Storied experiences of Vietnamese international female graduate students in U.S. higher education: A postcolonial feminist perspective

The purpose of this dissertation was to explore the lived experiences of Vietnamese international female graduate students in U.S. higher education from a postcolonial feminist perspective. There is a dearth of scholarship focused on the educational experiences of Vietnamese international female graduate students in U.S. higher education whereas Vietnam has remained among the top ten countries sending students to the United States for several years. This study attempted to fill that gap. Using postcolonial feminist theory as the theoretical framework, the ultimate aim was to understand and improve the lives of women of color. With the premise that women’s lives can be explored through the stories they tell, life story narrative inquiry was chosen as the research methodology. Besides myself being included as co-participant, there were seven participants from a comprehensive research university in the South-Central area of the United States. The data sources consisted of individual interviews, participants’ written logs and other documents, and my reflective journals. Eight life stories were constructed from narrative analysis, and five themes emerged from analysis of narratives including internalized gender role revealed, recognizing the superiority of the U.S. university organization, recognizing a lack of acknowledgement of difference in academic sphere, experiencing racial and ethnic discrimination, and inventing a Third Space of hybridity between assimilation and resistance. In short, the students navigated through a multiplicity of challenges from the nature of the intersectionality of being racialized, womanized, and minoritized by creative enunciations of a Third Space of hybridity. In that space, they created conceptualizations and practices of the notion of balance whereby they embraced ambiguity and contradictions to allow personal and academic development. Finally, recommendations are offered for Vietnamese women’s empowerment and gender equality, for more inclusivity in U.S. internationalization of higher education, and for future research.