Abstract

              This article discusses the significance of cultural literacy regarding the establishment of an inclusive academic environment for Filipino students in higher education. Cultural literacy, in a general sense, is defined as the ability to comprehend the traditions, heritage, and history of a group of people or cultures. In higher education, cultural literacy may take the form of recognizing and embracing different languages, lifestyles, and narratives of ethnic communities in studies or organizations to enhance students’ sense of belonging or to emphasize the value of diversity in social practices. Evaluating the history of Filipino Americans is the first step in gaining insight into how to incorporate Filipino studies as an educational component to improve cultural literacy surrounding this unique ethnic group. Furthermore, investigating the impact of representation on college students will allow for a discussion of the methods used to improve cultural literacy in higher education.

 

Introduction

              The United States Census for Educational Attainment revealed that Asian American populations nationwide experienced a 92.9% increase in high school completion and a 61.0% increase in obtaining a bachelor’s degree or higher between 2011 and 2021 (2022)–indicating a growing population of Asian Americans pursuing a college education. Despite this exponential growth, there is minimal research on this ethnic group’s experience within higher education. The few articles that do concern such examinations primarily revolve around the assumption that Asian Americans are model minorities–“a stereotype placed on a minority group suggesting that members of that group obtain overwhelming socioeconomic success” (Buenavista et al. 70)–that lack academic and socioeconomic tribulations compared to other ethnic groups. The portrayal of a model minority is especially detrimental to Asian American students, who comprise roughly “50 different ethnic subpopulations varying in characteristics such as national origins, educational attainment, immigration patterns, language, and socioeconomic status” (Museus et al. 234), due to the marginalization of their experiences and perspectives within academia. Moreover, Asian American ethnic subgroups have diverse national and cultural histories that necessitate educational support and resources tailored to their individual needs in higher education. Filipino Americans are distinctive among these ethnic subpopulations due to their unique history with the United States and their cultural identity existing in dialogue with Asian and American influences during and post-colonialism in the Philippines. This article will articulate the history of Filipino identity with Asia and the United States; discuss Filipino American liminality and invisibility in higher education; investigate methods that higher educational institutions can use to create an inclusive community for Filipino students such as Critical Race Theory and Literary and Cultural Studies (Buenavista et al.; García Ochoa et al.; Museus et al.).

 

Background/Literature Review

History of Filipino identity with Asian and United States influence

              Prior to the large influx of Filipino immigration to the United States following the Spanish-American War in 1898, the Philippines had already endured hundreds of years of colonization, resulting in a cultural metamorphosis. From 1565 to 1898, the Philippine Islands were colonized by Japanese, Spanish, and American powers, while its national identity underwent constant transformations in dialogue with Asian, Spanish, and American cultures. Filipinos have evolved as an indistinct ethnic categorization that is not confined to a larger racial group and whose historical genealogy, as discussed by Hernandez, is “an archipelago with inhabitants of various ethnic origins that held no singular, collective identity until it was colonized (and hence culturally influenced) by Spain and the United States, the Philippines does not concisely fit into the mythical concept of Asia as a monolithic area of ethnic ancestry” (331). The impacts of three cultural powers in the Philippines have resulted in a perplexing and ever-changing definition of Filipino identity, which now occupies a liminal status that excludes them from identifying solely with Asian or American ethnicities. One factor that resulted in the liminality of Filipino Americans and prevents them from being fully integrated into the broader Asian American community is the fact that they “were not subject to the same exclusionary laws as their Asian counterparts, [however,] they were not afforded the full rights and privileges of being American, either” (Hernandez 331). This initial interpersonal discrimination between Asian and Filipino populations stems from the exemption of Filipino persons from the United States immigration restrictions such as the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and Japanese immigration exclusion in 1904 (Hernandez 331). Filipino immunity to these exclusionary acts and disparities in hardships became one of the first historical schisms between Asian and Filipino Americans as distinct ethnic groups in the United States. In exchange for maintaining their immigration status in the United States, however, Filipino immigrants were forced to assimilate into American culture and constrained to labor for agricultural expansion. Disconnected from other Asian subgroups and prohibited from receiving the full privileges of their immigrant-to-citizen status, Filipino Americans’ historical experience in the United States is invalidated by both Asian and American cultural identities. This dissonance can be attributed to a variety of socioeconomic factors affecting Filipino Americans’ success in modern society; however, a few prominent variables are the effects of liminality and invisibility of Filipino American students in higher education.

 

Filipino American Liminality and Invisibility in Higher Education

              One of the earliest phases for students in the transition to higher education is to develop a sense of community and belonging on their university campus. Those of one’s ethnicity are frequently among the first communities people encounter during these initial stages of their higher education journey. However, there is an extraordinary case for Filipino students who are classified as having a liminal racial identity between Asian and non-Asian characteristics. Filipino students in the United States are typically classified as Asian and Pacific Islander in data-driven research that indicates the percentage of certain ethnicities within a single university institution. In a social context, however, Filipino students are not particularly classified within such boundaries. As previously discussed, Filipino American students are distinct from the larger group of Asian American students due to historical differences in the United States. Delving from a neoliberal standpoint of higher education, Hernandez expresses that “Filipino American students being subsumed under the institutional category of “Asian American” ignores their colonial linkages to the educational system and the differential experiences of Filipino Americans within the modern American racial landscape” (333). The intermediate placement of Filipino persons between Asian and American cultural identities conflicts with the generalization of their ethnicity in higher education. Labeling Filipino American students as Asian American while not affording them the same support as other Asian American students is a contradiction that perpetuates their invisibility in universities as their “needs and capabilities are ignored, rendered invisible, and/or grossly mistranslated in lieu of structural constraints that refuse to acknowledge the complexities of their educational experiences” (Hernandez 333). Provided that Filipino people have been influenced by both Asian and American dialogues due to the long-lasting effects of colonization, pigeonholing Filipino American students in either of those polar opposite categories would be an injustice to their unique circumstances within higher education. To fully recognize the academic complexities faced by Filipino American students and provide them with the requisite support and resources to succeed in university education, we must cultivate an educational environment that prioritizes such efforts–such as cultural literacy initiatives.

