The lived experience of female academics with long-term conditions impacting on energy levels and/or cognitive function

Abstract

The present study contributes to an expanding literature investigating the systemic and structural issues that serve to disadvantage disabled academics. Individual interviews were conducted with ten female academics, each with a long-term condition impacting on energy levels and/or cognitive function. Interviews, informed by the researcher’s lived experience as a female academic with an energy limiting condition, were subjected to Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Six themes were identified. These were (i) Identity and the concept of disability, (ii) Dependence and vulnerability, (iii) Legitimacy, convention, and conformity, (iv) workload, intensification, and marketisation, (v) Insecurity, competition, and comparison, and (vi) Perception, othering, and isolation. Findings demonstrate that those with different diagnoses report similar lived experiences, especially in relation to such fundamental issues as identity, disclosure, and isolation. A range of recommendations are provided to improve education practice and policy.