Strangers of the Academy: Asian Women Scholars in Higher Education,
Guaofang Li and Gulbahar H.Beckett Eds.,  Stylus Publishing, LLC: Virginia, 2006.
Reviewed by Barbara Cole, Ph.D., St. Mary's College of California School of Extended Education

Strangers of the Academy: Asian Women Scholars in Higher Education  edited by Guofan Li and Gulbahar H. Beckett took me back to Tianjin, China and my first Mandarin teacher.. I wondered if any of Helen, a robotics student turned part time Mandarin teacher turned ESL university professor's experience as a Chinese woman in a  major Chinese research university was  similar to the authors' stories and findings?

Li and Beckett's 22 authors have lived the experience of entering the professorate, not in their country of origin but within the United States. Shirley Geok-Lin Lim sets the stage as she details the significance of each author's experience and research. Jaekyung Lee's research which supports the double edged discrimination Asian women in higher education experience provides empirical evidence paralleling documentation provided by other contributors.

Chalsa M. Loo and Hsiu-Zu Ho write about their experience of meeting the dragon, feeling put down by the dragon but ultimately slaying the dragon. Both had experiences of being denied tenure or promotion. Both felt the sting of betrayal by colleagues. One felt the hurt of lack of support from an emotional partner.

Nina Asher's experience coming from India via New York City to a southern university where she finds the fragrances and landscape remind her of home is unique. Keiko Komiya Saminy reminds us of the value of mentors including when their form is a significant other.

What makes this book so readable is that it moves easily between quantifiable research and biographical writing of the near memoir form. First person telling of growing up in China during the Cultural Revolution or loving Louisiana for the memories of growing up in India connect the reader with the authors.

Strangers also recalled my own days as a graduate student in a research university. I discovered scratching my chin as if I had a beard, lowering my voice and speaking only after the white male professors spoke (I was the only woman at the table) won my ideas the attention they deserved. Likely I would have been just as unheard if I were Asian or any other minority since I was female and young. The same would likely be true if the setting were reversed with a young white male sitting around the table full of older Asian women. Often it is the outsider, the newbie, whose authenticity is questioned, regardless of other demographics.

As these women tell their experiences of having their language, dialect, mannerisms, pedagogy and nearly everything in their life questioned, we see them in a new light. They are not the "aren't they lucky to be here and not in their home country" people their colleagues may have thought they were.

Do they blame most of those who made life uncomfortable? In some cases, yes, but in most cases, they attribute the conduct to ignorance. Was it always a white male who presented the challenges? Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on one's perspective, no. In Guofang Li's case, it was Asian female assistants who walked out on her, something it's unlikely they would have done to a majority professor and most unlikely they would have taken such action against a white male supervisor.

While they were well prepared academically, most of these Asian female scholars were ill prepared for campus politics. Faculty politics can be more brutal than any other level of politics, making national elections look like child's play as tenured professors firmly assume gatekeeper roles. Is any new and native faculty member prepared for this? Unlikely. However, a new professor's lack of connections and unfamiliarity with the system coupled with limited understanding of regional and academic cultural nuances decrease the chances for success . Few were able to find and develop the collegiality and mentoring found between  Xue Lan Rong and Judith Preissle.

What makes this book so readable is that it moves easily between quantifiable research and biographical writing of the near memoir form. First person telling of growing up in China during the Cultural Revolution or loving Louisiana for the memories of growing up in India connect the reader with the authors.

While the book is an outstanding historical account of what female Asian scholars have experienced in this country, it makes good reading for any young faculty member. Yes, my copy will soon be on its way to Helen. Meanwhile, I hope that my American majority colleagues will read it to develop a better understanding of what it is like to be the "new kid on the block", especially when their competent newbie colleague has so much to offer.