 

Cultural Literacy Defined

              Cultural Literacy is defined as the ability to comprehend the traditions, heritage, and history of a group of people or cultures through mediums such as writing, reading, speaking, and learning. García Ochoa defined cultural literacy as “the ability to interpret culture in its various forms by employing the skills and knowledge inherent in cultural understanding” (547). The development of intercultural insight can be implemented in university institutions to move Filipino American students beyond the notion of the model minority and their social standing as an underrepresented minority. Integrating Filipino cultural literacy studies in higher education involves the destabilization of our previous perceptions of Filipino American experience in academia. Destabilization, in this context, is defined as a “teaching strategy that appropriates both conceptual shifts in students, and a more instinctive, ‘visceral’ form of unrest that is aimed at unsettling their views on culture, identity, and the world at large” (García Ochoa et al. 550)–or a method of dissecting the lenses through which we view a community and reshaping our thinking to better understand that group’s socioeconomic experiences. To be fully open to implementing and expanding cultural literacy in higher education, we must challenge our preconceived notions about other cultures and identities.

 

Implementing CRT and LCS to Understand Filipino American Experiences

              Critical Race Theory (CRT) is defined as an “academic framework that denotes the systematic racism that is part of American society–from housing to employment and healthcare” (Legal Defense Fund 2022). The model minority myth entrenches the presumption that Filipino Americans and other Asian subgroups are unaffected by the academic adversities that other ethnic groups face. Due to their liminal status in the United States and invisibility within higher education, Filipino American students are not provided with adequate financial, academic, and professional support, resulting in Filipino American students being represented as neither a minority nor an advantaged group. This intermediate status confines the amount of aid Filipino American students receive in comparison to other underrepresented minority groups, as well as their ability to reap the same benefits as White students. Higher educational institutions can use CRT to delve deeper into the cultural aspects that influence academic inclusivity and break down systemic barriers that prevent students from easily transitioning into their college communities. Literary and Cultural Studies (LCS) is one method for incorporating such concepts into higher education. LCS is defined as an interdisciplinary approach to the “many ways in which societies and/or individuals apprehend the world through textual cultural artifacts” (García Ochoa et al. 547). LCS and CRT are closely related in that both techniques offer to destabilize an individual’s preset beliefs and perspectives on culture as well as the components that comprise those identities. Both methods are instrumental in deconstructing and reconstructing one’s previous biases about other cultures or societies and may help improve the overall cultural literacy of college communities. Implementing LCS through Filipino cultural studies while acknowledging the framework of CRT can introduce a new perspective on Filipino culture–one in which students of that ethnic group or other can recognize the hardships of Filipino American students and work towards building a more inclusive academic community.

 

Methodology

              Employing a survey approach, I based my primary research on Filipino students at the University of California Davis by contacting the Student Recruitment and Retention Center and BRIDGE: Pilipinx Outreach and Retention. On November 9th, I approached these organizations via email with the request to send my survey to Filipino students enrolled in those programs, but have yet to receive a response. The survey contained the following questions.

1. As a Filipino student at UC Davis, do you feel accurately represented within the campus culture? (e.g., language, socialization, background, experience, heritage, etc.)

2. As a Filipino student at UC Davis, did you feel a sense of belonging in your community when you first entered the University? Why or why not?

3. Compared to other ethnic groups, do you feel like Filipino culture is more or less included/represented in the University?

4. In your opinion, would implementing more Filipino cultural studies positively or negatively impact the cultural literacy at UC Davis surrounding Filipino students

5. Would implementing more Filipino cultural studies encourage a more inclusive academic environment for Filipino students at UC Davis?

6. Would research surrounding Filipino experience in higher education be beneficial to increasing Filipino student retention and/or sense of belonging on campus?

 

Discussion

              Obtaining an accurate perspective of Filipino American student experiences in academia begins with organizations and programs that prioritize Filipino students’ success, sense of belonging, visibility, and retention. To fully encapsulate the processes which such an expanding ethnic population encounters in college education, research on and the provision of relevant resources for Filipino Americans in higher education are necessary. Cultural literacy surrounding Filipino American students demands the engagement of Filipinx organizations and higher educational institutions on Filipinx-focused research and recognition. Although the history and experiences of Filipino American students were the focus of this article, the same principles can and should be applied to students from other underrepresented minority groups and disadvantaged communities as well. The relevance of incorporating cultural literacy practices into all aspects of academia must be recognized to provide students of all ethnicities with the necessary support, opportunities, and resources to foster inclusivity on university campuses.

 

Conclusion

              Filipino American students have traditionally been placed in social liminality between Asian and American cultural dialogues. This status has bled into the educational standing of Filipino students as underrepresented minorities who do not receive adequate support and resources to achieve success in the same way that neither minority nor privileged students do. The experiences of Filipino American students have increasingly been undermined in educational research and representation. Combating this issue entails deconstructing preconceived notions about Filipino American socioeconomic status, educational attainment, and academic expectations in higher education. Filipino American students must be provided with adequate financial, academic, and professional support that reflects their unique history and fulfills their needs as students. Furthermore, the integration of Critical Race Theory and Literary and Cultural Studies in educational contexts, such as college courses or research, can aid in the development of cultural literacy surrounding Filipino culture and ensure an inclusive academic environment for Filipino American students in higher education.