This critical qualitative comparative case study explores narratives of resistance of Asian American youth in a social justice-oriented internship. The study draws on resistance theories and expands on the limited body of work on Asian American youth resistance. Drawing primarily on semi-structured interviews, I provide an in-depth representation of three youth’s resistance and the impact that this has on their engagement with social justice. Findings indicate that youth resistance is complex and dynamic, responding to everyday contexts. As such, I focus on young people’s resistance to family narratives of success and assimilation, silences on gender and sexuality, and contradictions of social justice and the limitations of non-profits. I pay particular attention to the role of social justice spaces and an internship program in fostering youth resistance and engaging youth in social justice work – while youth simultaneously notice contradictions and attempt to hold such spaces accountable.

In educational research, narratives exist about the unfulfilled promise of continuation schools as many of them are not living up to their full potential; many argue that continuation school students are not adequately being prepared beyond high school (Kelly, 1993; Ruiz de Velasco et al., 2008). This narrative poses threats to these environments by stigmatizing continuation schools, dehumanizing students for their failure, blaming educators for the lack of student success, with little attention to the institutional and structural barriers that might impede students from thriving personally and academically. To gain a deeper understanding of the school culture of a continuation school, this study examines Puente Baluarte Continuation High School, a continuation high school that serves a high proportion of racial/ethnic minority youth and has been deemed a model institution.

This qualitative case study is framed within theories of cultural production which draws closer attention to how students and educators construct and make meaning of their identities in these cultural spaces (Foley, Levinson, & Hurtig, 2000). In addition, the Paradigm to Understand and Examine Dropout and Engagement in Society (PUEDES) which examines and interrogates the structure, culture, and individual agency of students and educators (Rodriguez, 2013). Drawing on multiple sources of data including: 1) ethnographic observations, 2) document analysis, and 3) semi-structured interviews with students (n = 33) and educators (n = 9), this study presents narrative profiles of three students and three educators as a form of analysis and interpretation of the findings.

The focal narrative profiles document the assets and “imperfections” within the school structure and culture of Puente Baluarte (Lightfoot, 1983). For instance the findings demonstrate the agency and active involvement of continuation school youth in their communities and school. Furthermore, the experience of Black male students revealed some of the “imperfections” of the school, such as being harassed due to a school culture of control and hyper-surveillance. Despite these tensions, other students reported various sources of institutional support, specifically for foster youth and teen parents. Findings also demonstrate the importance of leadership and school structure, as educators described feeling supported by the school leadership and school district. In return, educators enacted their agency to expand opportunities to continuation youth in the classroom and strengthening their relationships with the community to build institutional capacity. Consequently, the educators in this study view continuation youth from an asset framework as they believe in providing a genuine alternative to the students they serve, opt to resist the social and academic stigma of continuation schools. The findings of this study have implications for policymakers, researchers, educators, as well as community agencies who work to intervene and provide the appropriate resources, programs, and support for this student population.

Youth gangs have been described as one of the most important urban youth issues in society today. Given the permeance of street gangs in economically marginalized communities inhabited by predominantly people of color, youth gang formation, membership, and criminalization carry racial connotations. Compared to other racial groups, however, far less is known on Asian American and Pacific Islander (API) youth gangs, despite long standing gang presence in this community. The absence of APIs in this topic of inquiry implies their experiences can be understood in the absence of racial context which contributes to their problematic representation as the “model minority.”

Drawing on Asian critical race theory, this qualitative study utilizes a critical phenomenological approach to explore how 30 gang affiliated API youth understand their racial identity and experiences through in-depth phenomenological interviews. Building on an ethnographic pilot study of Asian American gang affiliated youth in a schooling context, findings from this study suggest the unique origin and evolution of API youth involvement in gangs. Specifically, there is a generational distinction when it came to gang membership. Findings also demonstrate API youth rely on various strategies of racial identity construction through their gang affiliation. For example, they embrace racialized stereotypes and ascribe racial/ethnic meaning to cultural practices to make meaning of their identity. Finally, findings reveal API youth adopt the “schoolboy gangster” paradox to navigate the tensions of their racial and gang identity. This experience produces a double life where they play the role of being a devoted son at home and in schools to hide their identity as gang members.

This study provides empirical contribution to a group overlooked in gang subculture and bridges the theoretical gap between youth gangs and racial categorization. Additionally, this study offers implications for policy and practice in the field of urban education committed to racial equity and social justice.

By drawing on the lived experiences of eight undocumented community college students, this study demonstrates that Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) are a vital part of the post-secondary education process. These organizations not only recognize undocumented students’ assets, but they use asset-based approaches to organize and mobilize these students’ community cultural wealth (CCW) in order to create agents of change at the community-college level. The study yields three particular findings: CBOs (a) cultivate a safe, empowering space through the exchange of knowledge between students, (b) embrace cultural capital and generate wealth as a community, and (c) promote resources for undocumented student access and opportunity. The study also provides research, policy, and practical tools for researchers, educators, and community members, so they can further advocate on behalf of the undocumented student population.

