Contemporary women warriors: Ethnic, gender, and leadership development among Chinese American females

This study explored how a community-based cultural organization helped its members develop positive ethnic and gender identities, leadership skills, and academic achievement. It was inspired by scholarship indicating that females of color face a double jeopardy of marginalization because of racism and sexism from mainstream society and often within their own ethnic groups. Furthermore, they have more hurdles to overcome than females in mainstream society. The ethnic group of interest was the Seattle Chinese Community Girls Drill Team (SCCGDT) seventeen members from different generations participating in the study. Data were collected from observations, archives, semi-structured interviews, and demographic questionnaires. Interviews were transcribed verbatim. Coding schema was created based on the research questions, conceptual framework, and themes emerging during interviews.; The findings of this study indicated that the SCCGDT had a positive effect on its members' ethnic identity, gender, leadership, and academic development. The high visibility, and multicultural character and experiences of this organization increased positive ethnic identity, commitment to community service, and cultural maintenance of its members. Role modeling of the leaders and volunteers helped the members to believe that they, as females, could be successful and powerful. This belief encouraged the members to pursue higher education, professional career, and leadership skills. The members transferred the discipline, teamwork, and perseverance they learned on the drill team to their pursuit of academic achievement. This study revealed strong reciprocity the SCCGDT and its members---the organization provided sanctuary and the members contributed to the growth of the organization. The older members provided a sense of security, networking for academic and career preparation, and feelings of ethnic and cultural pride, and everyone worked hard to live up to its legacy of success.; This study supplemented the scarcity of educational research on Asian American females, and added empirical data to support theorized multicultural education conventions. Several recommendations for future research, limitations, and significance also were presented.