Current Research

Model Minority Study

Asian American young adults’ experiences of racial oppression, such as racism, stereotypes, and discrimination, continue to be an important yet understudied area of research. This is in part due to the persisting myth that Asian Americans are a model minority who are high-achieving and relatively free of challenges (Kim, 2015). Many Asian American young adults are grappling with what it means to be Asian Americans. This research study aims to explore the factors that contribute to how Asian American young adults make meaning about experiences of racial oppression.

If you're interested in participating, you can head to this link here and complete the following Qualtrics survey. Following the completion of the survey, there will be a potential opportunity to participate in a Zoom interview with a member of the ARISE lab to further discuss your experiences and identity as an Asian American if you are interested.

Faculty Study

Many universities express interest in hiring and keeping a diverse group of professors, but research shows that women of color often face unique challenges. Investigating experiences of Asian American women faculty is important because of the unique positions Asian American women faculty occupy in relation to being seen as a model minority, being invisible and yet hypervisible simultaneously due to the stereotypes placed specifically for being Asian American women. This study examines the experience of Asian American women faculty in Social Sciences, focusing on what their experiences are like, how they navigate academia in relation to their race and gender, what specific obstacles they have experienced, and how they navigate visibility, invisibility, and hypervisibility. We collaborate with Dr. Yuki Okubo at Salisbury University on this project.

Completed Projects

Racial Trauma, Coping, and Resistance among Asian/Asian American Women

This completed study is a collaborative autoethnography among five diverse Asian/Asian American women in the ARISE lab. We explored the experience of racial trauma, coping, and resistance in light of recent anti-Asian racism. This study was published in Qualitative Psychology, Special Issue on "Qualitative Methodologies to Advance Anti-Racist Scholarship."

Current Student Research

How Eating Together Can Influence Group Processes Amongst Asian American Adults: A Convergent Mixed Methods Design

Student PI: Tanya Songtachalert

This dissertation study aimed to highlight the importance of developing culturally-responsive mental health care interventions for Asian American populations, and suggest incorporating communal eating into group therapy as an example of such an intervention. The purpose of this dissertation was to identify if and how communal eating influences experiences of group cohesion and therapeutic alliance in a group of Asian American adults. Data analysis was completed to identify descriptive statistics and qualitative themes of: 1) the development of working alliance, 2) the development of group cohesion, 3) the development of both working alliance and group cohesion simultaneously, and 4) the influence of communal eating on a participant’s experience.The preliminary findings of this study, while speculative, suggest that incorporating opportunities to eat communally in group settings could potentially be beneficial in the development of group cohesion and working alliance in an Asian American study population.

Asian American Young Adults’ Racial Identity and Inter-racial Solidarity

Student PI: Rohan Arcot

This study examined how the relative centrality of racial versus ethnic identity among Asian American young adults shaped their critical consciousness, resistance to racism, and propensity for interracial solidarity, which are key components of ally and accomplice development linking identity reflection to collective action (Suyemoto et al., 2022). Building on scholarship that highlighted the Model Minority Myth, pan-ethnic labeling, and the distinct ethnic socialization patterns in Asian American families (Kim et al., 2021; Okamoto, 2014), the study asked whether prioritizing a coalitional racial identity versus a narrower ethnic identity facilitated cross-racial coalition building. By situating relative identity centrality within broader processes of racial socialization and linked fate, this presentation contributes to our understanding of how reflective meaning-making about identity supported or constrained intra- and inter-racial solidarities among marginalized young adults and offered implications for interventions to foster sustained coalition-building and collective resistance.

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