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Samantha Sargent
EDU 704
Assignment #4: Social Membership

The ability to identify and examine my own identities is an important step for me to make

sense of the theoretical concepts I will be exploring throughout the graduate courses I take.

Identities include race, ethnic identity, gender, gender orientation, sexual orientation, ability, age,

and economic status.

As a white individual, my race is not an identity I need to be vigilant about on a daily

basis. Since I am white, this also comes with many privileges within society because this is the

dominant race. I am of French Canadian descent, nonetheless, I feel most connected to my

ethnicity during the holidays when my family goes to Canada and my grandfather cooks

traditional meals from his childhood for us such as meat pie, poutine, and fiddleheads. An

identity I am aware of everyday is being a woman. This identity is reinforced by society through

our education, media, and roles. I am a feminine individual and this is represented through my

actions, clothing choices, and interactions with others. As a heterosexual individual, I am

reminded this is the proper sexuality by the heteronormative society we live in today. Within our

society, disability is very stigmatized, however, I am reminded of my disability on a daily basis,

by my inability to remember concepts from a class discussion or the struggle to find a dish I can

eat while dining out because of my food allergies. Age is not an identity I am consciously aware

of because my age has not affected the major decisions in my life. My economic status is an

identity I am consistently aware of because I am fortunate enough to afford nice clothes, a car,

and food for myself. I can also afford to pay for my master’s degree, an item many individuals

cannot.
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Several of my identities did not become apparent until I was in high school. These

identities include my race, economic status and gender. My race became obvious to me

throughout high school when I noticed white is the dominant race and all other races are

minorities and therefore treated differently in society. This became distinguishable when in

public and I was treated differently than the African American individuals around me. As a

young adult, this was a difficult concept to grasp. My ethnicity has been a part of my life since a

young age as my family and I have an extremely close relationship with my grandfather. My

grandfather always thought it was important to keep these traditions alive. As a woman, I am in

the marginalized group. This has affected me because I have been told many times since I am a

girl I am incapable of completing certain tasks or holding particular jobs. I was aware of my

gender identity at the end of my middle school years and the beginning of high school. As a child

I was more androgynous because I have two younger brothers and I wanted to be able to do

everything they did, but as I grew up I embraced my femininity. I have always been conscious

and confident in my sexual orientation, but it was not until high school and college that I realized

we live in a heteronormative society. In sixth grade, I noticed my disability identity. This identity

became prominent and began to greatly impact my life during my freshmen year of high school

because this was when I was diagnosed with my first autoimmune disorder. My economic status

became noticeable during high school because there were many individuals in my town who

were receiving free or reduced lunch, while I was able to afford to leave school and buy lunch.

The aspects of my identity that are most important to me are my gender, race, and

disability. Gender is one of the most important aspects of my identity because this affects many

aspects of my life; this is an identity, which is at the forefront when asked who I am. As a

woman in today’s society there are many stereotypes I face and this challenges how I view my
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identity as a woman and how I would like to be perceived. Race is also a significant aspect of my

identity because this provides me with privilege. The privilege can be seen as positive or

negative, depending on how it is used. Personally, it is important to use the privilege I have to

create change for others. Lastly, disability is a vital part of my identity because it plays a role in

my daily life. I would have a different identity if I was not challenged by the different disorders I

am dealing with.

In general, my identity is one that is usually dominant. The two identities I hold that are

marginalized are being a woman and my disabled status. Women are considered inferior to men

in our society. From a young age we are raised to believe women are weak and cannot hold the

same positions men are capable of. Although our society has progressed within the realm of

disability laws, those individuals who maintain this identity are looked down upon because they

generally need additional resources and support.

The social group membership of being a graduate student in the Higher Education

Student Affairs program at Salem State University has defined who I am by broadening my

opportunities and expanding my thought process. By choosing to enroll in a master’s program, I

am providing myself with an opportunity to move up the ladder within society. This is because

only ten percent of the population has received their master’s degree. The education I am

receiving is providing me with a greater understanding of my identity, specifically difficult

concepts such as gender orientation and age. This membership has also caused me to frame

issues occurring in our world through a student affairs perspective.

The only aspect of my identity, which is not clear to me, is my age. While I realize

society has assigned events, such as obtaining a driver’s license or the legal drinking age, to

certain years of our lives, I do not know how age impacts my identity any further. In my
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professional life I can see how an employer may be skeptical to hire younger candidates

compared to an individual with slightly more experience.

Harro’s Cycle of Socialization is comprised of three arrows, three circles and a core

center. The circles signify the beginning, institutional and cultural socialization, and the results.

The arrows represent the first socialization, enforcements, and actions or directions for change.

The core includes fear, ignorance, confusion, and insecurity. The arrow, which represents first

socialization, occurred for me during my childhood and middle school years. This is because my

parents did not allow my brothers and I to watch more than an hour of TV per day and monitored

our computer usage. I was also not allowed to have a cell phone during these years. Therefore, I

was socialized on a personal level. The information I was learning was coming from my parents,

relatives, and teachers, all of which shaped my expectations, values, roles, and models of ways to

be. My freshmen year of high school was overwhelming because I was blasted with messages

from our culture and society of how a woman should be. I was now receiving additional

messages from my friends’ music, increased social media, TV, and unmonitored computer usage

all, which influenced my patterns of thought. The circle labeled institutional and cultural

socialization and the arrow labeled enforcements represent the experiences felt during my first

year of high school. The institutional and cultural socialization that occurred throughout high

school resulted in large amounts of dissonance, guilt, self-hatred and stress. All of those feelings

are results of the socialization, found in the third circle of Harro’s cycle. For many years I was

unaware I could act upon these feelings, but after learning about this cycle of socialization, I now

understand I am able to use the results as direction for change. Direction for change is the third

arrow in the cycle. I can use this change to raise consciousness, educate, or even reframe.

Through Harro’s Cycle of Socialization I have begun to have a better understanding of how my
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upbringing has shaped my identity. Using my basis of understanding I am able to move forward

and decide what actions I would like to take.

My identity greatly impacts my career in Student Affairs. The salient identities each of us

holds will influence the functional area we chose to pursue and our identities will also help us to

connect and relate with the students. The reason why I decided to have a career in this field was

because of my disability identity and the experiences I had during my undergraduate years at the

University of Connecticut. I felt most at home spending time at the Center for Students with

Disabilities. I thought the individuals who worked there really cared about the students and the

work they did. My experiences with the center are what initially sparked my interest in the

Student Affairs field. Since my disability identity is one of my most salient identities, I feel I am

able to relate well to the students in both the Veterans’ Affairs Office and the Disability Services

Office and they can feel comfortable opening up to me.