Our Younger Selves: QPOC Student Affairs Professionals Supporting QPOC Students

ABSTRACT

Queer student affairs professionals of color serve as key institutional agents who support students with marginalized identities and backgrounds, especially queer students of color. While institutions of higher education often create opportunities for employment, queer student affairs professionals of color exist and labor at the organizational fringes. They often find themselves without much support across differences of race, class, gender, and sexual identity, among others. This interpretive exploratory study uses grounded theory, validation theory, and critical race theory to elevate these experiences of QPOC students through the lens of QPOC student affairs professionals who are responsible for finding ways to support QPOC students in college. Our participants detailed their calling for this work and the challenges faced by QPOC students. They also offered recommendations for institutional leaders seeking strategies to support this marginalized population.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Vijay Kanagala

Vijay Kanagala (PhD, Iowa State University) is an associate professor of secondary and higher education and coordinator of the Higher Education in Student Affairs Program at Salem State University. Vijay is a former student affairs practitioner with extensive experience in equity, diversity, and inclusion efforts. He endeavors to connect the heart and the mind of each learner in a classroom community to ensure holistic student development.

Steven Thurston Oliver

Steven Thurston Oliver (PhD, New York University) is an associate professor of secondary and higher education at Salem State University. Steven is a sociologist of education whose research is focused on the ways in which contemplative pedagogy can be used as a catalyst in K-12 teacher preparation and higher education programs for cultivating greater capacity among educators to engage across human differences.