Stuttering and work life: An interpretative phenomenological analysis
Section snippets
Background
In adulthood work life can be central to economic and personal life satisfaction. Work has direct financial implications and is an opportunity to accrue psychosocial benefits. These benefits might include a sense of self-efficacy, satisfaction in goal attainment, recognition of talents and skills, and an overall sense of self-agency as one progresses along a career path (Lent and Brown, 2006, Russell, 2008). Work for some people also provides social interaction, friendship and a sense of
Method
The study was approved by the Human Ethics Research Committee of the University of Sydney (Ref. No. 12912).
Results
Table 2 outlines the four Superordinate themes and their subthemes that were revealed by thematic analysis and were common to all participants. The description and identification of the Superordinate themes enabled the analysis to move to the interpretative level and determine what meaning participants derived from their stuttering experiences in the workplace. Individual interpretations of workplace experiences are presented in this section and broader interpretations across all the themes by
Discussion
Participants’ interpretations of their experiences were included in the above thematic analysis. However, in IPA researchers also engage at an interpretative level across the themes and participants. For most people performance at work is important and work represents a context where people want to appear unflawed, physically and emotionally (Sheane, 2012). The feeling of being under pressure in the work context was expressed by participants and for most this meant trying to reduce, hide or
Conclusions
The research questions in this study addressed how people who stutter experienced the impact of stuttering on their work life and how they made sense of their experiences or what meaning they derived from their experiences. Participant responses showed that stuttering may have substantial impact because it limited their communication, thereby preventing them from demonstrating their proficiencies maximally. Most workplaces expect communication abilities for ordinary tasks such as answering and
CONTINUING EDUCATION
Stuttering and work life: An interpretative phenomenological analysis
QUESTIONS
- 1.
Research investigating workplace experiences of people who stutter suggest:
- a)
Stuttering has little effect on communication in the workplace.
- b)
People who stutter are generally less inclined to participate in executive positions.
- c)
Employer's responses to research surveys show that they resist employing PWS.
- d)
People who stutter perceive that they will have difficulty achieving promotion.
- e)
People who stutter seek menial occupations.
- a)
Geraldine Bricker-Katz is a senior lecturer, speech pathologist/researcher at the Australian Catholic University, Sydney. Her research in stuttering is currently focused on how the experience impacts functioning and health over the lifespan.
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Cited by (0)
Geraldine Bricker-Katz is a senior lecturer, speech pathologist/researcher at the Australian Catholic University, Sydney. Her research in stuttering is currently focused on how the experience impacts functioning and health over the lifespan.
Michelle Lincoln is Professor and Deputy Dean in the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney. Michelle teaches, writes and researches in the areas of stuttering, clinical education and the allied health workforce. Her current areas of research within stuttering are treatment efficacy, early intervention, bilingualism, the impact of stuttering in the workplace and ageing and stuttering.
Steven Cumming Steven is a psychologist with specialist teaching focus in counselling, psychotherapy and cognitive neuropsychology. He is Head of the Discipline of Speech Pathology at the University of Sydney and his research interests include investigating depression, anxiety and stress in disorders such as stuttering.