Conforming to and resisting imposed identities : An autoethnography on academic motherhood

Purpose This research attempts to make sense of the experiences of two academic women who become mothers. Design/methodology/approach This paper is an autoethnography. Applying the autoethnographic method allows us to discuss cultural phenomena through personal reflections and experiences. Our autoethnographic reflections illustrate our struggles and attempts of resistance within discursive spaces where motherhood and our identity as academics intersect. Findings Our personal experiences combined with theoretical elaborations illuminate how the role of the mother continues to be dominated by such gendered discursive practices that conflict with the work role. Once women become mothers, they…