UC Riverside

Research on sense of belonging among Asian Americans in higher education, particularly in institutions with a racially-ethnically and socioeconomically diverse student body, is scarce. Prior research on sense of belonging primarily focused on underrepresented minorities (URMs) and used quantitative methods, thereby not giving attention to the lived experiences of Asian Americans in higher education. As a result, there is a need to examine the various concerns and needs of Asian subgroups which are highly diverse. To fill the gaps in the scholarship, this research employs qualitative methods and Asian Critical Theory to center Asian Americans’ voices. Using three focus groups with diverse Asian Americans and 20 in-depth individual interviews with Korean Americans and Filipino Americans, this study adds to the empirical knowledge on Asian Americans’ sense of belonging in a diverse university and perceptions of the institutional and individual factors that shape it.