Abstract

This qualitative study explored how 10 first-year peer educators understood and utilized their own socilal identities (e.g., their race, gender, sexual orientation, etc.) in their diversity education efforts. All participants saw their identities as having a profound impact on their teaching, although they identified many different, and sometimes contradictory influences. Their identities influenced their credibility as educators, use of emotion, and relationships with dominant and target group member students. Educators sometimes chose to discuss their own experiences with oppression and privilege, and sometimes kept their identities hidden. Participants noted, in conclusion, the importance of considering the influence of their own identity, as awareness influenced how they approached their qork as diversity educators.