Chapter 23: Reclaiming my Voice and Finding a Balance in Academia: A Journey Towards Advocacy

Using my voice to advocate for the needs of diverse clients led me to pursue a doctoral degree in counselor education. However, early in my doctoral studies I began to feel isolated from family, friends, and my cultural community. Additionally, it was discouraging not seeing faculty members and leaders in the profession who I could relate to culturally. In counselor education, there is a focus on diversity and multicultural counseling (CACREP, 2009), but there is a lack of faculty members and leaders in the profession who come from diverse ethnic backgrounds. Specifically, Latina/o scholars in counselor education tend to be an underrepresented group. As a Mexican American woman from a low socioeconomic background, I bring a much-needed voice to the field of counselor education. This became my drive for entering academia. I knew that attaining a PhD could help me advocate for the needs of my community on a different level. Even though I had this awareness, after starting my doctoral program I began to question my sense of belonging to the academy.