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Narratives of nontraditional female graduate students enrolled in an executive MBA program

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Narratives of nontraditional female graduate students enrolled in an executive MBA program

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Content NARRATIVES OF NONTRADITIONAL FEMALE GRADUATE STUDENTS
ENROLLED IN AN EXECUTIVE MBA PROGRAM
by
Karri Holley
A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF EDUCATION
(POSTSECONDARY ADMINISTRATION AND STUDENT AFFAIRS)
August 2002
Copyright 2002 Karri Holley
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UMI Number: 1417297
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This thesis, written by
A nn l^lolley _________
under the direction o f the Chairperson o f the
candidate's Guidance Committee, and approved by
all its members, has been presented to and accepted
by the Faculty o f the School o f Education in partial
fulfillment o f the requirements for the degree of
M a s t e r o f S c ie n c e i n E d u c a t io n
Dat<
Dean
Thesis Committee
HldsUL AL./fatM-Af'
irperson
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DEDICATION
I would like to dedicate this project to my husband, my parents and my family for
their continued support and enthusiasm of my academic pursuits.
A special dedication to my son, Jonah, for offering me a new perspective on life.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank Dr. Melora Sundt, for her support and enthusiasm for this
project as well as her guidance throughout my academic endeavors. I would also like
to thank Dr. Larry Picus and Dr. William McComas for their encouraging feedback
and suggestions in completing this project. I am also deeply grateful to the faculty
and staff I met during my studies at the University of Southern California.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Dedication...........................................................................................................................ii
Acknowledgements..........................................................................................................iii
Abstract..............................................................................................................................iv
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION..................................................................................... 1
1.1. Women in Higher Education.................................................................................... 1
1.2. Problem Context........................................................................................................2
1.3. Purpose of the Study and Focus Questions..............................................................3
1.4. Limitations.................................................................................................................4
1.5. Delimitations..............................................................................................................4
CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW........................................................... 5
2.1. The Modem Graduate Student..................................................................................5
2.2. Characteristics of Female Graduate Students..........................................................6
2.3. Involvement Theory and Classroom Learning........................................................8
CHAPTER 3. RESEARCH DESIGN.............................................................................12
3.1. Program Information...............................................................................................12
3.2. Class Structure.........................................................................................................13
3.3. Research Design...................................................................................................... 14
3.4. Interview Subject Profiles....................................................................................... 16
CHAPTER 4. CASE STUDIES..................................................................................... 18
4.1. Robbie.......................................................................................................................18
4.2. Anna......................................................................................................................... 24
4.3. Andrea...................................................................................................................... 32
4.4. Kayla.........................................................................................................................37
4.5. Leslie........................................................................................................................ 43
CHAPTER 5. IMPLICATIONS.....................................................................................47
5.1. Identifying Themes................................................................................................. 47
5.1.1.Educational Background and Motivation.................................................... 47
5.1.2.Expectations and Reality.............................................................................. 48
5.1.3.Balancing Roles............................................................................................. 49
5.2. Implications for Educational Institutions...............................................................50
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CHAPTER 6. CONCLUSION 53
6.1. Summary of the Study............................................................................................ 53
6.2. Conclusions..............................................................................................................54
6.3. Future Research........................................................................................ 55
REFERENCES................................................................................................................ 57
APPENDIX A. INTERVIEW PROTOCOL (STUDENTS)........................................59
APPENDIX B. INTERVIEW PROTOCOL (ADMINISTRATORS/FACULTY). . 61
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ABSTRACT
Following a national trend of increasing enrollments of women in higher
education, the percentage of female students enrolled in EMB A (Executive Master of
Business Administration) degree programs has increased over the last ten years.
This project explored the experiences of five female EMBA graduate students. Their
narratives are presented as case studies. Themes that emerged included: a high initial
anxiety level; a well-developed support system; an increased sense of empowerment;
and an increased sense of validation.
The case studies show several common elements that exist in terms of this group
of female students. Policy implications from this study encourage higher education
institutions to respect the life experiences of nontraditional women enrolling in
graduate studies and to provide them multiple avenues for support. Further research
should be undertaken on a multi-institutional level to identify additional common
themes among this subset of female graduate students.
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CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.1. Women in Higher Education
Women over the age of thirty now comprise a significant portion of the university
population, both at the undergraduate and graduate level, and are part of an overall
increased presence of women in higher education (Anderson and Miezitis, 1999).
The influx of women into the workforce is seen as one of the greatest changes in
society since the Industrial Revolution (Hancock, 1999). In 1993, the U.S.
Department of Labor reported that 75% of all women between ages 25 and 54 now
work (Hancock, 1999). Women, largely at the entry and middle level, hold forty
percent of all administrative, managerial and executive positions, while two percent
of all senior executives are female (Hancock, 1999). Many of these professional
women are returning to school mid-career to gain a graduate education and career
advancement.
Executive Master’s in Business Administration (EMBA) programs were created
to offer mid-level career executives the opportunity to earn advanced degrees
without having to enroll in a full-time graduate program. The curriculum and course
structure are designed to fit the demographics of the EMBA student population:
average age of thirty-seven; predominantly male; married with one or more children;
at least seven years with the current employer; ten years of management experience;
an average salary of $100,000; and a residence within one-hundred miles of the
program (Merritt, 2001). The enrollment of women in typical executive MBA
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programs is a small but growing number, representing approximately thirty percent
of the total EMBA student population (Merritt, 2001).
1.2. Problem Context
Given the scarcity of research concerning nontraditional female graduate students,
and considering the probability of increased enrollment in the years to come, it is
important to understand their experiences in light of their increasing number, the
critical role the EMBA plays in providing a pathway to upper level administration,
and the role the university could play in retaining and graduating these students.
Several factors may be influencing the success rates of female EMBA students.
The demanding nature of the student role is likely to provide increased stress and
anxiety for female students, who already assume a variety of roles in their life (for
example, parent, professional, spouse, partner, or daughter). Research has identified
role conflict as a leading source of stress for undergraduate women (Anderson and
Miezitis, 1999). Social support may also be an important component to ensure that
women maintain an effective role balance in their lives and ultimately achieve
success in their graduate studies; a high level of anxiety is reflective of a high need
for support (Munir and Jackson, 1997). Finally, if a perceived lack of integration is a
factor in alienation and drop out of undergraduate students (Tinto, 1975), then it may
also be crucial for female graduate students to find a sense of belonging and
inclusion within department activities. So while little is known about the
experiences of female graduate students, and in particular non-traditional students,
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the literature on undergraduate students, and women in general, suggests these
factors (sense of role conflict, social support, and degree of perceived belonging) as
areas for exploration.
1.3. Purpose of the Study and Focus Questions
The main purpose of this study was to investigate the expectations, experiences
and satisfaction of nontraditional female graduate students enrolled in an EMBA
program. A qualitative study of these women allows each individual story to be
understood, yet, taken as a whole, also provide further questions for study. Such an
approach is pragmatic, interpretive and grounded in the lives of real people (Marshall
and Rossman, 1999). Most research on the experience of women in academe has
focused on the undergraduate experience. With the increasing presence of older
females in graduate programs, there is a need for an in-depth examination of the
impact of adding the role of graduate student to the other life roles of mature women.
Specifically, the project asked:
a) From where do they draw their support?
b) How do they manage the multiple roles in their lives?
c) How do they cope with the stress associated with their role as a student?
d) What are their impressions of their classmates and the graduate classroom
environment?
In the second chapter of this thesis, findings of other relevant work are presented.
The third chapter provides information on the data and how it was attained. The
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fourth chapter offers presentation of the results as case studies from each student. In
the last section, chapter five, a summary of the conclusions and possible policy
implications are detailed.
1.4. Limitations
This study focused on female students from one EMBA class at a single
institution. While the women were selected based on their diverse backgrounds, they
all encountered the same professors, classmates and class structure during their
enrollment. Data collected from a single institution is unique to that environment.
The findings are not generalizable to other EMBA programs; however, possible
common themes were identified for additional research and study.
1.1. Delimitations
Despite the increasing number of women enrolled in EMBA programs, they all
share some common characteristics. Due to the very nature of admissions and the
coursework, the women share a high-achieving professional and career background.
By association, women at this level of career development share an intimate
knowledge of the business environment and their place within that environment. The
women are all from a common age bracket (30-50), and therefore share generational
characteristics that may be influential to their attitudes toward education.
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CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. The modem graduate student
Nearly one and three quarter million Americans pursue an advanced education at
a given time (Baird, 1990). Graduate and professional schools serve as a pipeline for
numerous significant professional occupations in this country, such as doctors,
lawyers and university faculty. In the classical graduate and professional school
model, student development is analogous with a process of socialization in regard to
an ultimate professional role (Bragg, 1976; Katz, 1976; Toombs, 1974; Baird, 1993).
Often using rigorous selection procedures, combined with an element of self-
selection by students, universities feel they have an investment in a particular
student, and train that student accordingly (Baird, 1993).
The current reality of graduate students is different. Baird defines the modern
graduate student as one “who is pursuing pragmatic career-oriented fields, usually
master’s programs, often part-time and often after or simultaneously with full-time
employment” (1993, p. 362). Little research exists on the needs, motivations and
achievements of these nontraditional graduate students. These students often possess
sophisticated coping strategies to deal with stress (Anderson and Miezitis, 1999), feel
marginalized in comparison to more traditional students (Hayes and Flannery, 1997),
and often experience a discontinuity between the student role and other roles in their
lives (Baird, 1993).
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2.2. Characteristics of female graduate students
Differences between male and female graduate students have been explored in
research. Berg and Ferber’s study (1983) of five hundred full-time graduate students
at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign suggests that, while students enter
graduate study with few differences in academic credentials and preparation, women
are less confident than men, and are viewed as less dedicated and less promising by
faculty members.
They also note that male graduate students perceive their female peers to be
different from their male peers and interact less often with women as compared to
men. In regards to men and women students, “women appear more timid, tend to set
lower goals for themselves and are likely to be given less encouragement” (p. 631).
Students should have both informal and formal student contact with faculty and
peers to foster academic and social integration (Girves and Wemmerus, 1988).
Students find support on various levels. Friends, specifically classmates, are the
most typically cited source of support for graduate students; graduate advisors are
seen as the least supportive element (Munir and Jackson, 1997). In addition to
family, friends and colleagues, the peer group can have a powerful effect on the
intellectual development of students. The peer group and the resulting social
environment in which learning takes place are important factors in retaining adult
learners (Ashar and Skenes, 1993).
