This interpretative phenomenological analysis study focused on the way that children of student affairs professionals make meaning of their parents' work. A purposive sample of 11 children at two institutions, ages 8 to 15, was interviewed using a semi-structured interview format. Data were analyzed using an interpretive phenomenological approach,…

Researchers have identified some of the factors that inhibit the success of mothers in academia, including overt and covert discrimination, inequitable teaching and service assignments, and the lack of policies that support combining motherhood and academic work. Pretenure mothers are particularly vulnerable, as they attempt to balance increasing…

Five lesbian faculty who were out in the workplace had positive personal and professional experiences in relation to how they negotiated family, campus culture, community, and personal fulfillment. This phenomenological qualitative study offers an alternative to deficit model research by exploring the participants' lived-experiences using a…

Over the past 40 or so years, women's share of faculty positions in Canada and elsewhere has increased considerably, if not yet reaching parity. Yet working in the gendered university remains problematic. This article uses data from a qualitative research project in which 38 junior academics were interviewed about their responses to being on the…

While many scholars have written about the experience of academic motherhood in higher education, with their research revealing a number of challenges faced by academic mothers, none have presented an in-depth view of the transition of returning to work after maternity leave. For this reason, the authors used a narrative inquiry approach to…

In this article, the authors argue that facilitated dialogues with academic mothers can provide space for consciousness-raising, validation, co-mentoring, and taking action. Stemming from the authors' experiences of negotiating motherhood in the academy, and their facilitation of a book discussion about academic motherhood through a faculty…

In 2010, three women from the University of the Pacific came together for a panel presentation at the annual National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) conference to discuss their diverse experiences in student affairs. All recognized leaders in NASPA, these women reflected the rich history and promising future of student…

The present study addresses women's underrepresentation in the academic profession, as well as the need for policies and practices aimed at this issue. It compares underrepresentation of academic women in North American countries, and explores, throughout a bivariate analysis, personal, professional, as well as institutional variables related to…

Despite progress, women are still disproportionally underrepresented in leadership positions in higher education. Women must contend with a glass ceiling, which we argue is constituted by discourses of impossibility and femininity. These discourses discourage women from recognizing their qualifications, continuing to develop skills, and making a…

A mixed methods analysis of women faculty departure at one research institution was conducted using Hagedorn's model of faculty job satisfaction. Findings from an institution-wide survey and interviews with women faculty who had left the institution resulted in several themes: (a) a lack of resources to support faculty work, (b) a lack of…

Newspaper reports of female college seniors modifying their career plans to opt out of work before they enter the workforce challenge the assumption that because many recent college graduates were raised in dual-income families, they would expect to have a substantial workforce role. Using a questionnaire format, this study examines postgraduation…