Being Dr. Mom and/or Mom, Ph.D.: Autoethnographies of MotherScholaring during COVID–19

Abstract

This article examines how the COVID–19 pandemic impacts five MotherScholars, mothers and scholars blending their maternal and academic identities, through the use of interactive interviewing, autoethnography, and narrative. The narratives are presented from four distinct times during the first 10–months of the COVID–19 pandemic: beginning (March through May of 2020), the middle (summer of 2020), the perpetuated middle (fall semester 2020), and present day (December 2020). The narratives capture how we, as five MotherScholars, negotiated between maternal and academic roles under pandemic conditions, ultimately unveiling our MotherScholar identity. The article concludes by drawing attention to the value of women colleagues and friendships for social support, the role of narratives to reshape family stories, and the impetus for institutions of higher education to assist MotherScholars.