A Dialogue Among Bilingual Language Educators

Although more women than men enroll in U.S. doctoral programs (U.S. Department of Education, 2009), they, especially ethnic minorities, are less likely to obtain a doctoral degree (V. Castro, Garcia, Cavazos, & A. Y. Castro, 2011). Challenges associated with work-life balance in graduate school are more pronounced among women and international students (Brus, 2006; Haynes et al., 2012; Oswalt & Riddock, 2007), thus, these students often struggle to complete their programs. Many graduates, however, have described undergoing a transformative process characterized by moments of tension, stress, and identity shift (Jazvac-Martek, Chen, & McAlpine, 2011; Walker, Golde, Jones, Bueschel, & Hutchings, 2008). This trio-ethnography explores the experiences of two doctoral students and a tenure-earning assistant professor in the academic pipeline. This paper seeks to engage doctoral students, faculty members, and administrators with the stories of three women to consider the ways they transformed themselves and each other as they sought to understand their academic experiences through dialogue.