Making meaning of whiteness: life experiences that inform culturally conscious student affairs leaders

Abstract

Four white student affairs educators shared their histories, experiences, and critical incidents that helped shape their focus on inclusive practice at predominantly white institutions of higher education. Critical white studies and the construction of whiteness, identity development models, privilege, multicultural competence and consciousness, and social justice provided a conceptual framework for this narrative inquiry. Through a series of interviews, participants shared their understanding of identity, critical incidents that influenced their development, and their experiences as engaged white student affairs educators. Eighteen total themes were developed in this study throughout the participant's stories. The most emergent themes developed in the study included (1) Contextualized Identity, (2) Individual Story, (3) Action and Presence, (4) Core Values and Beliefs, (5) Responsibility and Accountability, (6) Transformational Practice, (7) Campus Ecology, (8) Justice, (9) Assessment, (10) Spirituality, (11) Progressive and Continual Development, (12) Self-reflexivity, and (13) Emotional Intelligence and Mindfulness. Overarching findings included the possibility of developing "positive" white identities that make space for inclusive practice; race privilege and the relationship to power must be examined in order to locate and understand self in the context of engaging in justice work; various stages exist within the process of coming to terms with a "positive" white identity; and, personal and professional development is continual and ongoing. Participants expressed challenges coming to terms with whiteness through memory recall and critical incident exploration, acknowledged unearned privileges, articulated the interconnectedness of their multiple layers of identity, and lived with the conflict and messiness surrounding their identity and how it influences their practice. Possibilities for future research are also provided.