The Educasianal Experience

Asian American students are commonly noted as being high-achievers. It is what forms the basis of the stereotype that more or less suggests that Asian American students are always the brightest and best students out there. Now, while this is not a post about the stereotype itself per se, it is about the roots of this misconception, or the educational experience to which many Asian American students go through. Particularly, it encompasses how cultural and familial values within the majority of Asian American homes greatly affect the lives of student children at school; and, moreover the role by which such values play in the lives of those who attend college or university.

Before entering a college or university, the majority of students’ skills and values are shaped in their high school years. For many Asian American students, these values stem from family experiences, expectations and cultural attitudes or standards. In particular, Asian American parents are extremely involved with their high school student children. Typically, there are cohesive and collective perceptions on education for those parents based on comprehensive research. Upon common belief, parents hold high standards in terms of the educational process concerning both their adolescent children and the teachers. Although slightly different for each ethnic group, the parents value education and proper schooling for two main reasons: to seek and analyze their inner-self and to more obviously obtain knowledge in order to better find the inner-self. This kind of reasoning is the “Asian concept of self- perfection called ‘Confucian’, which in simple words means to constantly work to improve oneself and to achieve diligence and concentration” (Qureshi 24). Because of this, education is the primary focus of their children. Moreover, Asian American parents tend to see their children as vicarious figures, in which the children are a continuation of themselves. Thus, a majority of Asian American families use their children’s academic performance to grade each other on the competency of their parenting. Additionally, minority parents such as those within the Asian American community value education and want their adolescent children to succeed in school because they want a better life of opportunity to combat the racism within America against Asian Americans. Without proper education, it is believed that their lives would be in danger of struggle (Esparza 1). 

Cultural expectations and family expectations go hand-in-hand with the educational experience. When Asian American students achieve the high school level, these expectations take on crucial roles for their academic performance. A majority of Asian American families view their children’s educational path as a sort of obligatory favor the children must return. In doing so, family values such as working hard, reliability and most importantly honor, greatly affect Asian American students both negatively and positively. These familial expectations designate more worth and pressure on what the family appears to be rather than on the individual; hence, parental-adolescent relationships and parental involvement with the educational process is very strong. Strong in terms of two extremes, Asian American parents can either be nurturing and help extensively with the college planning process while offering a significant amount of encouragement. Many scholars believe “[...] maternal and parental support may be alike for European and [Asian Americans], the most significant being a shared understanding of autonomy [...]” (Nagabhushan 245). On the other hand, many parents tremendously emphasize their common Asian cultural values and use it to be overbearing with the transition from high school to college, a topic we will discuss later.

As a result of these family values, Asian American high school students develop an

identity of which they are conscious. Due to this conscious identity and family’s high expectations, Asian American high school students are performing very high on SAT and advanced placement (AP) exams, necessary for college acceptance. According to Stephanie Banchero, “[h]igh school students' performance on the SAT college-entrance exam remained mostly unchanged from last year, except for notable gains by Asian-Americans, who continue to outperform all other test takers” (Banchero 10). The same goes for AP exams in which Asian American students are outperforming other racial minorities in subjects of math and science. In addition, high school graduation rates are now higher for Asian Americans than for their other student counterparts; however, what happens when these students enter a university or college?

The majority of the ethnic studies of Asian American school achievements are conducted targeting the high school level. However, it equally important to note that Asian American culture influences the school performance of children prior to high school. From the beginning of elementary school, Asian Americans are reported to possess exceptional math skills that are very similar to the scores of white children, the next highest scoring ethnic group. For example, 97% to 100% of AsianAmerican compared to 96% to 99% of white children first­ graders were found to be skilled in letter recognition and beginning and ending sounds. In addition, 64% to 90% of Asian American children compared to 53% to 88% of white children were able to read sight words and interpret words in context. In comparison to other minority children, Asian Americans were discovered to score higher in reading letters, prefixes, and suffixes than Spanish­ language households. 7% of Asian American children were able to read sight words and 4% were able to read paragraphs, whereas less than 1% of the Spanish­ speaking students were able to accomplish these tasks (respectively).

