"It wasn't the end that I was so much interested in, it was the journey": Stories of women who pursued a PhD later in life

This study provides an exploratory analysis of the experiences of seven women over 50 years of age who returned to an Ontario university to pursue a PhD in early to mid-2000 and who graduated between 2010 and 2018. Using a life course perspective framed within a feminist theory and research, political economy standpoint, I examined the socio-cultural, economic and ageing factors that pulled these women back into university. I looked at how their pursuit of a PhD shaped their sense of self, their personal identities, their life goals; the factors which impeded and facilitated their progress through their doctoral program; and how they used their individual and collective agency to grapple with structural barriers. In-depth interviews were conducted to gather the womens stories. The findings showed that while all the women came from modest beginnings at a time when opportunities for girls were limited they held fast to their dream of a PhD. When time and material means made a return to university possible they returned. Through resistance and persistence, and with the transferable personal and career skills and knowledge they brought to their studies, they realized their dream. The findings also showed that age is not necessarily a barrier to pursuing a rigorous academic degree; age was in fact the catalyst that pulled the women back to university and the facilitator of their success. And the findings revealed the importance to the women of contributing their accumulated knowledge and their new knowledge to the university and society at large.