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.
