Maureen Montalban

M Psych (Health) Monash, Grad Dip Pub Hlth Flinders University, Grad Dip Sci (Psych) USyd, B Eco (Soc Sci) USyd
PhD Candidate

Biography

Maureen is a military psychologist undertaking a part-time PhD on gender culture in the Australian Army through an investigation of women’s experience of pregnancy, birth and motherhood.

Maureen has worked at the tactical, operational and strategic environment within the Australian Army, providing psychological advice and interventions to individuals, units and Commanders. She has done so within Australia and on operational deployments to Timor-Leste, the Solomon Islands and the Middle East.

Maureen’s PhD explores what it means to serve in the Australian Army as a woman through a gender lens, overlayed during specific life stages of their service; that is, during pregnancy, birth and motherhood. Her research investigates the external demands faced by servicewoman who are mothers, whether it be from society, the Army, their team mates, their partners or their children, and how they internally make sense of that with respect to their own identity and the various roles they do or are expected to undertake. It also seeks to uncover how Australian Army servicewomen who are mothers attempt to manage the dilemma of serving two greedy institutions, when both expect and demand so much and whether this is in fact, an impossible dilemma.

Research

Research interests

  • Women’s health
  • Gender studies
  • Military studies
  • Culture
  • Identity

Groups