“It was just my name!”
A CRT/CRF Analysis of International Female Graduate Students’ Perception and Experiences Regarding Their Ethnic Name
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32674/jis.v13i2.4716Keywords:
international students, female graduate students of Color, name and identity, racial microaggression, racial discriminationAbstract
Although international female students accounted for 44% of the enrolled international students in the United States (U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, 2020), their experiences regarding their ethnic name are relatively understudied in onomastic literature. This study considers the experiences of eight international female graduate students of Color who are studying at a Midwestern predominantly White university. Utilizing Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Critical Race Feminism (CRF) as the theoretical and analytical lenses, this qualitative phenomenological study collected data through semi-structured, in-depth interviews. We explore the meaning of ethnic names and their connection to participants’ multidimensional identities. Findings include experiences with microaggressions, discrimination, and racism among students in relation to their ethnic name, and point to underlying factors. Finally, implications are offered for students, faculty members, and administrators to build authentically inclusive and equitable learning communities more effectively.
References
Abdullah, D., Abd Aziz, M. I., & Mohd Ibrahim, A. L. (2014). A “research” into international student-related research: (Re)Visualising our stand?. Higher Education, 67(3), 235-253. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-013-9647-3
Aldrin, E. (2016). Names and identity. In C. Hough( Ed.), The Oxford handbook of names and naming (pp. 382–394). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Ainciburu, M. C., & Buttazzi, I. (2019). "Esa no soy Yo": Self-Image and Name Change from the Perspective of Female Immigrants. Languages, 4(4), 83. https://doi.org/10.3390/languages4040083
Aksholakova, A. (2014). Proper name as a clue symbol of identity. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 112, 465-471. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.01.1190
Alaminos-Fernández, P., & Alaminos-Fernández, A. F. (2020). Ethnocentrism and cultural stereotypes of muslims in Spain. OBETS. Revista de Ciencias Sociales, 15(1), 17-42. https://doi.org/10.14198/OBETS2020.15.1.01
Anandavalli, S., Borders, L. D., & Kniffin, L. E. (2021). “Because Here, White is Right”: Mental Health Experiences of International Graduate Students of Color from a Critical Race Perspective. International Journal for the Advancement of Counseling, 43, 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10447-021-09437-x
Alford, R. (1987). Naming and identity: A cross-cultural study of personal naming practices. New Haven: HRAF Press.
Berry, T. R. (2009). Women of color in a bilingual/dialectal dilemma: Critical race feminism against a curriculum of oppression in teacher education. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 22(6), 745-753. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518390903333913
Bertrand, M., and S. Mullainathan. (2004). Are Emily and Greg More Employable than Lakisha and Jamal? A Field Experiment on Labor Market Discrimination. American Economic Review, 94 (4), 991–1013. Retrieved from https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w9873/w9873.pdf
Bielen, S., Grajzl, P., & Marneffe, W. (2021). Blame based on one's name? Extralegal disparities in criminal conviction and sentencing. European Journal of Law and Economics, 51(3), 469-521. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10657-020-09670-6
Chen, Y.-A. J. (2016). English name transition from Taiwan to the United States: A case study of Taiwanese international students. International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature, 5(4), 58–64. https://doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.5n.4p.58
Chirikov, I., & Soria, K. M. (2020). International students’ experiences and concerns during the pandemic. SERU Consortium, University of California - Berkeley and University of Minnesota. Retrieved from https://cshe.berkeley.edu/seru-covid-survey-reports
Cho, H. (2017). Racism and linguicism: Engaging language minority pre-service teachers in counter-storytelling. Race Ethnicity and Education, 20(5), 666-680. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2016.1150827
Clark, N., & Saleh, N. (2019). Applying critical race feminism and intersectionality to narrative inquiry: A point of resistance for Muslim nurses donning a hijab. Advances in Nursing Science, 42(2), 156-171. https://doi.org/10.1097/ANS.0000000000000267
Crenshaw, K. W. (1988). Race, reform, and retrenchment: Transformation and legitimation in antidiscrimination law. Harvard Law Review, 101(7), 1331-1387.
Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2018). Qualitative inquiry & research design: Choosing among five approaches (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Delgado, R., & Stefancic, J. (2001). Critical race theory: An introduction (Vol. 20). New York University Press.
deMarrais, K. B., & Lapan, S. D. (2003). Qualitative interview studies: Learning through experience. In K.B. deMarrais & S.D. Lapan (Eds.), Foundations for research: Methods of inquiry in education and the social sciences (pp. 67-84). Oxfordshire: Routledge.
