“Taking a Step Back”: What White Student Affairs Practitioners Engaged in Social Justice Work Say about Followership

Abstract

The study of followership is underrepresented in leadership literature. The purpose of this interpretative phenomenological study was to explore how White student affairs practitioners engaged in social justice work at a predominantly White public research institution experienced and navigated followership. The findings indicated that the concept of followership had not been given substantial thought prior to this study, and that the way the participants understood and performed followership was largely dependent on the salience of their White identities within the context of their work. Findings also suggested that White student affairs practitioners engaged in social justice work desired a more intentional followership practice. Recommendations for the implementation of more intentional followership practices are provided for student affairs graduate programs, White student affairs practitioners, and White university leaders.