Relationships Between Institutional Agents And Student Activists

This study explores the experiences of student affairs professionals at large public research universities when directly engaging with student activists with whom they share marginalized identities. For the purpose of this study, these student affairs educators are institutional agents while they “provide key forms of social and institutional support” (Stanton-Salazar, 2011, p. 1066) navigating the Borderlands (Anzaldúa, 1987) created by their role within the institution, support of student activists, and their own social identities. I frame this study through the following research question: How do institutional agents experience their commitment to the institution as an employee, while supporting student activists with whom they shared marginalized identities? This study also addresses these sub-questions: (a) How do student affairs educators navigate the political context of their university amid student activism? (b) With social identities in mind, how do student affairs educators manage their relationships with student activists and colleagues?

Five student affairs educators participated in 60 to 75-minute interviews and produced images to describe their experiences when engaging with student activists. I present findings in three themes: (a) how participants negotiate being part of the institution; (b) how participants navigate the borderlands; and (c) how institutional agents are part of the community. Across the three themes, several key takeaways addressed how student affairs educators: (a) address power dynamics, (b) do not assume the politics of their colleagues, (c) define the labor done on behalf of the... This study contributes to the body of literature on how student affairs educators with marginalized identities support student activists and manage their roles. This dissertation concludes with implications for research and practice, with key takeaways highlighted by participants’ own words. Research output: Journal Article › Article › peer-review

Research output: Journal Article › Article › peer-review T1 - Relationships Between Institutional Agents and Student Activists N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2022 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85140044103 Objective: To drive the development and improvement of college student activist support interventions via the examination of the relationship between college student activists' labor and their subjective well-being (SWB). Participants: A purposeful sample of 14 U.S.

college student activists. Methods: An interpretive, constructivist qualitative study grounded in individual, semi-structured interviews. Data was analyzed using thematic analysis. Results: Analysis revealed a connection between activism work and SWB across three themes: (a) activism and the college student activist community can foster SWB, (b) college student activists' scarcity of time can compromise SWB,... Conclusions: Focusing on building community and belonging for college student activists along with developing partnerships with faculty/staff and auditing institutional power can foster SWB. Keywords: College student activists; student development; subjective well-being.

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