She was professor emerita of sociology at Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, California, and former director of its Faculty Writing Program.
Her father was a civil engineer and moved her family (including an older sister) to various locations in Pennsylvania where she lived most of her early life.
Her undergraduate degree, a bachelor of fine arts in occupational therapy (OT), was obtained in 1962 from a 5-year program at the University of Kansas.
She then worked as a registered therapist in San Francisco for several years before returning to university with the intention of teaching OT students.
She worked primarily with Anselm Strauss, her dissertation chair, and Barney Glaser, the founders of grounded theory research.
She accepted a position at Sonoma State University in 1973 as a temporary assistant professor of sociology, which was converted to a tenure-track appointment in 1974.
[citation needed] Charmaz’s extensive exploration of the theoretical underpinnings of sociological theory (including Kuhn’s Structure of Scientific Revolutions), her clinical experiences in occupational therapy working with the chronically ill and dying, and her intense five-year tenure with Strauss and Glaser and other faculty in her doctoral program, led to her reinterpretation of grounded theory and development of fresh and innovative constructivist methodological guidelines.
In this way, she began a “long evolution” of refining both her analytic and writing skills, publishing her insights primarily as numerous articles and chapters.
Most recently, she co-edited with Anthony Bryant two ambitious research handbooks on grounded theory (2007, 2019), drawing together works from authors in many countries.
[citation needed] Charmaz developed her own interests in constructivist grounded theory through applying it to critical social justice research.
Grounded theorists can offer integrated theoretical statements about the conditions under which injustice or justice develops, changes, or continues.”[6] The critical aspect of inquiry was imperative, focusing on the “plight of disadvantaged peoples and the effect of structural inequities.”[7] She presented from Good Days, Bad Days: The Self in Chronic Illness and Time at conferences and argued the significance of grounded theory at workshops.
[citation needed] Charmaz received many honors for her works, including the Distinguished Professor Certificate from Sonoma State University (1998), the George Herbert Mead Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction (2006), and the Leo G. Reeder Award for distinguished contributions to medical sociology (2016-2017).