“It Is More Than How You Look!” Understanding “Asian American Women” From an Intersectionality Perspective

• In Event: Race and Ethnicity Issues: Asian, Canadian, and American Perspectives

Abstract

Came out of a broader study of the leadership experience of Asian American female school administrators in the South, this work explores these women’s sense-making of their racial-ethnic identity and its intersection with leadership roles. Some prominent findings are: These women’s realizations of racial-ethnic identities are closely related to their upbringings. There is no one “Asian American woman” for all. The initial migration and generational conditions have created a constellation of circumstances that position these women differently in relation to the acquisition, development, and enactment of racial-ethnic identities. Struggles with gender, racial-ethnic, and cultural injustices are evident in the data, nevertheless, these women have not demonstrated equal awareness of and resistance to sexism and racism on the individual level.

Authors

• Jia Grace Liang, Kansas State University

• April L. Peters, University of Georgia