Education is obviously prioritized in Asian cultures, regardless of age. Young Asian American children are repeatedly embedded with the lesson that education determines their futures. They are disciplined with the mindset to work hard in school in order to secure their futures with good jobs. Parents emphasize the fact that education is the root of success and children are often harshly criticized when they perform otherwise. 

The transition made from the traditional high school system to the standards held at the collegiate level can be a huge change to anyone, especially minority students who received inadequate education in high school. At a start of new beginnings in early adulthood, many Asian Americans uphold a great amount of key childhood family aspects that shape their children for the future. With the help of positive influence by Asian American families to focus on education and particular ethnic cultures, their offspring will have a clear conception of personal mental goals and individual evaluation. A study was examined specifically targeting how Asian American families may impact the interests of their offspring and how they will ultimately choose their career. During this study, “a path analysis yielded complex results indicating that family’s involvement significantly impacted career choice although it did not impact interest” (Qin 8). It is urgently important to know that it is generally up to the individual to ultimately make decisions involving their career, especially when exposed to a new beginning such as that found in college where analytical thinking and individual reflection become predominant. Another study was examined on Asian Americans and the role of family influence on career choices and interests. Out of the sample Asian Americans who were interviewed and employed for longer than five years, they found that “seven domains that influence Asian American’s career decision making, among which family is the top domain they listed. The rest of six domains were cultural influence, external influence, career goals, role models, work values, and self-identity” (Qin 11). Ultimately, the relationship built between parents and children relates to the basic Asian principles that have to be practiced and consistent through their adolescence.

Family obligations also play a part in evoking how Asian American students portray the importance of culture and behavioral aspects in family values. One of the key aspects in cultural diversity are the ethics and morals that Asian American culture brings between parents and their children. The factors that impact the behaviors and attitudes of certain individuals, such as where children are more likely to be expected to show respect and gratitude towards their elders as well as holding a close knit emotional bond throughout their lifetime with their families. The importance of these key factors and family obligations are expected in every individual that can be traced back as far as the history in Asian cultures and ethnicities.

Nevertheless, it is important to stress the fact that it is simply at the hands of the individual to either follow the principles and guidelines taught by their Asian American culture or to abide by self-reflection and a separate path of education. Past guardianship and teachings between Asian American families and the younger minorities can often lead to where their offspring may present their interests in and where they want to be in the “society ladder and class”. With monitored assistance during teenage years and the start of building a self-proclaimed future, Asian American families can play a role to the extent of greatly impacting the way their children may perceive things as well as how they see themselves in the real world and applications. Asian American culture is deeply rooted, which plays a persistent ideology of honor and pride. But are Asian Americans truly the “above average” students who enter into elite universities? Or does the common perception lead to a wider, more complex scale in the Asian American culture, placing them at a high level of risk?

College life for the Asian American is much more stressful compared to those of other races, despite white students tending to have higher GPA’s than Asian American students. On the whole, White students tend to have easier classes compared to Asian Americans. Asian American students typically gravitate more toward hard sciences, thus receiving lower grade point averages because of the subject difficulty. Additionally, White students tend to be more autonomous in educational decisions, making choices based upon personal happiness rather than the desires of family members; desires which essentially force Asian American students into enrollment and pursuit of difficult classes and career paths. But while these more difficult courses may lower the GPA of Asian American students, they certainly do not have an impact on their graduation rates. As stated by Ying, “Consistent with this, the graduation rate of Asian American students surpassed that of Whites and other racial minorities at the University of California, Berkeley, between 1985 and 1992” (Grier-Reed 1). Case in point, while Asian Americans might have come in slightly lower with GPA levels compared to White students, they by far surpass the graduation rate of any other race. 

 Now, in terms of career decisions and pursuit of personal interests, the situation is as touched upon prior, to which Grier and Reed posit in their own work: “In short, solely focusing on personal interests may be inappropriate for Asian American clients from more collectivistic value systems that tend to emphasize careers that satisfy both their interests and their families” (Grier-Reed 1). In layman’s terms, the reality that Asian Americans students face is one in which career choice is not necessarily of their own accord, but is something that is thrust upon them, with many leaving for college in the pursuit of what is expected for them to become. In this sense, the deciding factor of happiness -and by extrapolation, ease- that marks the educational and career choices of White students is not the set point for many Asian Americans. For these students, class and career decisions are a matter of how far can one can push oneself in adherence with family desires to better the family name; a set point which in turn sees greater societal expectations toward the Asian American community.

