Striving to Obtain a School-Work-Life Balance: The Full-Time Doctoral Student

The purpose of this study was to explore the doctoral student experience in relation to their school-work-lives. Through a grounded theory research design we sought to explore the following research question: How, and to what extent, do full-time doctoral students strive to obtain school-work-life balance? Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and participant observations with five full-time doctoral education students who held one or more graduate assistantships on campus. From the data, we constructed four themes. Full-time doctoral students strived to achieve a school-work-life balance by (a) purposefully managing their time, priorities, and roles and responsibilities; (b) seeking well-being by managing stress levels, maintaining their mental and physical health, and creating personal time; (c) finding support from various individuals and their institution; and (d) making tradeoffs. Additionally, we found that single students with no children faced more challenges in efforts to obtain a school-work-life balance in comparison to their peers with families. Based on our findings, programs can facilitate degree attainment for students by continuing to provide financial support, flexibility in school and work schedules, and support services tailored to specifically address doctoral student needs. Lastly, our participants’ stories may resonate with other doctoral students, and thus, may help them think about ways to attempt to balance their work and personal lives.