Transnational Racialization and Sensemaking: An Exploratory Inter-Ethnic Comparison of Asian International Students’ Post-COVID Experiences

• In Event: Friday Roundtable Session 11:25 am
  In Roundtable Session: International Student Experiences: COVID, Race, and Sense of Belonging (Table 32)

Abstract

We employ International Student Critical Race Theory and multiple case study methods to examine the transnational racialization experiences of ethnic subgroups of Asian international students (AIS) in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and their home countries’ racial and ethnic contexts. Findings suggest shared colorblind perceptions of race across all ethnic subgroups of AIS; such perceptions focused on perceptions of race and racism as disconnected from power structures. However, findings also suggest differences in ethnic groups’ pre-migration conceptions of race as shaped by the historical and sociocultural contexts in their home countries.

Authors

• Jia Zheng, University of Massachusetts - Amherst

• Kristyn Lue, University of Southern California