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Socialization Experiences of Doctoral Student Mothers: "Outsiders in the Sacred Grove" Redux

Abstract

Future faculty members are shaped through the socialization processes of doctoral education. Training the best and the brightest minds for faculty positions is a key interest for colleges and universities, however, structural barriers exist that can impede or prevent many talented students from successfully completing Ph.D. programs. This is especially the case for students from marginalized groups. Within the doctoral student population, there is very little understanding of the experiences of mothers in Ph.D. programs. As women continue to enter the academic workforce, and therefore doctoral education, in increasing numbers the interaction between mothering students and their universities become more salient to understand. Policies, practices, facilities and events are all structural elements that inform the socialization of doctoral mothers. Understanding these structural arrangements sheds light on ways that doctoral education can be improved to be more equitable and effective in training future faculty.

This qualitative study utilized a feminized Bourdieuian sociological framework to analyze the socialization experiences of 16 mothers attempting to earn Ph.D.s to gain a better understanding of the dialectic between these student mothers and the structural arrangements in their doctoral programs. The analysis was conducted using Bourdieuian elements of habitus, field, capital, and practice as well as concepts from maternal thinking and the interests of mothers from marginalized communities.

The findings explain that access to doctoral student capital required time, energy and supportive relationships. Without key support arrangements such as affordable child care and sufficient funding, doctoral mothers missed out on academic activities that were important for their professional success. Beyond tangible impacts related to time and money, the study participants also experienced negative emotional effects of doctoral socialization including isolation, fear, anxiety, guilt and exclusion all of which presented additional barriers to academic participation.

Discussion of these findings explicates the structural arrangements that exist in the field of doctoral education and the dynamics of power and resistance in doctoral socialization. Additionally, women’s scholarship is revealed to be secondary to that of male scholars and to the activities of mothering. Implications for further research include applications of Bourdieuian sociological frameworks to doctoral education, exploration of the experiences and career trajectories of mothers of varying communities and positions in higher education, and the views of other academic agents and family members on doctoral moms and their scholarly work. Finally, practical considerations are presented as opportunities for universities to address structural barriers to mothers who aspire to complete their doctoral programs and enter the academic profession.

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