The girl protagonists in Jean Kwok's "Girl in Translation" and Kelly Yang's "Front Desk" embody and reinterpret the notion of "guai" (loosely translated as "good") in their struggle to adapt to life in America. "Guai" is the most important concept governing childhood in Chinese societies. The word,…

In this article, author Annie Nguyen describes her personal encounters with the "Model Minority Myth" as a young Vietnamese American in a doctoral program. This myth assumes that all Asian Americans are inherently smart and high achieving, which is problematic when in fact there are many Asian American individuals who perform poorly.…

Research Findings: Previous research has suggested that children from immigrant families face multiple stressors associated with acculturation. One component of acculturation that has not been widely explored in relation to children's socioemotional development is limited English proficiency (LEP). Given that English is the main language used in…

Cultural, immigrant, and prejudicial contexts influence minority students' preferences for college majors and their subsequent career development. Participants were Asian Indian immigrant college students as well as their parents. The early first-generation and late first-generation students were similar to each other in their major preferences;…

In the United States, the interplay of racism, sexism, and acculturation creates psychological and social stressors that may affect the development of positive ethnic/sexual identities among Asian and Pacific Islander (API) adolescents. This article proposes a new model of identity formation theory for API gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender…

In this article we assess the literature on cultural explanations for ethno-racial differences in K-12 schooling and academic performance. Some cultural arguments problematically define certain ethno-racial identities and cultures as subtractive from the goal of academic mobility while defining the ethnic cultures and identities of others as…

Parental involvement at school offers unique opportunities for parents, and this school-based involvement has important implications for children's academic and behavioral outcomes. The authors used data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort (National Center for Education Statistics, 2001) to examine race and immigrant…

Informed by acculturation, ecological, and social capital theories, the study examined the contribution of parental acculturation, parental involvement, and intergenerational relationship to well-being in Southeast Asian American adolescents. Using data from the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study, 491 Southeast Asian American adolescents…

Background: Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) have been neglected in health research. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to (1) describe the sexual risk behaviors of a sample of AAPI community college students using questions from the National College Health Risk Behavior Survey, and (2) to compare the sexual risk behaviors of AAPI…

Asian-Americans are educational overachievers, and have been for many decades. There are various explanations for the high educational achievement of Asian-Americans. The most frequently cited theory is that their native culture places a premium on ambition, persistence, and deferred gratification. Other theories attribute this success to…

There is a widely shared belief that Asian Americans have overcome the bondage of racial discrimination to become a successful model minority. In this essay, the empirical basis of this success contention is examined against its historical background and the remifications of the belief are explored. First, the ascendance of the Asian American…

Although Asian Americans enjoy the image of a "successful minority," they also have endured hardships and prejudices. This report traces the history of the Japanese and Chinese experience in the United States. Some similarities are discernible in the immigration patterns of the two ethnic populations. The first wave of immigrants…

This paper examines acculturation of Southeast Asian-American students, most of whom come from refugee backgrounds; outlines their unique conditions of educational risk; describes assessment procedures which call for identifying skills previously developed in a different environment; and recommends reciprocal teaching to help refugee children…

Using averages to characterize populations is misleading. The normal curve for income per capita for Asian Americans is wider than for other groups. While some Asians are wealthy, many are poor. Census data are used to analyze the status of women, educational attainment, and affirmative action among Asian Americans. (VM)

Despite tremendous heterogeneity in culture, native language, values, socioeconomic status and a steadily growing presence in the United States, Asian Americans are viewed as a monolithic group under the model minority stereotype. Using the focus group approach with youth, young professionals, key/community leaders, and parent participants, the…