The continuing significance of racism in the lives of Asian American college students

Abstract

Asian Americans are one of the most misunderstood populations in higher education, and more research on this population is warranted. In this investigation, authors sought to understand the range of ways that Asian American students experience racism on a daily basis in college. They analyzed data from 46 individual, face-to-face qualitative interviews with Asian American undergraduates at 6 4-year postsecondary institutions around the nation, and 9 themes emerged from the data. Specifically, Asian American participants reported experiencing the following forms of racism in college: (a) racial harassment, (b) vicarious racism, (c) racial isolation, (d) pressure to racially segregate, (e) pressure to racially assimilate, (f) racial silencing, (g) the perpetual foreigner myth, (h) the model minority myth, and (i) the inferior minority myth. Implications for future research and practice related to Asian American students in higher education are discussed.