Reframing Research, Identity, and Belonging in Global Higher Education for Asian International Students

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

In the era of geopolitical instability, rising anti-Asian sentiment, and tightening immigration policies (Henley, 2025), this symposium examines how Asian international students are racialized in global higher education. Using critical, equity-focused, and asset-based theories, the interdisciplinary scholars in this session foreground race, power, and identity as central to Asian international students’ lived experiences. Through five paper presentations and a moderated discussion, the symposium invites critical dialogue across institutional, national, and disciplinary boundaries to confront structural inequities and reimagine internationalization. Ultimately, this session aims to provide a space for cross-institutional discussion among scholars across various career stages, in order to generate actionable ways to develop more inclusive and equitable futures in higher education.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Education and Research

Chair

• Xinhang Hermione Hu, University of Maryland

Papers

• Linkages of Temporality, Spatiality, and Racial Positioning of Asian International Students in the U.S. - Christina W. Yao, University of South Carolina

• Asian International Students’ Racial-Ethnic Identity in a Post-Pandemic Era: A Longitudinal Mixed-Methods Study - Jia Zheng, University of Massachusetts - Amherst; Shinji Katsumoto, University of Southern Mississippi

• Exploring Racial Literacy among Chinese International Students in U.S. Higher Education - Jing Yu, University of Wisconsin - Madison

• Unsettling Measurement Validity: A Critical Mixed Methods Study with Asian International Students - HyeJin Tina Yeo, University of North Dakota

Discussant

• Kristyn Lue, University of Southern California