Positionality Statement

 

Holmes (2020) states that positionality describes an individual’s world view and the position they adopt about a research task and its social and political context. He also elaborates that an individual’s views are influenced by ontological assumptions, epistemological assumptions and assumptions about human nature and agency (Holmes, 2020). All these assumptions are shaped by an individual’s social determinants. A person’s individual values and beliefs are shaped by their political allegiance, religious faith, gender, sexuality, historical and geographical location, ethnicity, race, social class, and status (Holmes, 2020). As a 32-year-old South Asian male of Indian descent, my life and experience has definitely shaped my view of the world.

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As a first-generation Canadian and child of immigrant parents, my identity and experiences have shaped my perspective of the world and healthcare. My parents where both born in Punjab, India. They both come from small villages in the district of Jalandhar and emigrated in the hopes to establish a better life for their future children. There were speed bumps along the way. My father initially immigrated to New Zealand before illegally coming to Canada in the late 80’s. Luckily for him and myself, he met my mother who was already a permanent resident in Canada and got married before potentially getting deported back to India. In a sense, my siblings and I are fortunate to have been procreated. Being immigrates, my parents worked extremely hard to provide for our family and often worked long hours. As a result, I was fortunate enough to not have to worry about basic necessities like food or finances. I grew up middle-class and was able to partake and enjoy in most things in life. My parents’ work ethic was instilled into me, and I have always had this hard-working mentality. This mentality has supported me through many challenging times and continues to this very day. Seeing the lengths my parents would go for their children and family emphasizes the importance of family and spending as much time as possible with family.

 

As a child, I grew up in Surrey, BC, which at the time was a very diverse city filled with many different individuals and cultural backgrounds. This exposed me to many different experiences growing up. It was great growing up with so many different ethnicities and cultural backgrounds as it provided immense learning opportunities and altered my perspective/outlook. However, it did come with its shortcomings. Unfortunately, the early 90’s and 2000’s was filled with racism and discrimination. As I have aged, and Surrey has aged it has become significantly a South Asian majority. The city has shifted and become more inclusive for individuals with South Asian descent. Furthermore, as a child, I was lucky enough to have two younger siblings who happen to be identical twins. I personally however do not think they are identical. Growing up with two younger brothers has been an amazing experience. We are very close to one another and always look out for one another. Being the oldest of three boys, I felt thrusted and obliged to be the leader. This experience has influenced my leadership skills, and many aspects are still present today when I lead others. However, being a sibling to twins has its challenges. A part of me always felt left out. This used to frustrate me but over the years I have come to accept that the bond my brothers have with one another is something very special that most people in the world will not understand. As a consequence, this drove me to create strong bonds with each of them. I have two very different and distinct bonds with my brothers. Furthermore, this shaped my ability to connect with people and emphasized the importance of building relationships. Additionally, as a child playing competitive soccer shaped me into the person I am today. Soccer taught me the importance of teamwork and cooperation. We all wanted to be winners and successful. In order to accomplish that we all had to effectively collaborate with one another and rely on each other as we could not accomplish these goals on our own.  

Coming from an immigrant family, my family placed great importance on education. They stressed the importance of education as a tool for obtaining a comfortable and successful life. This was further stressed by my grandfather who was a high school principal in Punjab, India. As a result, I obtained a BSC from Simon Fraser University and a diploma in Respiratory Therapy from Thompson Rivers University.  This emphasised importance on education further influenced me in pursuing the Master’s in Health Studies.

Working as a Respiratory Therapist (RT) for the last six years has shaped and influenced my views on healthcare. It has strengthened my beliefs in public healthcare and the notion that healthcare should be accessible for all. However, working within healthcare has highlighted many shortcomings currently present in the way the system is set up. There are many inefficiencies within the public healthcare sector and the residents of Canada deserve better. However, these inefficiencies create discussions, and these discussions create opportunities for improvement and innovation.

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In the future, I hope to have completed my Master’s in Health Studies and obtained a leadership position within Fraser Health. I am motivated to by the idea of creating a better healthcare system for all that emphasizes best practice, quality patient care but is also more accessible, inclusive and resourceful. Currently as the Neonate Intensive Care Unit (NICU) RT Specialist I have taken part of many projects to improve patient care and experience for parents. I plan to keep doing my part to improve the NICU for RNS, RTs, patients and parents anyway I can.

My upbring and my diverse life experiences have shaped me into the person I am today. It has also highlighted the importance of the healthcare system. Working within healthcare has changed my perspective and understanding of the system. Before like many others I took the healthcare system for granted. Working with Fraser Health has highlighted the need for innovation and solutions to the shortcomings of public health. Working as a healthcare leader in the future will allow to address these issues on a larger scale and hopefully make the healthcare system a more accessible and efficient system.

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References:

Holmes, A. G. D. (2020). Researcher Positionality -- A Consideration of Its Influence and Place in Qualitative Research -- A New Researcher Guide. Shanlax International Journal of Education, 8(4), 1–10.