The Model Minority Student.docx

The Model Minority Student.docx

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TheModelMinorityStudent

TheModelMinorityStudent:

AsianAmericanStudentsandtheRelationshipsBetween

AcculturationtoWesternValues,FamilyPressures,

andMentalHealthConcerns

NathanDivinoPanelo

DuringthebeginningofthefallsemesterattheUniversityofVermont（UVM）,

Ifoundmyselfstudyinginarelativelysecludedarea.AsIwasimmersedinmy

reading,InoticedanAsianmalestaringoutofawindowwithaconcernedlook

onhisface.Idecidedtoflaghimdownandhaveafriendlyconversation.Aswe

talked,westartedtodiscusshowitfeelstobeanAsianAmericanatapredominantly

Whiteinstitution.Ourexperiencesadjustingtothecampuswerequite

similareventhoughwegrewupwithverydifferentchildhoods.Hegrewupin

BostonandIgrewupinSeattle,butwebothhadastrongconnectiontoour

cultureandourfamily.

AstheAsianAmericanstudentpopulationgrowsinUnitedStates

（U.S.）highereducation,sodoesthedemandforresourcesoncampus.

OnemajorconcernfacingAsianAmericanstodayistheculturalpressure

fromhomewhichoftenleadstomentalhealthconcerns.Many

AsianAmericanstudentsacculturatetoWesternvaluesinUnited

Statescolleges,andindoingso,sacrificepartoftheirtraditionalidentities.

AsAsianAmericanstudentsacculturatetoWesternvalues,it

becomesdifficultforthemtorelatetotheirimmigrantparentsorfirstgeneration

AsianAmericanparents.Incontrast,AsianAmerican

studentswhofeelclosetotheirtraditionalvaluescanfinddifficulty

transitioningintocollegeduetothediscriminationtowardtheirculture

andlackofsocialsupport.Thisarticlewillidentifyhowacculturation

toWesternvaluesandparentalpressuresaboutacademicscanleave

AsianAmericanstudents—oftenreferredtoas“modelminorities”—

depressedandemotionallyunstable.

NathanDivinoPaneloisasecond-yearHESAstudentoriginallyfromWashingtonState

whereheobtainedaB.A.inHumanServicesatWesternWashingtonUniversity.Hiscurrent

assistantshipiswithResidentialLifeasanAssistantResidentDirector.Havinglivedina

primarilyFilipinoAmericancommunitymostifhislife,Nathan’sgraduateschoolexperience

atUVMhascreatedpassionworkingwithotherAsianAmericansandtheiridentitydevelopmental

.Ultimately,NathanwouldliketoendupinmulticulturalaffairsworkingwithAsian

Americanstudentsandtheirintersectingidentitiesinhighereducationandstudentaffairs.

Panelo

148•TheVermontConnection•2010•Volume31

Wediscussedhowitfelttobefirst-generationcollegestudentsgrowingupwith

Americanideologies,sharingculturalvaluesandinterests.WhenIaskedwhat

hewasmajoringin,hesaidthathewasgoingintomedicine,mostlybecauseit

iswhathisparentswanted.Healsosaidthathewastakingaclassinvisualarts

andthathistruepassionwasdrawing.WhenIaskedhimwhyhewasnotmajoring

inart,heresponded,“BecausemyparentswoulddisownmeifItoldthemI

wantedtomajorindrawingcartoons.”Hewentontosaythathefeltlikehewas

notabletoconnectwithanyoneonthiscampusandhecontemplatedtransferring

toaschoolthatwouldsuithimbetter.Igottheimpressionthatitwasnot

untilourconversationthathefeltcomfortabletalkingabouthisfeelingsabout

hisexperiencesatUVM.Aswepartedways,IstartedtothinkaboutwhenIwas

afirst-yearundergraduateandhowtherapeuticitwasformetoventtosomeone

whounderstoodmyfrustrationsandanxietiesasanAsianAmerican.

ThisarticlewilldiscusstheconcernsofAsianAmericanfirst-andsecond-generation

collegestudentswhofeelfullyintegratedintheirculturalheritageand

howtheiracculturationtoWesternculturerelatestomentalhealthconcerns.

Thisarticlewillalsoaddresshowparentalinvolvementorpressuretoperform

academicallyperpetuatesthemodelminoritymyth.Finally,Ioutlinethesteps

studentaffairsprofessionalsmusttaketosupportAsianAmericanstudentson

collegecampuses.

Theterms“Western,”“American,”and“UnitedStates”（U.S.）areusedinterchangeably

inthisarticle.Mostoftheliteraturereviewedusesthesetermsto

representU.S.-bornAsianAmericanstudents.Further,theresearchstudiessummarized

herewereconductedintheU.S.However,theterms“Western”and

“American”encompassmorethanjusttheU.S.andfindingscouldapplytoAsian

AmericanstudentsinotherpartsofNorthAmerica.Itisalsoimportanttonote

thattheAsiancultureisbrokenupintosubcultures（forexample,Chinese,Korean,

Laotian,Hmong,Japanese,Filipino,etc.）thatdonotexactlyfollowthe

sameculturalideologies.Whatmightworkforonesubgroupmightnotworkfor

another.

