Navigating Identities in a (dis)Connected Digital Society: Being Desi/International Muslim Students in US Higher Education

• In Event: Highlighted Session: Being/Becoming a Par/Desi (i): Making Sense of Higher Education as Borderlands

Proposal

In a rapidly evolving digital society, the intersection of technology and identity formation poses unique challenges for students in higher education (Stehr, 2007). This study examines the lived experiences of two students: a Pakistani Muslim female and an Indian Muslim male, studying in U.S. higher education institutions. It investigates how their identities are produced, mobilized, and transformed as they navigate their educational journeys, focusing on the complexities of identity negotiation in a transnational context. Through the lens of Bhattacharya’s Par/Des(i) framework (2019), which accentuates the fluidity and multiplicity of identities, this study reveals the distinct challenges and opportunities faced by these students. It presents a comparative narrative analysis, highlighting how their religious, national, and gender identities intersect with digital connectivity as they transition to a minority status, they both share in the U.S.
Through engaging with their lived experiences, both presenters approach US higher education as borderlands producing and shaping a hybrid fusion of different identities. For the Pakistani Muslim female student, navigating her identity involves balancing cultural gender expectations, religious norms, and personal academic aspirations in a context where she shifts from a majority Muslim status in Pakistan to a minority status in the U.S (Ali, 2020; Batool et al., 2013; Naz et al., 2020). In this scenario, her positionality and technology serve both as a bridge; connecting her to her cultural roots and newer opportunities in the US, and simultaneously as a barrier; challenging her with the realities of being a minority in a different socio-cultural environment with preconceived notions for Muslim women (Nasir & Al-Amin, 2006). The experiences of the Indian Muslim male student, instead, are shaped by his marginalized position in both India and the US. His decision to move to the US is not without trade-offs, such as emotional and psychological stressors, homesickness, cultural isolation, and the constant need to prove one's worth in both the home and host countries (Cho, 2007; Jung et al., 2007; Tilburg & Vingerhoets, 2005). Despite these challenges, the drive to succeed and the opportunity to transform, not only their own lives but also the socio-economic prospects of their families in India keep them motivated. The disconnections between the cultural contexts of these countries and the U.S. can cause these students to navigate their identities across two worlds, sometimes feeling fully accepted in neither (Deshpande,2011).
The study also examines the broader implications of these identity transitions within the context of globalization and digital connectivity, particularly considering the geopolitical disconnections between Pakistan and India and the commonalities of experiences of these students in the US as Muslims belonging to the larger South Asian diaspora. Additionally, it emphasizes the role of digital platforms in facilitating this identity reformation (Forbush & Foucault-Welles, 2016). Hence, the Par/Des(i) framework facilitates a critical engagement with the complexities of identity negotiation for Muslim South Asian students in U.S. higher education and the role of technology as both an enabler and complicator of these processes, contributing to the broader discourse on envisioning education in a digital society.

Authors

• Rameez Raja, Florida State University

• Amber Noor Mustafa, Florida State University