Overview
The project focuses on women from four Southeast Asian countries, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam, who are living in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. At the time of the study, all of the women lived in either Maryland or Virginia, and some worked in the District of Columbia.

In choosing which women to interview for this project, the project directors consulted members of the Southeast Asian American community and the advisory committee. Those chosen for interviews were women who could serve as role models for young Southeast Asian Americans and whose life examples would help break stereotypes of passive, quiet, stay-at-home Southeast Asian women. The criteria for selection was:

• Women who combine a professional career while still maintaining their cultural traditions.
• Women who have acquired training and education in the United States in fields not traditionally participated in by women in Southeast Asia, such as law, politics, engineering and medicine.
• Women who have successfully applied skills learned in their native countries to their new environment, such as dance instruction and handicrafts production.