Date of Graduation

Fall 5-21-2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

College/School

School of Education

Department

Leadership Studies

Program

Organization & Leadership EdD

First Advisor

Darrick Smith

Second Advisor

Seenae Chong

Third Advisor

Patricia Busk

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the underrepresentation of Asian American educators in K-12 leadership and the limited leadership pipeline available to them. Specifically, this study examined the extent of the relationships between Asian American racial identity-related ideological values (AARIIV), Asian American racism-related stress (AARRS), resilience, and leadership self-efficacy (LSE) among Asian American educators in K-12 schools.

This study was grounded in three theoretical perspectives—AsianCrit, the Racial Triangulation of Asian Americans, and Social Cognitive Theory—that provided the theoretical rationale for examining the racialization of Asian Americans in relation to leadership. This theoretical foundation guided the development of the conceptual framework. Using an integrated, two-study quantitative research design, this study analyzed survey data collected from 386 Asian American K-12 educators. Data were analyzed using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses and hierarchical multiple regression.

The findings demonstrated that bifactor models provided the strongest measurement fit for both the AARIIV and AARRS scales, with their original factor structures retained. Resilience was empirically supported as a novel bifactor model with two new factors: Adaptability and Tenacity. The original brief, 4-item, unidimensional LSES was retained. The findings showed that AARIIV, particularly the Interracial Solidarity factor, was a statistically significant positive predictor of LSE. Additionally, findings indicated that resilience, particularly the Tenacity factor, was a statistically significant positive predictor of LSE. Results also showed that the hypothesized moderating effects of resilience were not supported. Overall, the findings suggest that AARIIV may capture a sociopolitical orientation of racial identity among Asian American educators that is associated with LSE, and resilience may serve as a psychological resource for LSE.

This study contributes to the sparse quantitative literature on Asian American K-12 educators and leadership by addressing a knowledge gap and elucidating factors that may shape their leadership self-efficacy. The findings may inform educator support and leadership preparation by emphasizing professional development that fosters sociopolitically oriented racial identity, interracial solidarity, and resilience-building through organizational routines and structures. Future research should establish broader validity evidence for these measurement models, enabling researchers to use more fully validated scales to study the experiences of Asian American educators.

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