Women's Doctoral Student Experiences and Degree Progress in Education versus Engineering

Autor/in	Masterman, Ann Katherine
Titel	Women's Doctoral Student Experiences and Degree Progress in Education versus Engineering
Quelle	(2014), (324 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit Ph.D. Dissertation, Boston College
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Monographie
ISBN	978-1-3038-4841-4
Schlagwörter	Hochschulschrift; Dissertation; Graduate Students; Females; Student Experience; Education Majors; Engineering Education; Critical Theory; Feminism; Doctoral Programs; Academic Persistence; Gender Issues; Sex Fairness; Educational Trends; Qualitative Research; Phenomenology; Barriers; Femininity; Masculinity; Culture; Comparative Analysis + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Thesis; Dissertations; Academic thesis; Graduate Study; Student; Students; Aufbaustudium; Graduiertenstudium; Hauptstudium; Studentin; Weibliches Geschlecht; Studienerfahrung; Ingenieurausbildung; Kritische Theorie; Feminismus; Doktorandenprogramm; Geschlechterfrage; Sexualaufklärung; Bildungsentwicklung; Qualitative Forschung; Phenomenological psychology; Phänomenologie; Psychologie; Femaleness; Weiblichkeit; Männlichkeit; Kultur
Abstract	This study's purpose was to compare the lived experiences of doctoral women studying Education, a prototypically female field, with women studying Engineering, a prototypically male field to illustrate the phenomenon of doctoral degree progress in the two fields. Using critical feminist theory and Valian's (1999) concept of gender schemas, this study examined doctoral education culture in Education and Engineering and how these cultures influence women's doctoral student experiences and in turn their degree progress (Tong, 2009). Although women represent over 50% of doctoral student enrollment and degrees earned, gender disparities exist in Education and Engineering. Once enrolled, women are proportionally more likely to complete Education doctorates and less likely to complete Engineering doctorates (Council of Graduate Schools, 2008; Gonzales, Allum, & Sowell, 2013; Nettles & Millett, 2006). This trend is important because it implies there is something about Education and Engineering doctoral environments that make them more and less conducive for women's success, respectively (Gardner & Mendoza, 2010). This study used a qualitative interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) approach to capture the essence of women's doctoral degree progress by interpreting the lived experiences of 10 Education and 11 Engineering doctoral women (Smith, Flowers, & Larkin, 2009). After 63 in-depth interviews and two focus groups, four themes emerged. Overall, the Education women reported fewer positive doctoral experiences and more barriers to degree progress than the Engineering women due to the funding and research assistantship structure, the faculty advisor relationship, and the department environment. Both groups of women described doctoral education culture as proactive, independent, and competitive--characteristics more consistent with masculine gender schemas. Doctoral education culture also reflected the feminine gender schemas of flexibility and collegiality/collaboration, which were more apparent in the prototypically masculine Engineering field than in the prototypically feminine Education field. Implications for how doctoral education can be re-conceptualized, delivered, and researched are provided, calling for the incorporation of more feminine gender schemas into doctoral education culture in order to promote and achieve gender equity. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.] (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01