Dragon Lady or Lotus Flower: Counterstories of Resistance of Women Leaders of the Asian Diaspora

• In Event: Struggling Through Together: AAPI and Asian Diaspora Leadership Perspectives

Abstract

Purpose
Aligned with this year’s conference theme, this conceptual paper highlights the experience of two Asian American women (AAW) leaders to examine the role that white supremacy plays in their social justice leadership. Essentially, this paper addresses “How do systems of oppression and intersecting identities influence the social justice leadership of Asian American women school leaders? We end with implications and recommendations to further support AAW school leaders within K-12 school leadership.

Perspectives
If we are ever to expand the racial and gender diversity of the almost 80-90% of cisgendered white men in education and political leadership (Sue et al, 2007) we must understand the lived experiences of women of the Asian diaspora in school leadership and how dominant society reacts to their racially just leadership. This paper focuses on the question, “What is the experience of women of the Asian diaspora school leaders when they enact socially just leadership?”

Methods
To answer this inquiry we draw on the counterstories (see Solórzano and Yosso, 2002) of two Asian American women school leaders. In sharing these counterstories the paper illustrates how white supremacy and racism impact AAW leaders in unique ways whilst also encouraging deeper understanding of how white supremacy impacts us all. Additionally, to critically interpret the oft invisible or normal operations of race and racism, we employ Allen’s (2021) critical race hermeneutics (CRH) because “interpreters are typically not conscious of their hermeneutical presuppositions” (p. 15). Thusly, we need a methodological analysis that reveals that which has often been left to the subconscious. To reveal how these “seemingly natural” presumptions are, in actuality, not so natural or well-meaning, CRH must be used.

Theoretical Framework
Through the conceptual frameworks of AsianCrit (Museus and Iftikar, 2013) and the theoretical framework of segmented assimilation (Zhou & Xiong, 2005), we examine the experiences of Asian American women (AAW) school leaders. In particular, we highlight the tenets of Asianization and intersectionality from AsianCrit as well as the process of assimilation for second generation Asian Americans within the context of school leadership.


Connection to Conference Theme (Significance)
We cannot start to construct new visions for social justice while forgetting our past. In the spirit of Sankofa (Tedla, 1995) we look backwards to go forwards. This paper highlights the historical oppression that Asian women have experienced to understand the impact of both interpersonal stereotypes and systems of oppression that work against Asian women school leaders. Our counterstories start the healing process of our resistance, paving the way for authentic renewal within ourselves and our education systems.

Authors

• Jessica Wei Huang, University of San Diego

• Jenn Thuan Nguyen, University of Washington - Seattle