1 option
The weight of expectations how mothers and child-free women navigate identity, policy, and leadership in higher education Tiffany M Clayton
- Format:
- Book
- Thesis/Dissertation
- Author/Creator:
- Clayton, Tiffany M., author.
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Higher education administration.
- Womens studies.
- Educational leadership.
- 0446.
- 0453.
- 0449.
- Local Subjects:
- Higher education administration.
- Womens studies.
- Educational leadership.
- 0446.
- 0453.
- 0449.
- Genre:
- Academic theses
- Physical Description:
- 1 online resource (183 pages)
- Contained In:
- Dissertations Abstracts International 87-12A
- Place of Publication:
- Ann Arbor : ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, 2026
- Language Note:
- English
- Summary:
- This study explored how social identities, including gender, race, and parental status, shaped the professional lives of women administrators in higher education through the intersecting lenses of stereotype threat and intersectionality. It examined how women in nonfaculty leadership roles perceived workplace dynamics, institutional policies, and wellbeing within these contexts. Using a generic qualitative inquiry, twenty-one semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants from seven R1 universities and analyzed through iterative coding in NVivo and manual comparison.Findings revealed that participants continually negotiated visibility, regulated emotion, and managed availability to sustain legitimacy. They described availability optics, the cultural expectation of constant responsiveness, as a dominant marker of professionalism. They also experienced credit displacement, where recognition for their work was transferred to others, often upward through supervisors or committees. Policies concerning flexibility and well-being appeared equitable in writing but proved inconsistent in practice, determined mainly by managerial interpretation. Mothers managed assumptions of divided commitment, child-free women resisted expectations of boundless availability, and women of color faced narrower margins for tone and presence.The study concludes that women's credibility in higher education leadership is identity-bound and structurally mediated. Achieving equity will require institutions to align policy design with cultural accountability and transparent recognition of women's expertise
- Notes:
- Source: Dissertations Abstracts International, Volume: 87-12, Section: A.
- Advisors: Tiao, Ann E. Committee members: White-Lewis, Damani; Jordan, Megan
- Ed.D. University of Pennsylvania 2026
- Vendor supplied data
- Local Notes:
- School code: 0175
- ISBN:
- 9798252430713
- Access Restriction:
- Restricted for use by site license
The Penn Libraries is committed to describing library materials using current, accurate, and responsible language. If you discover outdated or inaccurate language, please fill out this feedback form to report it and suggest alternative language.