Table Of ContentUniversity of St. Tomas, Minnesota
UST Research Online
Education Doctoral Dissertations in Leadership School of Education
2012
Transcending Towards Personal Freedom:
Exploring the Lived Experiences of Professional
Working Mothers
Ilena A. Loneti
University of St. Tomas, Minnesota
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Recommended Citation
Loneti, Ilena A., "Transcending Towards Personal Freedom: Exploring the Lived Experiences of Professional Working Mothers"
(2012). Education Doctoral Dissertations in Leadership. 3.
htps://ir.sthomas.edu/caps_ed_lead_docdiss/3
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Transcending Towards Personal Freedom:
Exploring the Lived Experiences of Professional Working Mothers
A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE
SCHOOL OF EDUCATION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ST. THOMAS
ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA
By
Ilena A. Lonetti
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE DEGREE OF
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION
2012
UNIVERSITY OF ST. THOMAS, MINNESOTA
Transcending Towards Personal Freedom:
Exploring the Lived Experiences of Professional Working Mothers
We certify that we have read this dissertation and approved it as meeting departmental
criteria for graduating in scope and quality. We have found that it is complete and
satisfactory in all respects, and that any and all revisions required by the final examining
committee have been made.
Dissertation Committee
____________________________________
Thomas L. Fish, Ed.D., Committee Chair
____________________________________
Kathleen M. Boyle, Ph.D., Committee Member
____________________________________
Rama Hart, Ph.D., Committee Member
____________________________________
Final Approval Date
iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I thank the Divine Creator for a life of blessings. I share this achievement with those who
walk beside me, holding my hand and lighting the way. To my wonderful husband, David, thank
you for taking the leap of faith with me every day and your loving support of our family. I thank
my children, Sarah, David, Jess, Massimo, and Isabella for teaching me about living life with
courage, loyalty, perseverance, joy, and ingenuity. Special thanks to my sister, Sarina, who
always expresses loving encouragement. I also thank my dear friends who helped me keep up
and keep going with laughter.
To the amazing women participating in this study, I extend my deepest gratitude and
appreciation. By sharing your daily lives with honesty and humor, we witness contemporary
life’s challenging dynamics. Additionally, your work-life balance insights allow us to view life
from different angles and refractions, leading to better ways of living and working.
Special thanks to my dissertation chair, Dr. Thomas L. Fish whose guidance and
appreciation of the topic has been immensely helpful. Also thank you to my committee
members, Dr. Kathleen Boyle and Dr. Rama Hart, for providing direction and thorough
feedback.
iv
ABSTRACT
“What are the lived experiences of professional working mothers?” An integrated theoretical
model provided an historical context and framework for discovering distinctions between social
discourse and individual lifestyles. Professional working mothers participated in
phenomenological research with an introductory telephone call and two in-person interviews.
Through language and story, participants depicted what it means to be a professional working
mother in contemporary, American society. Demographic characteristics included five female
participants, who held a professional or executive level position. All participants earned a
college degree and ranged in age from 30-65 with children living at home (ages ranged from 3-
20). Additionally, four of the participants were married. Thematically, participants described
their world in terms of employer and employee job expectations, an intertwining commitment to
work and family, and living in alignment with one’s personal values when it comes to work-life
balance. Mirroring the findings of similar studies, social conditioning, work culture, and
technology heavily influenced their lived experiences as professional working mothers. Often
prolonged work-life imbalances led to personal crises and fatigue; inspired to transcend old
work-life paradigms, most women consciously created an integrated lifestyle, blending work and
family to complement one another. Aligned with a global trend towards the integration of
spiritual, social, and scientific/technological evolution, more research is required to (a) discern
how self-identity and society co-create the lived experiences of professional working mothers;
(b) research organizational development structures to support integrated lifestyles and, (c)
evaluate the impact of ongoing work-life balance issues for future generations.