The model minority myth places Asian Americans at higher standards, with the adverse effect of rendering invisible the oppression they face. Due to the fact that the myth more or less states that Asian Americans are already successful and thereby need no help, it therefore makes it seem as though Asian Americans have no social or educational needs. By effectively denying any helpful council that Asian Americans students may seek, the myth thusly causes great stress on students, which can have the very undesirable consequence of increased suicide rates and attempts, as well as mental illnesses. This myth is not only dangerous to Asian Americans, but also to other minorities and poor white Americans. Since Asian American students are held in higher regard, other minorities are compared to them and looked down upon for not being as “successful” as Asian Americans in measures of educational achievements and degree attainment. While this can prove to be true, despite often working harder and having higher degrees, Asian Americans have a lower return on their education due to racial bias in the workplace which prevents them from moving upward in their careers; the “bamboo ceiling” as coined by writer Jane Hyun. Through this it is possible to see that the myth of the model minority is false and misleading, and is therefore severely damaging to the Asian American population. Not only does this severely cripple the perceptions of Asian American students throughout all educational levels, but it causes those students to internalize the myth, and create for themselves a self- fulfilling prophecy wherein many Asian American college students are

likely to overwhelm themselves with a tremendous work-load to prove their hard-working and

conformed social identity. 

Modern society as a whole places a large value on education. It helps form who we are as individuals, and it is what drives each of our futures. However, not everyone views education in the same way, despite the collective opinion. Obvious as such a statement may sound, the degree of emphasis regarding it varies from person to person and from group to group. Thusly there stands the Asian American community, and their overwhelming cultural and familial emphasis on it. One that is full well understanding of the value of a proper education, though one that perhaps sees a bit more parental influence than need be. Nevertheless, it is what drives Asian Americans to achieve the top honors and highly respectable careers they are in part known for. Make no mistake though, there remains debate over such values, debate over whether or not they go too far in shaping the lives of student children; whether ‘success’ is truly paramount to happiness. To such debate there is no answer; no right or wrong. One thing is for certain though: education is of the utmost importance for many Asian American families, and will continue to be for generations to come.

Works Cited

Banchero, Stephanie. "Asian American Students Show Gains on SAT." Wall Street Journal (2010): n. pag. ProQuest. Web. 23 Mar. 2014.

Esparza, Araceli. "Poll: Minority Parents Value Education." San Gabriel Valley Tribune, (2006).

Grier-Reed, Tabitha, Ferdinand Arcinue, and Rose Chahla. "Constructivist Career Counseling with Asian American College Students." Career Planning and Adult Development Journal, 28.1 (2012): 15.

Nagabhushan, Prathiba. "Asian American Parenting and Parent-Adolescent Relationships. “Journal of Youth and Adolescence 40.2 (2011): 245-47. ProQuest. Web. 05 Mar. 2014.

Qin, Xuhua. Family Impact on Asian American's Career Choice. n.p.: ProQuest, UMI Dissertations Publishing, 2010.

Qureshi, Mariam. The Good Teacher: A Qualitative Analysis of Perceptions of Asian American Parents. n.p.: ProQuest, UMI Dissertations Publishing, 2013.

Ying, Y W, P A Lee, J L Tsai, Y Hung, M Lin, and C T Wan. "Asian American College Students as Model Minorities: An Examination of Their Overall Competence." Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology, 7.1 (2001): 59-74.

Asian Women in America

    America. The land of opportunity and the ideology where dreams come true, where every single individual has the right to achieve these dreams and are naturally created to be equal. During the 1800's was when the Asian American community, especially those of Chinese heritage, waved along the American homelands. And it wasn't long until they were experiencing heavy racial issues and discrimination. Many Chinese immigrants in particular often worked as railroad laborers with unequal wages that was commonly known as "cheap Chinese labor". But unfortunately it wasn't just the average Chinese man receiving all the racial discrimination.

