Experiences of Single - Mother Doctoral Students as They Navigate Between the Educational System, Societal Expectations, and Parenting Their Children: A Phenomenological Approach

EXPERIENCES

of SINGLE-MOTHER

DOCTORAL STUDENTS

as They Navigate Between

THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM,

SOCIETAL EXPECTATIONS,

and PARENTING THEIR CHILDREN

A Phenomenological Approach

MESHKIN B. AMIRIRAD

Copyright © 2016 Meshkin B. AmiriRad.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any means—whether auditory, graphic, mechanical, or electronic—without written permission of both publisher and author, except in the case of brief excerpts used in critical articles and reviews. Unauthorized reproduction of any part of this work is illegal and is punishable by law.

ISBN: 978-1-4834-5902-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4834-5901-1 (e)

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Lulu Publishing Services rev. date: 11/22/2016

Contents

List of Appendices

Chapter 1 Introduction

Problem Background

Purpose of the Study

Research Question

Limitations

Delimitations

Definitions

Significance of the Study

Chapter 2 Review of the Literature

Family

Parenting and Motherhood as Behavior and Social Construction

Socio-Cultural Expectation of Motherhood

Motherhood as a Standpoint

The Phenomenon of Single-Mother Families and Parenting

Household and Income

Childrearing

Well-being of Single Mothers and Their Children

Social Supports

Single Mother-Students’ Conflicting Roles

Doctoral Study

Single-Mother Students: Conflicting Roles of Motherhood and the Role of the Doctoral Student

Theoretical Framework: Implications of Systemic Constructivist and Existential Philosophy; Meeting of Two Theories

Summary

Chapter 3 Methodology

Research Design

Selection of Subjects

Instrumentation

One-on-One Interviews

Member Checking

Participants’ Journals

Researcher’s Journals

Assumption

Procedures

One-on-One Interview

Member Checking

Participants’ Journals

Researcher’s Journals

Exhaustive Interview

Ethics

Confidentiality and Anonymity

Role of the Researcher

Ethical Consideration for Qualitative Study

Data Processing and Analysis

One-on-One Interviews

Member Check and Validation:

Participants’ Journals

Researcher’s Journal

Credibility and Validity

Chapter 4 Results of the Study

Participants

Theme One: The Single Mother as Mad-Hatter and Multi-Tasker

Theme Two: The Doctorate as a Means to Advanced Knowledge and to Overcoming Societal and Financial Disadvantages

Theme Three: The Continual Battle Involved in Navigating the Expectations of the Two Roles along with the Dream to Achieve in Both

Theme Four: The Impact of the University as a Significant Influential System

Summary of Findings

Chapter 5 Implications, Conclusions and Recommendations

Implications

Future Research

Conclusions and Recommendations

References

List of Appendices

Appendix A Interview Questions

Appendix B Demographic Questionnaire

ABSTRACT

The single-mother doctoral student population represents a new phenomenon to the academic society. The demographical change from a nuclear family to a single-parent family along with the growing population of single mothers pursuing higher education warrants that new research be conducted to examine the structures of this nontraditional academic population. A phenomenological research was conducted to study lived experiences of seven single mothers who were in doctoral programs. Participants included one student who terminated her program before completion, two who were in their final years of a doctoral program, and four students who recently graduated from their doctoral program. This study was intended to advance existing understanding and contribute to the body of knowledge needed to address the related problems of the single-mother student population that is taking an active part in the academic arena, in the work force and in their children’s lives. Results of this study indicated that single-mothers were faced with unforeseen challenges during their doctoral studies as a result of frequently incompatible roles. The main challenges mentioned by the participants included but were not limited to financial constraints, childcare hours, childcare costs, housing costs, shortage of time, scheduling difficulties, class schedules, gender-specific problems, as well as academia specific values and expectations. Implications for clinical practice are included for educators, counselors who work with single-parent families, as well as for policy makers and academicians. Directions for future research are included.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I thank my brothers Bahman AmiriRad and Behzad AmiriRad for their financial support. Without them, this work would not have to come to publish. I want to thank Victoria Clark, my first English tutor, who, patiently, mentored me in writing my papers at Northern Arizona University. I would like to appreciate Dr. Cindy Scarlett for her great writing class and her guidance and support for continuing the project on this topic. My special thanks go to my dissertation chair, Dr. Aubrey Austin, for her consistency, support, and guidance. I would like to appreciate Dr. Betty Cannon, for her openness and engagement. Finally, I am grateful for the consistent support of Dr. Charles Howard, the Chair of Psychology and Behavioral Science Department.

