The relationship between higher education, emotion and gender:a qualitative study using text and interviews

Contributor affiliation

University of Chichester

Contributor biography

Eva Mikuska, Senior Lecturer

I started my career as a Geography Teacher; however my interest shifted towards the care and education of children. I was an EY Practitioner and then an EY Manager in inner-city day care settings in London. After completing my studies in 2001, I started to teach on the ADC, HNC and HND childcare programmes and in 2010 I joined the team at the University of Chichester where I now co-ordinate the Foundation Degree in Early Childhood. My aim is to continue to support students in their chosen careers not only with my wide experience in the field, but via my recent research which primarily focuses on all aspects of adult education. This includes emotion and learning, emotional labour and ‘e-learning’, with a particular focus on the role of emotion within education.

Relevant disciplines

Education

Academic level(s)

Undergraduate and MA level

Methods used

Qualitative research - Text and Qualitative Interviews

Keywords

Emotion, qualitative research, education, mature students, gender

Link to research output

MA dissertation – not published

Abstract

My own ‘naturalistic observation’ was pertinent to the genesis of this research project, which investigated mature students’ emotions within higher education. I have been involved for many years in the kind of classroom environment where I have observed that many female mature students lack confidence in their academic ability, something that is often attributed to repeated experiences of difficulties in understanding and obeying the rigorous and unfamiliar bureaucratic environment of higher education. Students studying full-time on the Foundation Degree in Childhood (FD) programme with which I was involved often combined work and family responsibilities with their studies and it was therefore not surprising that a large number of such students have heightened emotional responses to their personal situations, often to the detriment of their academic studies. Mature female students frequently questioned their own academic ability, seeking solutions to how to balance their personal and work/employment-related commitments with their academic requirements. It is these students on whom this research project has focused, which investigated the place, the nature and the effects of female mature students’ emotion in higher education. To investigate this phenomenon, a general qualitative inquiry was adopted. In practical terms, this involved using qualitative interviews and reflective tasks (text) as research instruments.

Learning outcomes

This case study:

  • Gives an overview of using qualitative method as a tool to study the complex phenomena of emotion within educational contexts.
  • Gives a better understanding of challenges using qualitativeinterviews andtext as a method for collecting data;
  • Gives a better understanding of the complexities of doing research on a sensitive topic.

A brief literature review of emotion from wider professional fields: Social, cognitive and psychological

Social, cognitive and psychological theories about emotion recognise that defining emotion is a very complex task (Williams, 2001; Day et al., 2011; Carlson, 2001). Consequently there are many different definitions in the scientific literature. For example, in psychology, Plutchik (2001) suggests that emotion is looked at from the individual and private viewpoint, which reduces emotion to a very internal and personal part of human life. In contrast, from the sociological perspective, the concept of emotion has been theorised in a cultural and social context (Williams, 2001). Turner and Stets (2005) support and build on the above theory emphasising that cultural factors are dominant when theorising emotions. Their findings were based on theoretical and empirical work, while cognitivist theorists argue that thoughts play an essential role in the formation of emotions (Lawson, 2011). Although all the above mentioned approaches are mainly based around general human feelings and wellbeing, they all suggest that emotion cannot be separated from social, cultural, and individual factors (Williams, 2001; Shultz and Perkun, 2007) and that there is still no clarity about the importance and presence of emotion in education in general (Day and Lee, 2011).

