Biography of Kathy Charmaz

Kathleen C. Charmaz is a Professor of Sociology and the coordinator of the faculty writing program at Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park, California. She completed her dissertation at the University of California, San Francisco. She graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science in occupational therapy from the University of California, San Francisco in 1973. After working in physical rehabilitation for many years she did a master’s degree to qualify her to teach occupational therapy.

As a young child she suffered from constant respiratory infections and hemorrhaging after she had had a tonsillectomy. This is a reason for why she pursued an interest in health professions.

Her areas of teaching range in social psychology, heath and illness, death and dying, qualitative methods, grounded theory, the study of academic writing and many others. Professor Charmaz has given many speeches and professional workshops in different states and Countries, currently she is in Japan giving a major address, meeting with scholars, and teaching doctoral students.

She has written or co-edited five books and has published many articles and chapters on; the experience of chronic illness, the social psychology of suffering, writing for publication, grounded theory and qualitative research. She is one of five co-authors of her most recent book Developing Grounded Theory: The Second Generation (2007).

She has been the President of the Pacific Sociological Association, Vice-President of the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction, Vice-President of Alpha Kappa Delta, the international honorary for sociology, editor of Symbolic Interaction between 1999-2003 and is Chair of the Medical Sociology Section of the American Sociological Association. 

The way Kathy Charmaz became an Academic

Before Dr. Charmaz became a professor of sociology she did work in occupational therapy. Occupational therapy introduced her to sociology. She started studying sociology while she was pursuing a master’s so she could qualify to teach occupational therapy. Studying medical sociology and social psychology caught her attention.

In 1968 Kathy Charmaz applied to sociological doctoral programs. There were many jobs but these were mostly for white men. Woman would only get temporary jobs in sociology, they could show the same qualities as the men but they would stay in temporary positions. According to Kathy Charmaz her thesis advisor had told her that she would be able to get into a good doctoral program but after that she may never get a job.

            It was hard for Dr. Charmaz to find a job as it was for many other sociologists at the time. Once affirmative action took place it helped Dr. Charmaz. She had been hired in 1972 as a temporary full-time member in the Sociology Department of a large state university. In 1973 Dr. Charmaz was offered a temporary full time job at Sonoma State University, where she still teaches today. The department members their believed that her position would become permanent if someone decided to leave. Which it did.

Challenges that Kathy Charmaz has faced in her career? Life?

One of the biggest challenges that Dr. Charmaz has had to face as getting a job once she had finished graduate school. Universities were starting to reduce the amount of positions in the sociology departments and it was hard for women to get full time permanent jobs. Most women would get temporary full time jobs. Not only were Universities cutting down on their faculty numbers but they were also starting to question about what was considered “good” teaching.

            As a temporary full time professor at the university her workload increased because many of the other staff members had not finished their dissertations. Later on departments started to talk about what should be considered for someone to get a promotion. One professor argued that what Sonoma takes in account are personality, politics and cronyism. In 1970 it was required to have a PhD and several publications in order to get a promotion. During this time women would also not receive and mentoring from their male mentors on what they should do to keep their jobs.

            By the 1980’s senior staff members were teaching in other departments that had part time openings or worked at other institutions in order to save some of their colleagues. Dr. Charmaz decided to stay in the sociology department instead of move to another program in order to stay at the university. Within the next seven years she received many lay-off notices, and somehow she managed to stay in. In order to do so she taught classes in English, philosophy; and headed the Gerontology Program as well as teaching in the nursing department. Mostly though she spent time teaching a general education course in critical analysis in writing and speaking.

            Now she is a full time professor at Sonoma State, who is still asked to do more then her share. When I first got in contact with her she mentioned that she was going to Japan for two weeks and that she would be away many other times throughout the semester on smaller trips. All of these trips are for her to give speeches at other schools.

Teaching Philosophy

Dr. Charmaz was once told that she shouldn’t “waste your time preparing for classes - just go talk to the class”, however Dr. Charmaz views teaching differently. Being prepared for class gains respect from the students and their willing to work. Other faculty members also acknowledged her enthusiasm to teach and not just research.

Community Action

Research

Dr. Charmaz wrote a book called Good Days, Bad Days: The Self in Chronic Illness and Time in 1991, a book about illness. The book contains three main categories; 1) Chronic Illness as Interruption, 2) Intrusive Illness, and 3) Immersion in Illness. She wanted to write a book about this because of her past experiences with it. Throughout many of her interviews she used her own experiences to connect with a participant she was interviewing.

            Sid many interviews with different people and she would continue to see these participants more times to see how they had improved with their illnesses. Dr. Charmaz depended on getting close to her participants in order to collect her data. She knew how comfortable these people would need to feel in order to talk to her. In order to help make the participants comfortable Dr. Charmaz had to look back at her own past. Doing this helped her understand the participants better.

            She found out many different types of ways to communicate with the participants that also made them feel more comfortable talking to her. She realized how many different things can effect how the participants act or react to things.

            The book is called Good Days, Bad Days: The Self in Chronic Illness and Time not only because it is about illness but also because it is about the good and bad days that people have when they are ill. Dr. Charmaz’s definition of a good day is, “minimal intrusiveness of illness, maximal control over mind, body, and actions, and greater choice of activities.”

Accomplishments

She has written or co-edited seven books. These include Good Days, Bad Days: The Self in Chronic Illness and Time (1991), which won two awards from the pacific Sociological Association and the Society of Symbolic Interaction and Constructing Grounded Theory: A Practical Guide Through Qualitative Analysis (2006), which has won a Critics’ Choice Award from the Educational Studies Association. She has also received the 2001 Feminist Mentors Award and the 2006 George Herbert Mead award from the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction.

Her other books include The Social Reality of Death (1980), Aging, the Self, and Community (1992) which she co-edited with Jaber Gubrium, The Unknown Country: Death in Australia, Britain, and the U.S.A (1997) co-edited with Glennys Howarth and Allen Kellehear, Health, Illness and Healing: Society, Social Context, and Self (1999) co-edited with Debora Paterniti, and The SAGE Handbook of Grounded Theory (2007) co-edited with Antony Bryant.

She has written many articles and journals including Symbolic Interaction, Qualitative Inquiry, Qualitative Health Research, Sociological Perspectives, Sociological Research and Methods, Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, Teaching Sociology, Sociology of Health and Illness, Social Problems, Studies in Symbolic Interaction and Contemporary Sociology.

What would Kathy Charmaz have done if she weren’t doing what she is doing now

Interesting Facts

One interesting fact about Dr. Charmaz is that she gets stage fright sometimes. She is needs to be prepared to give a lecture or a speech to feel comfortable doing it.

Memorable Moments in Kathy Charmaz’s Life

One of Dr. Charmaz’s most memorable moments was when she was teaching a general education course in critical analysis in writing and speaking of the School of Humanities.

Kathy Charmaz’s thoughts on the Future of the Discipline

Goals

Advice for women starting out a career in Social Sciences

My Final Thoughts

Useful Links

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