“Dear higher education, there are sex workers on your campus”: Rendering visible the realities of U.S. college students engaged in sex work.

Abstract

Using a narrative inquiry methodology, grounded by the polymorphous paradigm and institutional betrayal as a conceptual framework, I highlight the experience of seven college student sex workers. I explore their perceptions of and engagement with their colleges/universities and the faculty, staff, and administrators that run them. Specifically, I sought to understand how they make meaning of their invisibility on campus and I inquire about what they think institutional support means and how it could manifest for them. Findings include the reality that these college student sex workers have little confidence in their institutional leaders to understand them, they view their campus as places where they are always already not welcome, and they had little vision for how their institutions could be supportive. I conclude with recommendations for educators and administrators and discussion of implications.

Master Narratives and Resistance Narratives: How Women of Color on Community College STEM Education Pathways Push Back

“…The Listening Guide method was originally developed as a way to explore "dissociation, including the cultural pressures on women to dissociate themselves from their own desires and knowledge" (Gilligan, 2015, p. 69) and has been used to "access and understand marginalized and understudied experiences" (p. 70). Example cases in which this method has been used include studies that have explored the experiences of women with postpartum depression (Mauthner, 2002), queer youth (Sadowski, 2013), and college student sex workers (Stewart, 2021). This method was deemed appropriate for investigating the narratives of women of color who are underrepresented and minoritized in STEM since they must contend with master narratives that may not align with their own understanding of themselves.…”

Too fat to learn: Sizeism as a barrier to college student learning.

“…As fat-bodied educators and researchers, not only do we notice and understand, but we also care to extend this conversation in our work. We made the decision to conceptualize this study through a research purpose rather than research questions, which can be limiting to critical and constructivist work (Birks & Mills, 2011; T. J. Stewart, 2023).…”