Stereotypes Mask Struggle of Some Asian Americans

The perception of Asian Pacific Americans as “model minorities” who whiz through school is simplistic and masks the reality that large groups of them are struggling in classrooms and need help, according to a report to be released today.

“There are definitely Asian Pacific American groups who are doing well, but there are also groups who are definitely at risk, such as Southeast Asians and Pacific Islanders,” said Kenyon Chan, chair of the Asian American studies department at Cal State Northridge and co-author of an assessment of Asian Pacific Americans.

The assessment, part of the American Council on Education’s 15th annual Status Report on Minorities in Higher Education, provides historical information about the arrival of various Asian Pacific American groups in the United States, their struggles for equality as well as demographic and educational trends. The assessment was prepared by Chan and Shirley Hune, associate dean of the graduate division at UCLA.

The report found that the stereotype of Asian Pacific American students as well-behaved high achievers who succeed despite socioeconomic and linguistic obstacles masks a more complicated appraisal of their education in the United States.

Large numbers of Hmong, Cambodians and Laotians, for example, had attained less than a fifth-grade education in 1990, according to the report. It also found that although Pacific Islanders graduate from high school in significant numbers, they are less likely than other Asian Pacific Americans to enroll in college and graduate.

But the reality that some Asian Pacific Americans are struggling is often hidden in statistics, which clump Asian Pacific Americans together into one group, providing only a partial portrait of the community. Nearly 42% of them, for example, had earned at least a bachelor’s degree in 1994, compared with 24.3% of whites, the study found.

As a result, Chan and Hune urged that data gathered on Asian Pacific Americans be broken down by ethnicity to produce a more accurate picture of the community and ensure that policies and programs are designed to meet the needs of its various members.

“We want educational institutions to target high-risk groups and to give them attention,” Hune said.

The group’s diversity and complexity becomes apparent, Chan and Hune contend, when one considers that Asian Pacific Americans represent more than two dozen communities with different histories, religions and values.

Asian Pacific Americans are also the nation’s fastest-growing ethnic group, according to the report. Their numbers have increased from 878,000 in 1960 to 7.3 million in 1990.

In the report, Chan and Hune attempt to debunk the belief that Asian Pacific Americans excel in academics due to “cultural features.”

“They prepare themselves better and go to college at better rates and they persevere even in the face of having to take English as a second language,” Chan said. “There is a lot of evidence that they do it because they believe it’s their route to economic success in a difficult society.”

But evidence suggests that even Asian Pacific Americans with relatively high educational attainment fail to make as much as their white counterparts or the general population, Hune said. The report also reveals that Asian Pacific American women continue to lag behind their male counterparts in the number of degrees earned as well as degrees earned at the doctoral and masters levels.

The authors offer a number of recommendations, including support of affirmative action and improved language programs. They also call for development of strong faculty, staff and administrator recruitment programs for Asian Pacific Americans and strengthening doctoral recruitment and retention efforts.