Asian Americans (AA) are one of the most rapidly growing populations in higher education, increasing by 36% since 2010. AA students are considered the model minority group who are generally academically successful. However, recent studies by Vang (2016) and Nguyen (2018) have disaggregated data and found while many Asian immigrants came to the…

Discriminatory "bamboo ceiling" narratives have been observed to perpetuate historical disparities in career paths (e.g., colonial messages of nursing as the predominant career for Filipino Americans). Certain healthcare careers are then seen as unattainable or culturally unacceptable. More research is needed to explore how racism may…

In Hawai?i, there are over 170,000 students enrolled in public schools, with Filipinos comprising almost 25% of the student population. Native Hawaiian values, culture, and language have slowly gained an important role in school curriculum, but little is known about how students from other backgrounds respond to it. The purpose of this research is…

This dissertation examines how past U.S. colonial education in the Philippines impacts the ways in which Filipino bodies are commodified and racialized under contemporary education and training systems in both the Philippines and the United States. This research project utilizes participatory action research and in-depth interviews with over 50…

This study explores the experience of high-achieving students of color in an honors program at a large research university. Qualitative methods involve surveying students (n = 39) and interviewing a select group (n = 5) in attempts to measure both the frequency and severity of racial microaggression as well as subjective experience relating to…

With more women of color (WOC) aspiring to study science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and healthcare (STEMH), colleges and universities serve as a critical environment for preparing and supporting successful transitions from earning a STEMH degree through participation in the STEMH workforce. I use a three-article format to examine the…

This paper considers the rapid demographic shifts in contemporary American society as they manifest themselves in today's classrooms in the United States. An effort to articulate these twenty-first-century student identities is highlighted in data from an ethnographic case study examining the literacy practices of one student of Filipino and…

Objective: To examine variables influencing the positive health practices (PHP) of Filipino college students to gain a better understanding of health practices in this ethnic/racial group. Cross-sectional study tested theoretical relationships postulated among (a) PHP, (b) social support (SS), (c) optimism, and (d) acculturation. Participants: A…

This study provides a deeper understanding of the interracial connections not just between non-whites and whites, but among non-whites. Filipino American youth attending high school in New York City contended with a dominant bipolar racial discourse that marginalizes the racialized experiences of Asians and Pacific Islanders. However, instead of…

The purpose of this narrative research is to examine cultural diversity among teacher candidates. A secondary purpose is to offer a pedagogical tool for teacher educators to use with their teacher candidates to help them develop a critical consciousness in their encounters with diverse students and their reflections on their own cultural…

The under participation of minority females in STEM fields has been a chronic problem in the United States, mainly when it is analyzed through the lens of their relative representation in the population. The results of the first or quantitative phase, of this two phase sequential, mixed method study, revealed academic achievement or performance in…

In this article, the authors discuss how merging mixed-methods and intersectional analyses can generate deeper and more authentic understandings of students' experiences within the campus climate and its relation to sense of belonging in college. They discuss overemphasis on one-dimensional analyses of campus climates and sense of belonging,…

This paper examines two topics understudied in higher education: the within group diversity of ethnic subgroups subsumed by the label Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) and minority-serving institutions. Using structural equation modeling, this paper examines the college pathways of community college students in Hawai'i through the…

At more than three million, Filipina/o Americans are one of the largest ethnic minority groups in the United States. Yet, few studies have focused on the experiences of Filipina/o Americans in institutions of U.S. higher education. Given the increasing disparity in degree achievement between first and second generation Filipina/o Americans, this…

Backgrouond: Research has increasingly identified the perception of school environment as an influential factor in children's lives. There has been sparse research attention, however, on the potential importance of parents' perceptions of school environment on child adjustment. This study examined the relationship between parents' perceptions of…