Chapter 6: Considering Sexual Identity in Supervision

Identity is present in everything that we are and everything that we do—including having influence over our supervision praxes (Linder, 2018). Since identity is present in our supervision, that also means that power plays a significant role in supervision, as power and identity are inextricably linked (Linder, 2018). Power manifests as an outcome of systems and structures that benefit some while disadvantaging others. Power, in the supervisory relationship, is associated with positional identity (e.g., supervisory status) and social identity (e.g., dominant identities like identifying as heterosexual/straight). It is because of this power, and the history of identity-neutral supervision practices (Brown et al., 2020), that we come to center sexual identity (e.g., queer, lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, asexual, etc.) within supervision practices in higher education.