RESILIENCE, CULTURE, GENDER AND IDENTITY CONSTRUCTION OF FIRST-YEAR FEMALE CHINESE INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS IN THE UNITED STATES

Abstract

One group of college women of color not often discussed in the literature are international students who are constructing and negotiating their identities in a transnational context. Most research on female Chinese international students has focused on their challenges adapting to American life and constraints and negotiating among intersecting identities such as women, racial/ethnic minorities, and foreigners. Very little research has discussed positive aspects of their adaptation experiences and identity formation and negotiations. In this paper, we focus on adaption and gender identity construction of fist-year female Chinese undergraduate students in the U.S. Drawing on in-depth interview data collected on 27 first-year Chinese female undergraduate students at a large public university, our findings suggest contrary to existing research, participants in our study demonstrated tremendous resilience and clearly articulated constructing an identity of a strong and independent woman resisting both US and Chinese cultural expectations. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.