AsianAmericanStudentsandAcculturation

AsianAmericanstudentswhohavelivedmost,ifnotalloftheirlives,inthe

U.S.mayhavemixedfeelingsaboutacculturationintoAmericansociety（Kim

&Omizo,2005）.Acculturationisdefinedasadaptingtothenormativeprocess

ofthedominantculture（Kim&Omizo）.Someexamplesofacculturationare:

assumingEnglishasone’sprimarylanguage,adaptingtoWesternsocietalvalues,

anddisplayingmannerismsnormativeinAmericansociety（Lee,Choe,Kim,&

Ngo,2000）.Anindividual’sacculturationofWesternculturecanvarydepending

onthelengthoftimelivedintheU.S.,regionallocation,socioeconomic

Panelo•149

status,anddemographicsofthecommunity（McCarron&Inkelas,2006）.Many

first-generationstudentsinhighereducationacculturatetoWesternculturemuch

fasterthantheirimmigrantparents（Leeetal.）.Itiscommonforfamilymembers

whoimmigratetoAmericatorejectacculturationbyconsistentlyusingtheirnative

language,practicingtraditionallifestylesandculturalnorms,andbyforcing

theirchildrentoabidebytheirnativeculturalvalues（Leeetal.）.

AsianAmericanstudentsaretypicallyperceivedashavingeithertraditionalor

Westernvalues.AsianAmericanswhoholdtraditionalvaluesarecharacterizedas

valuinginterdependence,harmony,collectivism,andhierarchyinfamilystructure

（Chang,1996;Kim&Omizo,2005）.Incontrast,Westerncultureisperceived

tovalueindividualism,autonomy,future-orientedthinking,andcompetition

（Kim&Omizo）.BothWesternandtraditionalAsianvaluesguidehowAsian

Americanstudentsthink,feel,andbehavethroughouttheircollegeexperience

（Kim&Omizo）.TraditionalAsianvaluescanbeenforcedbyparents,family,

andcommunity,butareoftenrejectedbystudentswhobelieveitisbeneficialto

followWesternculture（Leeetal.,2000）.StudieshaveshownthatsomeAsian

Americanstudentswhoadopttheseopposingsetsofvaluesmayleadtoconflict

whenattendingcollegewhilelivingathome（Aldwin&Greenberger,1987）.Also,

possessingbothWesternandtraditionalAsianvaluescanresultinapessimistic

personality,orfeelingguilty,anxious,orboth（Zane,Sue,Hu,&Kwon,1991）.

KimandOmizo（2005）statedthatAsianAmericanstudentscanfindresolution

byintegratingWesternandAsianculturesintotheirdailyinteractionson

campus.Studentintegrationisdefinedasbecomingproficientinthedominant

culturewhilesimultaneouslymaintainingtheirsetofindigenousculturalvalues.

Psychologically,integrationforAsianAmericanstudents,aswellasmanyother

racialidentities,canallowculturalvaluestobeexpressedinbothWesternand

AsianAmericansystems,particularlywhenculturalvaluesareinopposition.

ManyAsianAmericanshavesettledandintegratedintoWesternculture,giving

anoutwardperceptionof“contentconformity.”Thisconformitymayreinforce

theassumptionthatAsianAmericansdonotneedthesupportandresourcesafforded

tootherdiversegroups.Unfortunately,thisisnotthecase.

TheModelMinorityStudent

InastudyconductedbyMcCarronandInkelas（2006）,Asianstudentshadthe

highestgraduationratecomparedtootherunderrepresentedracialandethnic

groups.Areasonforthiscouldbeduetoasolidworkethicandthedrivefor

successvaluedinAsiancultures,alsoknownintheAsian/AsianAmericancommunity

asthe“AmericanDream”（Cheng&Espiritu,1989）.Thisleadstothe

perceptionofAsianAmericansasa“modelminority.”Thetermmodelminority

isalabelforAsianAmericansbecausetheyareseenasthemostculturallyadap150

•TheVermontConnection•2010•Volume31

tiveminoritygroup（Mallinchrodt,Shigeoka,&Suzuki,2005;Solberg,Ritsma,

Davis,Tata,&Jolly,1994）.Thoughtheideaofbeingamodelminorityseemslike

apositiveperceptionofAsianAmericansandtheircommunity,thisdesignation

hasnegativeeffects.

Asmodelminoritystudentsincollege,AsianAmericansareexpectedtoacademically

outperformandworkmorethanstudentsfromallotherminoritygroups

inclasses,co-curricularactivities,andpart-timejobs（Cress&Ikeda,2003）.This

ideaofbeingthemodelminoritystudentcanbereinforcedathomebyfamily

andparents’highexpectations.Unfortunately,manyparentsdonotunderstand

thesocialandpsychologicalproblemsthatcomewithbeinglabeledasthemodel

minority.

InCressandIkeda’sstudy（2003）,508AsianAmericancollegestudentswere

surveyedovertwoyears.Thesurvey’sintentwastocomparetheirfeelingsof

depressiontothoseofothercollegestudents.ThestudyfoundthatmoreAsian

Americanstudentsreportedfeelingdepressedthantheirpeers,bothWhitestudents

andotherstudentsofcolor.Thestudyalsofoundthatthemajorityof

AsianAmericanstudentswhofeeldepressedseetheircampusashavinganegative

climatewheretheyexperiencehostilityanddiscrimination（Cress&Ikeda）.

ThemodelminoritylabelalsodiscouragesAsianAmericanstudentsfromseeking

supportservicesoncamp