A Journey Into a Researcher’s Positionality on Acculturation: Intersectional Identity and Immigration Milestones

Abstract

Exploring researcher’s positionality is prime in conducting research, especially in attempts to explore an experience of a phenomenon. This autoethnographic paper presents the positionality of an Arab Canadian immigrant researcher who has devoted her dissertation in social work to understand the acculturation process as a phenomenon experienced by Arab immigrant emerging adults in Canada, specifically in Windsor-Essex, southern Ontario. Herein forward, the article is written from the perspective of the researcher and is using first-person voice to best situate the journey of exploration through an autoethnographic account of acculturation as a lived experience. The researcher deconstructed her lived experience with the acculturation phenomenon, while commencing critical learning about Canada’s history of colonialism. This has altered her position from a resident to a settler in Canada. The article begins and ends with situating the self in the lens of immigration and refugee context, intersectional identity, as well as the experience, and how this exploration has landed the author in three milestones of her individual experience of the acculturation phenomenon. The article ends with contextualizing herself and sharing a current and future vision of exploring herself and transitioning from a resident to a settler.

Introduction

The Palestinian narrative manifests itself differently for every Palestinian, whether through their individual encounters or through intergenerational experiences of displacement, immigration, and trauma. For me, the Palestinian story situates itself with the onset of displacement of the 1948 Nakba (“catastrophe”) and continues to our day today. This article presents my researcher’s positionality that I have written in fulfillment of my doctoral dissertation in social work. In conducting my study, I have applied a qualitative approach of phenomenology and completed a thematic analysis to understand acculturation as a phenomenon experienced by Arab immigrant emerging adults in Canada, specifically in Windsor-Essex. Processing my lived experience with the acculturation phenomenon was critical prior to commencing data collection. At the time of completing this dissertation (2018–2022), I was taking initial steps in learning further about our colonialist history in Canada, and this has transitioned me from a resident to a settler in the Canadian colony. Hence, this article is acting as an initial step towards that self-exploration process and is focusing more on my intersectional identity as I know [knew] it in writing this researcher’s positionality.

Before approaching the data collection phase, I engaged myself in an-depth self-exploration as an Arab (Palestinian) Canadian immigrant and how I landed at three primary milestones through my journey of acculturation. The three milestones were, (1) being a life-long refugee; (2) September 11 at 14-Years-Old: Two Milestones; and (3) active participation in the Arab and Canadian worlds. The definition I adopted of acculturation in this study was that it is the process of cultural and psychological changes that immigrant, heritage groups, and dominant host groups undergo resulting from their interactions with one another (Berry, 2006, 2014, 2019; Berry et al., 2006). The goal of this article is to take you with me through my journey of self-exploration as one example of a Palestinian, Arab, Canadian narrative of experiencing the acculturation phenomenon in Canada. Deconstructing my intersectional identity allowed me to respond to a common portrayal of Arab Muslim women in western societies as “uncivilized.” Through diving into an autoethnographic account of my story, I aimed to connect personal and sociopolitical realms of being a Palestinian Arab Canadian woman ascribing to, and achieving, higher education.

For further contextualization, I will begin by sharing definitions of important concepts or approaches I adopted in this article. The definition of autoethnography as a research method that I adopted here comes from Ellis et al., “Autoethnography is an approach to research and writing that seeks to describe and systematically analyze (graphy) personal experience (auto) in order to understand cultural experience (ethno) […] and treats research as a political, socially-just and socially conscious act” (Ellis et al., 2011). Further, I have utilized the definition of intersectionality as a compound of an individual’s identity that is a complex product of multiple identities subjugating one to simultaneously ascribe to multiple groups. An intersectional identity is a product of multiple identity modalities coupled with group memberships that correspond to these identities and subjects an individual to multiplicative levels of oppression, bias, and experiences of racism (Capper, 2015; Crenshaw, 1989; Gillborn, 2015; Kaushik & Walsh, 2018). In this article, I found home in conducting an autoethnography as an integral source to understand and further explore the phenomenon I am interested in, namely acculturation, as well as intersectionality as one Critical Race Theory tenet, both of which allowed me to deconstruct my autobiography through adding the layers of ethnocultural background and race as intersectional tenets to understand this phenomenon. Hence, I experienced the layer of ethnographic knowledge through my intersectional identity, and this allowed me to connect with the acculturation as a process I was engraved in as a way of being.

