Abstract
This article uses an interactive interviewing approach to capture the lived experiences of five MotherScholars during the COVID-19 pandemic. Applying the Communication Theory of Identity (CTI) and identity gaps, we aim to understand how COVID-19 impacted our MotherScholar identities. While CTI and identity gap research has advanced a layered perspective of identity across different contexts, the research is just beginning to explore gaps within and between layers to understand how individuals and groups make sense of those gaps. Our use of “collaborative autoethnography” enables us to extend CTI and identity gap research by teasing out identity gaps that we experienced as MotherScholars in COVID-19. As MotherScholars we negotiated our identities within ourselves and with other MotherScholars, colleagues, administration, and family. Practical implications of MotherScholar identity gaps go beyond individual coping strategies and include calls for administration, human resources, and higher education to partner with MotherScholars for collective action.
Journal Title
Iowa Journal of Communication
Volume
53
Issue
2
First Page
7
Last Page
27
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
LeBlanc, Sarah Symonds; Spradley, Elizabeth L.; Olson Beal, Heather K.; Burrow, Lauren E.; and Cross, Chrissy
(2021)
"Communication Theory of Identity, Identity Gap Theory, and MotherScholaring During COVID-19,"
Iowa Journal of Communication: Vol. 53:
No.
2, Article 4.
Available at:
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/ijc/vol53/iss2/4
Copyright
©2021 Iowa Communication Association
