ABSTRACT

Balancing higher education, study, family life and a professional role is a complex task for many women students. Family support, work commitments and feelings of guilt can impact on how mothers carve out time and space for family life and their studies.

This paper draws on qualitative research with women doctoral students to examine their use of time and space. Following a narrative line of inquiry with methods of mind mapping and focused interviews, family capital was used as a theoretical lens to analyse the role the family plays in supporting access to time and space.

Findings reveal factors that may act as a barrier to a woman’s success and highlight certain strategies that mothers use to find time and space to study. This paper highlights the important role of economic, social, cultural and emotional capital in the family and how access to capital influences study patterns, especially in terms of ‘headspace’.

摘要

平衡高等教育、学习、家庭生活和职业角色对许多女学生来说是一项复杂的任务。家庭支持、工作承诺和内疚感会影响母亲如何为家庭生活和学习腾出时间和空间。

本文利用女博士生的定性研究来检验她们对时间和空间的使用。遵循具有思维导图和重点访谈方法的叙事线索，家庭资本被用作理论视角来分析家庭在支持访问时间和空间方面所起的作用。

调查结果揭示了可能阻碍女性成功的因素，并突出了母亲用来寻找时间和空间进行学习的某些策略。本文强调了经济、社会、文化和情感资本在家庭中的重要作用，以及资本的获取如何影响学习模式，尤其是在“顶空”方面。