The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 43, No. 2 - 62

Carrie A. Kortegast

(e.g., Evans & Broido, 2002; Evans, Reason,
& Broido, 201), institutional hiring and staffing patterns might not always promote inclusive practices. For instance, in a case study
about the hiring of a transmasculine RA, the
department placed him in a suite-style hall
that required him to have women roommates
(Nicolazzo & Marine, 2015). The student ultimately declined the position because the department did not honor his gender identity.
Thus, even when residence life departments
have good intentions about diversifying their
staff, the implementation is not always appropriate and can reinforce binary understandings of gender (Nicolazzo & Marine).

sent data from the study. Storytelling allows
readers to explore possible alternative experiences through the consideration of participant
stories (Connelly & Clandinin, 1990). The
composite narrative uses direct quotes from
interviews with participants. However, the rest
of the text and the setting has been constructed
for the fictitious discussion between the students regarding campus housing options. Examples of the use of composite narratives to
represent data of marginalized populations
include Patton and Catching's (2009) study of
African American student affairs faculty and
Villalpando's (2003) study about Chicano/a
college students.

METHODS

The research site, Willow University
(pseudonym), is a midsize residential private
university located in the southeastern United
States. Eleven students participated in firstround interviews and eight participated in
second-round interviews (students indicated
lack of time being a factor in their decision not
to participate in the second interview). Table
1 provides information about participant demographics. In total, 19 interviews (ranging
from 45 to 175 minutes) were conducted and
80 photographs collected. During the second

The study presented here is part of a larger
data set exploring how the campus environment mediates the social and educational experiences of LGBTQ students. Data collection
and analysis procedures were guided by narrative inquiry (Connelly & Clandinin, 1990)
and photovoice (Wang & Burris, 1997) methodologies. Narrative inquiry uses storytelling
as a way to understand how individuals' experiences of the social world are "interpreted
and made personally meaningful" (Connelly &
Clandinin, 2006, p. 375). Photovoice engages
participants in a process of recording and reflecting on their community's strengths and
concerns. This process is done through the
use of participant-generated photographs and
subsequent dialogue about their images (Wang
& Burris, 1997, p. 370). This study focused on
the data regarding students' residential and
campus housing experiences.
The technique of storytelling was utilized
to develop a composite narrative to repre-

Even when residence life
departments have good intentions
about diversifying their staff, the
implementation is not always
appropriate and can reinforce binary
understandings of gender.

THE JOURNAL OF COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY STUDENT HOUSING

The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 43, No. 2

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