Georgina Tsolidis – författare

This edited book delves into the experiences of a group of women who, as mature aged students, took on doctoral studies, persevered and succeeded. Drawing on their own experiences, the group of women from varied backgrounds consider, with hindsight, what prompted them to begin doctoral studies, what hurdles they faced, the strategies that supported their completions and how their doctoral success influenced their future journeys. The editor of the collection, Georgina Tsolidis, was their supervisor. The chapter authors, Stella Coram, Annabelle Leve, Melinda McPherson and Vikki Pollard, explore their motivation to enter doctoral study in turn. These case studies contribute to an overarching analysis of why women who are classified as mature aged students and have child rearing, work and other commitments choose to undertake such a challenging academic journey. The book will be of interest to researchers and postgraduate students of higher education, sociology of education and gender studies.

Framed in relation to diaspora this collection engages with the subject of how cultural difference is lived and how complex and shifting identities shape and respond to spatial politics of belonging. Diaspora is understood in a variety of ways, which makes this an eclectic collection of papers. Authors use various theoretical frameworks to explore diverse groups of people with a variety of experiences in a wide range of settings. They are making sense of the experiences of women and men from a range of ethnic backgrounds, negotiating identities through family, work and education. The micro dynamics of the everyday offer an evocative ''bottom up'' means of understanding the tensions implicit in living multiple belongings. The common thread for the collection comes from the glimpses these authors provide into the remaking of our globalized world. The aim is to shed light on racism, dislocation and alienation on the one hand, and on the other hand, to consider how the complex power relations within the everyday mediate a sense of resistance and hope. The papers are arranged around four themes;

1.      Multiple Belongings,

2.      Representing a Way of Being,

3.      Sexualised Identifications and

4.      Marriage and Family.