In her 2013 dissertation, Sharon Yih-Chih Lee highlights the gap in vocational literature pertaining to work in the humanities and arts, even more so for Asian American women. Yih-Chih Lee examines the aspects of early career development relevant to Asian American female artists, and covers a broad range of topics, including support, barriers, psychological and vocational impact. She concludes her dissertation by offering recommendations for future research.
There are no studies that examine the intersection of gender, race, and nontraditional career choices for Asian American women. This is especially true for occupational field that is often ignored in vocational research, such as the Artistic field (Ng, Lee, & Pack, 2007). Little is known regarding the why and how Asian American women choose to go into a field that is nontraditional and in which they are underrepresented. Further examination of this will allow helping professionals to gain a better understand the challenges and resiliency factors that influence Asian American women, especially those who choose to enter difficult field often not well regarded as an ideal career by family or society.
Yih-Chih Lee goes on to explore the barriers that Asian American women face in career development, especially those who are considering non-traditional careers. And finds that some of the problems stem from inter-generational issues, and the process of cultural change and psychological change that results following meetings between cultures.
Sharon Yih-Chih Lee. “The career development of Asian American female visual artists.” PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) thesis, University of Iowa, 2013.