Anderson and Miezitis (1999) studied a group of ten nontraditional female
graduate students. Six of the students were in master’s programs and the others were
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in doctoral programs; the programs were in a variety of fields. All of the women had
spent a significant period of time in professional careers before returning to school.
Anderson and Miezitis concluded that the effect of multiple roles on the well being
of female students is “dependent on the individual nature of the experience, and
includes the quality of the roles, the needs of the person and the social expectations
of their roles” (p. 35). The importance of the student role motivated the women to
devise adequate coping strategies for other roles in their life. They further note that
social, emotional and practical support is integral to the success of the mature female
graduate student, particularly those students with children, and the women must feel
that the rewards outweigh the personal costs and sacrifices required.
Making the decision to assume the role as student begins a process of growth and
development. Personal development is identified as an integral and unique dimension
of women’s learning in higher education (Hayes and Flannery, 1997). They suggest
that, by assessing the risks and benefits of higher education and enrolling in graduate
studies, female students often gain “enhanced self-reflection, reasoning ability and
self-esteem” (p. 65). Learning is conducive to changes in women’s identities, self
expectations and self-evaluations. Women often revisit and recreate their own self-
images and those that others may have for them (Hayes and Flannery, 2000).
Through the actual learning process, women change as individuals and as
learners. A study of thirty female EMBA graduates from Northern Arizona
University found that women exhibited increased confidence, cognitive flexibility,
and broadened perspectives (Hilgert, 1998). These traits (confidence, flexibility and
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perspectives) can be seen as a component of the larger competencies gained for all
students, regardless of gender, who complete a MBA course, including increased
managerial skills, enhanced self-development and sharpened career awareness
(Baruch and Leeming, 2001). This study focused on the outcomes of the student
education, and what the women felt they gained from the program specific to their
professional objectives. This thesis, in comparison, examined role conflicts, support
and coping mechanisms, and interactions with other classmates and faculty, and is
interested more in how enrollment in the EMBA program affected a woman’s
personal life and her sense of self.
2.3. Involvement theory and classroom learning
Astin (1993) proposes that a student’s involvement in various activities during
their academic career can have an effect on the outcome of their studies. Relying on
multi-institutional, longitudinal data collected from undergraduates over the span of
two decades, Astin identified several themes that were important to the outcome of a
student’s involvement and their experiences as undergraduates. Astin defined
undergraduates as traditional aged (18-22 years old) men and women attending
school full-time. Themes that are specifically related to this study include time
allocation, which Astin notes has the largest and most numerous correlations with
student outcomes. Hours spent studying is positively related to nearly all academic
outcomes, including retention and all “self-reported increases in cognitive and
affective skills” (p. 376). This measure also has a strong association with all
measures of satisfaction with one’s academic program.
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Student-faculty interaction also has significant positive correlations with every
academic attainment outcome, including GPA and degree attainment. Having a
strong relationship with faculty influences a student’s perception of their own
intellectual and personal growth. Astin concludes that it is critically important for
student development that frequent interactions occur between faculty and students.
Student-student interaction is positively associated with a number of academic
outcomes, including intellectual self-esteem, degree aspirations and GPA. As with
student-faculty interaction, frequent student-student interaction provides a range of
positive benefits. Astin states that working on group projects for a class has a
positive partial correlation with all areas of satisfaction and almost all areas of self-
reported growth.
A student’s involvement and investment in activities has tremendous potential for
“enhancing almost every aspect of a student’s cognitive and affective development”
(p. 394). Faculty, other students and academic involvement all show positive
associations with learning, academic performance and retention. Such activities
involve students with their peers and keep them physically within the academic
environment.
Astin’s study of the effects of involvement provide an important reference for this
study in terms of a student’s perception of their experiences in an academic
environment, and an expectation is that a student’s level of satisfaction with their
overall experience and their results can be related to the three categories
(involvement in academics, and with other students and faculty). The applicability is
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limited, however, in that Astin’s work is intended to enhance the understanding of
how undergraduate students are affected by their college experiences, is drawn from
research specific to this group, and provides a wealth of information on the
population. While Astin’s theories regarding the importance of involvement can be
seen as a framework for this study, these female graduate students are several years
and multiple life-stages away from Astin’s undergraduates.
The type of learning environment offered in the classroom is also relevant to a
student’s experiences and perceptions. Baird (1990), in a study of traditional
graduate and professional school education, notes that the group structure is one of
the most common in professional schools, where students are admitted together,
attend classes together and generally spend a large proportion of time together
completing class projects. The group can be key to a student’s success of failure,
serving as a reference point for group norms and providing emotional support for
students in regards to program demands (Baird, 1990). The group concept elaborates
on the idea of the peer group for support.
The classroom culture defines a woman’s learning experience and often her
confidence in her own abilities. Hayes and Flannery (2000) cite studies by Crawford
and MacLeod (1990); Tarule (1988); Aleman (1988); and Gallos (1993) that
demonstrate that women can often feel alienated in a traditional classroom, and are
unwilling to speak up due to uncertainty regarding their peers. An emphasis on
competition and the often-impersonal climate of classes can perpetuate this
alienation.
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Thus, the existing research shows that there is disconnect between the perceptions
of male and female graduate students, that the peer group has a strong effect on
socialization behavior, that successful coping strategies are integral to completing a
program and that a student’s involvement in their program affects their level of
satisfaction. This thesis allows women to offer their own reflections in regards to
their graduate student experience and what factors were involved in their success and
personal growth. Research concerning this group is scarce, and this study was
completed to offer a new perspective on nontraditional female graduate students and
their academic career.
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CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH DESIGN
3.1. Program Information
A small, private, religiously affiliated university was chosen as the site of the
study. Within the University, the School of Business, which enrolls approximately
2500 full and part-time students every semester, is focused on the development of
managers. To that end, the Executive MBA program is designed for the experienced
businessperson and offers an academic framework designed to allow for strategic
management of an organization. The admissions process is selective, and consists of
multiple interviews with admissions personnel and school administrators, as well as
an evaluation of test scores, undergraduate records, essays, a resume, and letters of
recommendation from colleagues and peers.
The school strives to provide the cognitive skills to allow EMBA students to
achieve the following objectives: manage and motivate others in a dynamic
environment; access, organize, and assess important management information;
identify and forecast trends and changes in multiple markets; develop functionally
integrated organizational plans in pursuit of strategic goals; and make strategic
decisions, utilize strategic plans, and provide strategic leadership.
The program is offered over a five-semester period. Students enroll each semester
in two four-unit courses and one two-unit course. The courses meet on Friday
afternoons until ten in the evening, and on Saturdays from eight am to five pm.
Students meet five times per semester at three-week intervals, and are enrolled
continuously until the course is completed.
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In addition to completing the assigned series of courses, students must also
complete an original written project in order to graduate. The project consists of
devising and implementing a strategy involving the student’s organization. Portions
of the project are completed each semester, and the class advisor guides the overall
project throughout the program.
3.2. Class Structure
The demographics of all EMBA students at the business school are similar to
those nationwide in EMBA programs: average age of thirty-seven; mostly male
(78%); married with one or more children; at least seven years with the current
employer; ten years of management experience; an average salary of $100,000; and a
residence within one-hundred miles of the program (Merritt, 2001). The EMBA-41
cohort, of which these particular students are members, has a slightly higher than
average percentage of female students.
The class consists of twenty-five members who started the program in Fall 2000
and graduated in Spring 2002. 56% of the class (14 members) is male, while eleven
class members are female. Five of the eleven women are married, with two of them
having children. The class is organized into four cohorts of six members each who
work together outside of class on assignments, presentations, and other class work.
The students in these groups meet frequently outside of regularly scheduled class
hours to pursue these assignments and class projects.
While the admission requirements for the program state a minimum of seven
years professional work experience, at least two of which must have been at a
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significant level of management, most of the students have ten or more years of work
experience, and several are small-business owners or self-employed entrepreneurs.
Most of the faculty members assigned to the EMBA cohort also teach outside of the
program. Many professors have taught the same course to EMBA students for
several years.
3.3. Research Design
A qualitative approach offered the most effective means of securing personal data
in regards to individual experiences and perceptions. Such an approach gave
intimacy to the study by allowing the students’ voices to be heard, giving a
distinctive view to their experiences. A combination of semi-structured interviews
and observations was used for this study. Themes that emerged from initial
interviews were used to guide subsequent and follow-up questioning. Seven female
students were selected from the EMBA cohort based on researcher observation and
narrowed by availability, resulting in five interview subjects.
The five students were representative of the range of female students in the
program:
a) one is married, with two children;
b) one is married with no children;
c) one is divorced, with two children; and
d) two are single, with no children or significant others.
These five women also present a variety of professional and academic
backgrounds, which offered more well rounded data. Initial interviews ranged from
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one and one-half and two hours, covering the series of questions presented in the
protocol (see Appendix A), which was available to the students prior to the initial
meeting. The interviews were conducted in either their homes or offices, offering a
wider choice to ensure availability and comfort level for the women. Transcriptions
were made available to the participants after the interviews for verification. Themes
were isolated from multiple interviews, and follow-up questions were pursued either
by telephone or e-mail.
In addition, one interview was conducted with three administrators associated
with the program, including the associate director, responsible for recruitment and
enrollment; one professor, who teaches classes for the EMBA-41 cohort; and the
class advisor, who works with the students from initial enrollment to graduation. The
protocol for these interviews appears in Appendix B. These individuals provided
both insights about the research subjects and their overall perceptions and opinions
as longtime professionals regarding women in this field of study.
Observations were conducted at one class meeting and two small group meetings,
to get a better understanding of how these students present themselves and work
within a larger group setting. Data were organized and presented as it developed
along themes. The data that stand alone as relevant to the subject matter were
presented as such. This data included interviews with administrators and faculty,
those perceptions that offer a wider impression of nontraditional female graduate
students studying in executive MBA programs.
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3.4. Interview Subject Profiles
Five women in the course agreed to be interviewed for this project and to share
their experiences as nontraditional graduate students in the EMBA classroom.
