Hmong Women in Higher Education : Analyzing Empowerment, Patriarchy and Family, and Student-Teacher Interaction

Abstract

Despite the increase in women entering higher education world-wide, there is still a low representation of women in the "higher level" of education (Chanana, 2012). In particular, student women of color within academia are confronted with obstacles that other women are not. Using grounded theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) and conducting focus groups with Hmong women at a predominantly white, midwestern university, we examined empowerment in higher education, emphasizing student-teacher interactions and family roles in the Hmong patriarchal culture.