Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to examine the personal and professional experiences of working mothers in higher education student affairs to understand how they integrated maternal identity and professional identity in their lives. Using narrative identity theory as my framework, I retold the stories of working mothers in student affairs and how they navigated their experiences that contributed to their personal and professional development. From their narratives I discovered common themes that showed how their values influenced their successful integration of maternal and professional identity.
Study results provided useful information for institutions and mentors to understand the working mothers’ experiences that positively affect retention and advancement of talented women with multiple identities and roles. This study also built on current research on professional and motherhood identity by focusing on a specific population of women who have already navigated raising children while working in student affairs. As an added benefit, the results from this research might give hope to young working mothers in their quest for identity role integration, as they see how other women raised their children and explored their internal and external expressions of self as mother and professional.
Keywords: working mothers, student affairs, identity development, narrative inquiry