Uncovering the less-heard histories and barriers of ​Asian and Asian American Students​

Siqing Wei; Marissa A Tsugawa; Li Tan

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Conference: 2025 Collaborative Network for Engineering & Computing Diversity (CoNECD)
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Publication Date: February 9, 2025
Start Date: February 9, 2025
End Date: February 11, 2025
Conference Session: Track 3: Technical Session 6: Uncovering the less-heard histories and barriers of Asian and Asian American Students
Tagged Topics: Diversity and 2025 CoNECD Paper Submissions
Page Count: 13
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/54122
Download Count: 7

Paper Authors

biography

Siqing Wei Purdue University at West Lafayette (COE) orcid.org/0000-0002-7086-5953

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Dr. Siqing Wei received a B.S. and M.S. in Electrical Engineering and a Ph.D. in Engineering Education program at Purdue University as a triple boiler. He is a postdoc fellow at the University of Cincinnati under the supervision of Dr. David Reeping. His research interests span three major research topics, which are teamwork, cultural diversity, and international and Asian/ Asian American student experiences. He utilizes innovative and cutting-edge methods, such as person-centered approaches, NLP, ML, and Social Relation Models. He studies and promotes multicultural teaming experiences to promote an inclusive and welcoming learning space for all to thrive in engineering. Particularly, he aims to help students improve intercultural competency and teamwork competency through interventions, counseling, pedagogy, and mentoring. Siqing received the Outstanding Graduate Student Research Award in 2024 from Purdue College of Engineering, the Bilsland Dissertation fellow in the 2023-24 academic year, and the 2024 FIE New Faculty Fellow Award.

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Marissa A Tsugawa Utah State University - Engineering Education orcid.org/0000-0001-6009-8810

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Marissa Tsugawa is an assistant professor at Utah State University who leverages mixed-methods research to explore neurodiversity and identity and motivation in engineering. They completed their Ph.D. in Engineering Education where they focused on motivation and identity for engineering graduate students.

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Li Tan Arizona State University, Polytechnic Campus

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Li Tan is an Assistant Professor of Engineering Education Systems & Design in the Polytechnic School at Arizona State University.

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Abstract

This theory paper aims to propose a model to depict racialized Asian and Asian American engineering students. Asian American and Immigrant students are overrepresented and considered high achievers in engineering and computing education, which leads to wrongful aggregation with White students to form the “majority group.” However, aggregation perpetuates the harmful minority model stereotype which marginalizes Asian (American) students by coercing them into the prescribed standard of high achievement. This results in the erasure of the Asian (American) experience in engineering and computing education and fuels internalized Anti-Asian racism. In this presentation, we contend that it is unjust to only rely on traditional, meritocratic metrics of success (e.g., academic achievement) to describe Asian American and Immigrant experiences. Meritocratic culture masks their minoritized experiences, such as poor mental health and microaggressions. We aim to articulate and highlight the systemic racism Asian Americans and Immigrants typically encounter to push back on common research practices that negatively and implicitly reinforce model minority stereotypes. Drawing on Asian American and Immigrant literature, we present a theoretical framework that illustrates three roots of anti-Asian racism: systemic, interracial, and intra-racial. Systematic racism is rooted in hyper-selectivity, where contemporary socio-politics adopt an immigration system that prioritizes accepting Asian newcomers with desired skills and socio-economic status relative to both their domestic counterparts and the general population in the United States. Interracial racism is rooted in the model minority which stereotypes Asian Americans and Immigrants as minorities who overcame systemic barriers and limitations through meritocracy to achieve enormous economic and academic success. Finally, intra-racial racism is rooted in internalized racism where traditional Asian cultures influence Asian Americans and immigrants to follow the rules, get good grades, and major in prestigious disciplines with a narrowly defined frame of success. These three roots feed anti-Asian racism and affect the Asian American and Immigrant student experience, which differentiates from the experience of White students. We advocate for abandoning the ideology and treatment of equating Asian and White students which leads to grouping them together in quantitative research. We strongly believe in including and acknowledging the racialized experiences of Asian American and Immigrant students for genuine DEI initiatives toward dismantling white supremacy and the wedge it puts between minoritized racial groups.

Citation
Format

Wei, S., & Tsugawa, M. A., & Tan, L. (2025, February), Uncovering the less-heard histories and barriers of Asian and Asian American Students Paper presented at 2025 Collaborative Network for Engineering & Computing Diversity (CoNECD), San Antonio, Texas. https://peer.asee.org/54122

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - This theory paper aims to propose a model to depict racialized Asian and Asian American engineering students. Asian American and Immigrant students are overrepresented and considered high achievers in engineering and computing education, which leads to wrongful aggregation with White students to form the “majority group.” However, aggregation perpetuates the harmful minority model stereotype which marginalizes Asian (American) students by coercing them into the prescribed standard of high achievement. This results in the erasure of the Asian (American) experience in engineering and computing education and fuels internalized Anti-Asian racism. In this presentation, we contend that it is unjust to only rely on traditional, meritocratic metrics of success (e.g., academic achievement) to describe Asian American and Immigrant experiences. Meritocratic culture masks their minoritized experiences, such as poor mental health and microaggressions. We aim to articulate and highlight the systemic racism Asian Americans and Immigrants typically encounter to push back on common research practices that negatively and implicitly reinforce model minority stereotypes. Drawing on Asian American and Immigrant literature, we present a theoretical framework that illustrates three roots of anti-Asian racism: systemic, interracial, and intra-racial. Systematic racism is rooted in hyper-selectivity, where contemporary socio-politics adopt an immigration system that prioritizes accepting Asian newcomers with desired skills and socio-economic status relative to both their domestic counterparts and the general population in the United States. Interracial racism is rooted in the model minority which stereotypes Asian Americans and Immigrants as minorities who overcame systemic barriers and limitations through meritocracy to achieve enormous economic and academic success. Finally, intra-racial racism is rooted in internalized racism where traditional Asian cultures influence Asian Americans and immigrants to follow the rules, get good grades, and major in prestigious disciplines with a narrowly defined frame of success. These three roots feed anti-Asian racism and affect the Asian American and Immigrant student experience, which differentiates from the experience of White students. We advocate for abandoning the ideology and treatment of equating Asian and White students which leads to grouping them together in quantitative research. We strongly believe in including and acknowledging the racialized experiences of Asian American and Immigrant students for genuine DEI initiatives toward dismantling white supremacy and the wedge it puts between minoritized racial groups. 
AU  - Siqing Wei
AU  - Marissa A Tsugawa
AU  - Li Tan
CY  - San Antonio, Texas
DA  - 2025/02/09
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Uncovering the less-heard histories and barriers of Asian and Asian American Students
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/54122
ER  -