Questioning the model minority: Studies of Asian American academic performance

Asian American Journal of Psychology

Volumn 1, Issue 2, 2010, Pages 106-118

  Tran, Nellie ^a,b   Birman, Dina ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO   (United States)

^b UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS LOWELL   (United States)

Author keywords

Academic performance; Asian American; Literature review; Model minority

Indexed keywords

EID: 78650096684     PISSN: 19481985     EISSN: 19481993     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1037/a0019965     Document Type: Article

References (59)

1. Aldous, J. (2006). Family, ethnicity, and immigrant youths' educational achievements. Journal of Family Issues, 27, 1633-1667. doi:10.1177/ 0192513X06292419
2. Alva, S. A. (1993). Differential patterns of achieve-ment among Asian-American adolescents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 22, 407-423. doi: 10.1007/BF01537721
3. Barringer, H. R., Takeuchi, D. T., & Xenos, P. (1990). Education, occupational prestige, and in-come of Asian Americans. Sociology of Education, 63, 27-43.
4. Brand, D. (1987, August 31). The new whiz kids: Why Asian Americans are doing so well and what it costs them. Time, 130, 42-46.
5. Castro, J. R., & Rice, K. G. (2003). Perfectionism and ethnicity: Implications for depressive symptoms and self-reported academic achievement. Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology, 9, 64-78. doi:10.1037/1099-9809.9.1.64
6. Cauce, A. M., & Gonzales, N. (1993). Slouching towards culturally competent research: Adolescents and families of color in context. Focus (Pub-lication of Division 45 of the American Psycholog-ical Association), 7, 8-9.
7. Chang, J., & Le, T. N. (2005). The influence of parents, peer delinquency, and school attitudes on academic achievement in Chinese, Cambodian, Laotian or Mien, and Vietnamese youth. Crime & Delinquency, 51, 238-264. doi:10.1177/0011128704273469 (Pubitemid 40465743)
8. Chen, C., & Stevenson, H. W. (1995). Motivation and mathematics achievement: A comparative study of Asian-American, Caucasian-American and East Asian high school students. Child Development, 66, 1215-1234. doi:10.2307/1131808
9. Condron, D. J. (2007). Stratification and educational sorting: Explaining ascriptive inequalities in early childhood reading group placement. Social Problems, 54, 139-160.
10. Cortina, J. M. (1993). What is coefficient alpha? An examination of theory and applications. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78, 98-104.
11. Crosnoe, R., & Elder, G. H., Jr. (2004). Family dynamics, supportive relationships, and Educational resilience during adolescence. Journal of Family Issues, 25, 571-602. doi:10.1177/ 0192513X03258307
12. Desimone, L. (1999). Linking parent involvement with student achievement: Do race and income matter? The Journal of Educational Research, 93, 11-31.
13. Eaton, M. J., & Dembo, M. H. (1997). Differences in the motivational beliefs of Asian American and Non-Asian students. Journal of Educational Psychology, 89, 433-440. doi:10.1037/0022-0663.89.3.433
14. Fuligni, A. J. (1997). The academic achievement of adolescents from immigrant families: The roles of family background, attitudes, and behavior. Child Development, 68, 351-363.
15. Fuligni, A. J., Witkow, M., & Garcia, C. (2005). Ethnic identity and the academic adjustment of adolescents from Mexican, Chinese, and European backgrounds. Developmental Psychology, 41, 799-811. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.41.5. 799 (Pubitemid 41400797)
16. Goyette, K., & Xie, Y. (1990). Educational expecta-tions of Asian-American youth: Determinants and ethnic differences. Sociology ofEducation, 72, 22-36. doi:10.2307/2673184
17. Guerrero, A. P. S., Hishinuma, E. S., Andrade, N. N., Nishinmura, S. T., & Cunanan, V. L. (2006). Cor-relations among socioeconomic and family factors and academic, behavioral, and emotional difficul-ties in Filipino adolescents in Hawaii. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 52, 343-359. doi:10.1177/0020764006065146 (Pubitemid 44857062)
