The cultural education of academic evaluators: lessons from a university-Hmong community partnership.
This article explores some of the lessons a university-based evaluation team learned while attempting to hire, retain, and work with staff members from a local Hmong community. These staff members were hired to assist a federally-funded community collaborative with implementing and evaluating a family strengthening program for Hmong families with adolescents. Over the course of two years, a succession of individuals were hired and resigned from a key staff position. These resignations occurred at critical points in the project, undermining a critical component of the program's evaluation. Through interviews, observations, self-reflection, and feedback from colleagues and reviewers, a better understanding of the reasons for these difficulties began to emerge. The challenges examined in this article help to illustrate some of the complexities faced by academics when conducting a community-based project with an underserved racial ethnic population. The article concludes by discussing some of the lessons learned and what they might suggest for others doing similar types of work.
Small
Stephen A
SA
Department of Human Development and Family Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1300 Linden Drive, Madison, WI 53706, USA. sasmall@wisc.edu
Tiwari
Geetika
G
Huser
Mary
M
D000293:Adolescent; D016497:Adolescent Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D000328:Adult; D001210:Asia, Southeastern / Q000208:ethnology; D001213:Asian / Q000523:psychology*; D018672:Community Health Planning; D003159:Community-Institutional Relations; D018864:Cultural Diversity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D015146:Midwestern United States; D010559:Personnel Management; D014495:Universities / Q000458:organization & administration*