Reconstruction of Women Students's Subjectivities at the Intersection of Doctoral study and Motherhood (A narrative of Two Women Doctoral Students in Education at a University in Tehran)

Abstract

Though the research conducted in studying the causes and effects of the increase in the number of female students at universities in Iran particularly in doctoral studies, few studies have examined deeply the lived experiences of women doctoral students and the complexities of their lived experiences has been neglected in the resulted metanarratives. Thus, this article attempts to explore women doctoral students' lived experiences through the narratives of two doctoral students in Education who experience motherhood in their doctoral study. Drawing on post-structuralist theorizing around subjectification, this narrative study focuses on how their subjectivity is being intersectionally reconstructed with motherhood. The findings of the narrative analysis of the interviews depicts the uniqueness of their narratives despite the similarities. Their main self-narrative is personal progress which is narrated through their different storylines of selfhood interwoven with their similar shame/pride storyline of motherhood in doctoral study. It is argued that the implications of self-narratives performed by doctoral students will contribute to the facilitation of other women doctoral students' experiences and provide a deeper insight for the supervisors and the policy makers in higher education. Keywords: lived experience; narrative inquiry; subjectivities; women doctoral students.