A phenomenological study of the development of university educators' critical consciousness

Despite the priority higher education institutions have given to multicultural initiatives, little attention has been given to examining the multicultural experiences and other lift events that influence those charged with developing and facilitating these initiatives. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore how multicultural educators known for their expertise in this area acquired the capacity to effectively serve in this role and to explore the kinds of experiences that facilitated these educators' visions of social justice. Participants were 20 university educators representing 14 different race/ethnicity groups, balanced by gender, and varied in sexual orientation. Using in-depth interviews with these individuals we developed a model that describes the major themes that emerged from their interviews and illustrated these themes with excerpts from their stories.