How Female Faculty Negotiate the Tensions between Personal Aspirations and Socio-culturally Based Expectations in Academia
Open Access
- Author:
- Shakespeare, Elizabeth Simpson
- Graduate Program:
- Adult Education
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- January 15, 2016
- Committee Members:
- Ladislaus M Semali, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
Katerina Bodovski, Committee Member
Davin Jules Carr Chellman, Committee Member
Kathy Lou Jackson, Committee Member - Keywords:
- female faculty
work-family conflict
work-life balance
socio-culturally based expectations
qualitative case study - Abstract:
- This study examined how female faculty in a university commission for women negotiate the tensions between personal career aspirations and socio-culturally based expectations in academia. The academic context provided a unique lens through which to examine the strategies that women use to negotiate competing demands of internal and external social, historical, cultural, and economic factors. The study asked three questions: 1.What challenges do women faculty members encounter in their pursuit of career aspirations? 2. What are the cultural, family, religious, traditional and peer-based expectations that conflict with female faculty’s personal career aspirations? 3. How do female faculty members negotiate the tensions between personal career aspirations and socio-culturally based expectations in academia? This study used an exploratory, holistic case study design (Yin, 2003) that built upon a conceptual framework adapted from Ezzedeen and Ritchey’s (2009) inductive model as well as gender discrimination, women’s labor, gender socialization, and gender role literature. Qualitative data included face-to-face interviews with 12 participants, journal field notes, and commission documents to address the research questions. Data analysis techniques included open coding, axial coding, categorical aggregation, pattern matching, line-by-line reading, and the constant comparative method to identify emergent themes. Researcher reflexivity, triangulation, and transparency in the narrative addressed validity threats of bias and reactivity. Findings from this study include the challenges that female faculty encounter in their pursuit of tenure and promotion, socio-culturally based expectations that female faculty perceive to conflict with personal career aspirations, and the strategies they use to negotiate the tensions between personal career aspirations and socio-culturally based expectations in academia. The findings from this study contribute to the research literature, scholarship, and practice of adult education, higher education, and workplace policy.