Working Paper Series Working Paper Number 3 The Plastic Ceiling Project: Using Creative Methodologies of Photo Elicitation and Social Media to Explore Shared Experiences of Working Mothers who Study Sarah Misra CASIC, Keele University, October 2015 Library Catalogue Reference: CWPS0003 Published by: Community Animation and Social Innovation Centre (CASIC) Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Keele University, Keele, Staffordshire, ST5 5BG Tel: +44 (0)1782 732000 Email:
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[email protected] Web: www.keele.ac.uk/casic THE PLASTIC CEILING PROJECT: USING CREATIVE METHODOLOGIES OF PHOTO ELICITATION AND SOCIAL MEDIA TO EXPLORE SHARED EXPERIENCES OF WORKING MOTHERS WHO STUDY Sarah Misra, Staffordshire and Chester Universities Everyday life, particularly that which is lived out within the home has been described by Pink (2012) as mundane, routine and unnoticed. By contrast she has described activism as public and explicit arguing that a dichotomy or separation often exists between the two. The Plastic Ceiling Project aims to link these two spaces by using social media to offer an opportunity for women to share their everyday (private) lived experiences of balancing responsibilities for mothering, work and study and thus to (publicly) highlight participants’ collective perceived inequalities and provide a platform for activism. This initial small- scale pilot study explores the methods of photo-elicitation and blogging in order to create such a platform, allowing participants to highlight and discuss commonalities within their experiences. Rather than aiming to “solve” problems for participants, this methodology aims to empower individuals by allowing them to create a shared reality together, co- create knowledge and to give them a vehicle to discuss and resolve difficulties and challenges collectively.