Asian American women in academia face unfortunate and oxymoronic obstacles based on varying perceptions depending on the stage of their career. In Kieu-Linh Caroline Valverde’s “Fight the Tower: A Call to Action for Women of Color in Academia,” she highlights issues within academic institutions, particularly the barriers Asian American women face in academia, and the stigma and rationalization behind them. (2013) One issue Valverde discusses is the perceived “over-representation” of Asian American women in academia, despite a clear underrepresentation in higher administrative positions. I thought this was very interesting based on my personal preconceived notions on women in academia. Growing up attending elementary school in the early 2000s, it was common for girls to take school more seriously and perform better than their male peers. To me, this was evidence that in a general sense, girls were “smarter” than boys. This perception was developed long before I learned about female activism to achieve equal opportunities for education and pursuit of careers that were previously considered male jobs.
Based on this perception, I was not surprised to learn that in recent years, more girls have been attending and excelling in higher education. However, it did not make sense to me when I learned that women are underrepresented in positions of higher power or position in the workplace hierarchy. This did not make sense because it was a direct contradiction of my perception of the educational institution hierarchy. The stigmatization of Asian American females as timid, shy, or weak contributes to this disparity between qualification and promotions, granting of tenure, etc. It is incredible that two drastically contrasting perceptions can be applied to the same group, both facilitating the depression and oppression of said group.
Question: How do contrasting narratives coincide in the perception of a specific group?
References
Mekuoar, Dora. (2016, April 12). Why Asian Americans Are the Most Educated Group in
America – All About America. Retrieved November 26, 2017, from https://blogs.voanews.com/all-about-america/2016/04/11/why-asian-americans-are-the-most-educated-group-in-america/
Valverde, Kieu-Linh Caroline (2013) "Fight the Tower: A Call to Action for Women of Color in
Academia," Seattle Journal for Social Justice: Vol. 12 : Iss. 2 , Article 5.
Available at: http://digitalcommons.law.seattleu.edu/sjsj/vol12/iss2/5
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