Learning to Become a Lawyer...of Color: Asian American and Latino Law Students Negotiate Ambitions, Expectations and Obligations

This dissertation interrogates the experiences of Asian American and Latino law students, as racialized second-generation, children of immigrants entering an elite profession. Intersecting immigration, race and ethnicity, and professional socialization literature, I compare the students' experiences across race, gender, socioeconomic background, immigrant history, and law school (lower-tiered v. tier-one). Based on two academic years of observations at student organization meetings, interviews with 102 law students, and apprenticeship diaries, I find that law school socialization is comprised of intervening and competing layers of influence. At the outset, Asian American and Latino law students are racialized through attending law school, and socialized to identify with pan-ethnic groups and communities. The majority of law students were not involved in affinity groups prior to law school, but were ascribed pan-ethnically, and learned to identify with raciailzed communities. Asian American and Latino law students also manage their budding professional and (pan)ethnic identities with a repertoire of strategies, which I have identified as "panethnic marginalism," "tempered altruism," and "instrumental ethnicity." Additionally, the intersection of gender, ethnicity, race and immigrant history plays a prominent role in how women law students negotiate their emotions and professional role confidence. This study underscores the role and salience of race in professional socialization, and adds a new dimension, racialization within the professions, to 21st century conceptualizations of immigrant adaptation in mainstream America. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]