Robbie describes herself as a “young forty-eight” and was recently divorced from
her husband of nearly twenty-five years. She has two teenage children, the oldest of
which recently started college. As a longtime manager for a large technology
company, Robbie feels both indebted to her company, for giving her the opportunity
to achieve financial stability and career success, and painfully aware of the high
commitment she has to her professional life.
Anna, a forty-four year old mother of two teenage girls, immigrated to the United
States from South Korea over twenty years ago, but still lives by many of the
traditions and customs of her native country. These customs are reinforced by her
husband, whom she met before she came to the United States. In a male-dominated
society, Anna feels she forfeited many of her dreams for the sake of younger
siblings, her parents and her husband. She achieved unexpected success when she
established her own business, a medical billing company, which now has several
dozen clients, a large staff and occupies much of her time.
Andrea also owns her own business, and has long felt motivated to achieve a high
level of career success. She traces much of this drive to her childhood, where she
grew up overshadowed by her brothers. She acknowledges being driven by this
desire to prove herself to her family and friends. Andrea recently emerged from a
broken engagement, her second, and is trying to understand how to translate her
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professional career success into a successful personal relationship. At thirty-seven
years old, she is beginning to draw a more complete picture of how she wants her life
to be.
Kayla has been married for ten years, and has worked for her husband’s business
for much of that time. She admits that much of their relationship has been shaped by
the fact that they see each other at work every day, and she feels too close to her in
laws. A polished, talkative woman, Kayla speaks candidly about the choices she left
behind when she married, and cannot help but to wonder about how her life has
turned out. She strongly identifies with her career, and believes working for her
husband’s family has reined in any other possible career choices.
Leslie has spent the majority of her adult life working in retail, and reflects the
role of a businesswoman who works in a fashion-conscious environment. With a
penchant towards leather and designer clothing, Leslie reveals that she is still trying
to prove herself to her family, who initially discouraged her interest in retail. Her
most recent serious relationship fell apart while she was a student, and she wonders
how to make a partner and a family fit into her busy life.
Despite their unique backgrounds and experiences, these women become
classmates upon enrolling the EMBA program, and thus were partners on a two-year
journey that culminated in their graduation. Their shared experiences during the
program were tailored by their individual approaches and expectations, ideas that
emerged during the interviews for this thesis.
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CHAPTER FOUR: CASE STUDIES
Each student interview was transcribed and edited to follow the themes that
emerged from the discussions. By presenting the information in a case study, each
student is allowed her own voice in describing her motivations and experiences as
related to her student role. Phelan et al (1998) described the benefits of a case study
format as allowing the reader to enter the world of the student, and giving the reader
the ability to understand the thoughts and actions of the student in the context of their
daily life. Following the presentation of the individual cases, we will examine
common themes that emerge from the interviews and the larger implications those
themes might have.
4.1. ROBBIE
Robbie, a forty-eight year old divorced mother of two, experienced personal,
physical and professional challenges during her enrollment in the EMBA program.
Despite these challenges, she stated that she never thought of leaving the program.
An earnest, articulate woman, Robbie was intensely motivated to complete her
degree, and the changes, which happened along the way, were obstacles she felt she
could overcome.
Educational Background and Motivations
A decade older than most of the students in the class, Robbie also possessed an
unusual educational background, in that she received her undergraduate degree a few
months before starting the EMBA program. She described the time gap in her
postsecondary education.
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I graduated from high school in 1972, and the degree program I enrolled in
was secretarial science. They don’t even have it anymore. So, I did that for a
while, and the summer of my second year, I wanted a part-time job just to
help make ends meet. So, I started working and of course, got the bug. I
ended up in that one year, getting the job, getting hired on full-time, getting
married. And I left school. Within five years, I had a child. And then in the
second five years, I had another child.
Robbie explained that her motivation for returning to school and completing her
degree came from her professional experiences. She spoke proudly of working for
the same company for twenty-eight years, the company where she began her summer
part-time job that led her to leave school. Her undergraduate experiences served as
an intellectual re-awakening for her, and motivated her to continue on with her
graduate education.
I was a manager before I went back to college, and I truly felt that I had hit
the glass ceiling without getting additional education. When I first started, I
truly thought that is all it was. Get the degree. Going back and getting all my
core elements, my basics, seemed like such a waste of time for me. When I
first went back, I told people that any dummy could do this; I don’t
understand the worth of it. I was just focused on going and getting it over
with.
Then, as I moved into upper division classes in my major, I started to see how
things could apply. My attitude started to change quite a bit. By the time I got
towards the end, I was really applying it. I actually had a project piece that I
worked on as part of the program. That was helpfUl. I went back because I
didn’t want somebody to say, “We’re not going to give you this job because
you don’t have a degree.”
If I was going to be turned down for a job, I wanted it to be because I was not
qualified and did not have the skill set, and to have them tell me why. Not
because I just didn’t have a degree. But what I found is, in getting the degree,
I am gaining a skill set along with it. I look at things differently. I decided
when I was doing my bachelor’s degree that I would want to continue on
with my MBA. I was in the mode, and wanted to do it. It was as simple as
that.
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Expectations and Reality
Despite her recent enrollment in academic programs, Robbie found her initial
experiences in graduate school to be disorienting and intimidating. The balance
between her expectations and reality was high, but so was the anxiety level. She said:
The first class workshop was a little scary. I knew what to expect, having
talked to two people who had already gone through the program. At a top
level, we have become quite cliquey now. But, initially, we weren’t. The first
class was intimidating because of the uncertainty of it. There’s a huge
amount, especially on the first weekend, where, in your own environment,
you might be the big fish. And all of a sudden there’s a feeling of being in the
room and the realization that these people are just as smart as you are, and are
in positions that might even better than your own. So you wonder if you are
going to be able to stand up to this. There’s a lot of that feeling, and people
admitted that during the first weekend.
The large number of women enrolled in the class did not surprise Robbie. She felt
that the gender ratio of students was beneficial to the learning environment, creating
a more balanced atmosphere and a comfortable setting in which to learn. She
explained
I think having such a high number of women in the class has led to a better
environment. The men have even taken on a number of female
characteristics, in that they are a little softer, not as harsh. These are men who
are normally thrown into an environment where they are a little brash,
perhaps a little abrasive, use different language. Either that or we just
happened to get a group of men who had very high feminine qualities, or high
eq type qualities. But that’s what they appear to be. They have mellowed
being around a bunch of women all the time.
In regards to gender and faculty, Robbie’s expectations were that a majority, if
not all, of her professors would be men, and was not surprised when that was the
case. She explained that, in her professional level of management, most of her
colleagues were men. She stated, “The higher I go up the ladder at work, I tend to
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mimic the characteristics of the people around you. I am more abrasive, more
masculine in my behavior at times.”
Robbie’s attitude towards her degree program and her classmates was
professional and businesslike. By approaching academic work and relationships the
same way she did her professional endeavors, she felt her time would be utilized
most effectively. When asked if all her classmates felt the same way, she explained:
There are a couple of people in class, males, who are a little bit gender
conscious. Flirty with all the women. 1 like them, but I avoid them somewhat
because I don’t really want to get caught up in anything like that. Not that
there is anything inappropriate towards me, but I feel like I don’t have time to
get into even anything like that. I treat my classmates like colleagues, and I
talk to them during class. That’s it. But, I would think if it were a class with a
lot of men and few women or the other way around, I would be
uncomfortable with that. I don’t feel any discomfort over the way we treat
each other. It seems to be a pretty good class in that everyone is there to do
the job, there to get the work done.
Balancing Roles
Robbie listed numerous sacrifices involving her husband and family she felt she
made while enrolled in school. But she relayed these sacrifices with the two
confidences: one, they were worth it and two, school may have exacerbated
situations in her life, but such situations were already bad.
She divorced her husband only a few months before starting the EMBA program.
After being married for twenty-five years and having two children together, she
described their divorce as a process of growing apart, becoming different people with
different interests. But such differences in their relationship were apparent to her
well before her return to school.
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I had supervisory roles and management roles even before I went back to get
my degree. My husband was not happy about that. I remember the first time I
accepted a supervisory position, he said, “I hope you know this is the end of
our relationship. This will come between us.” I said no, that he was crazy.
But he has his own personality, and other issues with him.
He works for the same company that I do. Our paths don’t cross very often
and never did, even in all the time we were married. I worked there before he
did. Then, he applied and started working there. In another twist, I am at a
higher level than he is. I’m sure that was an issue with his ego, although he
wasn’t outwardly hostile about that. He never said so outwardly, but I think it
was hard for him. But he has never been a fan of management in general. He
has always been that way where that is concerned, even today. He thinks that
all managers are idiots and have no clue what they are doing.
In hindsight, however, Robbie acknowledged both the tension of attending school
and the resulting pressures on her relationship with her husband.
I think all the stress and the pressure from all the programs was a factor. I
also think there are differences in my husband’s desires and where he wanted
to go. We just didn’t seem to fit anymore. I think the stress and the strain was
great. I’m a different person now than I was ten years ago. And I’m a very
different person than when we first got married, and I think he was unable to
deal with the change. Our marriage was not horrible. [School] changed me in
the last four years and gave me the strength to leave the marriage. Because
prior to that, I don’t think I had enough self-esteem to walk away.
Robbie continued with her undergraduate and graduate education knowing the
sacrifice of personal time away from her children. She felt, however, that such a
sacrifice was important, not only personally, but also in completing the programs to
make her children proud.
I think there is a lot of resentment from both of them, mostly from my
daughter. I don’t hear it as much from my son, but I do see it in his actions,
much more than I do from my daughter. He’s a little more distant, more than
I would have liked. But I don’t know how much of that is the normal mother-
son distancing that happens at that age, or if it is resentment. There’s always
a little bit of me that thinks it suffers because of me being away. My daughter
is more like me. She is pretty vocal, and talks a lot. She tells me that half the
time I wasn’t there when she needed me. She says it was her dad, who always
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did things for her. That makes me feel guilty. I’m sure that was her intent.
But it doesn’t appear to be an overriding factor in our relationship. My
divorce has affected them more than anything. I think that has been the
biggest issue for them over the last few years.
Balancing rewards and benefits against the inherent challenges, Robbie found she
could draw support from numerous groups of friends and family. Although she
possessed a strong internal motivation to complete the graduate degree program,
having external support bolstered her confidence when needed.