A Life-Long Refugee

As a researcher and explorer of identity and belonging, I often ask myself, “Who am I?” To answer this question, I sought guidance from my grandfathers, who were significant influencers on my upbringing to formulate a response to the question, “who am I?” My father offered further help in answering this question when it became more difficult to answer with every contextual change and significant milestone. I came to learn that one simple phrase represents my journey thus far: I am a “life-long refugee.” To best describe my identity and deconstruct this phrase, I selected to adopt a theoretical lens that I find quite liberating for me to formulate a response that I align with at the heart of identity formation and acculturation practices. Intersectionality, a core tenet of Critical Race Theory (CRT), explores the importance of recognizing that multiple factors intersect to shape an individual’s lived experience and identity. The intersectional self is usually defined with demographic factors, but other factors can also constitute as an aspect of identity (Crenshaw, 1989; Gillborn, 2015; Kaushik & Walsh, 2018; Watkins Liu, 2018). Currently, I identify as a Palestinian Arab immigrant Canadian woman. I am Muslim, in my thirties, a passionate social worker, and a doctoral degree holder. This representation of my intersectional self is intentionally and carefully shaped. Allow me to introduce you to my intersectional identity as you travel with me through my journey of exploring my positionality.

My Palestinian ethnonational background underscores multiple sociopolitical contexts that hold influence over the process of my individuation. Identifying as Palestinian has transcended over three generations following my family’s initial journey with refuge in 1948, when my family settled in Lebanon as Palestinian refugees after their displacement. I dedicate the credit of preserving our Palestinian identity to my grandfathers as they divided the task of raising me as a Palestinian; one grandfather was responsible for teaching me the Palestinian region and family history, and the other taught me the geography and the cultural values that shape a Palestinian. The second aspect of my refugee status relates to my ethnicity and citizenship. Ethnically, I am an Arab, but residing in the Arab region did not guarantee me citizenship. In fact, irrespective of our geographic location, we were considered Palestinian refugees. Living in the Arab region of both Saudi Arabia and Lebanon, we were neither citizens nor residents. We were always refugees. By default, with our identification cards and travel documents that were issued by the Lebanese government, we were known as refugees in the Arab region. The only aspect that differentiated us aside from being just a refugee was that we were Palestinians.

As I was undergoing important developmental milestones and attempting to shape my identity, the Palestinian case was quite active in the political arena. I recall the depth of investment of my grandparents, my family, and surroundings in our Palestinian sense of self, which is a side that never escaped me. I recall looking through our travel document and spotting a word that continues to strike me until this day; the fact that we were identified as “stateless.” I remember running to my father in terror, asking what that meant. I remember him gazing away and attempting his best explanation to my eight-year-old self of what is meant by this term. It was then that my father and I discussed his promise of this status not being permanent. A primary reason for our decision to come to Canada is situated in our determination of changing that status; we wanted a citizenship. We sought some sense of belonging. Canada was not only the land of opportunities for educational advancement and professional growth; Canada was also an escape from the imprisonment of our stateless status. Canada was our homeland. Therefore, until I held the Canadian citizenship in 1997, I was ethnically an Arab, a Palestinian in nationality, and still had no citizenship. I would like to set an example to help better situate myself in the sociopolitical context I have lived with my changing status. I recall the sudden shift in our travel experience as we proudly held our Canadian passport and boarded our plane and landed, for the first time, in an international airport as Canadians. In preparation for our anticipated three-hour wait time, I sat down on my travel bag and enjoyed the snack I purchased during my flight. I recall seeing my father’s eyes, mesmerized, as he returned to us in the span of 3 minutes and shared that we were done, our passports were checked, and we could pass through customs. We were not perceived as a threat to safety, and we did not require a prolonged investigation into every aspect of our lives. It was then that I realized that the personal is not only political, but also the personal is sociopolitical. Becoming Canadian citizens dismantled all previous perceptions of our identities: we became welcomed in a new society as we became marked as “safe to admit” to our desired destinations.

