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Navigating employment and familial obligations has challenged women since their mass entry into public work. The demands of competing obligations can negatively impact women’s personal and vocational well-being. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the challenge of balancing work and family roles as women faced expanded physical, caretaking, and mental labor, often resulting in role strain. This study explored how women in counseling psychology experienced role strain and its resulting impact on vocational well-being during the pandemic. Demand for counseling psychology services rose during the pandemic, potentially increasing role strain. Utilizing a phenomenological approach, we conducted in-depth qualitative interviews with six counseling psychologists who identified as women, employed full-time, and mothers to at least one child aged 12 or younger. Data were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis, and five themes emerged: gender expectations, multiple roles, vocational well-being, consequences, and profession differences. Implications for practitioners working with mothers in these roles are provided.

This study investigated mentoring relationships between doctoral students and faculty members. We examined initiation of mentoring as a mediator between key personality facets and mentoring received among 162 doctoral students (females = 77%, 77% psychology programs). Results confirmed that initiation of mentoring relationships by doctoral students significantly predicted mentoring received. Furthermore, mentoring initiation also mediated relationships between several personality facets (friendliness, assertiveness, achievement-striving, self-efficacy, and self-consciousness) and mentoring received. By demonstrating the significance of student-initiated mentoring and the influence of specific personality facets on this proactive behavior, our study underscores the importance of providing an environment supportive of mentoring and setting expectations for students early on in their doctoral studies if they are to benefit from mentoring. Future research on the impact of age could also help advance understanding of mentoring among older students as the career landscape continues to change.

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