by Margaret Meredith and Margaret Wood
Professor Kathy-Ann Hernandez from Eastern University, USA, and co-author of the book ‘Collaborative Autoethnography’ (2013) led an engaging online research seminar at York St John University in November 2023.
In social science research we have been trained to think that objectivity between researcher and the researched is not only possible but also necessary. Subjectivity, or self-driven perspectives, we are sometimes told, invalidate research. We must separate our personal self from the research activities. However, Kathy-Ann Hernandez argued that social research is an extension of researchers’ lives and therefore such separation is impossible.
Autoethnography as the research method she uses aims to advance our understanding around sociocultural phenomena through the perspectives of the researcher. Researcher and researched are the same person.
The term is constructed from three terms:
auto – this research method systematically collects and utilises autobiographical material as primary data;
ethno – it focuses on the in-depth understanding socio-cultural phenomena; and
graphy – it narrates, analyses, and interprets autobiographical data.
Generally considered a solo activity, the concept of collaborative autoethnography was developed by Chang, Ngunjiri and Hernandez in their 2013 book. They define ‘collaborative autoethnography’ as:
A qualitative research method in which researchers work in community to collect their autobiographical materials and to analyze and interpret their data collectively to gain a meaningful understanding of sociocultural phenomena reflected in their autobiographical data’(Chang, Hernandez and Ngunjiri, 2013, pp. 24-25).
In this research seminar at York St John, Professor Hernandez’s input stimulated thinking and discussion about the positioning of the self as both researcher and participant in a research study. She invited participants to consider how we identify at the intersection of our own (multiple) identities as a starting point for autoethnography. Identifying her own immigrant status and as a Black female leader at a predominantly, White male-led academy as fundamental aspects of her identity, she and her colleagues describe and explain their process of working individually and collaboratively to gain insights into the experiences of ‘faculty of color’ in their 2013 book.
Professor Hernandez argued this research can generate understandings of oneself which can become a transformative contribution to practice where the primary goal is ‘to solve real world problems by facilitating transformational change at the individual, group and/or organizational levels’ (Hernandez, Chang and Bilgen, 2022).
She led discussion about some of the benefits and challenges of collaborative autoethnography and Professor Hernandez’s prompts encouraged us to think about what topics we might be able to explore from an insider perspective and what topics we might be able to explore collaboratively with others. These ‘others’ may be colleagues who self-identify in similar ways, or perhaps in very different ways. Challenges, such as the possibility of unintentionally identifying others while we explore and analyse our own experiences in our professional settings were discussed.
Interesting themes for (collaborative) autoethnography in a university context could include, for example, one’s lived experience during the first year as a new faculty member, or as a tutor experiencing mental health challenges. In a similar way, autoethnographical reflection and analysis around one’s ‘minority’ status in an institution through social class, gender, ethnicity could be explored with the purpose of generating insights towards improving inclusive practices may bring about benefits to others.
What other themes could we narrate and analyse from our own unique identity position to illuminate and aim to transform practice in universities?
References
Chang, H., Ngunjiri, F. & Hernandez, K. A. (2013) Collaborative autoethnography. Walnut Creek, CA. Left Coast Press.
Hernandez, K.A., Chang, H. & Bilgen, W. (2022) Transformative Autoethnography for Practitioners: Change Processes and Practices for Individuals and Groups. Myers Education Press.