First Advisor
Yakaboski, Tamara
Document Type
Dissertation
Date Created
12-2022
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to explore how emotions and identity development create pathways for White deans of students to understand their responsibility in fostering a campus community that is equitable for all. From the frameworks of emotional intelligence and White identity development, I illustrated the nature of the varying, often emotion-driven, work of deans of students on ever-increasingly diverse college campuses. Within a poststructuralist paradigm and narrative inquiry methodology, ten participants engaged in three scaffolded critical reflection methods confronting areas of privilege and cognitive dissonance. Narratives fostered a culmination of powerful metaphors and lived experiences of White deans of students, centering on where they need to continue growing and how to remain steadfast in achieving equity. For a campus to become truly equitable, not only do White deans of students need to develop the emotional capacity to uphold equity long-term as a critical part of the campus community as a whole’s effort in tangible actions rooted in critical consciousness to make positive change. Results took on four themes ranging from taking responsibility for change within their spheres of influence and prioritizing emotional management using critical reflection as a tool. The implications provided examples of ways to undergo one’s own transformative experience, including personal and institutional practices to take a positive position of equity and critical consciousness.
Extent
185 pages
Local Identifiers
Diaz_unco_0161D_11078.pdf
Rights Statement
Copyright is held by the author.
Recommended Citation
Bradford Diaz, Morgan J., "Is It My Job? How Emotions and Identity Development Drive White Senior Student Affairs Officers to Claim Responsibility for Creating Equity on Campus" (2022). Dissertations. 913.
https://digscholarship.unco.edu/dissertations/913