Asian American Racial Identity Experiences in Intergroup Dialogue: A Narrative Study

Abstract

The purpose of this constructivist narrative study was to explore how Asian American students experience their racial identity in intergroup dialogue. This study addressed the following guiding research question: how do Asian American students experience their racial identity in the context of intergroup dialogues? Two Asian American students from two intergroup dialogues participated in this study. Data collection included semi-structured individual interviews and course documents, such as journal reflections. Data were analyzed using a hybrid narrative approach that combined the analysis of the content as an entire story (inductive case analysis), of the content of themes within each story, and of the structure of a complete story (cross-case analysis).

Full restories of each participant's story were provided. Four themes emerged from these restories to illuminate how students experienced their racial identity in intergroup dialogue. First, racial identities were experienced in a complicated manner that conflated race and ethnicity, within and outside of intergroup dialogue. Second, the salience of racial identity impacted how and what participants shared about their experiences. Third, both participants shared stories of internal conflict related to their racial identities, which were illuminated by their experiences in intergroup dialogue. Lastly, participants shared similar experiences participating in intergroup dialogue, which included holding back, taking risks, and responding to stereotypes. However, these experiences varied in the ways they were explicitly connected to participants' racial identity.