DIGEST-Volume10.4-FULL

17 TPC Digest | TPC Digest O ver the past several decades, non-traditional students have been entering the doctoral pipeline in greater numbers. These non-traditional candidates include students who are minorities, international students, and women. Doctoral studies often intersect with prime childbearing age; therefore, female students may come into these programs with children or become pregnant while they are completing their degrees. Specific to the discipline of counselor education and supervision, doctoral student mothers report that motherhood enhances their identities as professional counselors and educators but also creates stress navigating the often murky waters of traditional academic settings. Attrition is high among doctoral students in general, and even more so with less traditional students such as mothers. Difficulty with competing roles as a student, employee, and mother can create dissatisfaction and may contribute to delays or attrition. Mentoring may be an important factor in increasing satisfaction and reducing attrition among doctoral student mothers. This investigation sought to determine how doctoral student mothers experienced mentoring in counselor education programs, whom they sought to provide mentoring, and what qualities contributed to effective mentoring. We interviewed 12 doctoral student mothers, most of whom had become new mothers while in their programs, who received faculty and/or peer mentoring. For our study, a mentor is defined as a senior member of the profession who provides professional and personal support to assist the less skilled mentee in becoming a full member of the profession. These women described their mentorship experiences as professional, personal, and essential to their success. They selected at least one mentor who shared their motherhood experience, as that increased feelings of being understood and supported. They described their faculty mentors as warm, encouraging, and flexible. These mentors met with them around their busy lives as professionals, students, and mothers. Mentoring was relational in that many of the female mentors shared their struggles as mothers and professionals in less than family-friendly workplaces and modeled lessons learned in finding work–life balance. Peer mentors offered support that reduced isolation and established friendly connections that often went beyond the educational setting. T hose interviewed provided insight into the struggles that doctoral student mothers face. Challenges included poorly defined maternity leave policies; lack of accommodations such as lactation rooms; and difficulty finding childcare coverage, especially in emergencies. Many expressed a sense of isolation, as they were less connected to peers without children in their programs, had fewer opportunities to present or conduct research, and received discouraging statements questioning their commitment if they chose to get pregnant while in their program. Again, mentors buffered some of this by helping them find creative timelines for dissertation and scholarly writing, engaging them in research opportunities, and defending their choice to be mothers. According to these students, their mentors acted as lifelines and protective factors. From these rich descriptions, this study offers mentoring information that may be useful in recruiting and training future faculty mentors, strengthening or developing mentorship programs, and advocating for family-friendly institutional policies. Vanessa Kent, PhD, NCC, LCMHC-S, LMFT, is an assistant professor at Regent University. Helen Runyan, PhD, NCC, LPC, is an associate professor at Regent University. David Savinsky, PhD, ACS, LPC, LMFT, CSAC, is an associate professor at Regent University. Jasmine Knight, PhD, NCC, is an assistant professor at Regent University. Correspondence may be addressed to Vanessa Kent, 1000 University Drive, Virginia Beach, VA 23464, vaneken@regent.edu. Vanessa Kent, Helen Runyan, David Savinsky, Jasmine Knight Mentoring Doctoral Student Mothers in Counselor Education A Phenomenological Study