How challenges in life can inspire research
Supporting a close friend who was going through a separation and divorce in her late 20s inspired Bronwen Valtchanov to find out more about research and resources for women in similar situations. Bronwen discovered that there were very few social supports and academic literature on the subject. It became the focus of her PhD research.
Bronwen’s research background engages a feminist social justice approach that looks at individual and collective experiences of girls and women in marginalized communities, particularly as they relate to major life transitions. Bronwen discovered that existing research about divorce tended to be about parental challenges and economic rights following divorce and much of the information was decades old. Research also appeared to centre around the perspective of divorce for women aged in their 40s and 50s. Her research aims to fill the research gap by looking at the experiences of women in their 20s and 30s with a focus on those without children.
Unexpected impact
Pre-pandemic, Bronwen was able to conduct most of her research interviews in-person. In these group sessions, Bronwen brought participants together that were going through similar experiences. Having not been able to find existing social supports, the participation in Bronwens research interviews revealed an immediate impact for the participants: I was blown out of the water hearing about the sense of relief, affirmation and validation that participants felt in sharing their stories and experiences. Bronwen hoped that her research would contribute towards building better support systems down the line, but this immediate impact was unexpected. The therapeutic benefits, as voiced by the participants, was so valuable to the group. Long-term friendships have been forged, some of the participants started their own support groups and blogs. I never imagined that it was possible to plant a seed and see it grow to this extent its incredible. While the pandemic ended in-person interviews, Bronwen was still able to connect remotely with participants, and while the shift to online discussion presented its own challenges, she still experienced meaningful connections. This sense of fostering connections really underpinned Bronwens passion for research and academia.
I was blown out of the water hearing about the sense of relief, affirmation and validation that participants felt in sharing their stories and experiences.
Academic path
At the start of her undergraduate degree at UWaterloo, Bronwen had wanted to work towards becoming a clinical psychologist. It had been what she had wanted to do for as long as she could remember. With this plan in mind, she enrolled in a joint honours Psychology and Women’s Studies bachelor’s degree. When she presented the quantitative data that she had collected from participants for her undergrad thesis, she realized that the nuances of information that she collected from conversations between participants were lost in the presentation of the quantitative data. She felt like the heart of what she was presenting was missing. Taking a course in the third year of her undergrad with Professor Diana Parry changed everything. Diana’s course unlocked a whole new discipline of leisure as a field, and specifically, qualitative feminist research, which she hadn’t even realized were possibilities before. She immediately connected with Diana and her approach and was able to have passionate conversations about her academic interests. From there, she applied to the master’s Recreation and Leisure Studies program with Diana as her supervisor and continued into doctoral studies.
Inspired by the support she received from her supervisor, Bronwen plans to continue in academia and hopes that she can pass on to the next generation of scholars the mentorship that she received throughout her academic journey. Im interested in offering the same openness and possibilities that I was presented with as an undergrad that ripple effect is so motivating. Discovering a love for teaching as a Teaching Assistant, shes come full-circle and has now taught the same course that shifted her academic path as an undergrad in Womens Studies. Academia is really about the research, teaching and service trifecta and I love ALL of them.
This program allows students to understand the complexities of health-based and larger social justice problems in an interdisciplinary way in a way that exposes students to be critical consumers of different forms of understanding it really is the very best student experience.