Date of Award

4-3-2012

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Counseling Psychology & Community Services

First Advisor

Cynthia Juntunen

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore experiences and perspectives of women survivors of domestic abuse regarding their successful career attainment. The Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR) method was used to analyze the data gathered from interviews with ten women survivors of domestic abuse who self identified as having successful careers. Each participant completed a semi-structured interview conducted via telephone. Specifically, questions were asked regarding participants' definitions of career success, their perceptions of their successfulness and satisfaction with their career, their perceived supports and barriers to their career success, how they felt their experiences of being in domestically abusive relationships impacted their career development, and what they saw in the future regarding their career and/or retirement. In accordance with CQR procedures, the data was analyzed by following three general steps: (a) creating domains for each participant's response, (b) identifying core ideas from participants' responses, and (c) identifying core ideas from a cross-analysis between participants' responses. This qualitative analysis revealed several meaningful categories of perceptions of women survivors of domestic abuse in regard to their successful career development and the impact domestic violence had on their career development. The domains that emerged in this study included: (a) definitions of career success, (b) ways in which successful in career, (c) ways in which not successful in career, (d) ways in which satisfied with career, (e) ways in which not satisfied with career, (f) supports to career success, (g) barriers to career success, (h) impact of domestic abuse on career development, (i) impact of domestic abuse on personal life, and (j) future career path. Many categories emerged within these domains and are reported in depth. These findings have led to a rich understanding of the perceptions and beliefs of women survivors of domestic abuse regarding successful career attainment and the impact of domestic abuse on successful career attainment. A number of noteworthy findings were discovered that have important implications for future research.

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