Two Milestones in the Migration Journey to Canada

The Canadian citizenship enhanced my sense of self-worth and provided me with steadier ground upon which I could continue to shape my identity. The greatest empowering aspect of becoming Canadian was not only supporting me to develop a sense of belonging to a land I can claim as my homeland, but also that I was not forced to dismiss my Palestinian identity and Arab culture. The goal of multiculturalism – the concept that Canadians are encouraged to preserve their heritage, while becoming integrated as active participants in the larger society – was, for me, the most attractive factor of becoming Canadian. Now, I acknowledge that the degree to which Canadian multiculturalism is applied as an ideology and a policy to support increasing diversity requires further investigation. Therefore, I will identify areas where, in my perspective, multiculturalism has justly been applied, and where it remains an idealistic vision. Even though my immigration status is technically as an economic immigrant, I consider myself as a refugee to Canada. I escaped that feeling of imprisonment of being a Palestinian and a woman living in Saudi Arabia. At the time I lived there, a woman was deprived of her rights to further education, driving, and establishing independence, among other rights. Similarly, as a Palestinian, I would have still been contained within the parameters of being a refugee and not allowed to move beyond these imprisoning parameters. Therefore, for my family and I to tackle progressive steps in advancing our quality of life, an escape was necessary. Being a father of three determined, strong-willed girls and progressive thinkers, my father was left with only one decision: fleeing to Canada. Little did my father know that our settlement was going to coincide with one of the most significant historical and sociopolitical events that reshaped global views and attitudes toward the Arab culture and Islamic religion.

We arrived on the long summer night of August 15th, 2001. I still remember the smiles, excitement, eagerness to begin a new life, and the long sighs each of us let out when we arrived in Canada. Our excitement for beginning our journey was palpable, but we were also anxious of what lay ahead to learn about this new culture and environment that we were eager to integrate in. As newcomers, or new settlers, we knew that we had a long way ahead of us to engage ourselves actively to learn about our new Canadian home, while sharing some of our preserved heritage as well. However, our opportunity to focus on our settlement and integration was very limited as another life-changing event was on the horizon. The attacks on September 11th, 2001, altered the entire equation. Our responsibility shifted from identifying and working toward goals of a successful settlement and integration experience to defending our community, heritage, and religion. Instead of enjoying our democratic rights and fundamental freedoms, we had the obligation of altering the perceptions of our new neighbours believing us to being threats to their enjoyment of these rights and freedoms; and by ‘their’, I am referring to members of the larger society who do not associate with being Arab and/or Muslim. Here came some of my intersecting identities of imprisonment that I escaped, now being shaped in a different form, preventing me from calling my home, home. The obligated advocacy role was quite challenging for me to hold especially since I was establishing myself in another milestone as an adolescent. I was beginning my educational experience here in Canada by entering high school, that has its own stressors and challenges. In addition to learning about the new educational system, curriculum structure, school environment and expectations, and approaches to establishing peer relationships, I had a more fundamental responsibility to carry as I was responsible to defend myself and affirm that I do not hold beliefs in terrorism, that I am a strong believer in peace and responsibility to humanity, and that my culture and religion have, in fact, taught me these values.