De Pina‐Cabral, J. (2010). The truth of personal names. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 16(2), 297-312. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9655.2010.01626.x
Derous, E., Nguyen, H. H., & Ryan, A. M. (2009). Hiring discrimination against Arab minorities: Interactions between prejudice and job characteristics. Human Performance, 22(4), 297-320. https://doi.org/10.1080/08959280903120261
Edwards, R., & Caballero, C. (2008). What's in a name? An exploration of the significance of personal naming of ‘mixed’ children for parents from different racial, ethnic and faith backgrounds. The sociological review, 56(1), 39-60. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-954X.2008.00776.x
Evans-Winters, V. E., & Esposito, J. (2010). Other People's Daughters: Critical Race Feminism and Black Girls' Education. Educational Foundations, 24, 11-24. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ885912.pdf
Feldman, M. E., & Weseley, A. J. (2013). Which name unlocks the door? The effect of tenant race/ethnicity on landlord response. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 43(52), E416-E425. https://doi.org/10.1111/jasp.12034
Finch, J. (2008). Naming names: Kinship, individuality and personal names. Sociology, 42(4), 709-725. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038508091624
Gebauer, J. E., Leary, M. R., & Neberich, W. (2012). Unfortunate first names: Effects of name-based relational devaluation and interpersonal neglect. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 3(5), 590-596. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550611431644
Henry, G. T. (2008). Practical sampling. In L. Bickman & D.J. Rog (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of applied social research methods (pp. 77-105). Sage Publications.
Institute of International Education. (2020). “International Student by Academic Levels, 1999/00-2019/20.” Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange. Retrieved from http://www.opendoorsdata.org/
Kasof, J. (1993). Sex bias in the naming of stimulus persons. Psychological bulletin, 113(1), 140-163. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.113.1.140
Khosravi, S. (2012). White masks/Muslim names: Immigrants and name-changing in Sweden. Race and Class, 53(3), 65-80. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306396811425986
Kim T. (2007). The dynamics of ethnic name maintenance and change: Cases of Korean ESL immigrants in Toronto, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 28(2), 117-133. https://doi.org/10.2167/jmmd419.1
Kohli, R., & Solorzano, D. G. (2012). Teachers please learn our names! Racial microaggressions and the K-12 classroom. Race Ethnicity and Education, 15(4), 441-462. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2012.674026
Ladson-Billings, G. (1998). Just what is critical race theory, and what’s it doing in a nice field like education?. Qualitative Studies in Education, 11(1), 7-24. https://doi.org/10.1080/095183998236863
Lee, J. J. (2010). International students’ experiences and attitudes at a U.S. host institution: Self-reports and future recommendations. Journal of Research in International Education, 9(1), 66–84. https://doi.org/10.1177/1475240909356382
Longobardi, C. (2006). The meaning of first names in children’s developmental psychology. In E. Brylla & M. Wahlberg (eds.), Proceedings of the 21st International Congress of Onomastic Sciences (pp.189–199). Uppsala: Institutet for spar-och folkminnen.
Lynn, M., & Parker, L. (2006). Critical race studies in education: Examining a decade of research on US schools. The Urban Review, 38(4), 257-290. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-006-0035-5
McIntosh, M. J., & Morse, J. M. (2015). Situating and constructing diversity in semi-structured interviews. Global qualitative nursing research, 2, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1177/2333393615597674
Merriam, S. B., & Tisdell, E. J. (2015). Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.
