Behind the scenes? Dealing with auto/biographical dimensions in a PhD research

How to deal with auto/biographical experiences in research? How to integrate this dimension, make it an explicit assumption and maintain a "scientific" style required by an academic product? The topic of my PhD research is deeply rooted in my biography. I chose to interrogate the experiences of non traditional students, who are defined in literature as under-rapresented in Higher Education and whose participation is constrained by structural factors. I could define myself a "non traditional" student from different points of view in different times of my learning career. As a researcher I was aware that my interest and ways of making sense were not divorced from my experiences. This stance required me to make my epistemological choices explicit. My biography partecipated on a plurality of levels in the co-contruction of the narrative materials and in building the analytical frame