I recall my inner frustration with observing the comfort of describing my heritage as a threat to safety and questioning if I came to the right place seeking my own safety. The larger community mirrored the views overheard at my school; the views of being a threat to safety, of being associated with terrorism, and a lack of care for humanity were significant barriers to any attempts of integration. The sociopolitical climate remained charged with these negative ideologies toward the Arab and Islamic worlds for years to come. The adoption and promotion of the term Islamophobia following the September 11 attacks demonstrate the significance of issues of racism, discrimination, and oppression faced by Muslims in general has affirmed for me that the sociopolitical context for a Muslim (and possibly an Arab) living in Canada has permanently changed. It has assured that we are moving into an era where significant and focused efforts must be invested if we were looking to regain even a partial level of the peace that we had during the pre-9/11 era. However, this hope was challenged when the association between terrorist attacks and Islam continued to take place with the establishment and fame of ISIS. Once again, members of my community and I found ourselves in the most challenging position and at that time I posed a question to myself and my family and community respectively: With the repetitive association of our religion and the turning of “Allahu Akbar” from being a call for prayer to a sign of manslaughter how are we going to help dissociate this public image from our reality? At this time, I resorted to investigating the roots of some integral political, academic, and commonly known terms to help me better understand and, in turn, educate those from non-Arab, non-Muslim backgrounds about my culture and religion. I invested more in learning the underlying meanings of multiculturalism in the Canadian context, extremism, racism, and oppression and how these ideologies are rooted in our communities. Today, as I conduct my doctoral dissertation on immigration and acculturation experiences of Arab immigrants, defining these terms and how I formulate my perspective on them will best situate my study contextually. Let us begin by turning to an integral aspect of our Canadian context, the notion of multiculturalism. Multiculturalism is a foundational value upon which Canada’s value system is shaped. As I conducted my doctoral dissertation to explore aspects of diversity, immigration, and Arab acculturation experiences in Canada, I believe it is integral to explore my experience with multiculturalism, reflecting on the different levels of understanding this phenomenon. Generally, multiculturalism describes a society composed of diverse ethnocultural groups and one that embraces equitable participation of all existing cultural groups (Berry, 2016; Boyd & Vickers, 2000; Cvetkovska et al., 2020; Kubota, 2015; Palmer, 1996; Tastsoglou & Petrinioti, 2011). As a measure of ethnocultural diversity, multiculturalism can be explored at three different levels: as a measure of demography, as an ideology, and as a governmental or policy response. Demographically, multiculturalism describes a society composed of diverse cultures, ethnic and religious backgrounds, age, gender, and sexual orientation (Berry, 2006, 2016; Berry & Sam, 2013; Kaushik & Walsh, 2018; Koustova, 2013; Xu, 2019). As a member of this demographically multicultural society, I am ethnically a Palestinian Arab who belongs to the Arab culture, I am a Muslim female, I am thirty-three years of age [at the time of writing the researcher’s positionality], and I am heterosexual. I see each of these demographic identifications as a separate entity; hence, I target each as a separate lens when I compare myself in relation to others in the community. As an ideology, multiculturalism describes individuals’ and groups’ attitudes as accepting or rejecting of diversity (Kaushik & Walsh, 2018; Tastsoglou & Petrinioti, 2011; Xu, 2019). From my perspective, I see the acceptance or rejection of diversity in Canada exists on a continuum. Acceptance or support to increasing diversity aligns with the global sociopolitical climate and active associations with each measure of demography, especially when it comes to culture, ethnicity, and religion.

In terms of policy, multiculturalism describes governmental efforts to develop policies and programs demonstrating acceptance and promotion of diversity (Berry, 2016; Kaushik & Walsh, 2018; Koustova, 2013; Tastsoglou & Petrinioti, 2011; Xu, 2019). As well, multiculturalism as a policy ensures that equitable rights are protected for diverse individuals and groups in Canada (Berry, 2006; Government of Canada, 2019; Kubota, 2015; Lagasi, 2013). In essence, the Canadian federal government demonstrates the promotion of diversity and inclusion through funding bodies such as the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to support newcomer immigrants and refugees through their settlement and integration process. As an example, IRCC has supported the development of Local Immigration Partnerships to promote the development of a comprehensive plan for service delivery for newcomers. The Windsor Essex Local Immigration Partnership (WE LIP) is a local example that was established in 2008. Further funding is also provided at the provincial level to support immigrants and refugees, called the Newcomer Support Program (NSP), which is provincially funded and is intended to support the social and economic integration of newcomers. Locally, in Windsor, Ontario, the NSP program is offered in partnership of three settlement agencies: Multicultural Council of Windsor Essex, Women Enterprise Skills Training of Windsor, and YMCA of Southwestern Ontario. Despite governmental support to facilitate newcomers’ settlement and integration, federally- and provincially- funded programs and services require specific criteria for newcomers to access these supports. Primarily, newcomers’ immigration status in Canada dictates their eligibility to receive services and generally impacts even their knowledge and awareness of the existence of such services. For example, Government Assisted Refugees (GAR) are supported through a structured resettlement program that entails all aspects of meeting their basic needs as well as supporting their social and economic integration. On the other hand, Privately Sponsored Refugees’ experience differs such that knowledge and access to settlement services is dependent on the private sponsor. What I have gained anecdotally from my practice experience is that privately sponsored refugees tend to lack awareness of services available to newcomers in the community. Therefore, these programs and services may need to be promoted more through targeting all immigrant and refugee categories.