Milkman, K. L., Akinola, M., & Chugh, D. (2012). Temporal distance and discrimination: An audit study in academia. Psychological science, 23(7), 710-717. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797611434539
National Association for Foreign Student Affairs. (2020). International Student Economic Value Statistics. Retrieved from https://www.nafsa.org/sites/default/files/media/document/isev-2020.pdf
Neethling, B. (2007). Contemporary Xhosa anthroponymy: shifting trends. Acta Academica, 2007 (sup-1), 155-175. Retrieved from https://journals.co.za/doi/epdf/10.10520/EJC15090
Neuliep, J. W., Chaudoir, M., & McCroskey, J. C. (2001). A cross‐cultural comparison of ethnocentrism among Japanese and United States college students. Communication Research Reports, 18(2), 137-146. https://doi.org/10.1080/08824090109384791
Payne, K. E., Philyaw, Z., Rabow, J., & Yazdanfar, S. (2018). Names: A new dimension of transformation, Race Ethnicity and Education, 21(4), 564-571. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2016.1248832
Pennesi, K. (2016). "They can learn to say my name": Redistributing Responsibility for Integrating Immigrants to Canada. Anthropologica, 58(1), 46-59. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/26350524
Quaglia, R., Longobardi, C., Mendola, M., & Prino, L. E. (2016). Names in psychological science: Investigating the processes of thought development and the construction of personal identities. Integrative Psychological & Behavioral Science, 50(2), 277-295. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12124-015-9326-2
Rabow, J., Payne, K. E., and Philyaw, Z. (2016). The “What’s in a Name?” Exercise. Class Activity published in TRAILS: Teaching Resources and Innovations Library for Sociology. Washington DC: American Sociological Association. Retrieved from http://trails.asanet.or
Rose-Redwood, C., & Rose-Redwood, R. (2017). Rethinking the politics of the international student experience in the age of Trump. Journal of International Students, 7(3), I-IX. https://doi.org/10.32674/jis.v7i3.201
Reisæter, G. (2012). Immigrants in Norway and their choice of names: continuation or adaptation?. Oslo Studies in Language, 4(2), 223-234. https://doi.org/10.5617/osla.320
Saldaña, J. (2021). The coding manual for qualitative researchers. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Sherry, M., Thomas, P., & Wing-Hong, C. (2010). International students: A vulnerable student population. Higher Education, 60(1), 33-46. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-009-9284-z
Sue, D. W., Bucceri, J., Lin, A. I., Nadal, K. L., & Torino, G. C. (2007). Racial microaggressions and the Asian American experience. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 13(1), 72-81. https://doi.org/10.1037/1099-9809.13.1.72
UNESCO. (2012). Global education digest 2012: Opportunities lost: The impact of grade repetition and early school leaving. Montreal: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Retrieved from http://hdl.voced.edu.au/10707/292280
U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Student and Exchange Visitor Information System. (2020). SEVIS by the numbers data. Retrieved from https://www.ice.gov/doclib/sevis/pdf/sevisBTN2020.pdf
Van Manen, M. (1990). Researching lived experience: Human science for an action sensitive pedagogy. Albany: State University of New York Press.
Wing, A. K. (1997). Brief reflections toward a multiplicative theory and praxis of being. In A. K. Wing (Ed), Critical race feminism: A reader (pp. 27–34). New York: University Press.
Wing, A. K. (2000). Introduction: Global critical race feminism for the twenty-first century. In A. K. Wing (Ed), Critical race feminism: A reader (pp. 1–23). New York: University Press.
Wing, A. K., & Willis, C. A. (1999). From theory to praxix: Black women, gangs, and critical race feminism. Afr.-Am. L. & Pol'y Rep., 4, 1. Retrieved from https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/afamlpol4&div=5&id=&page=
Wing, A. K., & Smith, M. N. (2005). Critical Race Feminism Lifts the Veil: Muslim Women, France, and the Headscarf Ban. UC Davis L. Rev., 39, 743-786. Retrieved from https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/davlr39&div=27&id=&page=
Wikstrøm, S. (2012). Surnames and identities. Oslo Studies in Language, 4(2), 257-272. https://doi.org/10.5617/osla.323
Zhao, X., & Biernat, M. (2018). "I have two names, Xian and Alex": Psychological correlates of adopting Anglo names by Chinese students. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 49(4), 587–601. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022118763111
Zhao, X., & Biernat, M. (2019). Your name is your lifesaver: Anglicization of names and moral dilemmas in a trilogy of transportation accidents. Social psychological and personality science, 10(8), 1011-1018. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550618817341
Zhou, E., Mitic, R.R., West, C.P.L., & Okahana, H. (2020). International graduate applications and enrollment: Fall 2019. Washington, DC: Council of Graduate Schools. Retrieved from https://legacy.cgsnet.org/ckfinder/userfiles/files/CGS%20Fall%202019%20International%20Report.pdf
Zittoun, T. (2004). Symbolic competencies for developmental transitions: The case of the choice of first names. Culture & Psychology, 10(2), 131-161. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354067X04040926
Downloads
Published
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Journal of International Students
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
All published articles are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 Unported License.
