Racialized Sexism/Sexualized Racism: A Multimethod Study of Intersectional Experiences of Discrimination for Asian American Women

This article presents findings from a multimethod qualitative study on the intersectional experiences of discrimination for Asian American women. Participants included 94 women from various Asian American ethnic groups (Mdnage = 25) who participated in an online survey analyzed through consensual qualitative research-modified and 13 women (Mdnage = 29) from different Asian American ethnic groups who participated in focus group interviews analyzed using thematic content analysis. Results revealed 15 themes that illuminated the types of discrimination experienced by participants as Asian American women, namely, tokenist representative of Asian Americans, mislabeled/assumed ethnicity, foreigner, excluded, smart and/or inevitably successful, culture-based discrimination, criminal, bad driver, denying experiences of discrimination, exotic, not a leader, submissive and passive, cute and small, invisible, and service worker. Experiences of discrimination occurred in a variety of personal and professional contexts. Research and clinical implications as well as directions for future research are discussed. What is the public significance of this article? This research focused on experiences of discrimination for Asian American women. Asian American women face subtle and blatant discrimination from the public as well as those they know well in their professional and personal lives. Experiences include being considered exotic, submissive, invisible, and foreign and being excluded. These experiences can limit professional growth and personal opportunities and lead to mental health difficulties.