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.

Keywords:

• gender
• women
• graduate education
• postgraduates
• qualitative
• sexism

Notes

Data were analysed for three participants in the USA and three participants in the UK. A total of five UK students participated in the interview, but technical problems prevented one interview from being used and another interview was not tape-recorded at the participant's request, and did not include sufficient data for analysis.

There are differences in terminology used in master's programmes in the USA and the UK. In the USA students in master's programmes are referred to as graduate students. In the UK students enrolled in master's programmes are referred to as postgraduate students. The faculty who oversee master's students are referred to as advisors or mentors in the USA, and supervisors in the UK.

All names used are pseudonyms to protect participants' identities.

It is important to note that the inclusion of political and economic sciences with the social sciences may mask gender differences in these subfields.