Research assistants as knowledge co-producers: Reflections beyond fieldwork

The contributions of research assistants are often overlooked in the production of research knowledge, yet they play an important role in supporting research projects to completion. This chapter examines the roles of research assistants—despite their opaque presences in academic literature, and powerless status—as co-producers of knowledge alongside faculty members. This chapter asks: what is the role of a research assistant in facilitating a community-engaged research project through shared power relations, personal values, and commitments? The authors illustrate the unique positionality of research assistants against the backdrop of a community-engaged project that seeks to improve awareness of teachers on cultural diversity in Hong Kong schools. This positionality is marked by its blurred insider-outsider statuses, by being a member of an academic institution, while not fully regarded as an academic expert. The authors explore how this positionality, through racially grounded experiences, influences the practice and involvement of research assistants, while working alongside faculty members who are members of minoritized communities. Copyright © 2022 selection and editorial matter, Casey Burkholder, Funké Aladejebi and Joshua Schwab-Cartas; individual chapters, the contributors.