18. Hao, L., & Bonstead-Bruns, M. (1998). Parents' ex-trafamilial resources and children's school attain-ment. Sociology of Education, 67, 159-183. doi: 10.2307/2673201
19. Helms, J. E. (2007). Some better practices for mea-suring racial and ethnic identity constructs. Journals of Counseling Psychology, 54, 235-246. doi: 10.1037/0022-0167.54.3.235 (Pubitemid 47444781)
20. Hishinuma, E. S., Else, I. R. N., Chang, J. Y., Goe-bert, D. A., Nishimura, S. T., Choi-Misailidis, S., & Andrade, N. N. (2006). Substance use as a robust correlate of school outcome measures for ethnically diverse adolescents of Asian/Pacific Is-lander Ancestry. School Psychology Quarterly, 21, 286-322. doi:10.1521/scpq.2006.21.3.286
21. Huss-Keeler, R. L. (1997). Teacher perception of ethnic and linguistic minority parental involve-ment and its relationships to children's language and literacy learning: A case study. Teaching and Teacher Education, 13, 171-182. doi:10.1016/S0742-051X(96)00018 -2
22. Kao, G. (1995). Asian Americans as model minori-ties: A look at their academic performance. American Journal of Education, 103, 121-159. doi: 10.1086/444094
23. Kao, G., & Rutherford, L. T. (2007). Does social capital still matter? Immigrant minority disadvan-tage in school-specific social capital and its effects on academic achievement. Sociological Perspec-tives, 50, 27-52. doi:10.1525/sop.2007.50.1.27
24. Kao, G., & Tienda, M. (1995). Optimism and achievement: The educational performance of im-migrant youth. Social Science Quarterly, 76, 1-19. doi:10.1086/444188
25. Kim, R. Y. (2002). Ethnic differences in academic achievement between Vietnamese and Cambodian children: Cultural and structural explanations. Sociological Quarterly, 43, 213-235. doi:10.1111/j.1533-8525.2002.tb00047.x
26. Kline, R. B. (2005). Principles and practices of structural equation modeling. New York: Guilford Press.
27. Knight, G. P., & Hill, N. E. (1998). Measurement equivalence in research involving minority adolescents. In V. C. McLoyd & L. Steinberg (Eds.), Studying minority adolescents: Conceptual, meth-odological, and theoretical issues. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
28. Lee, S. J. (1994). Behind the model-minority stereo-type: Voices of high-and low-achieving Asian American students. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 25, 413-429.
29. Lee, S. J., Wong, N.-W. A., & Alvarez, A. N. (2009). The model minority and the perpetual foreigner: Stereotypes of Asian Americans. In N. Tewari & A. N. Alvarex (Eds.), Asian American psychology: Current perspectives (pp. 69-84) New York: Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group.
30. Levin, S., Van Laar, C., & Foot, W. (2006). Ethnic segregation and perceived discrimination in col-lege: Mutual influences and effects on social and academic life. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 36, 1471-1501. doi:10.1111/j.0021-9029.2006.00068.x (Pubitemid 43823220)
31. Lew, J. (2007). A structural analysis of success and failure of Asian Americans: A case of Korean Americans in urban schools. Teachers College Record, 109, 369-390.
32. Marinari, M. (2005). Racial formation and success among Korean high school students. The Urban Review, 37, 375-398. doi:10.1007/s11256-005-0019-x (Pubitemid 43548772)
33. Mau, W. (1995). Educational planning and academic achievement of middle school students: A racial and cultural comparison. Journal of Counseling and Development, 73, 518-526.
34. Mau, W. (1997). Parental influences on the high school students' academic achievement: A com-parison of Asian immigrants, Asian Americans, and White Americans. Psychology of Schools, 34, 267-277. (Pubitemid 127353587)
35. Nguyen, H. H., Messe, L. A., & Stollak, G. E. (1999). Toward a more complex understanding of accul-turation and adjustment: Cultural involvements and psychosocial functioning in Vietnamese youth. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 30, 5-31.
36. Osajima, K. (1993). The hidden injuries of race. In L. A. Revilla, G. M. Nomura, S. Wong, & S. Hune (Eds.), Bearing dreams, shaping visions: Asian Pacific American perspectives (pp. 81-91). Pull-man, WA: Washington State University Press.
