Asian American Women’s Perspectives on Historically White Sorority Life: A Critical Race Theory and Cultural Capital Analysis

Abstract

This study examined 18 Asian American women’s attitudes towards sororities at a predominantly White institution in the south. I use cultural capital and critical race theory frameworks to explain how immigrant identity and social class intersect with race to perpetuate racial divisions in historically White sorority life (HWSL). Participants identified two primary reasons for the lack of racial diversity in HWSL, the role of immigrant families and social class, both of which can be viewed as race-neutral explanations for why HWSL “coincidentally” remains divided by race. However, I demonstrate how race intersects with both immigration and social class to perpetuate social divisions in HWSL, resulting in complex insights for why such groups remain predominantly White in composition.