Perceived Advantages and Disadvantages of Being a Female Graduate Student in the US and the UK

Abstract

We build on Diana Leonard's work on gender and graduate education by qualitatively investigating the perceived advantages and disadvantages of being a female graduate student in the USA and the UK. We interviewed six female students (ages 22–30) pursuing master's degrees in psychology or social sciences in the USA and the UK. Students from both countries reported the advantages and disadvantages of being a woman in their graduate programmes. Advantages included being the majority in their fields and receiving more lenient treatment from faculty. Disadvantages included being viewed in terms of stereotypical gender roles and receiving unwanted sexual attention. Participants also discussed strategies for managing their gender as they pursued their graduate education. We consider these findings in light of Leonard's work on gender and graduate education and from an ambivalent sexism framework.