Date of Graduation

Spring 5-21-2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

College/School

School of Education

Department

International and Multicultural Education

Program

International & Multicultural Education EdD

First Advisor

Susan Katz

Second Advisor

Monisha Bajaj

Third Advisor

David Donahue

Abstract

The internationalization of U.S. higher education has led to a significant increase in the enrollment of Indian international graduate students; however, the experiences of Indian international graduate women remain underrepresented in scholarly literature. Situated within postcolonial and transnational theoretical frameworks, this qualitative study examines how Indian international graduate women at the University of San Francisco in the United States navigate and negotiate their transnational identities within academic, social, and cultural contexts. Moving beyond deficit-oriented models of international student experiences, this study centers participants' lived realities, personhood, and contributions to the intellectual and cultural life of higher education institutions.

This study employs a qualitative research design informed by phenomenology and autoethnography. Data are collected through a series of in-depth, one-on-one, semi-structured interviews with Indian international graduate women enrolled in master’s or doctoral programs. This approach allows for individualized reflection on participants’ lived experiences and meaning-making processes related to ties to home, cultural adjustment, identity formation and reformation, gendered experiences, academic expectations, and future aspirations. My positionality as an Indian international graduate woman is integrated through sustained reflexivity and autoethnographic engagement throughout the research process.

The data revealed shared and divergent experiences that illuminate how participants navigate cultural belonging, negotiate transnational identities, and make meaning of their academic and personal journeys within U.S. higher education. Data were analyzed using a

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combination of inductive and deductive thematic analysis, allowing for both the identification of emergent patterns grounded in participants’ narratives and the application of existing theoretical frameworks related to transnational identity and acculturation. The analysis involved iterative coding, categorization of themes, and reflexive engagement with the data to ensure that participants’ voices remained central to the interpretation process.

Findings from this study aim to contribute to scholarship on international student mobility, transnational identity, and equity in higher education by amplifying marginalized voices and allowing them to hold space within academic and scholarly literature.

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