This critical qualitative study explored the obstacles older women encounter as they pursue doctorates. Introductory material identifies steps in a critical qualitative approach including monological data collection, preliminary reconstructive analysis, dialogical data generation, and description and explanation of system relationships. Four women (ages 34 to 44) working on their dissertations in a doctoral program in educational administration were interviewed. Women identified such obstacles as: (1) lack of emotional support; (2) lack of financial support; and (3) a power structure that legitimizes marginalization of graduate students, particularly women and minorities. More specifically, participants interpreted the lack of emotional support as marginalization of women and lessening of their worth and perceived the 2-year limit on teaching assistantships as differentially impacting women financially since women often take longer than average to complete degrees due to family responsibilities and a greater relative burden from student loans. (Contains 24 references.) (JLS)