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The Wanderer, the Chameleon, and the Warrior

Experiences of Doctoral Students of Color Developing a Research Identity in Educational Administration

University of Texas at San Antonio

Joyce Piert

University of Michigan-Flint

Matthew Militello

North Carolina State University

In this article, the authors use their personal narratives and collaborative portraits as methods to shed light on the complexities of developing a research identity while journeying through a doctoral program. Using the metaphors of a wanderer, a chameleon, and a warrior, their narratives represent portraits of experiences faced by doctoral students at the peak of their epistemological and ontological growth. Borrowing from Lawrence-Lightfoot and Davis's alternative methodology of portraiture, the authors create portraits through personal narratives, which provide voice, reflexivity, and context to the stories told. Significant factors that fostered the students' research identity were present within the author's lived experiences and continued to evolve throughout the doctoral program. Inhibiting factors included the negotiation of a temporary loss of identity for full-time students, normative and analytical modes required by doctoral programs, and a lack of consideration for issues of diversity within the doctoral program.

Key Words: doctoral students of color • educational administration • research epistemology and identity • narrative inquiry • portraiture

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