Date of Award

6-2026

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Educational Leadership, Research and Technology

First Advisor

Donna Talbot, Ph.D.

Second Advisor

D. Eric Archer, Ph.D.

Third Advisor

Browning Neddeau, Ed. D.

Keywords

Asian Americans, campus engagement, diversity equity inclusion, LGBTQ, student centers, undergraduate students

Abstract

Misconceptions and stereotypes about Asian American college students include the belief that they are innately academically successful and that if Asian American students struggle, their challenges do not compare to their Black/African American, Hispanic/Latine, or Native American/Indigenous counterparts (Museus & Buenavista, 2016). Contemporaneous to this, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) college students experience interrogation, exploration, and various levels of support regarding their sexuality and/or gender identity. At this intersection, queer Asian American students must navigate campus settings that can enhance or diminish their agency for different facets of their identities (Crenshaw, 1991; Iftikar & Museus, 2018; Ray, 2019).

Asian Americans are one of the fastest growing populations in the U.S. but still face several stereotypes including the model minority myth, forever foreigner, and the perception that they are a monolithic community (Budiman & Ruiz, 2021; Museus & Kiang, 2009: Museus & Park, 2015; Teranishi et al., 2013). Within the diversity of Asian American identities includes familial generations in the U.S., culture, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and languages. Despite this diversity within the Asian American student population, federal and institutional data continues to not disaggregate the data to better understand the needs of Asian American students (Teranishi et al., 2013). As Asian American students enter higher education, opportunities to engage in topics about race and/or racism are often frame in Black/white binaries that limit Asian American engagement thus hindering their sense of belonging on campus (Chan, 2017; Lee, 2022).

Parallel to this, younger generations in the U.S. show an increase of individuals who identify as LGBTQ due to increased awareness and varying degrees of acceptance (Horowitz, 2025; Minkin et al., 2025). Despite growing acceptance for lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) people, transgender and gender nonconforming (T/GNC) individuals continue to face stigmatization as well as anti-transgender policies and legislation (American Civil Liberties Union, 2024; Human Rights Campaign, 2025; Minkin et al., 2025). Similar to Asian American students, LGBTQ students face several stereotypes including the conflation of gender presentation with sexuality and pathologizing of T/GNC identities (Goldberg, 2018; Howansky et al., 2021; McInroy & Craig, 2017).

The invisibility of being Asian American, paired with the visibility of LGBTQ identities in campus diversity initiatives, can create conflicting messages for LGBTQ Asian American students. The purpose of this basic interpretive qualitative study was to explore the experiences of queer Asian American (QAA) students on college campuses. The over-arching research question was “How do queer Asian American undergraduate students navigate their experiences in higher education?” Additionally, a sub-question includes, “How do these experiences influence their campus engagement?” Themes that were interpreted from the data include: community vibes, being “enough”, connection, and understanding and acceptance. Major findings from this research include: how QAA students rarely interacted with campus services, the burden of being visibly QAA for others, and QAA students withholding their LGBT identities in Asian American spaces. This dissertation contributes to future research, theories, and practices regarding QAA college students.

Comments

Donna Talbot, Ph. D., Co-Chair

D. Eric Archer, Ph. D., Co-Chair

Access Setting

Dissertation-Open Access

Download

Share

COinS