| Summary: | 碩士 === 南華大學 === 生死學系 === 102 === Advances in medical technology have provided effective birth control. The majority of couples believe that they will have children only at the time on which they decide. Modern career women, particularly those in the semiconductor industry, face a workplace environment with rapidly changing cutting-edge technology. These women must bear pressure regarding their work performance and their self-adjustment. At the same time, the demands of traditional culture toward the role of women as mothers also affect them. The focus of this study is women in the semiconductor industry. In the process from accepting infertility treatment to success or failure, we examined the family and workplace pressures and challenges that face these women and how they influence their self-adjustment.
In this study, we adopted the narrative research method. The narratives reflected the experiences of the respondents. We also adopted the analysis method of “overall—content.” We interviewed four women working in the semiconductor industry. In the first stage of analysis, we presented the life stories about the processes of successful/unsuccessful treatment for the four women. Based on the narratives of the four interviewed women, we organized the themes of the three research questions and proposed our interpretations.
In the second stage, we performed cross-case analysis and comprehensive discussion based on the research goals. In regard to “the influence of social expectations,” we derived two themes: “traditional culture continues to influence fertility concepts” and “facing the inquiries of friends and family makes me feel uncomfortable.” In regard to “pressures and dilemmas from family and the workplace,” we derived “I stress timeliness in work and also in pregnancy, thus I directly adopted treatment.” In regard to “the dilemmas faced by those whose treatments failed,” we derived four themes: “expectations of family members are both motivation and pressure,” “I sought solutions throughout the treatment process,” “when my expectations of fertility were dashed, I grew uncomfortable in my family relationships,” and “I faced pressure from both my work and my family roles.” In regard to “the dilemmas faced by those whose treatments succeeded,” we derived three themes: “feelings of guilt for removing excessive numbers of embryos and dilemmas with regard to having a boy or a girl,” “I received more care from my family after successfully becoming pregnant,” and “difficulties in balancing work and family.” We divided “how the process influenced their self-adjustment” into two dimensions. First, in regard to “the self-adjustment of those whose treatments failed,” we derived four themes: “I had the courage to try treatment but struggled to conceal the frustration of failure,” “although I was determined, I struggled to withstand physiological age restrictions,” “accepting my own negative emotions, I took the initiative to communicate with my husband,” and “I have accepted that I cannot become a mother and have invested more in my work.” Second, in regard to “the self-adjustment of those whose treatments succeeded,” we derived three themes: “balancing work and family roles,” “I am willing to bear the pain of treatment to fulfill my family’s expectations,” and “I struggle to balance and cannot accept or reject my work and family roles.”
Finally, we proposed a number of recommendations in regard to how women working in the semiconductor industry can face today’s high-stress society and the workplace environment, and making early plans to face fertility questions in the future.
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