/news-archive/tag/research-works-and-creative-expo/ 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Thu, 18 Apr 2019 15:33:17 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 /news-archive/2019/04/18/robin-freeman-student-experience/ Thu, 18 Apr 2019 15:33:17 +0000 /news/?p=74076 ... 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock student develops communication strategies for women without children]]> Robin Freeman is a strong, well-educated, and independent woman. She鈥檚 confident she will make a difference by helping others. This is a part of her story that she wants to portray to the world. What鈥檚 not a part of her story at this time? Marriage and children. As a childless woman in her 30s, Freeman is disturbed by the tendency of people to judge women for not having children. 鈥淵our biological clock is ticking. You better hurry up,鈥� said Freeman, a graduate of the 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Department of Applied Communication who is pursuing a graduate certificate in human resources. 鈥淚鈥檝e heard that since I was 21, but I haven鈥檛 found a guy I want to marry yet. 鈥� I鈥檓 okay with myself. I don鈥檛 know when or if I鈥檒l have children. I鈥檓 still figuring it out, and that鈥檚 okay.鈥� Inspired by her own experiences, Freeman is investigating the experiences of women without children and the communication strategies they employ to cope with stigma in society. 鈥淭here has been a growing trend of women without children,鈥� Freeman said. 鈥淪ociety has caused women to feel hopeless if they are not mothers by the age of 30. I asked these women what childlessness meant at different stages in their lives and how they adapted when society has placed expectations on them.鈥� Freeman is one of more than 100 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock students who received a $1,000 grant to conduct original research, creative works, and community service projects this semester as part of the university鈥檚 Signature Experience Award program. Dr. Avinash Thombre, professor of applied communication, serves as her faculty mentor. Freeman interviewed seven women between the ages of 30-65 and developed three overarching themes during the interviews: 鈥淒on鈥檛 judge me,鈥� 鈥淒on鈥檛 make assumptions,鈥� and 鈥淒on鈥檛 pity me.鈥� Freeman presented her research at the Southern States Communication Association Undergraduate Honors Conference earlier this month and at the Student Research and Creative Works Expo held April 18 in the Jack Stephens Center. 鈥淭his project is about trying to engage open communication with audiences to allow them to reconceptualize how they think about women without children and to consider the judgments they place on these women,鈥� Freeman said. 鈥淥ne of my recommendations is that women should not defend themselves against accusations. Women shouldn鈥檛 worry about defending their sexuality or people assuming that they don鈥檛 like children.鈥� She hopes that her research will lead people to understand that a woman鈥檚 life is about more than whether she has children. 鈥淎 woman鈥檚 motherhood status is natural and personal. Most people see women without children as a void, but it鈥檚 not a void,鈥� Freeman said. 鈥淚t depends on who you鈥檙e asking. Every woman without a child has a story to tell.鈥�]]>