Purpose

Within the USA, current trends in higher education show more women than men achieving graduate degrees. Among the potential reasons for this disparity is that fathers are reporting challenges in balancing their additional responsibilities while increasing their housework and childcare investment. Many fathers are turning to online graduate education to more effectively balance home and school responsibilities. However, limited portrayals of fathers' experiences in online education exist.

Design/methodology/approach

In this duoethnography of two online doctoral student fathers, the authors add to the limited literature on both fathers and online students in navigating home, school and work responsibilities. The authors use Goode’s role strain theory to examine the challenges to achieving a balance between each sphere of responsibility and explore strategies for managing these tensions.

Findings

The authors discuss the need for ongoing flexibility and change, the process of navigating feelings of guilt and self-doubt and the ability to engage in daily role bargains. They argue that online education is generally not a panacea for easing role conflict and find that integration is an effective strategy to aid online students' persistence in their programs.

Practical implications

The authors conclude with policy and practice recommendations for future online doctoral student fathers and doctoral program designers.

Originality/value

Little research has been conducted from the online doctoral student father lens. This research fills in this gap and lends a voice to fathers who are navigating the doctoral journey.

中文翻译：

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角色压力：美国在线博士教育中父亲的双重民族志

目的

在美国，高等教育的当前趋势表明，获得研究生学位的女性多于男性。造成这种差异的潜在原因之一是，父亲们报告称，他们在增加家务劳动和育儿投资的同时，在平衡额外责任方面面临挑战。许多父亲正在转向在线研究生教育，以更有效地平衡家庭和学校责任。然而，对于父亲在在线教育中的经历的描述有限。

设计/方法/方法

在这两位在线博士生父亲的双重民族志中，作者补充了关于父亲和在线学生在家庭、学校和工作责任方面的有限文献。作者使用古德的角色紧张理论来检查在每个责任领域之间实现平衡的挑战，并探索管理这些紧张关系的策略。

发现

作者讨论了持续的灵活性和变化的必要性、内疚感和自我怀疑的过程以及参与日常角色交易的能力。他们认为在线教育通常不是缓解角色冲突的灵丹妙药，并且发现整合是帮助在线学生坚持学习的有效策略。

实际影响

作者最后为未来的在线博士生父亲和博士课程设计者提供了政策和实践建议。

原创性/价值

从在线博士生父亲的角度进行的研究很少。这项研究填补了这一空白，并为正在攻读博士学位的父亲们发出了声音。