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Chapter 14 Asian American Women Faculty and the Contested Space of the Classroom: Navigating Student Resistance and (Re)Claiming Authority and their Rightful Place

Women of Color in Higher Education: Turbulent Past, Promising Future

ISBN: 978-1-78052-180-0, eISBN: 978-1-78052-169-5

Publication date: 18 August 2011

Abstract

There is a paucity of research on Asian American women's progress in higher education as faculty. This chapter contextualizes Asian American women as “Other” faculty who because of their race, gender, and presumed “foreigner” background are not seen as normal faculty. In disrupting traditional student–faculty relations where White males are considered normal and hold positions of power, Asian American women as women faculty of color are subject to being contested in the classroom. I examine here their classroom experiences with attention to student resistance and faculty agency through critical feminist, race, and intersectionality frameworks.

The study is based on a secondary data analysis of qualitative studies on Asian American women's classroom experiences in predominantly White institutions. It finds that students of all racial/ethnic and gender backgrounds may resist their faculty role, oftentimes through uncivil behaviors. Students hold racial, gender, and ethnocentric stereotypes and biases of their teaching capabilities and course offerings. Teaching race–gender–class–nation courses can contribute to lower or mixed course evaluations. In claiming their rightful place, Asian American women faculty seek to make a difference through student-centered learning, innovative pedagogy, and new curricula that prepare students for a diverse and global society. They demonstrate their authenticity, authority, and agency in the ways they navigate challenging classroom situations and serve as role models for all students and faculty.

Citation

Hune, S. (2011), "Chapter 14 Asian American Women Faculty and the Contested Space of the Classroom: Navigating Student Resistance and (Re)Claiming Authority and their Rightful Place", Jean-Marie, G. and Lloyd-Jones, B. (Ed.) Women of Color in Higher Education: Turbulent Past, Promising Future (Diversity in Higher Education, Vol. 9), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 307-335. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-3644(2011)0000009019

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2011, Emerald Group Publishing Limited