37. Pearce, R. R. (2006). Effects of cultural and social structural factors on the achievement of White and Chinese American students at school transition points. American Educational Research Jour-nal, 43, 75-101. doi:10.3102/ 00028312043001075 (Pubitemid 43481168)
38. Pearce, R. R., & Lin, Z. (2005). Cultural capital and postsecondary educational attainment among White and Chinese Americans: An analysis of NELS 1988-2000. Asian American Policy Review, 4, 19-37. doi:10.1080/00131910600796827
39. Peng, S. S., & Wright, D. (1994). Explanation of academic achievement of Asian American stu-dents. Journal of Educational Research, 87, 346-352.
40. Peterson, W. (1966). Success Story: Japanese-American Style. New York Times, 6, 20-43.
41. Portes, A., & MacLeod, D. (1996). Educational progress of children of immigrants: The roles of class, ethnicity, and school context. Sociology of Education, 69, 255-275.
42. Reis, H. T., & Judd. C. M. (2000). Handbook of research methods in social and personality Psychology. New York: Cambridge University Press.
43. Ryan, W. (1976). Blaming the victim. New York: Random House Inc.
44. Sasao, T., & Sue, S. (1993). Toward a culturally-anchored ecological framework of research for ethnocultural communities. American Journal of Community Psychology, 21, 761-783.
45. Schneider, B., & Lee, Y. (1990). A model for aca-demic success: The school and home environment of East Asian students. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 21, 538-377.
46. Shih, M., Pittinsky, T. L., & Trahan, A. (2006). Domain-specific effects of stereotypes on performance. Self & Identity, 5, 1-14. doi: 10.1080/ 15298860500338534
47. Shrake, E. K., & Rhee, S. (2004). Ethnic identity as a predictor of problem behaviors among Ko-rean American adolescents. Adolescence, 39, 601-623.
48. Slodnjak, V., Kos, A., & Yule, W. (2002). Depres-sion and parasuicide in refugee and Solvienian adolescents. Crisis, 23, 127-132. doi: 10.1111/ j.1559-1816.2003.tb01905.x
49. Steinberg, L., Dornbusch, S. M., & Brown, B. B. (1992). Ethnic differences in adolescent achieve-ment. American Psychologist, 47, 723-729. doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.47.6.723
50. Stevenson, H. W., Lee, S.-Y., Chen, C., Lummis, M., Stigler, J., Fan, F., & Ge, F. (1990). Mathematics achievement of children in China and the United States. Child Development, 61, 1053-1066. http:// www.jstor.org/stable/ 1130875
51. Success story of one minority group in the U.S. U.S. News & World Report, (1966, December 26) 7378.
52. Sue, S., & Okazaki, S. (1990). Asian-American ed-ucational achievements: A phenomenon in search of an explanation. American Psychologist, 45, 913-920. doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.45.8.913
53. Suzuki, B. H. (1977). Education and the socialization of Asian Americans: A revisionist analysis of the "Model Minority" thesis. Amerasia, 4, 23-51.
54. Suzuki, B. H. (2002). Revisiting the model minority stereotype: Implications for student affairs practice and higher education. New Directions for Student Services, 2002, 21-32.
55. Trickett, E. J., Watts, R., & Birman, D. (2006). Human diversity and community psychology: Still hazy after all these years. Journal of Community Psychology, 21, 264-279.
56. Vartanian, T. P., Karen, D., Buck, P. W., & Cadge, W. (2007). Early factors leading to college gradu-ation for Asians and non-Asians in the United States. Sociological Quarterly, 48, 165-197. doi: 10.1111/j.1533-8525.2007. 00075.x
57. Witkow, M. R., & Fuligni, A. J. (2007). Achievement goals and daily school experiences among adolescents with Asian, Latino, and European American backgrounds. Journal of Educational Psychology, 99, 584-596.
58. Yan, W., & Lin, Q. (2005). Parent involvement and mathematics achievement: Contrast across racial and ethnic groups. The Journal of Educational Research, 99, 116-127.
59. Yu, T. (2006). Challenging the politics of the "model minority" stereotype: A case for educational equality. Equity & Excellence in Education, 39, 325-333.