Thesis advisor: Karen Arnold / Despite an increasing number of Asian American women earning the advanced degrees necessary to qualify them for senior administrative positions such as dean, vice president, provost and president, this group remains severely underrepresented in the upper administrative ranks in American higher education. The purpose of this qualitative study was to determine if mentoring relationships, which research has shown to be vital to the success of other women administrators of color, would prove important to Asian American women administrators at critical career junctures. Eleven Asian American senior women administrators from four different ethnic backgrounds were interviewed. Two theoretical frameworks were used to interpret the data: relational cultural theory to analyze each interview from the participant's point of view, and; critical race theory to review the data from the institutional perspective. Many of the women experienced factors reported by other women administrators of color: a culture dominated by White men; sexism and racism; feelings of isolation, and; gender-typed family concerns. Most of the women also faced the model minority stereotype of being perceived as passive, yet analysis of their interviews revealed that they did not behave passively. Also contrary to what research has shown to be the experience of other women administrators of color, several reported more instances of sexism than racism. The majority of the women had White male mentors, which is consistent with the literature. For the women who had both male and female mentors, several experienced more career than psychosocial mentoring from their male mentors, a pattern opposite what is typical for other women administrators of color. No clear patterns emerged with regard to how the women utilized their mentors at critical career junctures. The interviews revealed that the women in this study were distinctly different from each other, which disputes the assumption that all Asian American women are similar. This study challenges how these women are currently perceived, and institutions must re-examine their current policies and practices to better support this population. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2011. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Higher Education Administration.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--UCLA, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 78-84).

The unremitting image of Asian Americans as being "Model Minority" has created a veil that conceals their incessant struggles with discrimination, prejudice and microaggressions on individual, institutional and cultural levels. Previous studies have highlighted the personal and collective struggles of this group and emphasized the harmful consequences to physical, emotional and mental well-being of Asian Americans. The current study explored potential factors that may influence the impact of experiencing racial microaggressions for Asian Americans. More specifically, a 2 x 2 between-subjects factorial design was utilized to examine whether level of familiarity and role of power in the target's relationship with the perpetrator differentially impacts the experience of a racial microaggression. A vignette illustrated a microaggressive encounter with a perpetrator who differed on these conditions with a sample of 263 Asian Americans. The findings indicate support for the damaging psychological consequences of receiving racial microaggressions with participants reporting significantly negative experience when the perpetrator was someone familiar in a position of authority. The results of the present study contribute to the literature on racial microaggressions by providing support for the injurious impact it has for Asian Americans and continues to challenge the model minority myth that persists to silence their voices and invalidate their racial reality.

Americans felt threatened by Asian immigration in the late 19th century. As a result, Asian Americans were stereotyped as foreign and dangerous. The United States government supported Asian American stereotyping by passing prohibitive immigration policies. These policies were a reflection of discrimination and institutionalized racism at the time. Asian American stereotyping still exists today, but in covert form. The media plays a powerful role in perpetuating these covert stereotypes. Asian American stereotypes negatively impact the Asian American community in a number of ways, including ostracizing Asian Americans, making Asian American issues invisible, and harming the mental health of the Asian American community. As a result, stereotypes increase cumulative stress for Asian Americans, and also decrease Asian American community support. This paper reviews and provides recommendations to help reduce stereotypes and also change media representations of Asian Americans.

Master of Science / Department of Journalism and Mass Communications / Louise Benjamin / This study examines women’s interpretations of model minority stereotypes of Asian American women in prime-time television. This stereotype depicts Asian Americans as well educated, intelligent, competitive, hardworking and successful career women. Using focus group discussions, this study recalls perceptions and explores potential effects of model minority stereotypes in prime-time television among women of varied racial-ethnic backgrounds. The study finds that both Asian/Asian American women and women from other racial-ethnic groups confirm belief in the model minority media stereotype in prime-time television. The selfperception and others’ perception of Asian American women as a model minority imposes stress on Asian/Asian American women in terms of gender role, academic performance and career achievement. Additionally, perceptions toward the model minority media stereotype among women of varied racial-ethnic backgrounds influence intergroup relations, interracial contact and evaluation of the model minority media image. Implications indicate that the model minority media stereotype has both positive and negative influences on Asian/Asian American women and other racial-ethnic groups. The study suggests that American media can increase the frequency and diversity of Asian American women’s media representation to reduce the negative societal influence of one-dimensional media stereotypes.