Open AccessNo Margin for Error: A Study of Two Women Balancing Motherhood and Ph.D. Studies
Author(s) -
Robin S. Grenier,
Morag C. Burke
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
the qualitative report
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.335
H-Index - 35
ISSN - 2160-3715
DOI - 10.46743/2160-3715/2008.1575
Subject(s) - narrative , ethnography , graduate students , context (archaeology) , psychology , sociology , pedagogy , margin (machine learning) , qualitative research , social psychology , social science , computer science , philosophy , linguistics , anthropology , paleontology , machine learning , biology
This cogenerative ethnography explored the lived experiences of two graduate students balancing Ph.D. studies and motherhood through McClusky’s (1963) Theory of Margi n. Specifically, we asked ourselves: What impact does pregnancy have on personal and academic selves and how are multiple roles and responsibilities managed? Through an analysis of dialogues, artifacts, conceptual maps, and narratives, examples of internal and external lo ad revealed the dynamic nature of the female experiences in graduate school. Excerpts from the data showed how roles, relationships, and experiences are characterized and how similar or different those example s were, given individual context. Implications of this research for students, faculty, and higher education policy are explored.