ERIC Number: EJ1310891
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2021
Pages: 15
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0951-8398
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Available Date: N/A
"I Used to Be One of Them": Reflections on Researching DACA Students as a DACA Beneficiary
International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education (QSE), v34 n8 p700-714 2021
This article examines my experiences as a Latina DACA-benefited researcher conducting qualitative research with Latinx DACA-benefited college students. Drawing from an interview study across two states, I describe my actions and responses to three stages I experienced in the field: reflexive analysis of positionality, acknowledgement of shared identity, and coming out to participants. In discussing my experiences during interviews, I showcase instances in which I pushed boundaries to adopt a methodology of compassion and humanity necessary in research by, for, and with undocumented immigrants. I draw from W.E.B. Du Bois's "double consciousness" to consider undocumented researchers' compartmentalized identities and experiences in the field, and I use Gloria AnzaldĂșa's "mestiza consciousness" to contest dichotomies around legal status, nationality, and belonging. I propose the adoption of flexible methodologies to disrupt existing rigidities in qualitative research in immigrant communities and static epistemologies produced in contexts where researchers hold legal privilege over their undocumented/liminally documented participants.
Descriptors: Undocumented Immigrants, Educational Research, Minority Group Students, College Students, Student Attitudes, Student Experience, Research Methodology, Identification (Psychology)
Taylor & Francis. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Laws, Policies, & Programs: Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)
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Author Affiliations: N/A