Neither Here nor There: Mother-Scholars' Perspectives on 1.5 Generation Asian American

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Wednesday 7:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Care, Motherhood, and Identity Work in AANHPI Communities

Abstract

Two Asian American/immigrant mother scholars conducted a collaborative critical autoethnography to reflect on their 1.5 generation sons’ experiences—born in Asia, raised in the U.S.—from early childhood to adulthood. Guided by Asian Critical Theory, their narratives highlight the complexities of cultural negotiation and identity formation in transnational contexts. The study challenges linear assimilation models and reveals how 1.5 generation youth navigate in-between spaces, belonging to neither their birth cultures nor fully to U.S. society. By drawing from both personal and scholarly perspectives, the authors call for more nuanced frameworks to understand the fluid, intersectional identities of this often-overlooked group.

Authors

• Shuling Yang, University of Maryland - Baltimore County

• Elizabeth Isidro, Western Michigan University