A Phenomenological Inquiry into the Racialized Experiences of Southeast Asian American Community College Students

Southeast Asian American (SEAA) (e.g., Cambodian, Hmong, Lao, and Vietnamese) students\u27 educational realities are often masked by assumptions that all Asian Americans are model minorities. However, SEAA students have also been racialized as deviant minorities to explain disparities faced by the community. Relatively minimal scholarship has explored how race and racism shape their experiences. In this study, AsianCrit provides a framework for exploring the racial realities of SEAA students in community college. Qualitative research methods were employed to explore in-depth the ways they experience race and racialization. Specifically, this study is a phenomenological exploration of their lived racialized experiences and its impact on their educational experiences. Ten SEAA community college students participated in the study, providing detailed accounts of the challenges they faced as racialized beings. Findings indicate that participants experienced significant difficulties related to experiences of racial and ethnic isolation, which are exacerbated by Asianization, racially-ascribed deviance, institutional invisibility, and community college stigma. These experiences have significant psychological impacts for students. Despite these challenges, SEAA students showcased strength, resilience, and agency, and benefitted from critical sources of support that enable them to enact resistance to deficit ideologies. Implications for policy, practice, and research are also discussed

The SEAAster Scholars Collective: A Story of Homemaking in Academia

How do we make a home in spaces not built for us? What does an academic home for Southeast Asian American (SEAA) women look and feel like? This is the story of how a collective of SEAA women came together to create an alternative space in higher education. Continuing the radical act of resistance modeled by other Black, Indigenous, and women of color scholars, the SEAAster Scholars Collective uses a feminist epistemological approach to further their mission—to advance knowledge and understanding of the postsecondary educational experiences of SEAA students, staff, and faculty