I express my appreciation and gratitude to my parents for everything they did and sacrifices they made. I want to thank all participants of the present study; I wish I was able to acknowledge you with writing your real names here; however using your pseudonyms, Dianna, Patricia, Vivian, Maggie, Nina, Amber, and Alice, thank you for your willingness to share all your great life stories and your experiences. Without you this work would not have come to existence. I appreciate your humbleness during the interviews, your resiliency, and your wisdom. Foremost, my appreciation goes to my daughters, Parya and Kimya, who put up with a busy mother. Thank You.

Dedication

To my Daughters, Kimya and Parya

CHAPTER ONE:

Introduction

In today’s society of higher education, there exists a problem in providing adequate support for single mothers who are personally devoted to their children and family-related interests, but who added another intense interest—that of pursuing a higher education. According to the Census Bureau, there have been significant changes in family demographics in the United States. The number of single-parent families increased from 12% in 1980 to 31% in 2000. In 2000, those families with a single mother as head of the family numbered 7,561,874 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000). In 2009, 13.9 million households (19% of all families) in the United States were identified as female-headed households with no husband present; this number jumped to 15.3 million in 2010 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010).

Permitting the experts to predict a similar course in the coming years (U.S. Census Bureau, 2012), it is important to highlight in the existing statistics that the course of continuous demographic changes in the last three years was relatively consistent. Moreover, the financial situations of these single-mother families are substantially different from other family types. According to the Census Bureau, 3.6 million (37.1 %) of the 9.6 million female-headed families with children under the age of 18 were living in poverty in 2009. The number of single-mother families increased to 9.9 million in 2010 and to 10.3 million in 2012, with the poverty rate climbing to 40% (U.S. Census Bureau, 2012).

By contrast, the number of male-headed households in the United States in 2009 was 5.1 million. Two-point five million of these families had children under the age of 18. The Census Bureau statistic for 2012 showed a decrease of male single parents down to 1.9 million (U.S. Census Bureau, 2012). Additionally, the U.S. Census Bureau (2009) reported that the number of nuclear families (husband, wife, with child(ren) was 38.1 million, with a poverty rate of 15.3%. The poverty rate of families without children was only 9.9%.

In view of the statistics displayed by the Census Bureau, the single-parent families, and, more specifically, single-mother families are growing (Census Bureau, 2008, 2010, 2012). Because the number of single-mothers is quickly increasing and eventually becoming a large percentage of our society that requires higher education and because this will account for a major percentage of students in higher educational systems, this issue must be examined.

In several studies on single mothers, scholars reported on single mothers’ specific difficulties and challenges (Downey & Howkins, 2008; Smith, 2010); whereas, others discussed the increased health risk of single mothers because of their enormous responsibilities and specific stressful experiences (Smith, 2010). A study on single mothers enrolled in graduate programs concluded that the single mothers were three times more at risk for dropping out in their first years of graduate programs than other mothers were (McLaughlin, 2009). In congruence with several other studies (e.g., Mason, 2009; Thomas, 2005), McLaughlin (2009) highlighted that all mothers who participated in the study were aware of the benefits of higher education, such as interpersonal growth, financial improvement, and their children’s education, which particularly emphasized the role of a mother’s education in her children’s academic success (McLaughlin, 2009). In addition, McLaughlin (2009) indicated a positive relationship between a mother receiving a higher education degree to that of having raised herself out of a lower poverty level. It is important to mention that approximately 50% of academia workforce is reported to be women; and of this population, about 65% are working mothers (Pement, 2013). Pement concluded that the numbers, indicating a demographic shift in higher education, were associated with a change in the profile of students in higher education.

