{"id":376,"date":"2015-10-22T00:00:51","date_gmt":"2015-10-22T00:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/248philofrace\/?p=376"},"modified":"2015-10-08T05:13:43","modified_gmt":"2015-10-08T05:13:43","slug":"the-model-minority-is-losing-patience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/248philofrace\/2015\/10\/22\/the-model-minority-is-losing-patience\/","title":{"rendered":"The Model Minority is Losing Patience"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"Asian-Americans are the United States\u2019 most successful minority, but they are complaining ever more vigorously about discrimination, especially in academia<\/h3>\n<\/hgroup>\n

This article looks at the history of Asian immigration and opportunity, and discusses possible factors that contribute to the\u00a0high rate of academic achievement in the Asian-American population, along with the\u00a0apparently disproportional university admissions numbers. It\u00a0also considers\u00a0the “bamboo ceiling” —\u00a0the phenomenon of Asians excelling in\u00a0lower and middle levels of professions, but no being visible\u00a0in the upper echelons — and\u00a0points at several potential reasons\u00a0behind this\u00a0discrepancy, from ingrained\u00a0shyness to a dearth\u00a0of mentors.<\/p>\n

I’ve highlighted some excerpts below, but I encourage you to click here to read the whole article.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n

On Asian-American academic\u00a0achievement:<\/h3>\n

“Asian-Americans make up 5.6% of the population of the United States, [yet] they make up more than 30% of the recent American maths and physics Olympiad teams and Presidential Scholars, and 25-30% of National Merit Scholarships. Among those offered admission in 2013 to New York\u2019s most selective public high schools, Stuyvesant High School and Bronx High School of Science, 75% and 60% respectively were Asian. The Asian population of New York City is 13%.”<\/p>\n

“[A study] rejected the idea that Asians were just innately much cleverer than whites: there was an early gap in cognitive abilities, but it declined to insignificance through school. The higher socioeconomic status<\/em> of Asian parents provided part of the explanation, but only a small part. […]\u00a0Asian outperformance is thanks in large part to hard work<\/em>. […]\u00a0study showed a sizeable gap in effort between Asian and white children, which grew during their school careers.”<\/p>\n

“Another study\u00a0[…]\u00a0shows that Asian-American parents<\/em> are a lot likelier to spend at least 20 minutes a day helping their children with their homework<\/em> than any other ethnic group.”<\/p>\n

\"\"On apparent\u00a0racial discrimination in academia:<\/h3>\n

“Some Asians allege that the Ivy Leagues have put an implicit limit on the number of Asians they will admit<\/em>. [Upon examining admissions data]\u00a0Asian-Americans need 140 SAT points out of 1,600 more than whites to get a place at a private university, and that blacks need 310 fewer points.”<\/p>\n

“Top universities tend to admit blacks and Hispanics with lower scores because of their history of disadvantage; and once the legacies, the sports stars, the politically well-connected and the rich people likely to donate new buildings […]\u00a0have been allotted their places, the number for people who are just high achievers is limited. Since the Ivies will not stop giving places to the privileged, because their finances depend on the generosity of the rich, the argument homes in on affirmative action.”<\/p>\n

“…the Asian-American community is unwilling on the whole to oppose affirmative action. It tends to vote Democratic, and many of its members recall the years when they were a despised, not a model, minority<\/em>. So those who dislike the way the system works tend to argue for it to be adjusted, not abolished<\/em>…”<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

On the “bamboo ceiling”:<\/h3>\n

“It is true that although Asian-Americans do remarkably well at school and university, and have high average incomes, in the workplace they are under-represented in top jobs […] Asians do well in the lower and middle levels of companies and professions, but are less visible in the upper echelons<\/em>.”<\/p>\n

“Academia […] is stuffed with Asian-American professors, but among America\u2019s 3,000<\/em> colleges there are fewer than ten<\/em> Asian-American presidents”<\/p>\n

“High-flying Asian-Americans […] suggest that\u00a0cultural patterns<\/em>\u00a0may contribute to the group\u2019s under-representation at the top. ‘There\u2019s something in the upbringing that makes Asians shy’ […] ‘We\u2019re brought up to be humble, […] My parents didn\u2019t want to rock the boat. It\u2019s about being quiet, not making waves, being part of the team.’ […] Asian-Americans are a large, diverse group exposed to a range of influences, but those who do reflect such patterns may be\u00a0less likely to bid for leadership, even if they are highly qualified.<\/em>“<\/span><\/p>\n

“…Asians may find getting mentors particularly tough. Researchers\u00a0[found that when students reach out to meet successful academics], [w]hite men got notably more responses than other groups; Asian-Americans of both sexes got fewer. Since the Ivies produce a disproportionate number of CEOs, Congressmen and judges, the apparent bias against Asian-Americans at leading universities may also keep Asians out of leadership spots.”<\/p>\n

On political power:<\/h3>\n

“[A study\u00a0shows that] it was only when Jews had gained<\/span> political power<\/em> that the Ivies stopped discriminating against them.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“Perceptions that Asian-Americans are being treated unfairly, especially in the workplace, may push more of them into politics.\u201d<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n

Questions & Food for thought:<\/h2>\n

What do you think about the statistics or stereotypes employed\u00a0this article? Do you think they are backed by legitimate reasoning or can you discern\u00a0any areas\u00a0for potential bias?<\/p>\n

What are your thoughts on affirmative action and similar reparations?<\/p>\n

Is it fair for high achieving individuals in a certain racial group are considered for admission differently than those of other racial groups?<\/p>\n

Is it problematic that race is considered and that there may be racial quotas for university admissions? Or is it\u00a0necessary (and morally just) to consider race if we’re striving for\u00a0a fair system\u00a0of academic\u00a0admissions, given how much race has\u00a0shaped socioeconomic opportunities historically?<\/p>\n

The article provides many factors that influence the level of achievement of Asian Americans in formative schooling, higher education, and the professional world. \u00a0Do you agree or do you believe\u00a0there are other things\u00a0to\u00a0consider?<\/p>\n

Do you think that an increase of\u00a0Asian American political representation\u00a0will change anything?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Asian-Americans are the United States\u2019 most successful minority, but they are complaining ever more vigorously about discrimination, especially in academia This article looks at the history of Asian immigration and opportunity, and discusses possible factors that contribute to the\u00a0high rate of academic achievement in the Asian-American population, along with the\u00a0apparently disproportional university admissions numbers. It\u00a0also … Continue reading The Model Minority is Losing Patience<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":206,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,11],"tags":[21,23,77,27,34,43,40,55,57,4,65,17,74,38],"class_list":["post-376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","category-authored-post","tag-american-history","tag-asian-american","tag-discrimination","tag-education","tag-ethnicity","tag-hispanic","tag-immigrants","tag-minorities","tag-poc","tag-race","tag-racial-identity","tag-reparations","tag-stereotypes","tag-white-privilege"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/248philofrace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/248philofrace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/248philofrace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/248philofrace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/206"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/248philofrace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=376"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/248philofrace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":383,"href":"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/248philofrace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376\/revisions\/383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/248philofrace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/248philofrace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/248philofrace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}