Filipinx American and Science Identities: Intersectionality in Experiences and Storylines

Filipino Americans’ (FilAms’) unique positioning in the United States’ racial structure is shaped by two interweaving structures that become enduring storylines influencing FilAms’ lives and shaping their science identities. FilAms are enveloped in the Model Minority Myth (MMM) but are also minoritized in other situations. Moreover, colonialism shapes the Filipino mindset, and FilAms, as former colonized subjects living in a colonizer’s country, are subject to forms of marginalization and racialization. In this dissertation research study, I explored how one science student’s, Felix’s, FilAm identity interacted with his science identity and how experiences and storylines were implicated in this interaction. The theoretical framing I built brings together identity theories, the structure-agency dialectic, and critical race theory perspectives that aim to dismantle power of oppressive structures. This framing guided the instrumental case study research design which included data such as journal entries and conversations. A multimodal discourse analysis focusing on speech and gestures was used to analyze the data. Two main findings emerged. First, Felix’s science and FilAm identities mediated and were mediated by his other identities resulting in various aspects of Felix’s identities being shifted or being put into conversation with one another. Second, experiences and storylines shaped Felix’s identities at the same time his agency, associated with his multiple identities, provided opportunities for him to push back against dominant storylines about FilAms and science. These interactions between experiences and storylines, and his identities unfolded via his role model identity, his pursuit of a double major in ethnic studies and statistics instead of chemical engineering as a form of agency to interrogate science career choices and science career storylines for FilAms, and his desire to become a lawyer. The findings highlight the complex interactions between a person’s multiple identities and how particular structures, such as colonialism, racism, and science provide distinct affordances and constraints to FilAms in science, as, at the same time, these structures strengthened an identity’s agentic nature to reimagine oneself and to resist dominant storylines that impinge on the lives of FilAms. The findings also reinforce the importance of recognition for marginalized science students while elaborating on how recognition for one’s ability in science can lead to reinforcing the same oppressive structures that inhibit marginalized science students. Moreover, the findings underscore the need of a critical consciousness as a catalyst in the formation of critical agency as means of desettling normative practices in science.