In 2009, a global trend analysis conducted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) indicated that among students women were the majority and will continue to be in the majority. UNESCO (2009) also reported that this demographic shift applied to age as well, resulting in an increased number of older students who are mothers of children under the age of 18. The increase of older student mothers (nontraditional graduate students) included doctoral students as well. In 2012, the National Center of Education Statistics (NCES) showed an increase of 7% in doctoral degrees obtained by women in United States. This was an increase from 45% in 2000 to 52% in 2010. The current demographic changes of the growing single-mother population, along with the growing number of nontraditional students, indicates a transformation in the demographics of higher education students, which has implications as to current policies and programs as the culture of graduate schools continue to change.

Research results supported the idea that higher education plays a tremendous role in women being able to escape from poverty (Mason, 2009; Radey & Cheatham, 2013; Robinson, 2010; Zhan & Pandey, 2004). The higher education of single mothers was associated with higher annual income as well as lower welfare income in comparison with single mothers having no college degree or no degree in higher education. According to Livingston and D’Vera (2010), about 68% of single mothers did not possess a college degree. The number is significantly lower (36%) among married mothers. One of the reasons for the significant difference could be the financial accessibility of continuing education for married mothers in contrast to single mothers who commonly experienced financial obstacles when considering higher education.

Moreover, experts indicated that higher education of mothers eventually led to the higher education of children (Thomas, 2005); and, in general, children with educated mothers did better in school (Thomas, 2005). A single mother as the only parent in the household sees herself as the only responsible person not only for the care and development of her child/children, but also herself (Sturm, 2010). Therefore, a considerable number of these mothers decide to achieve a higher education to provide for their families, improve the quality of their lives, and protect their families from falling into poverty (Sturm, 2010).

The availability of mothers at home is fundamental to children’s development; however, many mothers in the current society value the role of education in their personal as well as their children’s lives. The question is how do single mothers reconcile conflicting expectations of remaining at home as a mother versus pursuing higher education or other personal goals because of the existing challenges related to the parenting role. If single mothers avoid their personal dreams for furthering their education because of the challenging role of parenting solo, what would the consequences be and what would the lives of their children look like?

Although the single-mother family is a growing part of the family demographics in the United States, little is known about the experiences of these mothers, especially their barriers when pursuing a higher education or doctoral degree. Several studies have been conducted in the area of mothers who are doctoral students (Pement, 2013), and women in doctoral programs (Wendover, 2006); yet no studies have been conducted specifically on single mothers in doctoral programs. A variety of search terms were utilized within databases, such as ProQuest and ERIC, through the Argosy University Library system. In addition, the search engine Google Scholars was used to locate the search terms. The search terms single mothers in doctoral program, doctoral students, single mother, and single mother doctoral student returned without relevant results.

Intersecting identity and living with multiple roles (i.e., mother, student, employee) can be overwhelming for these mothers. This generates the question as to how these mothers or students sought to manage or maintain each of these challenging roles. As indicated, the attrition rate of student mothers was high, with a smaller portion of student mothers who were able to complete their programs (Cheatham, 2013; Mason, 2009).

Most of the existing literature on student mothers, including dissertations, focused on women with families and children; only a few focused on mothers in doctoral programs. However, none of the researchers mentioned the specific challenges of doctoral students who were single mothers and their roles as to specific strategies for coping with stress and the daily challenges of fulfilling the doctoral program requirements while being solely responsible for parenting, supporting the family, and ensuring the family’s well-being. In effect, motherhood does not seem to be a good combination with the requirements of doctoral studies due to the contradictory nature of the roles, which can cause conflicting role expectations between that of being a single mother and being a doctoral student (Pement, 2013). In addition, from an economic point of view while helping these mothers to achieve their goals, the issues related to this growing population need to be researched in order to prevent dropout or non-completion of the program. There is no doubt that single-mother students represent an important demographic in doctoral programs of universities, yet they are not represented in pertinent research literature. If this population does not receive adequate attention, our society, our universities, and our children may face consequences that may be unknown at this time but could be far-reaching.

An exploration in the experiences of single-mother doctoral students will advance the understanding of a growing population, that are taking an active part in the academic arena, in the workforce, and in children’s lives. More importantly, this study has implications for educators, therapists, and counselors who work with single-parent families. In addition, exploring the quality of life and the needs of these families will enable the experts