Pei-Yu Wu
Department of Counseling National Changhua University of Education
Chia-Hui Wu
Department of Child Care & Education Yu Da University
Kao-Ming Hsia
Department of Counseling National Changhua University of Education
The new feminism think women are still constrained to traditional gender roles, which impede them to develop self-affirmation (Horner, 1969, 1972). When pursue academic and personal achievement, they may face the dilemma among many roles. How can women with multiples roles break through the traditional barriers and achieve academic development? The purpose of this article is to explore the experiences of women with multiple roles in their doctoral study. The thematic analysis method is accepted and by intersubjective agreement, several concerned themes emerged. Three female doctor degree students with at least one child in school were interviewed. The results showed that with following reasons they embark to pursue doctorate, (1) the demand of job, (2) self-actualization, (3) the expectations of family, and (4) peer inference. Several difficulties were encountered: (1) conflicts in motherhood, (2) changes in marital relationships, (3) reduction in work quality, (4) the pressure of academic learning, (5) the impact on health, (6) time management. Interviewed participants adjusted their doctorate students’ career by using the following methods: (1) seeking external assistance, (2) seeking external psychological resources, (3) proper time planning, (4) cognitive coping strategies, (5) self-encouragement. Perseverance characteristic endowed in theses mother students, assist them to overcome difficulties and challenges, and develop adjust skills to self-realization.
Keywords: women, doctoral Mom, multiple roles, inter-subjective agreement