A Qualitative Study:

1. A Qualitative Study: Counselor Educators of Color – Surviving and Thriving Carmen Salazar, Ph.D. & Timothy Kruse, M.S.

2. The Naturalistic Paradigm • Realities are multiple, constructed, and holistic • Knower and known are interactive, inseparable • Only time- and context-bound working hypotheses are possible • All entities are in a state of mutual simultaneous shaping, so that it is impossible to distinguish causes from effects. • Inquiry is value-bound Lincoln & Guba, 1985 Carmen Salazar, Ph.D. & Timothy Kruse, M.S.

3. Qualitative Design/Methodology • Qualitative research is a constructive, systematic, and interpretive method of inquiry. • Qualitative research attempts to provide a complete contextual picture of the phenomena being studied. • It also attempts to provide the contextual sub-text. Carmen Salazar, Ph.D. & Timothy Kruse, M.S.

4. Grounded Theory • Substantive, general, and formal theories are grounded in systematically gathered and analyzed data with no a priori theoretical propositions. • Theories, or generalizations, gradually emerge from the collected data and are accordingly “grounded” in the gathered data and analysis efforts. Carmen Salazar, Ph.D. & Timothy Kruse, M.S.

5. Grounded Theory • Any a priori assumptions are to be cognitively and emotionally suspended until the data has been gathered and analyzed. • Thus, maintaining the proposition that any emerging theory evolves during the actual research as opposed to preceding research and theory. Carmen Salazar, Ph.D. & Timothy Kruse, M.S.

6. Emergent Design • The research design emerges (flows, cascades, unfolds) rather than being constructed a priori because: • Enough cannot be known ahead of time about the many multiple realities to devise the design adequately. • What emerges as a function of the interaction between inquirer and phenomenon is largely unpredictable in advance. Carmen Salazar, Ph.D. & Timothy Kruse, M.S.

7. Emergent Design • The inquirer cannot know sufficiently well the patterns of mutual shaping that are likely to exist The various value systems involved (including the inquirer’s own) interact in unpredictable ways to influence the outcome Lincoln & Guba, 1985 Carmen Salazar, Ph.D. & Timothy Kruse, M.S.

8. Data Analysis: Constant Comparative Method • Data collection and analysis are interwoven and ongoing. • Initially, data are compared to data. • Next, data are grouped into categories, and new data are compared to categories. • As links between and among categories become evident, themes emerge. Carmen Salazar, Ph.D. & Timothy Kruse, M.S.

9. Constant Comparative Method of Data Analysis • Finally, theories are produced based on the identified themes. • In keeping with a grounded theory approach (Glaser & Strauss, 1967), an ongoing literature review which is guided by the emergent categories and themes inform each level of analysis. Carmen Salazar, Ph.D. & Timothy Kruse, M.S.

10. Background to the Study • The findings from an earlier study: In Their Own Voice: The Experiences of Counselor Educators of Color in Academe (Salazar, 1999) suggested: • Counselor educators of color who teach in predominately White colleges and universities encounter a number of challenges, • including unintentional and intentional racism on individual and systemic levels. Carmen Salazar, Ph.D. & Timothy Kruse, M.S.

11. Background to the Study . . . • Fulfillment and satisfaction as educators, mentors and scholars contrast with feelings of isolation, frustration, hurt, anger, and tiredness. • Counselor educators of color employ a variety of strategies to help them • gain distance from negative experiences, • learn the rules of the academic game, succeed in earning tenure and promotion, • and find a sense of professional kinship and community. Carmen Salazar, Ph.D. & Timothy Kruse, M.S.

12. Background to the Study . . . • These findings are supported by essays and narratives in the literature written by faculty of color in a variety of fields • (e.g. Benjamin, 1997; Dews & Law, 1995; Durodoye, 1999; James & Farmer, 1993; Padilla & Chavez, 1995). Carmen Salazar, Ph.D. & Timothy Kruse, M.S.

