The purpose of this research is to contribute to the social constructionist study of relationships between assimilation experiences, gendered ethnicity and ethnic identity formation among second generation Korean Americans and Korean Canadians. As the presence of Korean immigrants in the U.S. and Canada is currently increasing at record high rates, the integration and adaptation of this new Asian immigrant group is an important concern for empirical assessment. For second generations, experiences of integration and adaptation influence ethnic identity formation, the socially constructed sense of self and belonging to ethnic groups and cultures. This study develops an understanding of segmented assimilation experiences, the internalization and resolution of racialized gender stereotypes and associated identity formations through content analysis of interview data. Thirty-one second generation Korean Americans and Korean Canadians participated in in-depth face-to-face interviews.
The respondents were asked about their lived experiences of assimilation, gendered ethnicity and ethnic identity.
The results are a presentation of emergent themes. The interpretation of data employs a contextualization of the results in national and gendered settings. Presented are three major results. First, American and Canadian second generation Koreans encounter similar assimilative experiences of adaptation struggles, social exclusion and confrontations with the model minority stereotype. Second, the respondents expressed distinct models of Americanness and Canadianness: the ethnic American model (Kibria 2002) and the multicultural Canadian model. Neither, however, was perceived to permit full integration of Asians into the mainstream. Third, racialized gender stereotypes were prominent sources of conflict for the respondents. In conclusion, a model of dissonant identity formation is suggested and discussed. Conversations with second generation Koreans have shown that the formation of ethnic identity is a challenging experience that requires ongoing resolutions of conflicting messages coming from mainstream and co-ethnic social settings.