Learning Race in a U.S. Context: An Emergent Framework on the Perceptions of Race Among Foreign-Born Students of Color Sharon Fries-Britt, Chrystal A. George Mwangi, and Alicia M. Peralta University of Maryland Foreign-born students of color arrive in the United States with racial and cultural orientations specific to their country of origin, which are often quite distinct from issues of race and racism within the U.S. context. This qualitative study examines the college experiences of 15 foreign-born students of color to address the research question: How do foreign-born students of color perceive and respond to racialized experiences and their racial minority status in the United States? The findings of this study reveal that traditional frameworks on race and racial identity development do not fully capture the perceptions and behaviors of foreign-born students of color. Our data reveal patterns that we offer as an emergent framework on Learning Race in a U.S. Context (LRUSC). Understanding how foreign-born students make meaning of racialization in the United States can give education researchers and practitioners more holistic insight into the educational experiences of this growing student population. Keywords: race/ethnicity, racial identity, international students, students of color Foreign-born students in the United States are an increasingly heterogeneous population, originating from more than 200 countries (In- stitute of International Education, 2011). In the U.S. context many of these students are consid- ered racial and/or ethnic minorities who are exposed to issues of race, racism, and discrim- ination (Hanassab, 2006). Being the target of racial or ethnic prejudice has many implications for foreign-born students, negatively impacting their academic success, socialization, and per- sonal wellbeing (Hanassab, 2006; Lee & Rice, 2007). Currently, there is limited published lit- erature specifically examining how foreign- born students of color perceive their racial mi- nority status in the U.S. context or how they process racial/ethnic discrimination as part of their identity development. We present results of a study of foreign-born collegians of color majoring in physics and STEM-related programs. We use the term “for- eign-born” to describe the participants within our sample as each was born and raised abroad, but had varied types of citizenship statuses. Stories from these students reveal their experi- ences with implicit and explicit messages about race that are communicated by faculty, admin- istrators, staff, and other students on their U.S. campuses. In addition to describing these expe- riences, students often emphasized the ways in which their experiences impacted perceptions of self. As a result of these observations, we turned to literature on racialization in the United States, experiences of international students of color, and racial/ethnic identity development models to guide further analysis of participants’ experiences. This study addresses the question: How do foreign-born students of color perceive and respond to racialized experiences and their racial minority status in the United States? Literature Review Definitions and classifications of race are so- cially constructed, rather than genetically deter- mined (Bashi & McDaniel, 1997). In the United States, racial constructions reflected in today’s society originate from white European coloni- zation of Native Americans, enslavement of Af- ricans, and the oppression and marginalization of ethnic communities including Asian and La- Sharon Fries-Britt, Chrystal A. George Mwangi, and Ali- cia M. Peralta, Department of Counseling, Higher Educa- tion and Special Education, University of Maryland. Correspondence concerning this article should be ad- dressed to Sharon Fries-Britt, Associate Professor, Univer- sity of Maryland, 3112F Benjamin Building, College Park, MD 20742. E-mail: sfries@umd.edu This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers. This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education © 2014 National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education 2014, Vol. 7, No. 1, 1–13 1938-8926/14/$12.00 DOI: 10.1037/a0035636 1