Experiences of Gender Among Arab American Women: A Qualitative Study

Even within counseling psychology's multicultural literature, attention to persons of Arab descent remains limited. Despite counseling psychologists' goal of becoming more multiculturally proficient, the dearth of systematic empirical research on the counseling of Arab Americans is glaring. This exploratory consensual qualitative research (CQR) investigation analyzed interview data from 11Arab American women to explore their experiences at the intersections of ethnic identity and gender. In addition to describing a need to be hyperaware and responsive to societal and familial expectations, participants reported believing that they did not fit American society's view of Arab American women. They also conveyed feelings of invisibility and invalidation due to racial ambiguity, and lack of census recognition. The findings affirm the need to increase psychological focus on Arab American women to facilitate the multiculturally competent practice of counseling psychologists working with this population.