--- breaking the silence ---Toward a Theory of Women's Doctoral Persistence
© Roberta-Anne Kerlin, 1997
In this study the reasons given by women for their choice of doctoral institution/program fell into three categories: Factors Influencing Choice of Institution and/or Program
Three women, Camila, Zoe and Tracy enrolled in doctoral programs at the same institutions at which they had earned master's degrees. Tracy and Zoe entered institutions in their home states. Camila and Zoe entered their respective doctoral programs immediately upon completion of their master's degrees. However, after completing her master's degree Tracy spent a year abroad teaching English, improving her own language skills and contemplating her future. Initially, she was uncertain about whether she wanted to continue her studies at the doctoral level.
- Three women enrolled in doctoral programs at the same institution and program where they earned master's degrees.
- For two women the location of their husband's employment was the single most important factor in selecting a doctoral institution; one woman who completed her master's program in the same department cited the relative closeness of the institution to home and children as the single most important factor influencing her choice of institution and program.
- Two women chose specific doctoral programs of an interdisciplinary nature because of the appeal of a wide range of options as well as specific offerings of interest to them.
For three women, close geographic proximity to their families was the single most important factor influencing their choice of doctoral institution. For both Sarah and Maggie the choice of doctoral institution was tied to their husbands' place of employment. Sarah wrote:
I was married at the time and my husband got transferred .... It was too far to commute, so I applied to [another] PhD program in business instead. I didn't get in. By the time I discovered that, I was working for a different college and ... it occurred to me that _any_ doctorate would do if what I wanted was to advance in ed administration (the ads only say "earned doctorate required," they don't specify a field). So I applied to [Midwest State] U's Education program .... They accepted me with open arms.For Maggie, a major influence on her choice of institution was the fact that her husband's application had been accepted at a southern U. S. university that also offered a Ph.D. program in her field. Had it not been for this turn of events Maggie is unsure that she would have pursued the doctoral program otherwise.
Both Denise and Helen were attracted to specific interdisciplinary doctoral programs because of the appeal of the departmental offerings. Helen was attracted to her department by a long, wide-ranging list of possible areas of study that included visual arts, philosophy, composition and cultural studies. For Denise, the department in which she ultimately enrolled was willing to credit her previous graduate work at the Seminary toward the master's requirement, even though she hadn't completed the degree and this factor made that program more appealing than others she investigated. For Denise such recognition would mean that she hadn't "wasted time" with her previous studies.
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