Willpower: auto-ethnographic insights into the challenges that women encounter in academia.

Women academics confront obstacles in their professional lives. This paper explores the challenges that these women face in Jordanian higher education. The study adopts a social constructivist approach that integrates auto-ethnography and co-constructed storytelling techniques. This is primarily conducted to provide an insider's view into the academic experiences of Jordanian women. Such methods allow for the development of social insights that may be traditionally hindered when using positivistic methodologies. The findings generated from the stories narrated by three academic women indicate challenges allied to their experiences, expectations, and gender. The findings show that the identified challenges are culturally bound and are attributed to Jordan's Arabic patriarchal mindset. Women academics in this study are considered 'determined', as they successfully overcome significant impediments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]