Life after Leaving College: A Phenomenological Exploration of Senior-Year Transition and Future Self Ideation for Cisgender Women in a Post-Dobbs Sociopolitical Context

The Senior-Year Transition, first named by Gardner and Van der Veer (1995), is defined as the final period of the undergraduate experience before transitioning into graduate school or the workplace. Few studies have investigated gender differences in this transition, and additional research is needed on women’s Senior-Year Transition experiences and the impact of context on experience. This is especially relevant as women and other pregnancy capable people navigate a new, post-Dobbs sociopolitical context in the United States with implications for their reproductive health and future family or life planning. Using a qualitative, interpretive phenomenological research design with a modified phenomenological analysis, the purpose of this study was to explore Senior-Year Transition, or the impending transition out of college, for cisgender women in their final year of college and additionally understand how cisgender women envision their future career and life roles in a post-Dobbs sociopolitical context. This study sought to answer the following research questions: 1) How do cisgender women in their senior year interpret the impending transition out of college? 2) What career and life roles do cisgender women envision for their future selves, and how are these understood in a post-Dobbs sociopolitical context? 3) How does the post-Dobbs sociopolitical context impact cisgender women’s Senior-Year Transition, if at all? Four themes emerged from the study: participants’ interpretations of Senior-Year Transition, participants’ making of postgraduate plans, their creation and determination of ‘Future Me’, and their definitions of being a Woman in the wake of Dobbs. As a result of this study, implications are provided for higher education institutional leaders and career services units.