This book uses belonging as a lens through which to understand women students' experiences of studying for a doctorate, exploring the impact of academic cultures on career aspirations. Drawing on discourses of neoliberalism and academic identities, it makes a valuable contribution to ongoing discussions of gender inequality in the academy. Based on data gathered from women doctoral students in the UK, this book offers a contemporary, research-informed understanding of the doctorate as an inherently gendered experience, which has implications for individuals, academic institutions, and for the future of the academic sector. The book will be of interest to academics working in the area of doctoral education, doctoral supervisors and those involved in doctoral student support, including researcher developers and individuals working in graduate schools, as well as doctoral students themselves.

Develops a theoretical framework of belonging to understand why women may be discouraged from careers in academia Offers an original insight into women's experiences of doctoral study through a longitudinal, narrative perspective Demonstrates how female PhD students face similar barriers across different subject areas

Autorentext

Dr. Rachel Handforth is currently Research and Evaluation Project Manager at the Careers Research and Advisory Centre and works on the Vitae programme. She is also an Associate Lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University, UK.

Inhalt
1- Academic Identities and Imagined Futures: Women's doctoral journeys.- 2- Theorising Gender and Belonging in the Academy.- 3- Navigating belonging within academic spaces: Traversing territories in the humanities and social sciences.- 4- Negotiating legitimacy: Struggles and strategies for belonging in health and related sciences.- 5- Contesting power structures: Encountering gatekeepers to belonging in the sciences.- 6- Implications of (not) belonging: for individuals, identities, institutions and the sector.- 7- Facilitating belonging and academic identities: Addressing barriers faced by women doctoral students.- 8- Conclusion.