No Margin for Error: A Study of Two Women Balancing Motherhood and Ph.D. Studies

Authors

Robin S. Grenier, University of ConnecticutFollow
Morag C. Burke, University of GeorgiaFollow

Abstract

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.

Keywords

Motherhood, Theory of Margin, Graduate School, and Cogenerative Ethnography

Publication Date

12-1-2008

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

DOI

10.46743/2160-3715/2008.1575

Recommended APA Citation

Grenier, R. S., & Burke, M. C. (2008). No Margin for Error: A Study of Two Women Balancing Motherhood and Ph.D. Studies. The Qualitative Report, 13(4), 581-604. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2008.1575