Strangers of the Academy

by Li, Guofang; Beckett, Gulbahar H.; Lim, Shirley Geok-Lin

• ISBN13: 9781579221201
• ISBN10: 1579221203
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-09-30
• Publisher: Stylus Pub Llc

Summary

No less than other minorities, Asian women scholars are confronted with racial discrimination and stereotyping as well as disrespect for their research, teaching, and leadership, and are underrepresented in academia. In the face of such barriers, many Asian female scholars have developed strategies to survive and thrive. This book is among the first to examine their lived experience in Western academic discourses. It addresses the socio-cultural, political, academic, and personal issues that Asian female scholars encounter in higher education. The contributors to this book include first- and second-generation immigrants who are teachers and researchers in higher education and who come from a wide range of Asian nations and backgrounds. They here combine new research and personal narratives to explore the intersecting layers of relationships that impact their lives'language, culture, academic discourses, gender, class, generation, and race. The book is replete with the richness and complexity of these scholars' struggles and triumphs in their professional and personal realms. This powerful and engaging volume: * Examines and celebrates the struggles and triumphs that Asian female scholars experience as they try to 'make it' in academic environments that may differ sharply from the culture of their countries of origin; * Highlights the unique contributions the authors have made to research, theory, and the profession; * Establishes the authors' claim to visibility and a voice for themselves and more generally for Asian women in the academy; * Opens a dialogue on these critical issues by sharing the academic and personal experiences of senior and junior scholars alike; and * Contributes to the on-going discussion on issues pertinent to the status of minority female scholars in higher education.

Table of Contents

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS	xi
FOREWORD: IDENTITIES ASIAN, FEMALE, SCHOLAR	xiii
Critiques and Celebrations of the North American Academy
Shirley Geok-Lin Lim
INTRODUCTION RECONSTRUCTING CULTURE AND IDENTITY IN THE ACADEMY
Asian Female Scholars Theorizing Their Experiences
Guofang Li
Gulbahar H. Beckett
PART ONE: ASIAN FEMALE SCHOLARS IN CONTEXT
1 ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN WOMEN AND MEN IN HIGHER EDUCATION	15	(22)
The Contested Spaces of Their Participation, Persistence, and Challenges as Students, Faculty, and Administrators
Shirley Hune
2 ASIAN AMERICAN GENDER GAP IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY	37	(19)
Tracking Male versus Female College Students' Paths toward Academic Careers
Jaekyung Lee
3 THEORIZING EXPERIENCES OF ASIAN WOMEN FACULTY IN SECOND- AND FOREIGN-LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION	56	(29)
Angel Lin
Ryuko Kubota
Su Motha
Wendy Wang
Shelley Wong
PART TWO: TEACHING, MENTORING, ADVISING, AND SECURING TENURE
4 PROFESSING IN A NONNATIVE TONGUE	85	(20)
Narrative Construction of Realities and Opportunities
Xiaoping Liang
5 MULTIPLE MENTORS IN MY CAREER AS A UNIVERSITY FACULTY	105	(13)
Keiko Komiya Samimy
6 NAVIGATING MULTIPLE ROLES AND MULTIPLE DISCOURSES	118	(16)
A Young Asian Female Scholar's Reflection on Within-Race-and-Gender Interactions
Guofang Li
7 ASIAN AMERICAN WOMEN IN THE ACADEMY	134	(29)
Overcoming Stress and Overturning Denials in Advancement
Chalsa M. Loo
Hsiu-Zu Ho
PART THREE: GAINING VOICE, FORMING IDENTITY
8 BROWN IN BLACK AND WHITE	163	(15)
On Being a South Asian Woman Academic
Nina Asher
9 UNMASKING THE SELF	178	(17)
Struggling with the Model Minority Stereotype and Lotus Blossom Image
Eunai Kim Shrake
10 WITHIN THE "SAFE HAVEN" OF WOMEN'S STUDIES	195	(16)
A Thai Female Faculty's Reflection on Identity and Scholarship
Piya Pangsapa
11 BETWEEN THE WORLDS	211	(40)
Searching for a Competent Voice
Yan Guo
12 MODERATION, MODESTY, CREATIVITY, AND CRITICALNESS 233
A Chinese American Medical Professor Speaks
Gulbahar H. Beckett
Jianhua Zhang
PART FOUR: BUILDING BRIDGES, BUILDING THE FUTURE
13 THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED	251	(15)
An Asian Woman Immigrant Faculty's Experience Practicing Global Pedagogy in Teacher Education
Guichun Zong
14 FROM MENTORSHIP TO FRIENDSHIP, COLLABORATION, AND COLLEGIALITY	266	(23)
Xue Lan Rong
Judith Preissle
15 BUILDING BRIDGES, WORKING FOR A BETTER WORLD	289	(18)
Jing Lin
EDITORS AND CONTRIBUTORS	307	(6)
INDEX	313