“Model” minorities or harbingers of disease? Being Asian in United States higher education during covid-19: an interpretive phenomenological analysis

Some say that the murder of George Floyd in May of 2020 sparked a period of racial reckoning in the United States and around the world (Anand & Hsu, 2020; Hammonds, 2021; Weine et al., 2020). Whether Floyd’s tragic death resulted in a true reckoning remains to be seen. It has, however, served as a flashpoint for widespread discussions of race, racism, and prominent legacies of White supremacy. As Black Lives Matter protests spread across the globe, another ill was also taking hold. With the advent of Covid-19 came anti-Asian rhetoric from world leaders and a spike in racial violence against Asians in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Italy, Russia, New Zealand, Brazil, Kenya, and Ethiopia (Haynes, 2021; Human Rights Watch, 2020). Long marked with ethnic slurs such as “chink”, “Jap”, and “chingchong”, Asian immigrants and their descendants in the United States have endured constant “othering” at the hands of a society influenced by post colonialism and White supremacy (Chang, 1993; Croom 2018; Museus & Iftikar, 2013; Schild et al., 2020). Ethnic Asians in the U.S. have been cast in both negative and positive lights depending on the interests that best serve the ruling majority (Chang, 1993; Kim, H. J., 2020; Sohoni, 2007; Solórzano, 1998; Yuill, 2014). Despite being racialized and underrepresented in higher education leadership roles, research on the experiences of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) faculty is scant (Chan et al., 2021; Freeman & Forthun, 2019; Museus & Kiang, 2009; Poon et al., 2016). How have AAPI faculty in higher education navigated teaching through the dual pandemic of Covid-19 and increased racial violence against Asians? This study will engage in phenomenological inquiry to explore how AAPI faculty in higher education experienced living and teaching through Covid-19 and an ensuing dramatic increase in anti-Asian violence.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ed.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2023

Author dc:creator

• Rosado, Emily Kim

Contributors dc:contributor

• Hinze-Pifer, Rebecca
• Del Real Viramontes, Jose
• Hale, Jon
• Pak, Yoon

• Anti-asian Racism
• Higher Education
• Faculty
• Asian American Pacific Islander
• Covid-19

Statement dc:rights

• @2023 Emily Rosado

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/120397

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F120397