America’s Higher Education: My Journey as a Taiwanese Immigrant Woman Faculty

Abstract In this article, I apply a critical autoethnographic approach to frame my experience as a Taiwanese immigrant woman faculty in the US higher educational institutions where I served and continue to serve. I describe how I developed research agendas to produce knowledge as a means to diversify our understanding of minorities. Conducting research in rapidly changing Chinese ethnic communities with an intent to include other immigrant groups and produce cross-ethnic understanding with other researchers in digital media proved to be incompatible with the current conditions of the tenure-granting process at CUNY, and my application for tenure was denied. However, I contested the decision; and after winning my case, I engaged in institutional research on the roles of Asian American faculty in leadership in the system. I conclude that hiring and retention of diverse faculty and engaging in activism are ways to maintain academic rigor for the system.