A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF ASIAN INTERNATIONAL STUDENT EXPERIENCES IN THE U.S.

The purpose of the first paper is to serve as a critical review of the international student research. Particularly, the paper will explore current barriers in international student research specifically for Asian international students. The paper will use three frameworks for the critical review: neo-racism, critical race theory, and postcolonial theory and suggest three main barriers in international student research because of this: homogenization, overemphasis on individual factors, and the impact of stereotypes present about Asians in the U.S. Based on the frameworks used for critical review and the identified barriers, the paper will explore systemic racism in the experiences of Asian international trainees and suggest recommendations to support trainees in counseling psychology.     

The study within the second paper explored the experiences of neo-racism for 13 Asian international doctoral student participants at Purdue University using qualitative thematic analysis. The study demonstrated a wide variety of experiences with racism, including interpersonal racism and the impact of racism that participants viewed as occurring to other Asian and Asian international students in the U.S. Results indicated that participants’ experiences of neo-racism were different based on social identities, language abilities, and nationality. The study proposes implications of these experiences, including ways higher education institutions can better support doctoral students during this sociopolitical time.