Asian/American Ethnic Student Organizations: Spaces to Explore, Develop, and Reclaim "Identity"

• In Event: Moving Beyond the Forever Foreigner–Honorary White Binary: Asian/American Education Scholars on Re/Claiming Diasporic and Transnational Lived Experiences

Abstract

Ethnic student organizations have been found to be a valuable component of minority students’ cultural adjustment and ethnic identity exploration on college campuses (e.g., Harper & Quaye, 2007; Inkelas, 2004; Museus, 2008). This paper focuses on how Southeast Asian American college students engage with these organizations as 1.5- and second-generation Southeast Asian Americans. The research questions guiding this study were: What role do ethnic clubs and organizations play in the college experience of 1.5- and second-generation Southeast Asian American students? And more specifically, what purpose do these ethnic clubs and organizations serve for these students?

To frame this study, I used the Bridging Multiple Worlds framework (Cooper, 2011), which combines ecocultural perspectives (e.g. Rogoff, 2003) with the Students’ Multiple Worlds model (Phelan, Davidson, & Yu, 1991) to illustrate how ethnic minority youth develop their identities and maintain ties to their cultural communities as they navigate their academic pathways. This study extended the framework by using it in a higher education context.

I collected survey and interview data from 24 Southeast Asian American students at two public research universities in southern California. Southeast Asian students identified as ethnically Vietnamese, Cambodian, Hmong or Lao. The study included 15 female identified and 9 male identified students, all of whom were either 1.5-generation (2) or 2nd-generation (22) Southeast Asian Americans. Each student completed a paper survey and participated in in-depth, individual interviews.

Of the 24 students in this study, 20 were involved in an ethnic club or organization, and 18 students considered “clubs/organizations” one of their main worlds. Ethnic clubs and organizations served multiple purposes for many of the students. Some students sought involvement in an ethnic club or organization because they desired a space similar to their “home community,” while other students sought involvement because they lacked an ethnic community growing up and desired to understand that experience. These spaces created opportunities for students to learn about their cultural heritage through their collective knowledge, and these spaces also aided students in developing or reclaiming their ethnic identity. For example, one Hmong student shared, “HSA helps me come to terms with myself as a Hmong person…I came from a place of hatred for the community, hatred for my identity. And now I’m more accepting and understanding about it.” These organizations also helped students to give back to their community—their local community, the ethnic community, and their homeland. One club organized annual donation drives to collect educational supplies for children in Cambodia. For some students, these kinds of experiences helped shape their aspirations for the future.

The findings from this study exemplify the importance of campus environments that support diverse student groups and the value of ethnic clubs and organizations. These organizations are helping students shape their identities, including their ethnic identities, as 1.5- and second-generation Southeast Asian Americans. Students are provided opportunities to determine for themselves what it means to be Vietnamese, Cambodian, Hmong, or Lao American.

Author

• Malaphone Phommasa, Marshall University