As far as emotional support, people telling me to keep going because it is a
good thing to do, I think I have gotten the most from friends. From an actual
application, people who will get things done even when I am gone, it is my
family, my children. Even my ex. There were struggles, but he was there for
the kids in the evening when I wasn’t, on the nights I had to work. He might
have been resentful, but he was there. My parents have been very supportive.
With my classmates and my small group, we are supportive of each other in
that, if someone can’t participate at any level, people have been supportive
and understanding of that. They’re a smart group of people. Knowing that
you are not in it alone is half the battle, knowing that you are not doing it
alone.
Robbie explained that much of her professional career has been a process of
setting expectations and priorities, a practice she transferred to her academic
endeavors. Such an attitude was the only way she felt she was able to balance the
multiple demands on her time. Robbie labeled her approach a “safety valve.” Yet,
despite her logical and practical approach to her work, she felt intense pressure,
which was compounded by unexpected physical changes.
I have noticed, from when I first started out in the program, I didn’t have a
whole lot of issues with memory and learning. I have since started going
through menopause, and am getting night flashes. I’ve noticed over the last
five to six months, I am having a real tough time remembering the simplest
things. I’ve been reading up on menopausal women, and that’s one of the
things that tend to come along with it. So, I am trying to dig through that. I
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don’t think it is affecting my schoolwork as much. It is only for me. We got
into class a few sessions ago, and my group was supposed to present. And I
sat there, and for the life of me I couldn’t remember which part I was
supposed to present. I had a real lapse of memory, and that would have never
happened to me a year or two ago.
Conclusions
Despite the challenges, Robbie felt no hesitation in describing her graduate school
experience as a success. She gained enhanced exposure at work, an enhanced self
esteem and a belief in her ability to finish goals that she sets for herself.
I think this program has given me the ability to look at my company, or any
company, from a very high level. It’s made me think of the end result that
you want to get to for the company, looking at the long-term. So this has
probably made me a little bit more free, in doing new things and being more
of a risk-taker. Absolutely more of a risk-taker. I would have no issue about
going toe to toe with the CEO if I had to. Before, I never would have had a
thought in my mind of having a discussion with him four years ago or two
years ago.
I had been pretty adamant about finishing. I truly feel that being in the
program has been beneficial to me. There have been times I have been asked
to go to board meetings, for my boss or his boss. There have been several
times over the past six months they have asked me to go to fill in for them. I
feel really fortunate I have had the opportunity to interface with the CEO and
his staff, all the vice-presidents. I am getting a lot of exposure that way, and I
don’t think that would have happened without being in this program and
getting the experience. Even if it’s only a self-fulfilling prophecy where the
vice-president put money on me to be in this program and wants to see it pay
off, it’s a win-win.
It’s unbelievable to me that I have gone through all of this. And I have
enjoyed it, even though it has been a lot of work.
4.2. ANNA
Anna, a forty-four year old mother of two teenage girls, immigrated to the United
States from South Korea in 1979. During that time, she married, had children and
struggled to adapt to life in a new country. She had long desired to return to school
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and complete a graduate education, but, with her husband and family, felt she should
wait until the time was right. She enrolled in the EMBA program realizing she would
have to make numerous sacrifices, as would her husband and family.
Educational Background and Motivation
Unlike most of her female classmates, Anna completed her undergraduate studies
outside the United States. Her motivation to immigrate resulted from her relationship
with her husband. The daughter of a pastor, Anna described her upbringing as frugal,
and felt being the oldest child in the family caused her to make sacrifices for her
siblings.
I am the oldest child; I have two younger sisters and a brother. Pastors in
Korea don’t make good money. The finances were always tight. I always
wanted to go to dental school after I graduated from high school, but I
couldn’t. I had to think of my family and my brother and sisters. If I went, I
felt like I would take away from their opportunities. So that’s why my parents
encouraged me to go to nursing school first, and then we would see. I said
okay, and went to nursing school.
But choices in her life never led Anna back to her dream of becoming a dentist.
Instead, after completing nursing school, she married her husband and moved to the
United States. Culture dictated that she support her husband and his choices. He was
a law school student, and Anna worked to support their family.
He couldn’t stop school to support the family. Korea is a very male-
dominated society, and it was not an option for him to stop school and
support me so I could go to dental school. I was raised that way, so I thought
I would have another chance. After he finished school, I would go back to
school. But, after he was finished with school, I was pregnant. And still, I had
to work. I couldn’t work, raise a child and go to dental school. That was
impossible.
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After her husband completed law school and began a successful practice, Anna
felt tom by her desire to spend more time with her daughters and establish a
successful career. Despite language and cultural barriers, she decided to open her
own business, a medical billing service based on the experience and connections she
developed during her career as a registered nurse. A business that began in her
bedroom at home currently has twelve employees and several large clients. Her
successful business only added to her desire for additional education.
I have no business background, and now I am in a business environment. I
make decisions about what happens with my business. After I started my
business, I really liked it. The way I handled my clients, they were happy,
and my business was growing. I was surprised, that I could do something
other than nursing, but I wanted to study professionally on how to run a
business.
I wanted to continue my education for a long time, but I had to wait for the
right opportunity, with my husband and my children. I was more than willing
to make all the sacrifices, because it was something I wanted so badly to do.
Expectations and Reality
Despite her intense desire to enroll in the EMBA program and her understanding
that sacrifices would have to be made, Anna admitted that she was very nervous
about returning to life as a student. Not only did she have doubts about her ability to
perform on the same level as her classmates, given her medical training and lack of
formal business education, she also felt that her language skills could be a barrier.
I was very nervous when I started the program, about being able to do the
work and what other people thought of me. I was especially nervous because
English is my second language, and I didn’t start really speaking it until after
college. It was not easy. Still, when I am nervous, my grammar is all mixed
up. I was questioning myself, if I would be able to work in these programs. I
was really worried about the group work, that maybe I would slow people
down or be a burden to other people.
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Anna’s expectations were that the class would predominantly consist of men, and
most of her classmates would have greater familiarity with the business environment
than she. Such uncertainty only added to the apprehension she felt about returning to
school, knowing the impact that would exist on her husband and two daughters.
While she originally began her own business with the desire to spend more time with
her family, the business had grown to such a degree where that was no longer
feasible. Thus, she felt time was a premium for her, and weighed her options
carefully.
Ultimately, her desire to be a role model for her daughters outweighed the
possible negative consequences, and she enrolled, adjusting to the language
difficulties and the personalities of her classmates.
I was surprised at the large number of women in our class. Right now, I think
our class is about forty percent women. I thought it would be maybe around
twenty percent. But I think the trend is now that women are in management
positions more. Women are more willing to be in those positions. But I don’t
think the number of women in the class has affected the dynamic. Because,
once we are in class, we don’t treat each other as a man or woman. It’s my
perception that the idea is what is important, not if it is from a man or a
woman.
Speaking the language has been okay for me, but writing has been very
difficult. When we have a certain writing assignment with our group, I try to
help out with the information and everything, but I don’t write it. I help out
with other things. As time went on, I felt more comfortable. I am very lucky
in that I have a very good group. I felt very comfortable, a few weeks after
we have formed the groups. I felt very accepted.
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Balancing Roles
Anna felt confident in her ability to assume the role of a student, after the initial
insecurities related to her background and language ability were negated. She felt
that her life experience had been a course of managing roles, many of them emerging
from her male-dominated cultural background: a dutiful wife and mother, a devoted
daughter to her parents, the oldest child who set positive examples for her younger
siblings and a successful immigrant entrepreneur. It was the role conflicts that she
faced which defined her graduate school experience.
Her new challenges as a student took time away from her role as a mother, a role
Anna believed to be the most important in her life. Because she believed that
enrolling in graduate studies would serve as an inspiration to her daughters, she
reinforced the theme of education and lifelong learning to them throughout the two-
year period. Yet, she felt like she was pulled from multiple directions, and never
giving anything the attention she should.
Especially the first part of the program, I felt guilty all the time. If I went to
work, I felt I didn’t spend enough time at work. If I was at home, I wasn’t
doing enough at home. If I was at school, I wasn’t doing enough there.
Everywhere I went, I felt guilty.
Anna assuaged her feelings of guilt through the maintenance of a dialogue with
her daughters.
I talked to my children and told them that I was trying to do my best, that this
was something I wanted to do even before you were bom. I wanted to
continue my education, but I didn’t have a chance. I asked them if they could
help me finish, now that I had a chance. They all agreed. I spend less time
with them, but they know I am working. They know I am studying.
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One day my daughter told me she was studying for her final. It was late and
she tired, but she thought of me and she studied longer, because she wanted
to do well. That made me feels happy. I want them to know that after they
finish college, their education, the learning, doesn’t stop there. Learning
should continue for all your life, either in school or through something else.
You can go back to school at any time. I wanted to be a role model. Even
though I was over forty, I was back at school, learning. I could do it.
Yet negotiating the new student role in her relationship with her husband was
challenging. Anna described in detail the male-dominated Asian culture of her birth,
and how she and her husband were products of that culture. Despite spending the
majority of her adult life in the United States, Anna felt obligated by the traditions of
Korean society. Owning her own successful business was a difficult concept for her
husband to accept, and, while he supported her decision to return to school, Anna felt
it was difficult for him to change their traditional roles.
I talked to my husband and told him that it was my turn [to go to school]. I
wanted to do a MBA program, and, if he supported me or not, I would go.
That’s what I said. He said, “Ok, that’s great,” so I went. He has supported
me, helping out with the children. He does some of the housework. But when
there is a difficult time, he always reminds me that it was my choice. “You
take care of it,” he says. I said, that’s fine, I’ll take care of it. But that’s just
the kind of environment that I have.
While Anna insisted she would have enrolled in the program even without the
express support of her family, she felt that her parents were always saddened that
they could not provide her the opportunity to pursue her initial dream of dental
school, and were pleased she found an area in which she excelled. She explained,
“My parents always felt very bad that they couldn’t give me the education I wanted.
So my mother said that I had fulfilled her wish. Enrolling in this program made her
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very happy. She was very proud of me. She thinks it is very good that I am doing
fine.”
Anna felt the strain on her family became more and more obvious as she tried to
maintain her usual roles as mother, wife and caretaker with the pressures of her
company and her business studies. In an acknowledgement to her Korean heritage,
she invited her parents from Korea to live with the family in Los Angeles, a tradition
for the oldest children in regards to their aging parents. She hoped that having them
in the house would ease some of her burdens, but found it not necessarily to be the
case.
