Date of Award
2012
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education (EdD)
College/School
College of Education and Human Services
Department/Program
Educational Foundations
Thesis Sponsor/Dissertation Chair/Project Chair
Jeremy Price
Committee Member
Kathryn Herr
Committee Member
Douglas Larkin
Abstract
Achieving a sense of identity includes not only the ability to know and understand oneself as an individual, but recognizing one's particular place in society. Adolescents of Asian Indian descent carry the burden of straddling two different cultures, two different worlds; often switching between the two in order to know and understand oneself, and be known and understood. While their social location suggests a middle class status and privilege, their appearance signifies a racial ethnic identity. The conflict therefore lies in the acceptance of dual cultural identities and sense of self, and how the same is negotiated through their everyday lived experiences particularly through the institution of the U.S. public school. This qualitative study explored the nuanced meanings of what it meant to be of Asian Indian descent in U.S. public school and the broader context of society. The findings suggest that the adolescents were capable of negotiating their identities in response to changing socio- cultural and educational scenarios. Acceptance and negotiation of a bicultural identity enabled the adolescent Asian Indian Americans to compartmentalize their lives into public and private spheres; the public sphere of Asian Indian and American cultures and the private sphere of Asian Indian ethnicity.
File Format
Recommended Citation
Sequeira, Lavina V., ""Americans with a Twist" : Identity Negotiation of Second Generation Adolescents of Asian Indian Descent" (2012). Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects. 264.
https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/etd/264