A Collaborative Autoethnography of Southeast Asian American Women Doctoral Students Navigating Tensions and Building Resolve in the Academy

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Southeast Asian American women in doctoral programs navigate academic tensions and build resolve by asserting their identities against invisibilization, validating their specific research agendas, and managing emotions related to academic displacement. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.INCREMENTAL. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.NEUTRAL.

Jacqueline Mac; Varaxy Yi; Vanessa Na; Latana Thaviseth

doi:10.7771/2153-8999.1429

September 4, 2026Journal of Southeast Asian American Education and AdvancementOpen Access

A Collaborative Autoethnography of Southeast Asian American Women Doctoral Students Navigating Tensions and Building Resolve in the Academy

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Key Points

To examine the academic experiences, institutional tensions, and coping strategies of Southeast Asian American women pursuing doctoral degrees in higher education.
Critical race collaborative autoethnography conducted by Southeast Asian American women doctoral students.
Lived experiences and narratives analyzed through a feminist refugee Asian critical framework.
Identified significant tension between striving for academic visibility and facing the institutional invisibilization of Southeast Asian American identities.
Highlighted active resistance through an insistence on the validity, legitimacy, and scholarly impact of community-focused research agendas.
Documented strategies for navigating complex emotional distress and feelings of displacement within higher education environments.

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Implication

Collaborative autoethnography reveals institutional tensions and personal resolve among Southeast Asian American women doctoral students, highlighting strategies to overcome academic marginalization.

Abstract

This critical race collaborative autoethnography explores the experiences of Southeast Asian American (SEAA) women in doctoral programs in higher education. Using a feminist refugee Asian critical approach, findings illuminate tensions that SEAA women encountered during their educational experiences and how these women built resolve. Findings include being seen amidst the invisibilization of SEAA identities, an insistence on the value of their SEAA research agendas, and navigating the unsettled emotions during academic displacement.

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Mac et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a9e858ac3034f961570dc06 https://doi.org/10.7771/2153-8999.1429

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A Collaborative Autoethnography of Southeast Asian American Women Doctoral Students Navigating Tensions and Building Resolve in the Academy

Key Points

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Implication

Abstract

Discussion

Cite This Study

A Collaborative Autoethnography of Southeast Asian American Women Doctoral Students Navigating Tensions and Building Resolve in the Academy

Key Points

Ask about this paper

Implication

Abstract

Discussion

Cite This Study

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