13. Purpose of the Study • In the original study, information about survival and coping strategies was not elicited through specific questions. • Instead, this theme emerged during analysis of the participants’ stories, comments, and observations about life in academe. Carmen Salazar, Ph.D. & Timothy Kruse, M.S.

14. Purpose of the Study . . . • To explore this emergent theme directly, in greater depth, and with a larger number of participants. • Like the original study, the current study emphasizes the phenomenological world of the participants. Carmen Salazar, Ph.D. & Timothy Kruse, M.S.

15. Benefits • Knowledge gained from this research will add to and deepen our understanding of • the experiences of counselor educators of color • and of the strategies which allow these women and men to survive and perhaps to thrive despite the challenges they may face in academia. • This understanding may prove valuable to the profession’s efforts to both recruit and retain a diverse faculty. Carmen Salazar, Ph.D. & Timothy Kruse, M.S.

16. Participants • Women and men of color with earned doctorates, who are currently teaching in counseling departments throughout the United States. • Total number of participants will be approximately 30: • The 14 participants from the original study (the “Original Voices”) • 16 new participants (the “New Voices”) Carmen Salazar, Ph.D. & Timothy Kruse, M.S.

17. Participants . . . • Who has been interviewed so far (more scheduled for this Spring): • 2 “Original Voices,” 7 “New Voices” • Three African American women, one Latina • One African American man, two Latinos, two Native American/European American men • Ages range from 29-60 • Academic rank ranges from Assistant Professor to Full Professor • Years in academia range from 2yrs-20+ Carmen Salazar, Ph.D. & Timothy Kruse, M.S.

18. Emergent Themes (preliminary analysis) • Affirming One’s Sense of Selfhood • Safeguarding One’s Selfhood • Building a Support Network Carmen Salazar, Ph.D. & Timothy Kruse, M.S.

19. Affirming One’s Sense of Selfhood • For many, gender, ethnic identity, social class of origin, diverse life experiences, and markers of diversity (e.g., skin color and demeanor) are inextricably intertwined, and therefore experienced simultaneously. • Congruent with the concept of “multicultural selfhood,” i.e., identities constructed over the course of a lifetime, and the meanings individuals create about their identities (Salazar, 1999). • This selfhood emerges from participants’ self-descriptions, life experiences, cultural and familial roots, and expressed and implied sense of place in the world in relation to others. Carmen Salazar, Ph.D. & Timothy Kruse, M.S.

20. Affirming One’s Sense of Selfhood • Strategy: Remembering who you are and where you came from - An important source of strength, pride, wholeness, and integrity. • Maintaining connection with family, community, and culture of origin • Family of origin– stay in contact with and/or staying in close proximity to • e.g. phone calls, visits with family on regular basis; choosing a university located near parents, spouse’s parents (not necessarily excited about the institution yet close to family) Carmen Salazar, Ph.D. & Timothy Kruse, M.S.

21. Affirming One’s Sense of Selfhood • “Sometimes the climate and the atmosphere of the department is challenging and overwhelming, and I think the only way that I get through it is to kind of stay rooted and grounded in who I am. . . . And so that gets me through, it an odd way. It’s my dad in the background going ‘Don’t let ‘em knock you down, stand up, fight harder’ you know, to move forward.” • African American female associate professor Carmen Salazar, Ph.D. & Timothy Kruse, M.S.

22. Affirming One’s Sense of Selfhood • Community – connection through research interests and community service. Success for self = own well being and the potential well being of others. • “I live for Saturday mornings. My work, directly with the kids [African American and kids from other ethnic groups] is what enables me to come back in again the following week. Uh, my interaction with them, that’s, I’m a practitioner, you know, at heart, and it’s that piece that sent me back to get my Ph.D. to start with, wanted to do more for the young people, and so that it the same work that sort of keeps me going and keeps me sort of focused . . . “ • African American male assistant professor Carmen Salazar, Ph.D. & Timothy Kruse, M.S.

