Pregnant, privileged and PhDing: exploring embodiments in qualitative research

Abstract

The appearance of bodies in social space is a theoretically rich subject for discussion. The study of bodies and identities is a personally complex endeavour as researchers are often implicated in their own subject of investigation. This article explores one researcher's engagement with issues of power and identity; while undertaking a study on gender, race, and ability in the critical identity classroom (i.e. Women and Gender Studies), I, the researcher, became part of the study as my age and non/pregnant body began to emerge as crucial to the study itself. In this paper, I examine how my body became intertwined with notions of the ‘right and wrong’ pregnant body, the ‘good and bad’ mother/academic/feminist/researcher, and the ‘insider and outsider’ within academic hierarchies.

Keywords:

• embodiment
• higher education
• identity
• pregnancy
• privilege
• qualitative methodology

Notes

1. As a major focus of my dissertation is on the relationship between identity and space, these interviews were conducted at two universities in disparate Canadian cities (see Kannen 2011).

2. All names have been changed for the purposes of anonymity.

3. I have categorized this group as ‘sessional instructors/new faculty’ so as to represent their levels of experience within the university hierarchy. While the sessional instructors work on a contract basis and all have their PhDs or are very close to receiving their degrees, the new faculty are tenure-track which implies permanency. However, both of the instructors with the designation of tenure-track often referred to themselves as ‘new’ or implied they had limited power as these positions had been undertaken less than a year prior to our interview.

4. One woman has tenure and is a full professor. The other is a full-time faculty member.