I recognize that the Canadian government’s commitment differs among refugees that are governmentally sponsored in comparison with immigrants and refugees from other categories; however, stemming from a critical race theory lens, I partially see this as a form of institutional oppression and racism where structures and policies are validating the superiority of some groups and suppressing the rights and responsibilities toward other groups. You may ask how does race come into play here? I would argue that looking demographically at early settlers or Canadian-born individuals and comparing them to recent refuge-seeking individuals and other immigrants, racial categorization may be a critical, covert factor in continuing to contribute to a structurally unequal society that supports the superiority of some racial groups and ensures the inferiority of others. I believe that for us to commit to and identify ourselves as true supporters of Canadian multiculturalism, we need to ensure that we dedicate more efforts to reduce, or hopefully diminish, structural barriers that may result in different outcomes for newcomers on the sole basis of their immigrant and refugee status. These efforts can come in terms of funding support, service provision, or promoting and enhancing awareness of existing programs and services that is truly inclusive of all immigrants and refugees in Canada.

Contextual Influences on Acculturation

In processing my lived immigration experience, I find great power in using symbolism to help me deconstruct important phases that influenced how I chose to acculturate. In my exploration, I used the countries I lived in as symbols to represent how I processed and navigated through my personal relationships. Essentially, I processed how these relationships shaped my acculturation experience through one two aspects of my intersectional identity: ethnocultural and racial identities. Throughout my journey, it is evident that my personal relationships have been integral to decisions that I made personally, professionally, and academically. My past romantic relationships are symbolic of the Saudi Arabia of my lived experience, while the current [I consider current for the symbolic yet permanent impact] and only significant relationship is the “Canada” of my constructed universe. In my past relationship, I sensed that I was dominated by imprisoning cultural ideologies and expectations that brought me back to the phase I lived back in Saudi Arabia. As a woman deprived of her right to decision-making or even expectations that belittle her eagerness to grow professionally and academically, I felt confined to cultural ideologies that prevented me from reaching the self-actualization phase I have come to Canada to achieve. I had a short time to alter my priorities to avoid significant losses. For me, regaining the self I was eager to build and adopt outweighed any of these perceived losses.

In contrast, in Canada, my only significant relationship is symbolized as the “Canada” of my journey for it has liberated me from being confined to cultural values and principles that may not align with me. This ethnocultural aspect of my identity harmonized by this significant relationship allowed a great balance between my two worlds, my Arab heritage, and my Canadian citizenship. Interestingly, the person with whom I built the only liberating relationship with comes from another culture that is anything but free of rigid rules and expectations; that is, the military culture. Today, I am deconstructing and reconstructing three coexistent cultures: the Arab, the Canadian/North American, and the military culture. I believe that the liberation in this relationship comes from two aspects: first, an agreement on the importance of acknowledging contextual factors that could influence decisions surrounding our union; and second, the ability to effectively merge now three cultures such that we consolidate our decisions and perspectives on the values and principles we choose to adopt from each culture. To demonstrate with an example, the military man has portrayed great interest and value in my doctoral studies to the extent that he was open to delaying the start of our family until I complete the degree requirements. I come from a heritage culture that prioritizes for women to establish a family over engaging in higher education or progressing in their careers. Hence, the value that the military man had on supporting my individuation and development demonstrated a deviation away from confining cultural norms. I reciprocated his supportive and liberating actions by investing further into understanding his culture(s) and learning about the unique role and expectations that a military wife would be expected to hold. The mutual efforts we have undertaken enhanced my confidence in that our union, or what is symbolized in my perspective as the multicultural Canada, is representative of the mutuality I sought to live through maintaining my heritage and responding to contextual influences ascribed by the larger society to which I now belong. Hence, I have been able to actively participate and successfully engage in all three cultures, thereby enhancing my ability to integrate fully and effectively.

