications.Gardner, S.K. & Holley S. (2011). Those invisible barriers are real: The progression of first

generation students through doctoral education. Equity & Excellence in Education, 44(1), 72-92.

Glenn, D. (2010). Help to the finish line: Ways to reduce the number of Ph.D. dropouts. The Chronicle of Higher Education, retrieved November 20, 2011.

Hadjioannou, X., Shelton, N.R., Fu, D., & Dhanarattigannon, J. (2007). The road to a doctoral degree: Co-travelers through a perilous passage. College Student Journal, 41(1), 160-177.

Mayan, M. J. (2009). Essentials of qualitative inquiry. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press, Inc.

Morse, J.M. (1999a). Qualitative generalizability. Qualitative Health Research, 9(1), 5-6. Offerman, M. (2011). Profile of the nontraditional doctoral degree student. New

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review of qualitative literature in health services research. Qualitative Health Research 8(3), 341-351.

Based on theoretical sampling (Corbin & Strauss, 2008)• 4 female students• Currently enrolled in a doctoral program• Programs include: Education, Business Administration

and Nursing

Time:

Academia:

Family:

Emotional State:

Career:

“And then the inner conflict certainly comes from and I think of it from any working mother as well it’s just trying to you know those feeling that you have every once in a while that maybe your aren’t doing anything as well as you could be doing it.”

“Everyone had to pull the weight that I would normally pull in the family.”

“It can seep into everything and essentially take over if you let it, so it has certainly been difficult at times to try and balance boundaries and limit how much I am going to work and how much I am going to let that spill into my personal life.”

“I always felt as thought my work could take everything that I could possibly have to give and so it was really up to me to say, um listen… when enough is enough, because doing this type of work there is always more that you can do.”

“So you want to read more about it, you want to constantly learn more.”

RESEARCH QUESTION

THEMES

Jessica Curtis, Aimee Frier & Lisa LockhartUniversity of South Florida

Tampa, FL

METHODSCase Study• Semi structured Interviews• Open coding• Thematic Analysis

What are the lived experiences of four female doctoral students as they matriculate through their doctoral programs?

Traditionally doctoral study has been the territory of the white male. Yet, the profile of the current student population as well as the roles of these students has changed (Offerman, 2011). Mature women comprise an ever-increasing portion of the population, yet there is little research in this area (Anderson, 1999). Faculty opinion is that when students have outside obligations, such as families, they are not properly immersed in their doctoral studies (Gardner & Holley, 2011). Further research into graduate support and its barriers is needed as published materials on graduate experiences are quite limited (Hadjioannou, et. al., 2007). Educators could benefit from understanding the multiple roles of female graduate students.

BACKGROUNDAs female doctoral students, we have encountered various barriers and conflicts during our journey. These have been both personal and professional. In today’s fast-paced society, women must play many roles. These include, but are not limited to: wife, mother, worker, family coordinator, and housekeeper. We are experiencing a variety of these roles; and have decided to add an additional, complicated, demanding role; Ph. D. student. It is our desire to investigate how other women, in similar situations, experience this role.