My time is so limited. I cook everyday for my family. I cook a big breakfast,
which is our routine. But I cook for at least an hour and half every morning. I
usually wake up at five to get ready and feed everybody, but that has become
harder and harder. So I asked my parents to come and help me out. They
came last September, and live with us now. I tried to do as much as I could
do in the one year without help, but it was too difficult. I just didn’t feel
good; I was getting sick more and more often. So my parents came to help
me out. I still cook, but they help me out. But another problem was, when
they came, I have to help take care of them, too. They help, but it’s a
problem, too.
Anna described the first few semesters in the program as the most difficult, and
felt those were the times she was most in need of support. The program, in addition
to being mentally demanding, also took a physical toll on her, requiring any previous
free time she had to be devoted to class sessions, group meeting and studying.
Despite an intense personal motivation to complete the challenge of graduate studies,
she maintained that “no one can do it alone,” and found her classmates to be an
unexpected source of support. Unlike most of her other classmates interviewed for
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this project, Anna felt that her classmates were more than just professional
colleagues; they were her friends.
I got a lot of support from my family, my parents, my husband, he helped out
at home, and my children were very understanding. My co-workers have
been open to new ideas, and my friend, a few of them, they have been very
supportive, too. I think my classmates and I are all in the same boat. When I
am going through hard times, they are going through hard times. Even after
the program, I think we will still feel special about each other. Our
relationships here spread into other parts of our life. We have become friends,
and we can support each other.
When asked how she maintained a successful sense of stability concerning
multiple roles during her time as a student, Anna credited the support given by her
friends, family and classmates, as well as an intangible personality trait she felt she
had long had, a sense of balance. She concluded, “Balance is so important in my life.
Somehow I am very lucky, and people around me like me very much and help me
when I need it.”
Conclusions
Anna’s life defines for many the traditional immigrant success story. She felt that,
by obtaining her graduate degree, she would be increasing access to opportunities,
not only for herself, but also for her family and her daughters. She concluded:
I don’t know what I want to do after the program. The reason I am here, I
think, is to give myself opportunities. The future is important to me, and I
think also that’s why most of my classmates are here. They are looking for
changes in their old company, or maybe with a new company or new
opportunities. So, now, I feel I am exploring myself, my life and my choices.
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4.3. ANDREA
Andrea, a thirty-seven year old single woman with no children, opened her own
business, working as a consultant to healthcare corporations and assisting them in
such areas as reimbursements and billing. She spoke with pride about being her own
boss, a trait she felt she exhibited even as a child. A serious, deeply religious woman,
Andrea grew up in the rural Midwest, and felt her successful career and graduate
education were a way to prove herself to her parents and her family.
Educational Background and Motivations
Growing up in a large family, Andrea felt somewhat lost in regards to her career
aspirations and future goals. Her feelings were magnified by the fact that her father,
who worked long hours to support the family, often focused much of his attention on
her brothers. She explained
My father and mother put a lot of the emphasis on my brothers. I would say
that that was traditional, but I don’t know enough to generalize. I just know
that I had a lot of friends growing up where the parents put the focus on the
boys in the family. They wanted my brothers to be like my father, so they
never really said anything at all to my sister and I about our career.
While she felt much of her family’s attention was placed on her brothers, Andrea
received advice and guidance from several teachers, and an aunt and uncle who had
both pursued graduate degrees. Having encouragement from teachers “from an early
age” gave her the early inspiration to continue with her education.
Despite the lack of parental motivation and guidance, Andrea yearned to escape
the small town of her birth and to accomplish herself in her career. Due to a lack of
funding, she stayed in the area to attend college, but left soon after graduation to
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begin a new job on the East Coast. Such a change was hard for her, having lived
most of her life in the Midwest, but she credited the experience with having changed
her life, and gave her the opportunity to secure her current position in California.
I have an undergraduate degree in marketing and sales, and I went straight to
work with a company back East after I graduated. I worked my way through
college. I was brought up with a very traditional, homogeneous background
where most women do not go to college seriously, except to meet somebody.
I have taken a very different path in my life.
Andrea felt that the time was right for her to enroll in the EMBA program. She
was single, and, although owning her own business was demanding, it also gave her
the flexibility she felt she needed in order to be successful as a student. She wanted
to begin her graduate studies immediately upon completion of her bachelor degree,
but felt “the time just wasn’t right. I waited until I was finally settled, and that was
here.”
Expectations and Reality
Despite being driven by her successful career as an entrepreneur, and motivated
by a longtime desire to enroll in such a program, Andrea admitted she felt some
trepidation before the first class meeting. Her anxiety was focused, however, more
on the unknown expectations rather than her ability to meet them. She was also
curious as to the qualifications and personalities of her classmates. She admitted:
I wasn’t nervous starting the program because I had been waiting for over ten
years. That first weekend, I don’t think I really needed all the “rah, rah, we
are part of a team” atmosphere. But I understand the purpose of it.
The number of women in the class surprised me. I think it has affected the
class dynamic, having more women. Because if there is an issue that a
woman brings up, she’ll keep talking about, it, because she has more support.
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It could have been adverse, where there was a lot of infighting with women,
and there wasn’t. That was a very nice, pleasant surprise.
Working in a male-dominated area of the healthcare industry, Andrea felt that she
long ago adopted the appropriate culture and coping mechanisms to thrive, even
though those mechanisms and survive skills were often viewed as masculine. The
class dynamic forced her to reconcile her attitude toward other businesswomen in her
class. While admitting that her “perspective is always skewed from working in a
primarily male-dominated industry,” she found that
There was not a lot of bickering among women, not that everyone was like
blood sisters, of course. It was nice. It has actually been more with men with
women, which I think to be unusual. There are several men in the class who
have issues, and are more difficult to work with than some of the women.
Balancing Roles
Andrea admitted that the multiple demands in her life— student,
businesswoman, and daughter—are often overwhelming. Most of her adult life, she
struggled to prioritize events and relationships as they emerged. She found that age,
however, had given her a certain perspective, and focused on what she had to do to
complete her degree. “Time is always a sacrifice,” she explained. “I need to be in
this program, so I don’t view it as a sacrifice.”
Andrea, who long identified herself as a “people-pleaser,” learned she had to
focus on herself and her priorities during her enrollment, not necessarily on the
feelings of her classmates. Although she accepted that this was necessary to some
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degree to maintain a successful business, she felt it was a challenge for her in the
new environment.
I was just discussing with someone earlier about certain women in the
program, that they wanted everyone to be friends and constantly tried to fix
everything. And I am notorious for that. And I have really been working on
that, to pay attention to what I am doing, and not worrying about anyone else.
Being a good person doesn’t mean that you have to go around and be friends
with everybody.
Her relationship with her parents and family continued to shadow many of her
decisions, including the decision to return to school. Although she felt that moving
away from home had given her a certain independence and security in the way she
lived her life, she found that their reaction to her new role as a student was important
to her.
I had always told my family I was going back. It was just when I was settled.
I wouldn’t say that they encouraged it, but they knew I would do what I
wanted to do, and that it was really important to me. I think now that I am in
it and almost done, and that they don’t have a higher education, meaning they
only graduated from high school, it just wasn’t really that important. But I
think now, talking to other people and getting some feedback, because it
seems to be a big deal to them now.
Andrea believed that her success in life, as a businesswoman, was initially
difficult for her father. She felt very close to him, and admired him for his sacrifices
and persistence in raising his family during difficult times. Dealing with that
admiration, however, became increasingly complicated when she felt her path in life
was not only one he would not have chosen for her, but also one he did not
understand. Since he had not completed high school, she questioned how he could
understand her desire to finish a graduate education.
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But I never thought that meant they didn’t love me. Those were just things
they weren’t brought up or didn’t really value. I think you judge people by
what they have accomplished. I found with my father for a while; when my
career started taking off, it was hard for him to adjust to having a child,
especially a daughter, make more money than he was. If he would have asked
me, of course I would have told him, but how many people ask how much
money you make, you know? I was honest. I think it was awkward at first,
but then it changed, and I think it has changed our relationship for the
positive. But I never wanted not to do it because of that. I always wanted to
do it for myself.
Andrea suffered two broken engagements during her adult life, the second of
which came during her enrollment in graduate school. Making the decision to end
the second engagement was a painful one, she admitted, aggravated by the demands
of her career and school. But by being enrolled in the EMBA program, she realized
“maybe my sights were set too low instead of too high.”
This has helped me realize that, if you meet the right person, they are not
going to be upset that you are striving to do the best you can for yourself. I
think I tried to apologize for who I am and my abilities. I quit apologizing for
trying to do the right thing and wanting to be responsible financially, that I
could support my family and myself.
Already dogged by doubts concerning her career choice and distance from her
family, she found that her graduate school enrollment, which placed her on a tangible
path to complete a long-term goal, helped her reconcile her definition of the
traditional and her expectations of herself as a woman and a person.
But somewhere inside, there is the struggle that, if you do well career wise,
it’s because you are not being the traditional female. You struggle with it.
The other people who should be supporting you, other women, don’t because
I think they are insecure from their standpoint. You apologize for not being
able to do it all. I could be married now, that’s not the issue. It’s the matter of
finding the person, and I’ll wait. What happens will happen.
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Conclusions
Andrea’s short-term goals, “to earn my MBA and learn everything possible,”
were met by her completion of the EMBA program. She left with the realization,
however, that many of the benefits of her education were intangible. With the
completion of a longtime goal, she found she changed “from the person I was before
I enrolled. Life isn’t just about me as a person.” Such conclusions led her to
contemplate the benefits of education for all women.
I think it is very important that we have more women with business skills,
who have obtained their MBA or other degrees. I think learning is such a
positive process because it forces you to do things that you might not
normally do. I think they will learn what I did. I discovered that it is okay not
to be like everyone else, to really focus on doing the right thing, that every
experience I have is a chance to make myself a better person.
4.4. KAYLA
Kayla, a married thirty-seven year old student, spent the past ten years working as
a manager for a large retail bakery. Owned by her husband’s family, the business
provides a wide range of services including wedding cakes, hotel catering and
several walk-in stores. After Kayla met her husband in college, she abandoned the
idea of pursuing a career as a marriage and family therapist and began working as a
part-time clerk. She eventually moved up to manager.