Active Participation in the Arab and Canadian Worlds

One of the primary goals of settling in Canada was a commitment to maintaining my heritage, and a passion to engage in this new Canadian society. I have learned the most vital lessons on skills that could help me achieve these goals from my guidance counsellor at high school and from colleagues and teachers that invested their time to support me beyond academics. Some of the skills and knowledge I acquired include the importance of maintaining effective communication patterns, establishing peer relationships and social networks and the importance of civic engagement. Through these skills and experiences, I was able to effectively integrate. One significant factor that influenced my journey and supported my active participation in both cultures is the change in my social status as my credentials have changed with academic or professional progress. With the recognition of my changing social status, I had to engage consistently in self-reflection to best differentiate between my personal connection to my heritage, the role I envisioned to hold with the larger society, as well as the academic and professional roles I hold with both my heritage culture and members of other cultures. I became devoted to advocate for the implementation of practices that support and promote respect for diversity, inclusion, and acceptance. Professionally, I consider the Multicultural Council of Windsor & Essex County (MCC), one of the local settlement agencies, to be a key milestone in my professional journey that helped me understand and further invest in multiculturalism. Further, at the MCC, I have learned more about holistic approaches to embracing diversity. The MCC’s devotion to multiculturalism and diversity is demonstrated in its mission statement, “The MCC creates a welcoming community for all through education, community engagement and the promotion of diversity and equality” (themcc.com, Retrieved March 2022). I have embraced multiculturalism and respect for diversity through facilitating opportunities among refugees and members of the larger society in direct interaction, service provision, civic engagement, employment, and community collaborations. I have adopted case management and mentoring coach roles respectively through which I supported refugees in Windsor-Essex in their settlement and resettlement process.

Being eager to contribute further to the agency’s mission and fulfill my passion surrounding diverse clientele, I have collaborated with colleagues and the leadership team to engage in various opportunities. These include: delivering cultural competence and diversity training in a variety of settings including agencies and organizations in the settlement and orientation sector as well as members of the dominant, larger society; collaborating with the Faculty of Education at the University of Windsor to write a book chapter that included three lived experiences of Syrian refugee youth and the role the MCC held in their settlement experience; collaborating with the Psychology Department at the University of Windsor to deliver a nationwide webinar on art therapy as an approach to support mental health needs of refugees; and collaborating with colleagues to engage key stakeholders in the community to exchange knowledge on refugees and refugee settlement, challenges experienced, and how we can best support their active participation in Windsor-Essex. The Hospice of Windsor and Essex County represents another cornerstone of my professional journey that has allowed me to be in greater collaboration with members and stakeholders from White-dominated agencies. I applaud the Hospice’s openness and receptiveness to enhancing their cultural competence through identifying gaps and challenges in supporting diverse clientele as the key factor in allowing me to merge my heritage and Canadian worlds. I found a great sense of fulfillment when I was encouraged to adopt my native Arabic language and my knowledge and background experience with diverse populations to support my work at Hospice. In addition to providing direct social work support to clientele whose native language is Arabic; I continue to be approached by colleagues to exchange insights into possible cultural and religious practices that may be influential on the plan or goals of care for the respective clientele and their families. One key aspect of cultural knowledge exchange is the lack of knowledge on Hospice and palliative approach to care as concepts, let alone as supportive approaches to palliative and end-of-life care in the Arab culture. Some of the exchanged knowledge includes, the use of religion as a guiding principle for medical and healthcare decisions, hence explaining acceptance and rejection palliative care; the use of religion as a guiding principle for medical support and healthcare decisions; greater family participation in decision-making surrounding patient care; the difference between patient’s right to know principle guiding western healthcare system versus practices back home where family may decide to disguise the nature of condition or information on prognosis for fear of impact of patient’s emotions and response to care; and the importance of ensuring that hospice and palliative approach to care are clearly defined for families from Arabic culture who may lack knowledge and awareness. At the Hospice, I have co-initiated the Cultural Competence and Diversity Advisory Group through which I supported the development of an agency-level plan to ensure that the goals of cultural competence and the appreciation of diversity and inclusion are met. Through this role, I have participated in opportunities to share knowledge on cultural competence and diversity in the palliative care sector with Hospice staff and members of the larger community. I have applied Arab and Islam as prime examples of culture and religion, respectively, to demonstrate the importance of providing compassionate care that is respective and inclusive of diverse individuals. I must affirm that the Hospice of Windsor Essex County’s receptiveness and embracement of the importance of providing culturally competent care, and one that is inclusive of diverse clientele, is what made it possible to attain that sense of belonging to both of my worlds, Arab and Canadian.

