Authenticity and Empowerment: Asian American Women Leaders and the Impacts of Transformative Learning in Higher Education

Abstract

This phenomenological study investigated the personal and professional lived experiences of Asian American women leaders in higher music education, addressing their continued underrepresentation in leadership roles. The article argues that transformative learning fosters authenticity and positive identity development for Asian American women leaders working within dominant White, male-centered spaces in higher education. In transformative learning, our values and sense of self are anchored in our frames of reference. By reformulating these structures of meaning, Asian American women leaders can recognize and reconstruct new roles, relationships, and actions. Transformative learning processes—particularly self-reflection, acknowledging emotional responses, and engaging in critical discourse—counter the impacts of intersectionality and racialization of Asian American women by centering their voices and stories. This framework can also support Asian American women in other sectors experiencing similar conflicts related to dominant male, White ideals of leadership.