Emotion and gender in higher education: The current debate

Higher education currently faces many changes, some externally driven by government policies and changing patterns of social and economic demand and some internally driven by changes in the way knowledge is produced and taught within universities (CHERI, 2010). One change is that ‘significantly more women than men participated in higher education in 2005’ (Lethwood and Read, 2009, p.29). In addition, over the past decade there has been a significant increase in mature students’ number, especially female mature students which make up the majority of this population (Carney, 2001). Carney and McNeish (2000, in Carney, 2001) identified mature students as a group as having more problems with emotions and social functioning in the university environment than the younger age group. As a result, Carney (2001) carried out a small scale research project which was based on the information gathered from 756 mature students, aged 25 and older, and discovered that mature students usually deal with childcare and/or work responsibility and, while they might have positive aspirations, female students are more likely to feel insecure about expressing their anxieties and their concerns over about adapting to classroom life. Furthermore Carney (2001) also found that emotions related to financial pressure scored the highest. It is generally accepted, however, that stereotypically women are defined as being more emotional than men (Giancola et al., 2008). Women are portrayed as being more emotionally volatile, often erupting into fits of sadness, anger, despair or jealousy much more frequently than their male counterparts. The accuracy of this portrayal may not be scientifically proved in spite of the studies which made an attempt to disentangle this complex relationship between gender and emotion, especially since the feminist influence started to give more voice to this field (Lynch et al., 2009). Boler (1999) argues that both women and emotion have historically been relegated to the ‘domestic sphere’ of caring for others, outside of the ‘public spaces inhabited by male’ (p. 6). Driscoll (2000) also highlights that feminist theory contributed to challenging a division into ‘public and private spheres’ (p. 717). This debate is ongoing within the post-structuralist feminist circle which continuously questions the discourse between emotion and education, reflecting on the dualism of ‘rational/emotional, mind/body, public/private, masculine/feminine split’ (Leathwood and Hay, 2009, p. 429). Within this debate, Leathwood and Read (2009) explored the relationship between emotion and gender within higher education. In opposition, Burman (2009, p.130) points out that the gender shift in labour, as she calls it ‘feminisation’, and not feminism resulted in a rise of emotion-related discourses. Therefore she calls for the construction of discourse about emotion rather than ‘recognition of some individual feeling’ (p. 137).

In designing the study as a qualitative researcher, I had to face the challenge of how to develop a conceptual framework that fits these debates and theories, yet still remained focused on investigating the relationship between higher education, emotions and gender.

Research participants

The research project was carried out between December 2011 and August 2012, and it was designed with my understanding that emotion is a considerable factor (among other factors such as class sizes, the nature of the assessment and staff/student ratio)in mature students’ learning and teaching within higher education.Applicants on the FDC are predominantly 21 years old or older which is a benchmark for calling a student ‘mature’ (DfES, 2006). Therefore the rationale to focus on mature students as opposed to other kinds is entirely connected with the population of the FDC, which mainly attracts female mature students due to the occupation in which they work. This is in line with the research of Cameron et al. (2001b) which shows that more than 98 per cent of those employed in childcare are female. Therefore the rationale for exploring the role of emotion played by the gender of mature students lies in the highly gendered care industry.

Although originally twenty-nine participants were taking part in the research project I chose eight at random because of time restriction. The participants were all:

  • female,
  • they had all graduated and they were all employed in the same sector,
  • I had known the participants for two years in a capacity of being their lecturer,
  • they were between 28 and 48 years old,
  • I firmly believed all twenty-nine participants could have provided me with valuable data about the phenomenon of emotion.

Table 1 shows the common background of the participants which illustrates that all participants were returning to learning after a long break from formal education which meant significant life changes for them filled with a range of, sometimes extreme emotions.

Table 1

Research design – qualitative research method

Keeping in mind that epistemologically, phenomenological approaches are based in a paradigm of personal knowledge and subjectivity (Moustakas, 1994) with the desire to illuminate the specific aspect of emotion within higher education in this case, the research was carefully designed to explore phenomena through mature students lived experience in education.

Advantage of using the qualitative method

Given the complex nature of the qualitative inquiry of capturing educational reality which focused on human actions and reactions (Silverman, 2011), this method offered an opportunity to gain rich insights of the researched phenomena. By gathering ‘deep’ information through qualitative interviews and written narratives, an attempt was made to represent the phenomena of emotion from the perspective of the participants. Byrne (2012) also suggests that this method is particularly useful for accessing individuals’ emotion that may not be possible to observe or explore through formal quantitative questionnaires. Patton (1990) argues this further, suggesting that the main strength of qualitative research lies in the ability to explore the phenomena in a flexible nature such as it allows following unexpected new leads. Whereas Byrne (2012) states that the most compelling advantage of qualitative research is the ability to achieve a level of depth and complexity that is not available to other survey based approaches especially when sensitive issues are broached.

Disadvantage of using the qualitative research method

Although investigating phenomena often happens from a subjective perspective, Ritchie and Lewis (2011) uphold that this subjectivity could limit the validity of the ‘truth’. Berrol also warns that no matter the form of data collection, ‘the investigator is the instrument of, as well as the interpreter of the results’ (2000, p.4). Therefore, as Patton (1990, p. 23) suggests, its real weakness is in being so heavily dependent on the researcher’s ‘skill, training, intellect, discipline, and creativity’ because conducting a research which looks intensely into the personal life of others and which places its emphasis and value on the human is a complex task.Another concern about qualitative research is around the sample size as one may argue that that a single-figure sample cannot be valid (Ritchie and Lewis, 2011) which confirms Roberts-Holmes (2005) writing that every small study is limited, because often the findings cannot be generalised outside the context of the research setting. If the sample size is increased, a common misunderstanding is that the results should be statistically reliable.

