Nineteen of us indicated that our race and culture is different from that of the people with whom we work. Four work solely with Aboriginal and Métis people, and two work solely with immigrants. Ten work with people from diverse races and cultures. Two women indicated that they work with people who are poor and one said she works with people who are physically disabled. Here are some of the ways we describe the differences between ourselves and our students.

Belief values [of my students] are stronger. Importance and respect for elders is lacking within my culture.

I work primarily with other white women. I work primarily with heterosexual women which is a different culture than my own.

I am a woman with white-skinned dominant culture privilege. Some women I work with are of various cultural backgrounds, some women are of different racial and cultural backgrounds.

Learning experience. I enjoy it. It is wonderful.

Seven women indicated that they do not work with people who have different racial or cultural backgrounds from their own. Too much racism on the street for integration in program. Not really. Cultural differences seem to go away on closer inspection- more important how people treat each other and other living beings.

Some of us commented both on the questionnaire and at other points during the research that many programs where the majority of students are Native have few Native staff. As one women stated, "Hiring practices need to shift so that staff are more representative of the populations they serve."

In the second interview, women often talked about the importance of allowing bonds to develop among students, whether they are culturally similar or diverse. Students often share experiences and can provide support to one another in ways an instructor never could. One woman said,

Both Native and non-Native women experience family violence. Native and non-Native women experience concerns around issues like daycare and relationships with other people in the community which is an abiding interest. There are so many similarities around social issues that the difference about culture ends up being overridden by the social immediacy of some of the concerns. (Nancy Steel, Keyano College)

We described our class backgrounds in several different ways. Talking about the families we grew up in, one of us identified as upper class and six of us said we had middle class backgrounds. Five women said they had a mix of middle and working class backgrounds. Eleven of us came from working class families, two from a mix of poor and working class, and one from fixed income and working class.