Key words: women, professional, professional working mothers, work-life balance,
WLB, work-family conflict, WFC, parents, lived experience, phenomenology, diversity,
spirituality, flexibility, benefits, FMLA
v
© 2012
Ilena A. Lonetti
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................ iii
ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................... iv
LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................... viii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................ 1
Establishing a Warrant .................................................................................................... 3
Statement of the Problem ................................................................................................ 6
Research Question .......................................................................................................... 7
Definitions ...................................................................................................................... 8
Work Family Conflict ................................................................................................. 8
Work-life Balance ..................................................................................................... 10
Lived Experience ...................................................................................................... 10
Professional ............................................................................................................... 10
Professional Working Mother ................................................................................... 11
Study Significance ........................................................................................................ 11
Future Implications ....................................................................................................... 13
Overview of the Dissertation ........................................................................................ 14
CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ............................................. 16
Historical Perspective of the American Workforce ...................................................... 17
Focusing on the Experiences of Professional Working Mothers .............................. 19
Professional Working Mothers Opting Out of the Corporate Workforce ................. 21
Historical Context of Theoretical Frameworks ............................................................ 24
Phenomenology of the Spirit .................................................................................... 25
Feminist Existentialism ............................................................................................. 27
Post-structuralism ..................................................................................................... 30
Feminist Sociology ................................................................................................... 34
Conscious Evolution ................................................................................................. 37
Summary ....................................................................................................................... 40
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY.................................................................... 42
Qualitative Research Design ......................................................................................... 44
A Phenomenological Approach ................................................................................ 45
Data Collection Instruments and Procedures ............................................................ 46
Confidentiality .......................................................................................................... 47
Voluntary Nature of the Study .................................................................................. 48
Interviews .................................................................................................................. 48
Data Analysis Procedures and Structural Synthesis ................................................. 49
Target Audiences ...................................................................................................... 52
Study Limitations ...................................................................................................... 53
Participant Constraints and Risks ............................................................................. 54
Generalization ........................................................................................................... 55
Timetable .................................................................................................................. 55
Summary ....................................................................................................................... 55
vii
CHAPTER FOUR: PARTICIPANT NARRATIVES AND COMPARISON TO
LITERATURE ................................................................................................................ 57
Textural Descriptions .................................................................................................... 57
Individual Standpoints .................................................................................................. 57
Jessie. ........................................................................................................................ 57
Angie. ........................................................................................................................ 66
Hope. ......................................................................................................................... 78
Joy. ............................................................................................................................ 87
Lilly. .......................................................................................................................... 93
Group Composite .................................................................................................... 100
Structural Description ................................................................................................. 103
Textural and Structural Synthesis ............................................................................... 106
Literature Review Comparison and Contrastment ...................................................... 108
Introduction ............................................................................................................. 108
Examining Lived Experiences – Work Versus Family ........................................... 108
Deconstructing Lived Experiences – Work and Family ......................................... 113
Future Outlooks and Recommendations for Change .............................................. 117
Advice for Children ................................................................................................ 119
Summary ..................................................................................................................... 120
CHAPTER FIVE: ANALYSIS ................................................................................... 124
Introduction ................................................................................................................. 124
Sources of Knowledge ................................................................................................ 124
Expressions of Power .................................................................................................. 127
Erupting Freedoms ...................................................................................................... 135
Conscious Transcendence ........................................................................................... 141
Summary ..................................................................................................................... 143
CHAPTER SIX: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ....................... 145
Summary of the Research ........................................................................................... 145
Conclusions and Discussion ....................................................................................... 147
Phenomenological Limitations ................................................................................... 149
Implications for Research, Theory, and Practice ........................................................ 149
Research .................................................................................................................. 149
Theory ..................................................................................................................... 150
Practice .................................................................................................................... 151
Concluding Remarks ................................................................................................... 153
REFERENCES .............................................................................................................. 155
APPENDICES ............................................................................................................... 163
APPENDIX A: IRB APPROVAL ............................................................................... 164
APPENDIX B: INTERVIEW INSTRUMENTS ....................................................... 165
Part I - Introductory Phone Interview Instrument ....................................................... 165
Part II - One-on-One Interview Instrument ................................................................ 167
APPENDIX C: IRB CONSENT FORM .................................................................... 169
viii
LIST OF FIGURES
Figures Page
1. Integrated Historical Context of Theoretical Frameworks………. 25
1
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
My personal experience of being a working professional mother and trying to cope with
the push and pull of family fueled my interest in this topic. Like many others, I eventually
questioned the value of all-consuming workloads against my health and family (Stone, 2007).
Recalling the early days of becoming salaried (when I did not have children), there was a verbal
expectation that the position required at least 45-50 hours per week. When my boss sat me down
with the promotion news and the ‘understanding’ of how many hours were required, I started
arriving one hour early and leaving an hour later (a 7-4 shift).
Although in reality, the change from exempt to non-exempt status did not translate to a
huge salary increase, this step towards opportunities for future advancement outweighed the
deficit. Sadly, once I got on the train, I never got off. As a result, I invested a lot of time at work
and school to keep ahead of the curve. This track has led to promotions and 55 to 60- hour work
weeks which compelled people to ask, “How do you do it all?” Usually, I would respond
flippantly with, “Sometimes better than others”; but on the inside, I knew that there have been
serious tradeoffs along the way. In these moments, I felt most isolated from my family and
society.
Despite layers of social conditioning (from family, work, school, media, etc.) to accept
my role as a professional working mother, this paradox of consciously wanting a large family but
not being able to spend time with them was always difficult to reconcile. The stress of trying to
resolve the disparity between dreams and reality has been exceedingly hard. Over the years,
there would be cycles between work, home, and school that would repeat to form the perfect
internal storm. The pressure and stress of continuously working very long hours to deliver
highly visible projects, missing a key family function, and having a moment to realize how much
