An old wound that sits around: The racial trauma experience of East Asian American women in the workplace

Abstract

Limited research has been conducted to explore the racial trauma experience of East Asian American women, especially in the workplace. We sought to understand (a) how racial trauma has influenced this population's work and non-work life and (b) how they have coped with this traumatic stress in career development and mental health aspects. Twelve participants working in the United States participated in semi-structured interviews about the impact of workplace racial trauma on their mental health, work, relationships, and coping strategies. Five domains were developed using conventional content analysis: (a) racial trauma at work is expressed with microaggression, (b) racial trauma causes a loss of psychological safety, (c) racial trauma creates relationship dilemmas, (d) racial trauma creates challenges in participants’ career development paths, and (e) career and mental health coping strategies are used to manage racial traumatic stress. Implications for theoretical advances and counseling and organizational practice are also discussed.