Title
Vietnamese American College Students’ Experiences and Strategies of Engagement on College Campus in the United States
Topic
Undergraduate Research
Panel Title
Focus on Students
Session Abstract
Several previous studies explored the destructive effect of social exclusion on Asian American college students in U.S. colleges. Previous studies reported that Vietnamese American students, as one of largest Asian American minority groups in the United States, faced numerous challenges in reaching their academic s in higher education partly due to the experience of cultural and social alienation and exclusion. The purpose of this study is to examine how Vietnamese American college students perceive the concept of “engagement” on college campus and beyond and how they develop different engagement strategies to promote their academic and social integration. Structured as phenomenological research this investigation will include in-depth interviews with ten to fifteen Vietnamese college students enrolled in either two-year or four-year institutions of higher education in the Southeast. A preliminary analysis from a pilot study suggests that participants interpret “academic engagement” as their individual determination and perseverance to reach each academic and professional milestone while trivializing the significant lack of support provided to them. Their narratives also reflect the stage of “White identification” as they attempt to assimilate and identify themselves with White peers rather than other Vietnamese American peers.
Keywords
Vietnamese American students, Student engagement, Critical Race Theory, and Model Minority Myth
Location
West Center 217
Start Date
24-3-2017 1:00 PM
Vietnamese American College Students’ Experiences and Strategies of Engagement on College Campus in the United States
West Center 217
Several previous studies explored the destructive effect of social exclusion on Asian American college students in U.S. colleges. Previous studies reported that Vietnamese American students, as one of largest Asian American minority groups in the United States, faced numerous challenges in reaching their academic s in higher education partly due to the experience of cultural and social alienation and exclusion. The purpose of this study is to examine how Vietnamese American college students perceive the concept of “engagement” on college campus and beyond and how they develop different engagement strategies to promote their academic and social integration. Structured as phenomenological research this investigation will include in-depth interviews with ten to fifteen Vietnamese college students enrolled in either two-year or four-year institutions of higher education in the Southeast. A preliminary analysis from a pilot study suggests that participants interpret “academic engagement” as their individual determination and perseverance to reach each academic and professional milestone while trivializing the significant lack of support provided to them. Their narratives also reflect the stage of “White identification” as they attempt to assimilate and identify themselves with White peers rather than other Vietnamese American peers.
