This article contributes to the growing evidence based on well-being in doctoral study. It draws on 35 qualitative, in-depth interviews to explore how the well-being of an understudied group--working doctoral student mothers--is affected when undertaking part-time PhDs. While there is a growing literature on the research student experience and an…

This mixed methods sequential explanatory study aimed to understand the emotional impacts of working mothers in higher education during COVID-19 lockdowns and through the first year of COVID-19. The researcher conducted quantitative research in the form of a survey, which included a depression, anxiety, and stress screener. Participants who…

The percentage of female faculty members who have achieved tenure is disproportionately represented against their male peers. Even more so, female faculty members who are also mothers, or mother-scholars, represent less than half of tenured female faculty. Current research posits that a lack of female faculty in higher education translates to a…

The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological study was to present, through interviews, the experiences of women adult learners in higher education with full-time jobs and family responsibilities. The results illustrated how these women adjusted to higher education, being older in classes, prioritizing school, work, and family, and having time…

The growing number of working mothers, dual career couples, and working single parents raises concerns about the impact of work stress on family lifestyles and their ability to balance work and family obligations. The aim of this study is to examine the role of social workers in promoting work-life balance among working mothers at the University…

Following a prologue in Chapter 1, Chapter 2 delves into the pivotal role of departmental culture and leadership in shaping parental leave experience. Findings reveal that the parental leave policy at one R1 institution fell short in providing adequate support due to the absence of proactive guidance from supervisors and department heads. The…

This article examines the lived experience of working women with 'children' (defined as under 18 years old) undertaking part-time PhD study. While there is much literature on the isolation of doctoral experience, the issue of, 'mothers' and all this identity may entail, has been overlooked. Drawing on 35 in-depth interviews, the experiences of…

The COVID-19 pandemic brought new tensions in determining how to enact representations of the professional and personal selves alongside digital technologies. In this paper, we explore those tensions as entangled enactments of agencies and identities related to simultaneous mothering and scholaring. Drawing on Barad's agential realist framework,…

This article argues for greater attention to the embodied experiences and material practices of single mothers in the academy. Using critical imagination (Royster and Kirsch) to analyze how texts in the field have represented single motherhood, I identify three patterns of how mothers complete work, or what I term survivalist strategies to resist…

In this instrumental case study, we explored the experiences of working mothers in student affairs and how their situated realities are shaped by institutional and professional norms, including commonly understood written and unwritten practices. We conducted interviews and focus groups with 21 mothers working full-time at a research-intensive…

Evidence is mounting that women in academia have disproportionately been affected by the pandemic. Recent research points to new gender gaps in productivity and publishing, with fewer women publishing articles and manuscripts. And in addition to these professional challenges, women in academia are also facing unique personal challenges during the…

This qualitative study examines the work, family, and study experiences of Portuguese professional women in two different career stages: early career and mid-career. Using semi-structured interviews with a sample of 22 working mothers enrolled in a master's degree, this study explores their experiences of combining the roles of mother, worker and…

This article explores the construction of the category "Woman" in the official history and social studies curricular documents distributed by the Chilean Ministry of Education to all public and charter schools in 2014. It answers two major questions: what are the characteristics and acceptable gender performances of the category…

In this article, the author offers some success secrets of the stars for fitting into one's research again after the baby. The author has some experience to share, having had her first child as a high school teacher, her second as an ABD (all-but-dissertation) graduate student, and now her third as an assistant professor at a research-intensive…

In the existing student affairs literature about career development and work-life balance, women administrators of all professional levels and women with children of all ages have been studied together. As a result, little is known about the unique rewards and challenges that result from simultaneously negotiating the different stages of…