Positionality Statement

As a cisgender, white heterosexual woman, I continually recognize that my social identities are privileged and upheld as normative standards in the U.S. and abroad. I grew up in an almost exclusively white neighborhood and was raised in a nuclear, middle-class Caucasian household. It wasn’t until I left this environment that I came to recognize and understand the privilege afforded to me by my social identities, solely as a result of the United States’ ethnocentric value system. It is from this realization that my commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion stems, both within the confines of academia, as well as in society at large. 

 

I am driven by the responsibility I feel to use my position of privilege to help advance sociocultural diversity and disassemble structural inequalities. As such, I aim to directly address systemic oppression in partnership with people from diverse demographic backgrounds who can provide their insights and expertise for the topics addressed in my research. Furthermore, I aim for my research contributions to directly benefit individuals from historically under and mis-represented backgrounds. I am committed to staying relevant in my DEI training and skillset to ensure excellence and increase diversity and equity, and I will continue to serve as an ally and advocate in my developing career.