In higher education, with the change in demographics and the growing diversity of the minority student population, one of the key concerns is the inequitable educational outcomes for historically underserved and underrepresented minority students (Bensimon, 2005). Over the next few decades, minority students will make up a large and significant portion of the U.S. workforce and considering the weak conditions of our nation’s economy, increasing the educational attainment and thus, ensuring the educational success of racial/ethnic minority students should be our nation’s priority (Nguyen et al., 2017; Teranishi, Su�rez-Orozco, and Su�rez-Orozco, 2011).

Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) are important sites for understanding the kinds of institutional context that help build institutional capacity to better serve diverse racial/ethnic minority student groups; MSIs enroll over 3.5 million racial/ethnic minority students (Cunningham, Park, & Engle, 2014). The Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution (AANAPISI) designation and funding not only recognize a critical mass of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) enrolled at an institution, but also allow student initiatives that focus on serving AAPI and low-income individuals to develop. In addition, AANAPISIs (also known as AAPI-serving institutions) can highlight racial/ethnic heterogeneity and disparities in educational outcomes that exist across AAPI ethnic sub-groups. (Nguyen et al., 2017; Teranishi, 2010).

Espinoza (2012) discussed the difficulties that low-income and racial/ethnic minority students face in addition to the challenges compounded by the intersections of their multiple backgrounds. However, despite students’ diverse backgrounds and their challenges, the concepts of reimagining transformation such as developing pivotal moments (Espinoza, 2012) help to examine and reimagine change with the aim to better understand and serve students. Centering around the conceptual framework of reimagining transformation which evolved from concepts including transformational change (Kezar, 2013; Bensimon, 2005) and educational pivotal moments (Espinoza, 2012), this study aimed to answer the broader question: In what ways, if any, does the federal AANAPISI funding drive new, broader, and deeper insights into understanding and serving students at a federally designated and funded AAPI-serving institution?

To answer this question, the study examined changes that the AANAPISI federal grant brought regarding the following areas: 1) the unique educational needs and challenge of AAPI students, 2) serving students from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds at an AAPI-serving institution, and 3) serving students after the grant ends (e.g., sustaining and expanding the current and future AANAPISI or AANAPISI-like student initiatives on campus). All in all, the federal AANAPISI funding beyond the designation alone supported an institution to build capacity and demonstrate its commitment to better understanding and serving students from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds. Therefore, the federal AANAPISI funding served as a catalyst to help reimagine change at an institution and develop pivotal moments (Espinoza, 2012) to be more “minority-serving.” The findings provide implications for new areas of research, institutions that either are a Minority-Serving Institution (MSI) or are pursuing a federal MSI designation and funding, and public policy to improve the educational experiences of students, particularly racial/ethnic minorities, in higher education.

A decade has passed since AANAPISI became the newest addition to the federal MSI program in 2007. While little is still known about AAPI-serving institutions (CARE, 2014), this study contributes to the understandings of the federal MSI initiatives with particular attention to AAPI students and what that means for serving beyond AAPI students. Ultimately, these understandings add to the knowledge of institutions that serve students from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds.As higher education continues to strive toward achieving educational equity, we must constantly ask, “what does it mean to be a ‘minority-serving’ institution?” I believe this study has taken a step closer to answering this question.

Through in-depth interviews and written reflections, this study investigated how community college transfer students at a large, public, four-year, research university developed social connections with their in-class peers, their perceptions of how these social connections influenced their resilience, and the role of the institution in peer-to-peer social connection making. Research suggested that transfer students who experience a sharp drop in GPA during their first-term at the university, a phenomenon known as transfer shock, were more likely to drop out if the dip was not corrected within the next academic term (Hills, 1965). Transfer students who developed social connections and a sense of belonging to their new institution during their first term were more likely to perform better in their coursework and avoid transfer shock. Current literature on the social integration of community college transfer students focused on formal interventions such as orientations and mentorship programs, or student participation in university extra-curricular activities including events or clubs. This study uncovered how social connections between community college transfer students formed outside of participation in extra-curricular activities in order to address the limitations of this typically commuter population.

