Identity as a compass when navigating uncharted equitable spaces: Our queer evaluation practices

Abstract

Alternative approaches within evaluation increasingly allow space for evaluators to bring themselves to their work. As queers, we are gifted‐partially as a necessity for our survival‐with deeper understandings of and navigational capacities to work within complexity. Furthermore, existing as queer empowers us to think and operate outside what is the norm, known, familiar and comfortable, and thus enables us to challenge normative systems for purposes of social change. Our chapter offers situated insight into what queer evaluation practices look like and empowers us to practice bringing ourselves into different contexts, including uncharted spaces. We illustrate principles of queer evaluation through cases of our unique identities, contexts, landscapes, and evaluation experiences, within a process that is iterative, dialogic, and relational. We argue that the exploration of ourselves is critical as evaluators and invite readers to wander alongside us while actively searching their identities. Rather than hiding these biases and perspectives, we believe in the importance of knowing oneself and our connections to the histories of those who came before, which serve as our guides. Only from this point can we begin to unravel the unknown into the known and transform the inequitable into the equitable that has yet to exist. We argue that by embracing our identities we are better able to navigate the complexities that exist in our work and deepen our understanding of the contexts around us.