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Allison Alford - Baylor University . Waco, TX, US

Allison Alford

Clinical Assistant Professor of Business Communication | Baylor University

Waco, TX, UNITED STATES

Interpersonal and business communications expert and author who studies the roles of daughters and mothers in the family structure

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Biography

Dr. Allison M. Alford earned her Ph.D. in Communication Studies with an emphasis in Interpersonal Communication from The University of Texas at Austin in 2016. She also has an M.A. from The University of Texas at Austin in Communication Studies and a B.A. from Texas A&M University in International Studies with minors in French and Public Relations.

She is a Clinical Assistant Professor in Business Communication in the Management Information Systems Department in the Hankamer School of Business.

Allison began Good Talk Communication Consulting in 2016 after 13 years of teaching in colleges and universities, working with students ages 17 to 70, from freshman to graduate students and professionals. She noticed a need from those entering (or returning to) the workforce to polish their communication skills. The best way to fill this need is with one-on-one meetings targeting each person’s goals and abilities. As a consultant, Allison helps clients create big ideas and coaching for interpersonal relationship success. A coaching session or consultation may include writing copy, editing, goal setting, generating ideas, problem-solving, and a lot of listening.

Trained in conflict resolution and teamwork strategies, Allison provides tools and tips through both coaching and workshops to improve the way your group interacts. Not only are these strategies valuable in clients’ personal lives, but additionally many clients have indicated that these skills are the very thing that helps them get ahead and stay ahead in business.

Dr. Alford conducts research on adult daughters and discusses this valuable family role. Dr. Alford advocates for creating and using language that reflects the effort and energy necessary to perform various family roles. In sum, her research shows that daughters are providing support, nurturing, and more, but we cannot call this ‘mothering.’ Instead, she describes the work and effort that daughters provide their mothers as daughtering.

Areas of Expertise (9)

Daughtering

Mother-Daughter Relationships

Roles of Daughters

Roles of Mothers

Conflict Resolution

Interpersonal Communication

Business Communication

Problem-Solving

Goal-Setting

Accomplishments (3)

Editor: "Constructing Motherhood and Daughterhood Across the Lifespan" (professional)

This book explores the complex dynamics between mother and daughter over the lifespan. The editors believe that these vital family roles are socially and communicatively constructed, shaped, and molded as mothers and daughters navigate, respond to, and negotiate cultural and familial discourses.

Teaching Excellence Award Nominee (professional)

Baylor University Hankamer School of Business (2018)

Faculty Honoree (professional)

Zeta Tau Alpha annual professor reception (2017)

Education (3)

University of Texas - Austin: Ph.D., Communication Studies

University of Texas - Austin: M.A., Communication Studies

Texas A&M University: B.A., International Studies

Media Appearances (7)

When Did We Start To Become Our Daughters’ Best Friend?

Southern Living  online

2023-03-24

Allison Alford, Ph.D., clinical assistant professor of business communication at Baylor who studies daughters and mothers, doesn’t boil the evolution of the mother-daughter bond down to simply “mother” or “friend” but looks further into the active roles of not only mothering but daughtering as well.

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Baylor professor shares research behind National Daughter’s Day, Waco daughter reflects on her duty as a daughter

KWTX-TV (CBS)  tv

2022-09-26

Baylor University clinical assistant professor, Allison Alford shares her research and new podcast about the role of ‘daughtering’ to shed light on this overlooked relationship and holiday--National Daughter’s Day. It’s an innate and societal role that women take on to continue the relationship with their parents and take on the burdens of caring for them when they get older.

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Hello Mother, Hello Daughter

Podcast  online

2022-09-24

The adult mother-daughter relationship can be incredibly close and fulfilling as well as potentially frustrating, complicated, and hurtful. Each week our communication experts, Dr. Allison Alford and Dr. Michelle Miller-Day, explore contemporary issues of adult mother-daughter relationships. Learn new ways to think about your mother-daughter relationship and listen until the end of each episode for tips every week.

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The Invisible Labor of Adult Daughters: Baylor Expert Highlights the Valuable Role of Adult ‘Daughtering’

Baylor University Media & Public Relations  online

2022-09-13

Allison M. Alford, Ph.D., clinical assistant professor of business communication at Baylor University, discusses the important role of adult daughters and their “invisible labor” ahead of National Daughters Day on Sept. 25, 2022.

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Baylor Study: Work of Daughters in Mother-Daughter Relationships Often Goes Unnoticed

Baylor University Media & Public Relations  online

2021-08-27

With her latest research, Allison Alford, Ph.D., clinical assistant professor in Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business, continues to draw attention to what she describes as the underappreciated role of the daughter in American society. Alford authored the study, “Doing daughtering: an exploration of adult daughters’ constructions of role portrayals in relation to mothers,” which is published in the journal Communication Quarterly. The research centers on interviews conducted with 33 adult daughters in the United States, ranging in age from 25-44, who each have a healthy, living mother.

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Mother’s Day: Baylor Expert Shares 5 Tips for Adult Daughters Making the Holiday Work This Year

Baylor Media and Public Relations  online

2020-05-05

Alison Alford, Ph.D., clinical assistant professor in Baylor’s Hankamer School of Business and co-editor of “Constructing Motherhood and Daughterhood Across the Lifespan,” shares 5 tips for adult daughters to make Mother's Day memorable amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Baylor Study: What Does It Take to Be an ‘Ideal Daughter?’

Baylor Media and Public Relations  online

2019-11-11

The roles of daughters in the family structure and in society are difficult to define and they’re rarely understood – even by daughters themselves – said Allison Alford, Ph.D., clinical assistant professor of business communication in Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business. Alford, who served as an editor on the book “Constructing Motherhood and Daughterhood Across the Lifespan,” is the lead author on a new study, “Role Expectations and Role Evaluations in Daughtering: Constructing the Good Daughter,” published in the latest edition of the Journal of Family Communication.

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