Critical perspectives on Asian(American) presence and experiences in physics

Mainstream media and literature often portray Asian(American)s as over-represented and over-achieving in STEM fields. In this presentation, using examples from physics, we assert that this story of Asian(American)s is distorted but convenient, made popular to advance agendas that aim to sustain systemic oppression. Starting with a quantitative case of Asian(American) enrollment in introductory physics, we use QuantCrit to critically examine the underlying assumptions and sociopolitical contexts that are hidden in quantitative studies, contributing to incomplete (and false) claims about Asian(American) presence and success. We then build on Asian Critical Race Theory and Racial Triangulation to foreground the complexities in Asian(American)s’ racialized experiences, both as a racism targets and accomplices. Using interviews with Asian(American) physics students, we showcase how Asian(American)s position themselves and are positioned in physics class, and how their racial positioning is intimately tied to dominant social and physics cultures and epistemologies. We conclude with a call for Asian(American)s to leverage our agency for social justice and implications for physics scholarship to critically challenge and reject the dominant narratives surrounding Students of Color.