1.- CRITERIOS DE VALORACIÓN

Even though family and kinship are only recognized through the male’s line, without their families', parents', or spouses’ support, these nine Hmong women leaders would not be able to be the leaders they are today.

The three participants who were single at the time of this research study noted how their parents stepped away from the cultural norm to permit them to attend colleges and internships all over the country. The six participants who were married maintained that they are the most fortunate Hmong women because their spouses

supported them even when they endured frequent criticisms from the Hmong community. Misty reminded all women leaders

You and I are lucky that our husbands are supportive. If they didn’t support us, we couldn’t have done it. Our husbands stepped away from the normal. Our husbands put up with a lot of things, and we should appreciate that. In addition, most of the participants had one or more role models in their lives who either led the way or encouraged them to succeed academically. Mee, Pakou, and Kaying had their cousin Cy Thao, the first Hmong man in the U.S. House of

Representatives, and a few others male relatives who were doctors, their uncle Shoua Thao and Neal Thao as role models. Also, since the three were also related, Pakou saw her older sister, Kaying, and cousin Mee as role models as well. Also, Kaying proudly viewed Mee as her role model as well. Koua had her older sisters to look up to. She recalled being their chaperone at school events, learning quite a lot from them.

Belenky et al. (1986) maintained that “an important step on the route to subjective knowing is the affirmations maternal or nurturant authorities can provide for women in transition” (p. 60). Having a benevolent mother or grandmother role model helped some of these women. Kazoua recalled her grandmother being her hero because of the fact that her self-sacrificing strength in raising nine children as a single mother made her an idol. Kazoua also saw her mother as her role model, a woman who wanted her to attain an education because she was denied one in her own time.

Kao Kalia maintained that her parents and grandparents, particularly her grandmother, were her role models. She noted

Cov neeg peb nyeem txog hauv peb cov ntawv tsuas haib ib yam li peb pog thiab yawg xwb. (Translation: The people we read about in our literature are only as great as our grandparents and parents.)

Finally, Bao noted that she didn’t have a role model because her generation was the first to graduate from high school or go on to college, and Fenglaly maintained she did not recall having any doctors in the family. Both participants claimed that what they have achieved was out of the need to survive. However, Fenglaly briefly

discussed her father being an educated businessman in Laos who continued to reward his children monetarily for their academic achievements. Also, from Bao’s interview, she noted that when she wanted to give up, her mother stepped in to encourage her.

My mom is the youngest of 14 or 15 kids, and she grew up with some education. So, my mom really encouraged me. She would say, “You’re not going straight to work. You’re going to school.”

Nonetheless, levels of encouragement received from their parents were not the same. Pakou and Kaying came from an upbringing where obtaining an education was inevitable. Their parents even placed them in private schools when they could hardly afford it, believing that the educational system would provide a higher quality

I was lucky that my parents had always been supportive of education. They said it didn’t matter where the road leads you. Just follow it because at the end of the day, they just wanted me to be a self-sufficient person.

Mee also had people who had already paved the way in her family, so the transition to college was simple and a normal routine. Kao Kalia’s father noted that he gave her life, but he did not have the power to stop her from obtaining an education. Kazoua and Bao’s mothers encouraged them endlessly, reminiscing about her own lost opportunities. Koua and Misty’s parents did not stop them from attending college even though they were the more traditional parents in the study. Misty also noted how her teachers in school and her colleagues had realized her potential and encouraged her to pursue her dreams.

All of the nine participants recalled benefiting from the social systems available in the United States for immigrants and poor families. Bao, for instance, took advantage of work study, welfare, and subsidized childcare to get her through college. In addition, all of the participants took advantage of college financial aid, scholarships, or loans. Most of them agreed that had they resided in another country, their route to leadership would have been disparate, challenging, or nonexistent.