At this point it is important to note Plummer’s (1995) view on ‘honesty’. He would say that the researcher cannot ascertain ‘honesty’ in research because all that research will give you is the respondent’s ‘stories’ or versions or current narratives. They may appear ‘honest’ at the time, but honesty is not fixed or static and the ‘story’ that respondents give you about their experiences may be shaped by their current identity, their current view of their past history and their hopes for a future identity. All these factors can change over time.

Researcher bias

Recent feminist poststructuralist researchers disprove the possibility of conducting a research without presumptions or bias, and emphasise the importance of making clear how interpretations and meanings have been placed on findings (Nagy Hesse-biber and Leavy, 2007). While they claim that it is important to address the researcher view and while investigating phenomena often happens from a subjective perspective, there is an argument about the validity of the research. For example, Ritchie and Lewis (2011) suggest that the subjectivity could limit the ‘truth’. Berrol also warns that no matter the form of data collection, ‘the investigator is the instrument of, as well as, the interpreter of the results’ (2000, p.4). Therefore, as Patton (1990, p. 23) suggests, its real weakness is in being so heavily dependent on the researcher’s ‘skill, training, intellect, discipline, and creativity’ because conducting a research exercise which looks intensely into the personal life of others and which places its emphasis and value on the human, is a complex task. Therefore with regard to the strictly interpretive approach, it is important to consider my potential biases. My background was very similar to that of the background of the participants from several standpoints: we were all females, I was a mature student myself, and during my study I had to balance my own personal life with work and educational requirement in the similar way as did the participants.Although it is debatable whereas this research can be carried outwithin these parameters, I do believe that my experience essentially enhanced the project.

Procedure

The participants were asked to submit a written text/summary of their three years’ experience at the university, focusing especially on the emotional aspect of it. They were also advised that, after completing this task, I would contact them again to arrange a convenient time for an interview. The length of the written task was optional; however, I set the time frame for the text submission and, within two months I have received them all.

Themes I wanted to discuss were sent to the chosen participants prior to the interview. Due to time and work commitments, interviews were conducted face-to-face, by Skype and by telephone. The whole interview process had a more semi structured feel (Cohen et al., 2012; Robson, 2010) which lasted no more than twenty minutes each.

Text

According to Silverman (2011), text is a form of collecting data without the intervention of a researcher which he sees as an advantage. He also states that the data reveals precise information and can be quickly gathered, which encourages the researcher to begin early data analysis. Similarly, Hendy and Ross (2005) suggest that written text provides invaluable data and in-depth information about personal experiences. They believe that analysing the text is easier than analysing transcripts from interviews, as they are self-reflective and highly focused on the subject matter. Furthermore Cohen et al. (2011) also discuss that texts are an important way of collecting data for research because of its richness, while Atkinson and Hammersley argue that data collected from texts cannot be accepted automatically as ‘truth’ because the data were constructed within a social context; therefore, ‘participants’ views are more likely to be influenced by social factors’ (1994, p.101). They argue that participants may want to present themselves in a particular light, or be reluctant to reveal some types of information. Also, written accounts may be multi-layered and can be understood at many levels: for example, the personal, cultural, ideological and linguistic. McCulloch (2004) and Robinson (2010, in Hartas, 2010) also raise a concern around identifying, interpreting and analysing the linguistic aspect of the text. It could be also argued that asking participants to write a story or a self-reflective piece of work may not suit those who are not comfortable using written language (Atkinson and Hammersley, 1994).

Despite the concerns highlighted above, I found using textan effective instrument for qualitative research for many reasons. For example, the collection of data was swiftwithone hundred percent response from the participants. Furthermore, the text was already typed as it was sent via e-mail as attachments, which helped with the content analysis (please see Table 2). Text also assisted me with coding the content, such as categorizing emotion as positive and negative, and identifying the emerging topics. However, this stage of the data analysis requires intensive work to ensure that coding topics ‘will capture the content of the text in ways that are clear reducing ambiguity and overlap’ (Seal, 2012, p.461).

