Racial Microaggressions: The Journey of International Students in Taiwan

[[abstract]]種族微歧視是短暫的、有意或無意的言語或行為上的歧視、貶低或傳達敵對或負面信息來針對特定人士或群體（Sue等，2007）。許多研究探討在各種環境下人們對種族微歧視的各種經驗，發現有不同種族和種族背景的人們在日常生活中遇到這種情況，研究也顯示出國讀書的國際生經歷到了種族微歧視，儘管探討國際生在台感受到種族微歧視的研究較少，但事實表明，國際生也已承受過這種情況。本研究採用了質性方法來探討國際生在台讀書期間面臨到的種族微歧視，對象為一間大學的六位國際生進行訪談做資?的蒐集，從本研究結果發現中得出五個主題的種族微歧視：被排斥的感覺、被忽視或避免、未滿足的需求、承受刻板印象或假設，以及被盯著看。本研究的目的是了解國際生的種族微歧視的現狀，並探討他們在台灣讀書期間的種族微歧視經驗，本研究使我們較能夠了解國際生在台灣經歷的種族微歧視行為。最後，本研究提出了建議。關鍵字：國際生、種族微歧視、大學、台灣[[abstract]]Racial microaggressions are brief, intentional or unintentional verbal or behavioral acts of discriminating, demeaning, or communicating a hostile or negative message that insults the target person or group (Sue et al., 2007). A fair amount of research has focused on exploring all types of people’s experiences with racial microaggressions in various settings, showing that individuals from different racial and ethnic backgrounds encounter it in their daily lives. Plenty of studies have also demonstrated that international students who study abroad have experienced racial microaggressions. While there are limited studies on international students’ encounters with racial microaggressions in Taiwan, it has been shown that international students have experienced it.This study used a qualitative method to gain insight into international students’ experiences with racial microaggressions while studying in Taiwan. Data collection were interviews with six international students in a Taiwanese university. Five themes emerged from this study, including feelings of exclusion, getting ignored or avoided, unmet needs, experiencing stereotypes or assumptions, and being stared at.The purpose of this study was to understand the international students’ current situations of racial microaggressions and explore their experiences with racial microaggressions while studying in Taiwan. This study offers us a better understanding of the microaggressions that international students experience in Taiwan. Suggestions and recommendations were proposed at the final section of this research. Keywords: International students, racial microaggressions, university, Taiwa