Researcher Reflexivity Transitions Into Participant Voice: Studying Inequity While Struggling With Marginalization in Astronomy Education

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Thursday 1:45 pm Four Seasons Ballroom 4
  In Roundtable Session: Futures of Qualitative Methods and Analysis (Table 3)

Abstract

The methodology and methods outlined in this proposal describe how the use of reflexivity and standpoint articulations in one study birthed a new study that shifted the positioning of researchers into participants. The resultant study used a narrative inquiry approach to explore the factors influencing the astronomy identity trajectories of four Asian women as they reached the end of their astronomy undergraduate degrees in Canada. The women migrated to Canada to pursue their desires to become astronomers. Their experiences in undergraduate astronomy challenged their perspectives on the field and their potentials for pursuing careers in astronomy. Reflecting on the methodology and methods outlined provides implications for effective and impactful selection of research assistants for equity-related studies.

Author

• Lydia E. Carol-Ann Burke, University of Toronto