Table 2Text Analysis (one example)

Participant 4 / Topic / + -
1 / In 2008 I felt stuck in a professional rut and I wanted a new challenge. Although Children presented daily challenges and exciting learning opportunities, I was becoming increasingly restless within my current Nursery setting, perhaps a result of having been there for the last eight years. The restlessness stirred a great deal of personal and professional reflection. I acknowledged there were areas within the settings professional practice that I disagreed with. It was in acknowledging that I lacked the breadth and depth of professional knowledge to resolve these issues that led to me applying for the Foundation Degree in Early Years. My challenge had been set! / Personal satisfaction / 2
2 / It certainly has been a challenge and a half! The sheer act of juggling full-time work, family life and study commitments has been a gigantic learning curve in itself. As this was a part time course the time management required for study placed immense pressure on my work life balance. I have always been a list writer and this help to organise and using headings within the lists not only helped in prioritising but also in understanding the demands on my time and where the time goes. Completing the full course within the last three years has ensured my organisational skills have reached a new level! / Time management
Family/job/uni work balance
3 / I smile to myself as I look back to my first module and how ‘headless’ I was. The fact that my peers were all behaving like ‘headless chickens’ too added to my lack of self-esteem and my inability to problem solve the situation. I believed that if my younger and seemingly more knowledgeable peers were panicking then there must be something immense to panic over! During the first few weeks of the course I found I was increasingly unable to listen or absorb information. I am now aware that if stress levels are intelligently handled, stresscan be both motivating and positively challenging to the individual. / Dealing with stress / 4
4 / However initially I was not handling my stress levels intelligently, it was twenty eight years since I left school and although I have completed a Nursery Nursing course the step-up to degree level was truly a terrifying one. I didn’t even know whether I could write an essay let alone research and reference for one successfully. I was very close to giving up during the first module as it was so difficult balancing everything; however the pride I felt handing over a completed essay and then receiving my first grade was powerful. / 28 years out of formal education
Balancing life / 2
1
5 / As the course progressed we as a class were highly supportive of each other and I formed a strong bond with several peers, this together with a mentor who excelled in English ensured that when things became highly stressful there was always support. I think that having a sense of humour and people to laugh with during the particularly difficult times supported my ability to view situations more positively. I now recognise that I place unrealistic expectations on myself. My developing abilityto laugh at myself, evaluate, prioritise and reflect during times of crisis has helped considerably in completing this course and still be sane with a family and job in tack! / Strong bond with peers and mentor
Balancing family, job, uni work
Handling first order emotion! / 1
3
6 / Although I had a broad range of experience in early years practice completing the degree, has provided real breadth and depth to my knowledge and built professional confidence. A number of significant personal and professional challenges during the last eighteen months, including an extended teaching experience in Gambia when the Icelandic volcano exploded. Together with moving to a new area of the country and taking on a completely new job has highlighted an area of significant personal development is my emotional intelligence. I have seen intelligent progression that I can only attribute to the participation of the course. In understanding and managing my emotions during these situations I have developed a greater empathy and ability to recognise and meet the emotional needs in others, a key requirement of the EYPS role. / Personal attributes to change professionally
Emotional intelligence + handling first order emotion / 1
7 / I recently I had the greatest opportunity to reflect on what I have learnt through participating on this course. During an interview I was asked many questions that required reflection and evaluation of my professional development. The depth of my knowledge in current Early Years practice and child development was assessed, together with my responses to emotionally intelligent challenges and Early Years issues. I was offered the post within a Phase One ‘outstanding’ Nursery and Children’s Centre due, I believe to the high level of confidence, skill and knowledge instilled in me through participating on a BA Degree course in Early Years with EYPS. Was it easy completing a degree course? No it was most certainly not! / Reflecting on learning
Personal satisfaction – recognition at work / 3
8 / In the early days the greatest challenge was getting the referencing right, particularly in the early hours of the morning when you knew you had run out of time and all you wanted to do was sleep but you had to think ‘how did you reference a quote from an edited chapter again’! Time management was the major issue all the way through though.
Was it worth it? Yes every step of the way! In 2008 I set myself a challenge and in 2011 I truly believe I have met that challenge! / Self-satisfaction
Time management
Not clearly articulated but positive uni experience

1