     In my opinion, I believe that the gender roles played a huge role in how Asian American immigrants were treated in the United States. Unfortunately, I also believe that the women was targeted with different racial issues compared to men. Many common words often sound too familiar in regards to Chinese women in general, such as the "dragon lady" which was a Western saying to call a woman to be stereo-typically mysterious or sneaky, from common racial concepts of how Asian American women are perceived by the "dominant" White population. Another slang that was in favor of the Asian American women is a "China doll", the idea of Asian women being delicate, beautiful, and fragile just as a China doll would be.

     While many laws were being passed and regulated to eventually abolish the Chinese people in the United States, it came to show that there was a huge wave of prostitution by Chinese women. It didn't take long until news struck of these poorly treated Chinese women who worked under prostitution either partly tricked, abducted by others, or brought upon for trade in America. By the new wave of Asian prostitution, the ideology of Chinese women and men were slowly deteriorating. Soon, Americans eventually banned the immigration of those with Asian heritage. The Page Act of 1875 was the first federal immigration law that spoke directly to the Asian population. This Act was believed to pledge that all immigrants from Asia entering America was considered to be undesirable for the common good in the United States. With racial discrimination of gender roles in the Asian American community, and with different racial segregation laws and treatment, it was a huge epidemic for the Asian American population living in America during this time. It wasn't until after World War II where the United States and China fell under alliance, and eventually had things turned around in immigration and in the ways Americans perceive Asian Americans. 

Asian American Stereotypes

            There are many stereotypes that follow Asian Americans around in their daily life. So, where did these stereotypes originate? What are their benefits? What are their negative consequences? First, let’s look at different stereotypes for both men and women.

            Stereotypes for Asian American men and women differ. First, lets view Asian American male stereotypes. Asian American men are often feminized, or seen as the effeminate-sinister-Fu Manchu. Men can also be viewed as gangsters, or the amazing Kung Fu master.

Asian American women are stereotyped oppositely. Women are seen as the sexual-scheming-dangerous Dragon Lady. Or Asian American women are seen as the delicate-submissive China Doll. Often Asian American women are hyper-sexualized.

           These stereotypes have historical roots in society. For men, these stereotypes date back to the Chinese Exclusion Law and the anti-miscegenation laws. Chinese were brought to work on railroads, however their wives and families were left back in China. This made Chinese women scarce in the United States. The men were prevented from associating with other races of women due to anti-miscegenation laws. The few amount of jobs available made it so Asian American men took “feminine” jobs, like laundromats, made them appear more feminine to outsiders. For women, due to large numbers of army bases near their areas, often worked as prostitutes leading to their hyper-sexualization. When the United States made contact between themselves and Asia, it was military and these were the only experiences they had. Due to this, the stereotype was created and has not left.

           What are the consequences of these stereotypes? For Asian American men, they are less likely to be married. This is due to the fact that broader society views them as feminine. This causes them to also view themselves as effeminate. For Asian American women, they are easily objectified. The women are seen as sex objects and often fetishized. Both Asian American men and women are detached from their social roots. They do not want to surround themselves with other Asians because they also feel the racism against them.  Also, for both sexes their self-esteem is lowered. This is due to the fact that they internalize the racism against themselves. The race and gendered stereotypes against Asian Americans has seriously negative consequences. Due to the views of others imposed on them, suicide rates are high, as well as isolation. Asian identity is seen as very alien and highly stigmatized. This causes Asians to buy into stereotypes of other Asians and themselves. They are embarrassed by those less Americanized.

              I can relate to the stereotypes put on Asian Americans, particularly women. As a young blonde I am expected to be dumb, submissive, and also attractive. I have lived with this stereotype all of my life. I was always intelligent. Started in elementary school I took gate classes, and was often in classes above my grade level. When my parents bragged about me to their friends, no one believed them. I was only supposed to be a pretty face. When I graduated High School with a 4.4 GPA, with honors, and over twenty college units completed, still no one believed I could be intelligent. Also, I often go out in sweats with "messy" hair. I am always stopped by other individuals telling me I'm not supposed to look like that, because I am a Barbie Doll. Being called a Barbie Doll is the most offensive term for me. I get incredibly offended and no one can understand why. I am a person, and want to be seen as me and not a Barbie Doll. Like a China Doll, Barbie Dolls are not real people but instead social constructions of what women are supposed to act and look like.