Academia has also been an avenue where I am able to jointly participate with my Arab culture and Canadian society. I have participated in research groups, initiatives, and symposia that targeted the Arab populations and have integrated academics from other backgrounds. Additionally, through conducting this dissertation, I have gained further knowledge on Arabs’ experiences with acculturation, settlement, and integration. In my current academic role as a professor in the School of Social Work, I am devoted to fulfilling my goal of merging the Arab and Canadian world through dissemination of study findings. I am also devoted to sharing practice and policy recommendations to further fulfill my commitment to participate in implementing multiculturalism and supporting a community that embraces diversity and inclusion. In conducting this research study, I was attentive to how my social status as the researcher influenced how participants in my study can build rapport and feel comfortable to openly share their perspectives and lived experiences. As the researcher, participants may perceive a hierarchical difference on how we could socially relate to one another. I was attentive to dedicate efforts to minimize the possible perceived social hierarchy through sharing with them the goal(s) of conducting my study and my dedication to advance support and understanding of the Arab acculturation experience in Canada. I related to participants my Arab identity, immigration status, lived acculturation experience and, in some cases, my religious background and gender identity. I was very cautious to ensure that I did not impose any assumptions or biases by virtue of living through a similar experience. In cases of dual relationships, I dedicated greater effort to restructure my role as the researcher and how that may differ from previous roles (usually I related as a professional and Arab community member). Finally, I focused on empowering the participants through sharing with them my passion and dedication to ensure their perspectives are not only shared but also integrated in my future efforts of contributing to academic and professional practice. Processing my positionality follows an autoethnographic approach as I have contextualized my migration, intersectional identity and acculturation experiences, respectively, through a sociopolitical realm. This process enabled me to account for my experience of these phenomena within a socio-politically influenced transition from holding a refugee-only status to becoming a citizen. Further, processing how my intersectional identity interplayed significantly with all the milestones I experienced in my journey contributed to a turning point in how I conceptualize my personal and researcher self. This autoethnographic approach, in my perspective, is an integral research process as eminent in a sociopolitical realm that if escaped, it poses a risk to dismissing integral factors that can help understand a phenomenon especially cultural phenomena or processes such as acculturation.

Conclusionary Remarks

This autoethnographic paper explored the researcher’s positionality that I engaged in as a qualitative researcher prior to collecting data phase of a dissertation study on Arab immigrant emerging adults and their experiences of acculturation. The positionality yielded three milestones of being a life-long refugee, two prime milestones of settlement experience, and active participation in the Arab and Canadian worlds. I have explored in this journey my intersectional identity and how this has influenced my experience as an immigrant and now long-term resident in Canada. Future exploration will be engaging anticolonial and antiracist perspectives of further deconstructing my status that has transitioned with the ongoing uncovering of our history of colonialism in Canada from a resident to a settler.