Three Women’s Educational Doctoral Program Experiences: A Case Study of Performances and Journeys

Abstract

Three academic women joined to write this piece to explore individual doctoral program experiences and to establish common understandings. They collectively analyzed their experiences using the conceptual approach of doctoral program performances and journeys. This case study shares their experiences within the conceptual approach through emerging themes. The common understandings developed herein about doctoral education based on these themes are also shared. The broader contributions of the three women’s work are two-fold. First, the entire case study provides a way to view, discuss, and consider women’s doctoral education pluralistically. Secondly, perhaps readers of this piece will recognize that individual and common understandings with others are a way to develop professional knowledge as academics. Further, readers of this piece might be able to relate more deeply to their own and others’ unique doctoral program experiences through the lens of performances or journeys. Some of these connections might be based on the overarching framework, while others might be specific to the shared women’s experiences

Keywords

• Case Study, doctoral experiences, program performances