Educational Background and Motivations
Kayla identified many of her career and educational goals as being influenced by
her parents, particularly her father, who is a psychologist. She met and married her
husband while in college, and found that she was successful at business, marketing
and sales. What she presumed to be a temporary employment opportunity turned into
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a more long-term commitment, one where she worked closely with her husband and
his family on a daily business.
It was a school of hard knocks for me; I just got in there and started working
my way up, from the bottom. I started working in outside sales, just adding a
woman’s touch. Pretty soon, I thought ‘hey, I can do this,’ and I got rid of the
manager, then got rid of another manager, then I was doing everything:
operations, purchasing, inventory, although I didn’t know at the time what
that was all called, everything. From ‘hey, the toilet’s not working’ to
‘Channel 4 news wants to do a live feed on our new thing, so take care of it. ’
So, it was a lot of different hats I had to wear during the day.”
But working for a family-owned business was a strain. Kayla explained that the
stresses inherent in any job were magnified when your colleagues and partners are
part of your family. She had long been interested in going back to school, and felt
that the executive MBA program would give her a degree of authority she had been
searching for.
I think I have pretty good common sense, and can handle myself, but, with a
MBA, I think it would give me more credibility. Not ‘she just came from
some bakery down there.’ My original reason for doing this program was to
be a better manager, to run the business better. I wanted to have a bargaining
chip, something that would give me credibility. Not only to myself, that I was
capable of finishing something so important, I’m not just donut girl, I really
do have the knowledge to back up my experience, the terminology to explain
what I have been doing.”
Kayla hoped that, in gaining her MBA, she would secure an additional measure of
professional and personal security that she was lacking. By making the sacrifices and
committing the time and resources to graduate studies, she anticipated the return to
be increased self-confidence and more choices.
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Expectations and Reality
Although Kayla possessed years of experience managing a large retail bakery, she
felt that her business knowledge would pale in comparison to her classmates, whom
she visualized as having more traditional, corporate-oriented careers. Her anxiety
was magnified during the first class weekend, where she met her colleagues in the
program, and it took some time for her to feel comfortable speaking out in class
about business topics.
My anxiety level was very high coming into the program. I think the
disconnect was between what I was actually doing in business, and what I
thought I was doing. I felt that I really shouldn’t be here. I put myself down
so low, and I eventually realized I had a lot more experience than I gave
myself credit for. So my expectation was, that these people are going to
figure out that I don’t belong here, that I don’t know anything, that I am
going to have to try hard because I don’t know anything. And I think I was
pleasantly surprised to find out that everyone felt that way, and we were all
here to learn together, and it wasn’t an outing.
The process of assimilation was a difficult, but one that Kayla found was
expedited by the assistance and encouragement offered by structure of the program
and the added support of her classmates. Although Kayla had been out of school for
some time, she felt confident in that she had always been a good student. “I wasn’t
afraid about the classroom part,” she explained. “If I have ever been successful with
anything, it’s that I have always been a good student.” Her anxiety regarding the
required work and inherent knowledge assumed on the parts of the professors and
administration was alleviated the first class meeting.
I think everyone had an expectation that it was going to be, ‘ok, everyone get
out your pencils and papers and start taking notes and start reading and figure
out what everyone knows.’ I guess I expected the typical classroom
environment. I was very apprehensive, expecting to take notes, and I wore a
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suit, trying to be all professional. And suddenly they were giving us crayons
and paper and telling us to draw a butterfly, and I thought that this was
something I could handle. I’m sure it probably made a lot of people
uncomfortable, but I was comfortable with it.
While Kayla felt that the administration was supportive to students in organizing
the curriculum and learning environment in a flexible and unique format, she did not
expect “hand holding” from the school, nor did she feel like she received such
support. She anticipated that a certain degree of motivation would always be placed
upon the student, and, with her level of business skills and those skills of her
colleagues, found that she was capable of handling possible issues on her own.
It hasn’t been supportive, but I didn’t expect it to be. I really didn’t expect
them to do a lot of handholding; I think from the first weekend, you could
see, that’s why you formed your teams. You are going to rely on your team
for support. I really got the feeling that they are busy with all that they have
to do and you have to work among yourselves to solve the small problems.
Despite the gradual decrease in her anxiety level, Kayla believed that her
emotions as she first entered the program always stayed with her to some degree, the
feeling “that I wasn’t supposed to be in this group, or that I just wasn’t good
enough.” She was uncertain what demographics and background would be most
prevalent in the class, and found the relatively large number of female classmates to
be unique.
We’ve discussed that in class, that we feel there is more of a nurturing
environment, less competitiveness, more of a willingness to bring up skills
that are lacking because of a female influence. I think this is somewhat
fostered by the women in the class. I can’t really identify if this is because of
the women in the class. I think the women think so. I have heard it, when the
issue does come up, that the men say that is possibly the case.
Especially in the small groups, because there is an even gender split there. I
think the women are pretty well distributed throughout the class as well. Just
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a few sessions ago, one of the women brought up the fact that we are not as
competitive because there are more women in the class, and isn’t that
interesting. And one of the men responded, that’s true, they perceive that if
there were more men in the class, the entire dynamic of the class would be
different.
Balancing Roles
Kayla brought a complicated support system into her experiences in the EMBA
program. With close ties to her husband’s family due to their working relationship, a
situation she was finding increasingly stressful, she felt her husband exhibited a large
degree of apprehension concerning her enrollment. They worried she would use the
opportunity to leave the store and work elsewhere. During the first year of her
studies, Kayla did resign from her position as bakery manager.
I realized that I am in this family system, and it’s a very male-dominated
system, my husband, his brother, they are the real people who make decisions
about what happens. In their minds, I am just playing store. When I figured
that out, I thought, ‘that’s it, I have to go.’ Because I am not going to change
the system. It was kind of an awakening. I don’t think they value school
learning as much as they do experience, and I was learning an incredible
amount in school. I thought that was very important.
The time demands of school magnified issues Kayla felt were emerging between
herself and her husband. They met when they were twenty, and have been married
for almost fifteen years. By taking the step to enroll in school and leave her job, she
also felt empowered to review the important relationships in her life. With her
husband, she said
I am not sure if our marriage will survive after the program. It has been a
tremendous strain on us. When I was away for the weekends for class, my
husband enjoyed the time away, going out and running wild. I am a different
person from when we first met. I think this program has helped me define
what kind of person that is, and I hope it will mesh with what he sees for
himself, but I don’t know. I really don’t know.
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Being involved with other businesswomen in an academic environment, many of
who were mothers, made Kayla re-evaluate her decision not to have children until
later in her life. Her conclusion was that she simply wasn’t ready, a conclusion she
felt was validated when she saw the struggles of other parents in her class. She also
felt that she was at a point in her life where she could focus on her personal desires
and goals, not those of her spouse or children. Such realizations were part of the
larger sense of empowerment that she felt she gained during her studies.
I don’t think I could have finished this program if I would have had children.
Something has to give, and it is usually family. You can’t let your job
performance go, so the one thing that gets neglected is family. You give; you
don’t get with children. You can say you get something, but you are really
getting because you are giving. I really am not ready to give; I need to take
more. I’ve been giving, to my business, my family. I want to take more for
me.
Conclusion
Kayla experienced a multitude of changes during her two-year enrollment in
graduate school. These changes affected every aspect of her life. Coping with the
stress of leaving a long-time job and experiencing stress in her marital relationship,
Kayla found that school served as a release, with her classmates developing into
invaluable supporters. While she left school with a tangible reminder of her
achievements in the form of her degree, she felt many of the most positive benefits
were intangible and hard to define.
I don’t really know what I want to do after I graduate. It’s one of those
personal things where you have to get your confidence up. This program has
given me a lot more confidence. I am taking care of myself more now, I am
can finish things that I start. I am getting healthy, losing weight, I am getting
ready to live a life that I only hoped I could live. I think I had been putting it
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off. I think the sacrifice I made was that I didn’t really think I could go to
work in the corporate environment. So I took the easy road, but it ended up
being harder. You should really just go for what you want at the beginning
4.5. LESLIE
Leslie, a single thirty-nine year old woman who works as a regional manager for
a large retail clothing chain, decided to enroll in the EMBA program after
experiencing a traumatic event within her family. In setting a personal goal for
herself, she hoped to “pull herself up” from an event that she “took very personally.”
Although she vaguely considered attending graduate school after completing her
undergraduate studies, the desire previously was lost amid career obligations. A tall,
talkative young woman, Leslie spoke decisively about her time in the program that
she feels has changed her life.
Educational Background and Motivations
With nearly twenty years experience working in retail, Leslie felt she had
achieved a certain level of professional success. She began to work in retail after
graduating from college as a temporary situation, and was surprised when it turned
into something more permanent.
I worked all the time, and, in retail, they reward that, which is why I think I
got my job when I did. When I was growing up, my mother was really into
fashion, so she would take me shopping with her. Now it seems really
logical, that that would be an interest of mine, but I was always into driving
the business part of it, as opposed to the nice clothes and everything. Over
time, that part has become less and less meaningful than building a business,
which has become more meaningful. Retail is really fun. I enjoy being with
people, and it’s like being on stage, all day, every day. It is very fast-paced,
and you feel needed. I just liked doing it, so I stayed with it.
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Leslie spoke often of the influences her family has had on her life, especially her
father. She described her relationship with her father as one where she “always
wanted him to be proud of me.” Such emotions led Leslie to enroll in an all-women’s
college after high school graduation, and ultimately created tension regarding her
career choice.
My father is a physician, so continuing education is very important. I think
part of it was that my mother wanted me to be a physician or an attorney or
something like that, so when I went into retail, it was huge problem for them.
Especially because my college was a very expensive school, and my parents
paid for most of my education.
Managing multiple demands of family and career, Leslie encountered the
situation that became a turning point for her as far as her enrollment in graduate
studies. Leslie and her family staged an intervention for her brother, which resulted
in a “very difficult and uncertain time for all of us.” After several months of family
therapy, she felt consumed by the situation. She explained:
It was horrible. And I was on an airplane, traveling for my job, and I saw the
ad for this [EMBA] program. And that’s what I needed. I thought I would
reach up for a goal to maybe pull myself up. I needed a goal to make me feel
good about myself, where I can feel better about myself. So I just got it into
my head and I applied and that was it. It wasn’t like I had spent a long time
wanting to get my degree. There are some people in my class who say they
thought about it for like ten years before they did it; this wasn’t like that. I
just thought that I could do this, and the schedule was every three weeks and
a weekend, and I thought I could do that at this point in my career. I thought
it would make me feel good to have a goal, to get me out of that situation.
