What does this research mean for the field?

Identity integration for working mothers is an ongoing, strengths-based developmental process involving forming expectations, experiencing disruption, establishing integration, and maintaining coherence through adaptability, meaning-making, and relational support. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.INCREMENTAL. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.NEUTRAL.

What question did this study set out to answer?

To examine how working mothers construct meaning and integrate professional and maternal identities within the Canadian context.

August 27, 2026Community Work & Family

Weaving work and motherhood: a narrative study of identity integration

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Authors

TCT. D. Carmichael LRL. Rossen MMM. Mcdermott

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Overview

Qualitative narrative study reveals four developmental stages of identity integration in working mothers, suggesting self-reflection and social support foster well-being across roles.

Key Points

To examine how working mothers construct meaning and integrate professional and maternal identities within the Canadian context.
Conducted two narrative interviews with Canadian mothers of children under five years old (N=7).
Applied narrative–thematic analysis informed by a matricentric feminist framework and identity-development theory.
Identified four distinct developmental processes toward integration: forming expectations, experiencing identity disruption, establishing integration, and maintaining coherence over time.
Demonstrated that participants reconciled societal expectations and personal values through reflection, adaptability, and relational support, fostering self-acceptance and resilience.

Cite This Study

Carmichael et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a8fea1c10c91c1e926222c2 https://doi.org/10.1080/13668803.2026.2722348

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August 27, 2026Community Work & Family

Weaving work and motherhood: a narrative study of identity integration

View Full Paper

Ask AI

Bookmark

Authors

TCT. D. Carmichael LRL. Rossen MMM. Mcdermott

Discussion

Member takes

Overview

Qualitative narrative study reveals four developmental stages of identity integration in working mothers, suggesting self-reflection and social support foster well-being across roles.

Key Points

To examine how working mothers construct meaning and integrate professional and maternal identities within the Canadian context.
Conducted two narrative interviews with Canadian mothers of children under five years old (N=7).
Applied narrative–thematic analysis informed by a matricentric feminist framework and identity-development theory.
Identified four distinct developmental processes toward integration: forming expectations, experiencing identity disruption, establishing integration, and maintaining coherence over time.
Demonstrated that participants reconciled societal expectations and personal values through reflection, adaptability, and relational support, fostering self-acceptance and resilience.

Cite This Study

Carmichael et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a8fea1c10c91c1e926222c2 https://doi.org/10.1080/13668803.2026.2722348

View Full Paper

Ask AI

Bookmark