How Positionality Shapes Equitable Evaluation: A Latina Emerging Evaluator's Autoethnography

Abstract

This article examines how positionality shapes evaluators’ engagement with equity, justice, and discipline. Drawing on autoethnography, I analyze two formative professional experiences to demonstrate how culture, identity, and institutional power influence evaluation practice. Using personal archival materials and retrospective analysis, I address two guiding questions: (1) How does positionality affect evaluators’ commitments to equity and justice? and (2) How can positionality foster more inclusive paths for emerging evaluators? I argue that positionality is not merely a reflexive exercise but a structural lens through which evaluators negotiate professional development and belonging. The analysis identifies four overarching themes: power, cultural grounding, professional vulnerability, and resilience, and illustrates how unexamined norms shape career pathways, constrain epistemic diversity, and influence which forms of inquiry are treated as credible. I conclude with implications for evaluator professional development, mentoring, and institutional practice aimed at strengthening epistemic diversity and equity.