When Leslie told her family she was going to enroll, their reaction was neutral.
“They wondered why,” she said, “and wanted to know why I didn’t go right out of
college. They didn’t understand why I was doing this.” But, with faith in her own
convictions, she enrolled and began the program.
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Expectations and Reality
Because of the somewhat sudden nature of Leslie’s decision to enroll in graduate
studies, she felt she had little time to build expectations of the program and her
future classmates. Some of her uncertainty did revolve around her choice of career
(retail) and how her classmates who might have a more “conventional” business
career would perceive such a background.
I remember asking my counselor if there was anyone else in the program
from retail, although I figured there wasn’t. So, I thought, in a way, I might
have to overcome something, but I figured I could do that. Maybe I was
gearing myself, thinking I could have some armor or something. People in
the class were very nice, very accepting. No one in class thought anything
negative to my knowledge about my background. I just didn’t think, though,
that they would have put me in the program if I didn’t belong there, if they
thought I couldn’t do it or make the grade. So I kind of trusted that.
Balancing Roles
Because Leslie was single when she started the program, she assumed that the
only time demands she would have to contend with would be those from work. She
was wrong. Leslie admitted that being a student affected all areas of her life, from
her professional career as a manager to her role as a daughter, sister and girlfriend.
One of the first casualties of her enrollment was Leslie’s four-year relationship with
her boyfriend. She explained
At New Year’s that first year, that was just it for us. We broke up then. I was
working all the time and had school, and he just didn’t seem to understand. I
got him to get his GED, and was trying to get him to enroll in college. But
you can’t make someone do what you don’t want. It’s just that the differences
between us became so highlighted. We’re good friends now, but he is still at
a community college and I am getting my master’s degree. So that definitely
went by the wayside. My drive for success was just not compatible with him,
and being in school highlighted that.
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Although Leslie has knowingly devoted much of her adult life to her family and
her career, she was surprised by her reaction to her classmates who were married
with children. She felt she would have benefited from having the “built-in” support
system of a family, as she saw it through her colleagues. Although her parents were
supportive, Leslie wanted more.
I’ve never felt anxious or anything about not being married, until I started
going to school. Because everybody seems to have a support, you know. I
know I don’t see the other aspect of it, where you can’t spend time with your
family or your kids. I just don’t see that part of it. But it seems nice, to have
someone there when you get home, who’ll ask how you did on your paper or
something. So, I realized that then. But I also know that I travel all the time, I
haven’t really prioritized that part of my life. I never really saw my life like
that, being married and all, when I was young. And I think whatever you
visualize will eventually come true. I never really pictured myself that way.
But now it seems like it would be really nice.
Conclusion
Leslie believed that her goal-oriented personality was satisfied during her
enrollment in graduate studies. Although there were times during her studies where
she wondered if she would be able to complete the courses, she found, in the end, the
sacrifices and stressful demands were worth it. Not only did she gain confidence in
her skills as a businesswoman, she also felt she had proven herself to her family and
friends.
My goal for after the program is to be happy, to sit down without any other
pressures and figure out what I want to do with my life. Should I be opening
my own business? Without the pressures of school, I can decide what makes
me happy. It has been hard these past two years to put anything else on my
plate, although I wish I could. That would be the one thing, to find out what I
want to do, or to see what makes me happier in my job, in my life. I want to
do something for me.
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CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS
5.1. Identifying Themes
Each woman went through a different experience in the EMBA program. These
experiences were the culmination of a lifetime of academic, professional and
personal choices, each of which led them to enroll in a graduate studies program.
While a review of the case studies shows the individual motivations of each woman,
it also reveals that several common elements exist in the experiences and motivations
of this group of female students.
5.1.1. Educational Background and Motivations
The academic backgrounds of these students were as varied as the women,
themselves. Most studied fields other than business, and did not have career
aspirations as professional businesswomen. Several of them stumbled onto a career
that they ultimately found satisfying, and pursued it diligently to a high level of
achievement. But it is the element of motivation that these students do share. As
Robbie explained it, when she began working at her current company, she “got the
bug.” While Anna admitted that she surprised herself at her ability to run a business,
she received a tremendous amount of satisfaction from high performance and client
approval. Since Leslie chose a career that did not met with her parents’ approval, she
felt an even greater motivation to achieve a high level of success.
Thus, the motivation, which these women brought with them into their studies,
was reflected early on in both their career choices and career trajectory. While some
research suggests that self-selection leads women to apply to graduate programs less
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frequently than men (Baird, 1990), these students overcame doubts and uncertainties
in regards to applying and enrolling in the program. Coming from a competitive,
masculine business environment (for example, Robbie working as a high-level
manager for a technology company, and Anna starting and operating her own
medical business), these women felt equipped to handle the intricacies of the
classroom at this level.
5.1.2. Expectations and Reality
Despite the fact that a few of the women interviewed had spoken to friends or
colleagues who completed the EMBA program, all of them stated that they really
had no idea what to expect from the program and their fellow students. While the
details of the story varied from person to person, the structure was the same. The
women reported feeling anxiety regarding the new role as a student, apprehension
about their “fit” in the group and uncertainty in terms of their qualifications as
compared to their other classmates. Andrea, for example, spoke about the unknown
expectations as a primary source of her nervousness. Such emotions reflect the idea
that the decision to pursue a graduate education involves learning, personal growth
and stress for women (Hayes and Flannery, 1997).
The reality was typically synonymous with expectations, but excruciatingly real:
long weekends in class, numerous hours spent in class and group meetings and a
large amount of independent work to be completed at the home or office. While not
all women expressly stated that the significant number of women in their class (as
compared to the national average of women enrolled in MBA programs) made a
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difference in their attitudes and performance, they each spoke about a communal,
family atmosphere the class developed, and how this assisted in their learning. What
they learned in the classroom was as important as their personal development, which
Hayes and Flannery (1997) believe to be a key theme of learning in higher education
for women. It is crucial to connect both the textbook knowledge with the
development experience, which the interview subjects spoke of frequently.
5.1.3. Balancing Roles
The women interviewed in this study spoke about how assuming the additional
role of a student caused them to assess other roles in their life, and define their
priorities. These priorities are as varied as the women, themselves: children, spouse,
parents, work, self-development and so on. Yet they all exemplify a trend noted by
Baird (1990) in his discussion of the five aspects of the role of the graduate student.
In particular, Baird explained that the extent with which the student was involved
with other students in the program affected their perception of the role as a student.
In this EMBA program, the students worked closely together in peer groups
throughout the two-year class schedule. Anna, when speaking of her group, named
them as one of the primary support systems that allowed her to focus on her
performance as a student and her life outside the classroom. Robbie referred to her
group as “a smart group of people,” and believed that, since they were all undergoing
the same graduate school ritual, they were better able to provide support.
Baird (1990) said that the demands of graduate studies often affect other life
decisions, and the quality of personal relations that students may have with
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significant others in their lives. These demands are in addition to the formal,
traditional classroom demands, yet they have a strong, connected relationship.
Evidence exists which suggests that stress and role conflicts resulting from graduate
studies may be more prevalent among women than men (Mallinckrodt, Leong and
Kralj, 1989), and that female students are more likely to drop out (Berg and Ferber,
1983), but such a statement in regards to this group would require a more detailed
study involving male class members.
5.2. Implications for Educational Institutions
The importance of this study lies in its implications for the retention and positive
experience of nontraditional women in graduate school, in light of the increasing
number of women pursuing graduate studies. Perhaps the most intriguing question
that emerged from this study is that of gender parity in the classroom. These female
students work in competitive and often hostile business environments, several of
them managing a large number of employees and company finances. For example,
Andrea explained she gave up the role of the traditional female when she assumed an
increased leadership position with her work. Robbie referred to “abrasive” qualities
that could exist in a traditional, male-dominated business environment.
Yet these professional women felt that having an equal number of men and
women in the classroom was advantageous, and provided them with a more balanced
learning opportunity. Kayla perceived that the large number of female students
enrolled in the program gave it a more nurturing environment, and eliminated some
of the competitive nature that she expected. In fact, none of the women said the
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program was overly competitive, instead saying that whatever competitive
motivation they felt was internal.
These students perceived that the high enrollment of women was beneficial to not
only their learning, but also the learning of their male colleagues. Having gender
parity neutralized the dominating effect of one gender or another, instead allowing
for a more equal environment and a more open exchange of ideas. While the
admissions pool for EMBA students may reflect the small percentage of women in
executive business positions, it is important for university administrators to actively
recruit women in order to provide a more balanced learning environment for all
students.
If having professors of the same gender is an important factor in terms of mentors
(Berg and Ferber, 1983), then the women enrolled in this program did not receive the
benefits of having female mentors. With only one female professor, the students
were exposed to the traditional structure as seen in the executive business
environment, where only a small percentage of managers are women (Hancock,
1999). When asked about their expectations regarding faculty, the students noted that
they did not expect a significant number, if any, of female professors. When
specifically asked about professional mentors, the few students who felt role models
were important for their career success did not list any women among them. Lacking
female faculty, the program should ensure that female executives and business
leaders are brought in as guest speakers and consultants to provide a balanced format
for the class.
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Although several of the women suggested that they expected little from the
university in terms of support, university administrators should thoroughly examine
the types of support they offer students and how that support meets the students’
needs. For example, Anna explained that the demands of school, in addition to her
work as a professional, wife, mother and daughter, took a toll on her health, and she
was worried about physically being able to complete the program. The women in this
study named their small group as one of the most important sources of support,
adding special emphasis to Baird’s (1990) conclusion that the small group format is
an integral part of the graduate student experience. In addition to recruiting more
women, attention should be given to creating the kind of environment that is
supportive and understanding of the multiple demands and unique stress in women’s
lives. If students are forewarned about unrealistic expectations, they might be more
encouraged during their graduate experience.
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CHAPTER SIX: CONCLUSION
6.1. Summary of the Study
Each of the women interviewed for this study expected their enrollment in the
EMBA program to be intellectually and physically challenging, yet they were
surprised by the intensity of the demands and the effect those demands had on their
personal lives. Anna and Kayla experienced stress in the marriages. Robbie dealt
with alienation from her children. Andrea and Leslie ended long-term relationships
in part due to the pressures of school. These were changes that were unanticipated,
and caused anxiety for the women. Their struggle to achieve balance left all of them
feeling stressed and unhappy upon occasion.
