How do women know what they know: an interpretive phenomenological analysis research study on how women experience their career development journey.

• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2047/D20319844

The purpose of this study is to understand how women perceived their knowledge acquisition experiences in their professional journey in a federal agency. This study was focused on the lived experiences and meaning-making of eight women in GS 14 and GS 15 positions in one federal agency. It explored the participants' lived experiences, and meanings ascribed to these experiences to make sense of them. Formal class room settings may not address immediate knowledge or information needs of women in the federal government. Understanding how women increase knowledge is an important aspect of the career development journey. The main objective of this study was to help identify how women gain knowledge from the personal experiences of others through caring, empathy, and relationships and through the impersonal experience of critical thinking and inquisition. This study found that women gained knowledge through (a) essential relationships (b) critical thinking and inquiry (c) professional inclusion and, (d) learning through professional experiences. The study also found that women experienced barriers to participation in learning. Keywords: women, learning, knowledge, professional development, interpretive phenomenological analysis, women's ways of knowing