Introduction

Arab Americans comprise over 1.8 million people in the US (Ajrouch and Shin, 2018) identified as having ancestry from 18 nations [Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen] (Asi and Beaulieu, 2013). They have received scholarly attention in terms of identity, religiosity, and citizenship. However, little research has examined the college experiences of these recent immigrants. Middle Eastern and Muslim American family values stress family obligation and kin support over individual needs (Haddad and Smith, 1996). Muslim American parents often attempt to preserve religious beliefs and practices and resist children's acculturation to dominant American culture (Haddad and Smith, 1996). Christian Arab Americans have had a relatively easier assimilation into white American society (Ajrouch and Jamal, 2007), although they also face cultural adaptation. This situation creates tensions for young adult college students, although little is known about how they navigate this process. In this chapter, we examine the gendered college experiences of Arab American young women, especially how they blend their college experiences with family expectations.

In the American context, college students fall into an “emerging adulthood” period (age 18–25). This phase represents a period of “independent role exploration” (Arnett, 2000, p. 469), characterized by identity exploration in careers and romance, a lack of adult responsibilities, and a time of experimentation. Research on Arab American emerging adults has found that they experience psychological pressure as a result of straddling two competing cultural worlds: the Arab community, which emphasizes ethnicity and family togetherness, and the individualistic American society which their parents often consider to be morally compromised (Swanson, 1996; Naber, 2012).

Generally, Arab and Muslim parents adhere to a more traditional or conservative approach to gender interactions between young adults in comparison to the more liberal American dating practices (Haddad and Smith, 1996). In particular, girls and young women are closely supervised and have restrictions on their interactions with the opposite sex (Haddad and Smith, 1996; Haddad, 2009). Middle Eastern and Arab American parents focus on pro-natalist values, such as early marriage and childbearing, and girls’ purity before marriage.