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Bringing Ourselves to Work: A Narrative Inquiry of LGBTQ Professionals

Marshall, Bowen Tyler
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1501499555486363

Abstract Details

2017, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Educational Studies.
Traditional models of professional socialization have largely overlooked or sidelined the role that personal LGBTQ identity plays in the development of professional identity. Additionally, there has been limited research on the impact of LGBTQ identity based professional roles on personal LGBTQ identity. The purpose of this research was to investigate the narratives of identity for LGBTQ people who engaged in LGBTQ professional work in higher education settings. In particular, I was interested in understanding their professional development trajectories, their personal identity developments, the entanglement of their personal and professional identities, and descriptions of work. Using narrative inquiry methodology, data was collected through semi-structured, in-depth interviews with a diverse sample of twelve LGBTQ professionals spread across the United States who also identified as members of the LGBTQ communities. Narratives were analyzed using a categorical-content approach. Results were examined through the theoretical lenses of professional socialization and career construction theory, the development of LGBTQ identity across the lifespan, and considerations of intersectional, intersecting, and intrasecting identities. The results of this study created a cohesive narrative of LGBTQ professional work on college campuses. This included a clearly defined role that was focused on advocacy, education, and community building for LGBTQ students. The collective story also contained the necessary awareness of an attentiveness to climate as it related to LGBTQ students and performing work that was campus and context specific. In addition to the descriptions related to scope of role and the climate in which these role duties were performed, LGBTQ professionals were driven to help LGBTQ students and community members on their campuses because of their personal experiences with LGBTQ identity and because of their desire to help other LGBTQ students feel supported, cared for, and welcomed. Ultimately, these professionals’ personal LGBTQ identities were influenced and reshaped by their work, resulting in more robust and complex understandings of their own identities and the LGBTQ communities they served. This research helps to challenge traditional notions of career socialization as being removed from personal identity by demonstrating how personal identity can be a driving force in shaping one’s career choice. In the same turn, this study bolsters the application of career construction as a useful theory for understanding the career development of LGBTQ persons. Lastly, this research project contributes to the cataloguing of the modern LGBTQ civil rights movement on college campuses.
Susan Jones, Ph.D. (Advisor)
Colette Dollarhide, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Antoinette Errante, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
340 p.
Education
LGBTQ Identity, Professional Identity, Career Construction, Professional Socialization, LGBTQ, Intersectionality, Identity Development

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Marshall, B. T. (2017). Bringing Ourselves to Work: A Narrative Inquiry of LGBTQ Professionals [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1501499555486363

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Marshall, Bowen. Bringing Ourselves to Work: A Narrative Inquiry of LGBTQ Professionals . 2017. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1501499555486363.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Marshall, Bowen. "Bringing Ourselves to Work: A Narrative Inquiry of LGBTQ Professionals ." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1501499555486363

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1501499555486363
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© 2017, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.