23. Affirming One’s Sense of Selfhood • “Naming” the problem, speaking up, standing up for (protecting) those “like me.” • “In just looking at your questions and thinking about them, is how much I didn’t realize, . . . how much effort I put in every day, to uh, I don’t have to put a lot of effort right now into defending myself, um, but because I’ve been there, how much effort I put into watching out for and being careful for other people of color, in particular women of color on my campus. Um, because I don’t want them to have to do that, and, and how often I say to them ‘Now when you get your tenure you better reach back and find someone to mentor.’ We have to watch out for each other. I don’t want anybody to have to go through [what I did].” • Latina full professor Carmen Salazar, Ph.D. & Timothy Kruse, M.S.

24. Safeguarding One’s Selfhood • Don’t share certain aspects of your selfhood because the more you do, the more you put yourself at risk • “Now I never told anybody I was expecting. . . . ‘cause I was afraid that if they knew I was expecting, I wouldn’t get the position I got. . . [T]hat illustrates my life right now, the fact that I really never said anything, and I never made my pregnancy and my child an issue, afraid, of course, that that would negatively impact. . . . • [T]hat doesn’t have to do with race, although it does have to do with color too, um, because when you’re dealing with that, . . . not only are you dealing with this issue of pregnancy . . . you’re also dealing with White notions about Black sexuality or Black reproduction.” Carmen Salazar, Ph.D. & Timothy Kruse, M.S.

25. Safeguarding One’s Selfhood • Don’t speak out until you feel safe (i.e. have tenure) • “So I guess I feel voiceless right now, just being at the low end of the totem pole. . . . When you’re a minority in a majority setting, you have to keep people comfortable, you don’t talk about issues of race too much, or where you’re going to challenge the old ways of thinking, and I purposely don’t put myself in situations where I’m gonna have to talk about that.” • African American female assistant professor Carmen Salazar, Ph.D. & Timothy Kruse, M.S.

26. Safeguarding One’s Selfhood • When you feel safe, speak out for yourself or on behalf of others who can’t or who don’t know how. • “When we [counseling faculty] go through any of those types of discussion [about issues of diversity], I find that I am much more vocal in voicing my opinions, or voicing my complaints, or trying to help people to see a different perspective. . . . The woman from South American is new, she’s not yet tenured, so she, I think because of tenure concerns, is not as vocal about some of the issues. “ • African American female tenured associate professor Carmen Salazar, Ph.D. & Timothy Kruse, M.S.

27. Building a Support Network • Finding/creating connection outside the department • “There are a group of White women who are really good allies, there’s a group of women of color who are willing to work with White ally women, and we meet once a term and we work on racist issues, both within the group, personally, as well as institutionally. We’ve been doing that for five years. And that’s made a huge difference . . . ‘Cause now, sometimes institutionally when things get at me, you know, I’ll call up one of these White women and I’ll say, “You know you need to go after so and so.” And they’ll say “Okay!” And they’ll go and do it. Which is great! Why do I have to spend all my energy doing that? It just pissed me off! So it’s creating breathing space . . . and it’s nice! So they’re taking some of that political heat.” Carmen Salazar, Ph.D. & Timothy Kruse, M.S.

28. Building a Support Network • Finding/creating connection outside the university • Seek out and connect with colleagues of like mind at national conferences • Maintain connection with a supportive dissertation chair • Engage in collaborative research with colleagues of like mind Carmen Salazar, Ph.D. & Timothy Kruse, M.S.

29. Building a Support Network • “There are some colleagues who are out in other institutions . . . some mentors, other African American professors, and evenfaculty of other ethnicities, there’s one Latino woman, there’s a Native American, um that I’ve met, over the years who have been very supportive. There’s White colleagues as well. They’re all senior people who value what I do and think it’s important, and I have a bright future. And it’s the comments from them when I see them at conferences, or when they show up at a session that I’m doing, when they actually see something that I’ve written or . . . whenever we interact, that’s, that is one way [I survive].” African American male assistant professor Carmen Salazar, Ph.D. & Timothy Kruse, M.S.