This dissertation presented findings based on the personal stories of six male and six female community college transfer students who were commuters between the ages of 19-26, representing both STEM and non-STEM majors. This study found that peer-to-peer social connections formed outside of extra-curricular activities were established primarily in or around the classroom. The participant narratives confirmed social connections to native and transfer student classmates played a positive role in their transition within and to the four-year university. Such social connections provided access to shared academic resources and unique navigational capital which supported participant resilience (academic and emotional persistence over time leading to on-time graduation). The institution was perceived as having facilitated the development of peer-to-peer social connections when academic programs were designed so that students were likely to share multiple classes in the same term and/or when collaborative work was integrated into course curriculum. This dissertation concluded with recommendations for four-year institutions on the ways in which the classroom can serve as an effective and supportive environment for peer-to-peer social connection making.

One of the main reasons for Tongans immigrating to the United States (U.S.) was to enter into tertiary schooling and further one’s knowledge within colleges and universities (Hafoka, ‘Ulu‘ave & Hafoka, 2014). As this has been an aspiration for many Tongan people entering the U.S. for themselves and/or their posterity, another location of knowledge attainment and financial sustainability has become a prevalent force within the Tongan U.S. diasporic community, the airlines. The study takes place in the Ano Māsima, or known as the Salt Lake Valley, due to the influx of Tongans that reside in Utah compared to other parts of the U.S. (US Census Bureau, 2015; EPIC, 2014; Davidson, 2011). The purpose of this study is to explore the phenomenon of how Tongans in the U.S. utilize the airline industry to maintain connections to the sources of Tongan knowledge, which is people (our relationships), and place (where they reside, and our homelands). Also, to better understand reasoning of the influx of Tongans within the airline industry. Through the lenes of Tā-Vā and Critical Race Theories, the study revealed knowledge of air travel to fly around the world to learn and connect, a sense of community and family nurtured within the workplace, and a form of knowledge production created through the undercurrents. The findings reveal content and resources to support marginalized communities (such as Tongans) through seeking to better engage with these groups beyond schooling, and recognizing recommendations regarding the study (such as data disaggregation (mixed race), labor and school experiences, etc.).

Students in U.S. medical schools experience a high occurrence of psychological distress which can impact their health, professional behavior, and ability to succeed academically (Dyrbye et al, 2005). Despite the growing attention to this topic and the increased provision of mental health services available to medical students, many obstacles still remain for the achievement of student well-being (Givens & Tija, 2002). In addition, little research has been reported on medical students’ views on the help-seeking process; thus the aim of this study is to explore the attitudes of medical students regarding the process of seeking help for issues of distress encountered during medical school.

For the purposes of this study, in-depth interviews of medical students were used to examine the individual, interpersonal, sociocultural, and institutional factors that distressed medical students cite as reasons for their help-seeking decisions. The interview data and subsequent analysis provided the following key findings: (1) help-seeking behavior is a result of not only deliberate, reasoned decision-making but also of spontaneous, reactive decision-making, (2) a positive help-seeking attitude and prototype increase willingness to get help, (3) the stages of the help-seeking process can be experienced non-linearly, (4) external and internal factors can cause delays at any stage of the help-seeking process, and (5) the way in which each student defines his or her own distress impacts his or her help-seeking behavior.

This study introduced the Integrated Model of Help-Seeking Behavior (IMHSB), which combined existing models to depict the help-seeking process as an intersecting array of circumstances, various systems, and personal and social meaning, all of which interact within the four distinct stages of help seeking. The findings support this revised model as a suitable framework for viewing help-seeking behavior and also as a flexible model for future research. The IMHSB provides an integrated approach which can assist educators and policy-makers in considering all the possible barriers and drivers that influence students’ help-seeking behavior when planning strategies for supporting the mental health of medical students.

Through the power of social media and increased access to mobile technology, our country is witnessing a rise in college student-led protests and mobilizing to try to challenge racism on college campuses (Curwen, Song, & Gordon, 2015). One of the key functions of higher education institutions is cultivating our engaged citizenry (Hurtado, 2007). We know civic engagement in college influences future civic participation of students (Coley & Sum, 2012). However, very little is known about the factors in college that promote civic engagement of students. The purpose of this study is to explore the institutional- and student-level characteristics that affect the development of students' level of civic values after four years of college enrollment, utilizing data from the Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP), a longitudinal dataset of college students. Overall, this study found differences in the factors that promote civic values of students based on race/ethnicity and institutional contexts. More specifically, various civic-related curricular and co-curricular college experiences and institutional contexts influenced the development of civic values of racial/ethnic minority students differently. For example, service learning, a proven curricular approach that promotes the civic values and engagement of students, negatively influenced the civic values of Latina/o students. Additionally, Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Institutions (AANAPISIs) were particularly influential in promoting civic values, but only for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) students. Moreover, the same factors that influenced civic values also influenced student's aspirations to pursue a career in service. The findings will help higher education researchers and practitioners understand the student- and institutional-level factors that promote the development of civic values in higher education, as well as shed light on which higher education institutions develop the next generation of leaders and engaged citizens.