The Essence of Asian Pacific Islander Women Leadership: Courage, Community, Character

The Essence of Asian Pacific Islander Women Leadership: Courage, Community, Character

Evette Castillo Clark, Dai To
Copyright: © 2021 |Pages: 16
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-7152-1.ch016
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Abstract

While the topics of transforming higher education, social justice, leadership, and the various factors impacting leadership have been extensively studied and examined, little research exists regarding the experiences and leadership styles of Asian Pacific Islander (API) women as it relates to these topics. The authors aspire in this chapter to address this research gap by offering insights and perspectives as API women and senior-level student affairs professionals. Understanding that there is a correlation between ethnic identity and leadership style, the authors provide their experience and stories of how they have been shaped as leaders and how their leadership contributes to the transformation of higher education in today's contested times.
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Our...community values inspire my imperative need to speak out. The strength of our community lies not only in our empathy for one another; not only in our diversity of belief, experience, and background; and not only in the incredible achievements of our community members. Our strength also, crucially, lies in our courage...Our strength also lies in our educational mission, which promotes critical thinking, rational judgment, and social responsibility. (Judy Sakaki, first Japanese-American woman to head a four-year college or university in the U.S. as well as the first Asian American woman hired as a university president in California, Statement about the Event at the U.S. Capitol, January 7, 2021)

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The Body Politic: Conversations – Reflect On Api Women As Leaders

The following self-introductions and scenarios that follow are adapted from To & Clark (2019) and are utilized in various educational settings to illustrate how the intersectionality of ethnic identities and gender present both dilemmas and opportunities in their work. The authors situate the chapter with these portrayals first to frame the understanding of API women leaders:

Dai - My parents, six siblings, and I immigrated to the United States (U.S.) in 1975. We arrived in America with nothing more than a few photos and the clothes on our backs. My father who had been a high-ranking officer in the Vietnamese air force worked as a 7-Eleven store clerk to support our family and my mother, speaking no English, took on whatever job she could get to help. Being dislocated from their homeland and raising seven children in a foreign and often opposing culture from their own, was not easy.

Unlike the American culture’s emphasis on individualism, Vietnamese cultural values put the needs of the group first. Strongly influenced by Confucianism, Vietnamese society centers around the key virtue of filial piety. In more general terms, filial piety means obeying and respecting one’s parents. When outside of the home, children are expected to conduct themselves in a manner as to bring a good name and honor to one’s parents and family. Social harmony in Confucian societies is achieved through maintaining one’s rank in the social hierarchy, thus great emphasis is given to deference to authority and age.

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