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Lived Experiences Of Graduate Students Who Are The Mothers Of Young Children, Audrey M. Harrington

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this qualitative study, the experiences of graduate students who were also the mothers of preschool children were explored through the use of narrative interviews and autoethnographic reflections on personal experience. The study examines the various self-perceived identity dimensions of three graduate student mothers (through a series of interviews) and the researcher (via autoethnographic writings). Analysis of the data identified two superordinate themes: a) the identification of systems of support and role models (including presence and absence of said supports) and b) a negotiation of gendered social expectations as the students navigated the context of graduate school. Recommendations include the …