Online communities of practice and doctoral study: working women with children resisting perpetual peripherality

ABSTRACT

This article examines the lived experience of working women with ‘children’ (defined as under 18 years old) undertaking part-time PhD study. While there is much literature on the isolation of doctoral experience, the issue of, ‘mothers’ and all this identity may entail, has been overlooked. Drawing on 35 in-depth interviews, the experiences of this marginalised group in the higher education sector are explored. The study’s findings underline the tension between the public, private and professional domains, and the important role online Communities of Practice (CoPs) can play in overcoming peripherality and helping to manage the context of gendered organisational cultures. The article highlights the role of online CoP in enhancing the experience of an otherwise marginalised group, providing a space for self-expression, the development of a shared repertoire, and mutual engagement. It also has resonance in relation to the changing situation generated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

KEYWORDS:

• Working student mothers
• online communities of practice
• research degrees
• part-time doctoral study
• marginalization
• perpetual peripherality

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sue Cronshaw

Sue Cronshaw is a Senior Lecturer in Marketing at Liverpool John Moores University, a fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a media commentator. Before moving into academia, she worked as a marketing professional in the media for ten years, specifically in the field of Brand Management. She teaches both undergraduate Marketing and postgraduate Digital Marketing and is Associate Editor for the International Journal of Organizational Analysis.

Peter Stokes

Peter Stokes is Professor of Leadership and Professional Development at Leicester Castle Business School, De Montfort University, UK. He has taught, researched, published and reviewed extensively in world-class journals in the areas of Management Learning, Human Resource Management, Critical Management Studies, and Research Methodology. He is Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Organizational Analysis and holds senior roles in a range of international academic associations and consultancy projects.

Alistair McCulloch

Alistair McCulloch is Head of Research Education at the University of South Australia having previously been Dean of Research and Knowledge Transfer at the UK’s Edge Hill University. He has been Chair of the biennial Quality in Postgraduate Research conference (QPR) since 2012 and in 2017 was awarded a Citation for an Outstanding Contribution to Learning in the field of research degree supervisor development as part of the national Australian Awards for University Teaching.