Yet, upon completion of the program, the students spoke of the sense of
empowerment they gained by graduating and achieving a goal. Andrea explained, “I
discovered that it is okay not to be like everyone else, to really focus on doing the
right thing, that every experience I have is a chance to make myself a better person.”
Such is the delicate balancing act that was required of these students, the give and
take that was required of them in order to successfully meet the demands of graduate
studies.
Affective commitment, met expectations and the need for achievement are among
the most important factors in ensuring graduate student retention (Cooke et al, 1995),
and the women in this study exhibited at least some, if not all, of these traits. Their
commitment to the program was evidenced by the idea of graduate school and an
EMBA degree as a goal. Anna stated, “I wanted to continue my education for a long
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time. I was more than willing to make all the sacrifices, because it was something I
wanted so badly to do.” The need for achievement was a longtime passion for most
of these women, and they saw the EMBA degree as a means of validating their
professional and personal success.
Berg and Ferber’s study of graduate students at the University of Illinois (1983)
found that women were more likely to take account of the impact of going to school
on the significant people in their private lives. The women in this study were often
painfully aware that their decision to return to school was one that impacted their
spouses, children, parents and siblings, and, in some cases, waited until the time was
right for everyone involved before deciding to enroll in graduate school. Because of
the relationship that these women had with significant people in their private lives, it
is important that those people provide support and encouragement for the student.
For example, while Anna’s husband expected her to maintain many of her traditional
duties in their household, he also helped out more with their two daughters when she
needed to concentrate on her studies. Such support, from a spouse, child, or parent,
seems integral to the success of the student.
6.2. Conclusions
The narratives provided by these five female students enrolled in an EMBA
program reflect the diversity of their backgrounds and the common nature of their
experiences. While each tells a unique story of the experiences and motivations
which combined to help them achieve a certain level of business success and gave
them the confidence to enroll in the EMBA program, the common themes among
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these women— stress regarding the multiple roles, experiencing personal
development and growth, and soliciting support when needed in order to be
successful— speak to larger issues facing the group. While additional research would
be required to determine the applicability to a larger population, these narratives do
serve a dual purpose. First, the narratives provide a record of the experiences of these
women in this program, an element of higher education which is growing quickly,
and which is drawing an increasingly large number of female students.
Second, they provide an important motivation to university administrators to
study the needs of this subset of students. Nontraditional female graduate students
are often forced to manage career responsibilities, family pressures and school
requirements in a way that is unique due to their gender. Female students in an
EMBA program represent an additional challenge; as businesswomen who have
achieved a certain status in an environment that still remains somewhat gender-
stilted, the transition to student can be a difficult one for these individuals. With the
increasing number of older women enrolling in graduate studies, it is important that
we understand their experiences to provide support and encouragement on their
academic journey.
6.1. Future Research
Through the experiences of these five students, we can see that external support is
essential to the success of nontraditional female graduate students. We can also
understand that the ability to cope with stress and role conflicts is an important
element to completing the graduate program. In addition, the effects of male versus
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female faculty for an EMBA program should be further examined, considering the
increasing number of professional women in significant career positions.
Although we understand the preference of a graduate student for a faculty mentor
of the same gender, we do not know how the faculty gender can influence a female
student’s perception of her learning capabilities and prospects for success. While we
can determine that gender parity is influential to classroom dynamics, we do not
understand the extent to which gender dynamics influences classroom learning
among EMBA students. These issues are important to further understanding the
nontraditional female student enrolled in EMBA programs, and are likely to provide
greater understanding of women in graduate school.
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REFERENCES
Anderson, B J. & Miezitis, S. (1999). Stress and life satisfaction in mature female
graduate students. Initiatives. 59. 33-43.
Arnold, L.A., Chakravaty A.K, and Balakrishnan, N. (1996). Applicant evaluation in
an executive MBA program. Journal of Education for Business. 71. 277-283.
Ashar, H. & Skenes, R. (1993). Can Tinto’s student development model be applied
to nontraditional students? Adult Education Quarterly. 43. 90-100.
Astin, A.W. (1993). What matters in college: Four critical years revisited. San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Baird, L.L. (1990). The melancholy of anatomy: the personal and professional
development of graduate and professional school students. In Smart, J.C. (Ed.),
Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research. 6 (pp. 361-392). New York:
Agathon Press.
Baird, L.L. (1993). Studying graduate student retention and degree attainment:
resources for researchers. Directions for Institutional Research. 80. 81-91.
Baruch, Y. & Leeming, A. (2001). The added value of MBA studies: graduates’
perceptions. Personnel Review. 30. 589-602.
Berg, H.M. & Ferber, M.A. (1983). Men and women graduate students: who
succeeds and why? Journal of Higher Education. 54. 630-648.
Bragg, A.K. (1976). The socialization process in higher education (ERIC/Higher
Education Research Report No. 7). Washington, DC: American Association for
Higher Education.
Cooke, D.K., Sims, R.L. & Peyrefitte, J. (1995). The relationship between graduate
student attitudes and attrition. Journal of Psychology. 139. 677-688.
Girves, J.E. & Wemmerus, V. (1988). Developing models of graduate student degree
progress. Journal of Higher Education. 59. 164-189.
Goode, W.J. (1960). A theory of role strain. American Sociological Review. 25. 483-
496.
Hancock, T. (1999). The gender difference: validity of standardized admission tests
in predicting MBA performance. Journal of Education for Business. 75. 91-94.
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Hayes, E.R. & Flannery, D.D. (1997). Narratives of adult women’s learning in
higher education: insights from graduate research. Initiatives. 58. 61-80.
Hayes, E.R. & Flannery, D.D. (2000). Women as learners: the significance of gender
in adult learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Hilgert, A. (1998). Professional development of women and the executive MBA. The
Journal of Management Development. 17. 629.
Katz, J. (1976). Development of the mind. Katz, J. and Hartnett, R. (Eds.) Scholars
in the Making. Cambridge, MA: Ballinger.
Mallinckrodt, F., Leong, F.T.L, & Kralj, M.M. (1989). Sex differences in graduate
student life-change stress and stress symptoms. Journal of College Student
Development. 30. 332-338.
Marshall, C. & Rossman, G.B. (1999). Designing qualitative research (3rd edition).
Sage Publications: Thousand Oaks, California.
Merritt, Jennifer (2001, 15 October). MBAs for executives: the top 25 schools.
Business Week. 103-106.
Munir, S.S. & Jackson, D.W. (1997). Social support, need for support and anxiety
among women graduate students. Psychological Reports. 80. 383-387.
Phelan, P., Davidson, A.L. & Yu, H.C. (1998). Adolescents’ worlds: Negotiating
family, peers and school. New York: Teachers College Press.
Sieber, S.D. (1974). Toward a theory of role accumulation. American Sociological
Review. 39. 567-578.
Tarule, J.M. (1988). Voices of returning women: ways of knowing. In L.H. Lewis
(ed.), Addressing the Needs of Returning Women. New Directions for Continuing
Education, 39. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Tinto, V. (1975). Dropout from higher education: a theoretical synthesis of recent
research. Review of Educational Research. 45. 89-125.
Toombs, W. (1974). Graduate study as education. University Park: Center for the
Study of Higher Education, Pennsylvania State University.
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APPENDIX A: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS (STUDENTS)
This interview guide was used as a checklist to ensure that all topics of interest to
this study were discussed. Students were encouraged to discuss questions of personal
interest in greater detail.
1. Demographic/Background Info
1. How old are you?
2. What is your educational history?
3. Are you married?
4. Do you have any children?
5. What is your current occupation?
6. What is your employment history?
2. Personal experiences
1. How do you find a balance between school, family and career?
2. What are the time demands of school?
3. Did your expectations of the demands of school meet your reality?
4. What types of support has the school provided you?
5. What else could the school do to support you as a student?
6. How supportive are your family and colleagues to your academic career?
7. What types of sacrifices have you made in order to be a student?
8. If you had the choice to do the program again, would you?
3. Motivations
1. Why did you enroll in the program?
2. How long had you wanted to enroll in the program?
3. How did your family/colleagues react to your commitment to the program?
4. Class Structure/Perceptions
1. What are your perceptions of the faculty?
2. What do you learn from the class sessions?
3. How do you interact with your group?
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4. What have you gained from your group?
5. How do you feel about the class advisor?
6. How involved are you in school activities?
7. Are you competitive with other students in your program?
8. What are your feelings regarding male-female student interaction in the
program?
9. What were your expectations in regards to your classmates?
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APPENDIX A: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS (ADMINISTRATORS AND
FACULTY)
This interview guide was used as a checklist to ensure that all topics of interest to
this thesis were discussed. Individuals were encouraged, however, to discuss
questions of personal interest in greater detail.
1. How long have you been teaching in the EMBA program? What is your level
of involvement with the program?
2. What are your general impressions of the individuals enrolled in the EMBA
program, as students and professionals?
3. What, in your opinion, are the keys to successful completion of the program?
4. How realistic do you feel the students’ expectations are before they enroll?
5. What has been your experience with students who drop out of the program?
6. What do you feel is the most effective support the university can provide for
these students?
7. What is your perception of student-faculty relationships?
8. What are the key academic and personal benchmarks you hope students
achieve through this program?
9. Why do you feel students enroll in the program?
10. What elements of the program at this university do you believe are
successful?
11. What differences, if any, do you see between male and female students
enrolled in the EMBA program?
12. Do the students ever approach you with any personal problems they
experience during their enrollment?
13. What changes do you see in the class as a group during their enrollment?
14. Do you ever observe the students during their small group sessions? If so,
what is your opinion of their interaction?
15. What do you feel you can, or should do, to ensure the success of the students
enrolled in the program?
16. Are you aware of any personal conflicts students may have during the
program (for example, scheduling difficulties due to family obligations, etc.)?
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Asset Metadata

Creator Holley, Karri (author)

Core Title Narratives of nontraditional female graduate students enrolled in an executive MBA program

Degree Master of Science

Degree Program Postsecondary Administration and Student Affairs

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag education, business,Education, higher,OAI-PMH Harvest,women's studies

Language English

Contributor Digitized by ProQuest (provenance)

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c16-307200

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