Abstract:

How to combine work and family life and find individually best solutions in everyday life, is a topical and globally significant subject. In this article I immerse to how the under 40-year-old female doctoral students with a family succeed in combining their important roles as a mother and a doctoral student in their own everyday lives.

Many simultaneous challenges encounter in the everyday life of an under 40-year-old female doctoral student with a family. In the examination I concentrate on the everyday challenges of the female doctoral student, on the interface of the family and the doctoral studies and on the choices made in everyday life.

It is important to study individual experiences, the everyday experiences and contexts are significant for forming the expertise. Also individual experiences can help to develop academic practices. In general, planning is in central role and an individual is expected to plan their life course and working career carefully. Different choices that are made in everyday life spring partly from the evaluations of past events and from the anticipations of the future.

According to this study it seems that the female doctoral student succeeds most in accommodating the family and private life, if she is working as a full time researcher and doing regular working hours. Doctoral studies in addition to work and family life causes stress, inadequacy and congestion in everyday life.

Keywords:

Doctoral studies, everyday life, family, experience.