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Stereotypes Of Asian American (AA) Students

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The American population is becoming increasingly diverse. The immigrant population is projected to have an eighty-five percent increase between 2014 and 2060, outpacing native born growth. Immigrants are expected to eventually make up nineteen percent of the United States population. They made up thirteen percent in 2014 (Colby & Ortman, 2015). Racial/ Ethnic distributions of public school students throughout the U.S. are shifting. Students belonging to Asian, Hispanic, and two or more racial demographics are expected to increase by 2025 (National Center for Education Statistics, 2016).
As the population becomes more and more diverse, schools need to be aware of the unique problems students from minority groups potentially face. Cultural expertise …show more content…

Firstly, many AAs are subjected to the “model minority” stereotype, which places an expectation that a person is academically successful and inherently well-behaved due to their membership in the Asian race. This idea can be traced back to the Civil Rights Era. AAs were cast as the model race to disprove the notion of social disparity between privileged groups and ethnic minorities (Kiang, L. k., Witkow, M., & Thompson, T., 2016). Though the Civil Rights movement was successful in many aspects, this expectation of AAs still persists. There is discourse in the literature on how the model minority stereotype impacts AA students. However, there are studies that provide evidence of some AA students experiencing negative outcomes as a result of this …show more content…

Secondly, AAs may face barriers to seeking help due to a cultural perspective. Gardiner & Kosmitzki (2011) discuss throughout their textbook how there are differences in concepts of the self from individualistic and collectivist perspectives. The United States has an individualistic culture which focuses more on individual achievement and less on one’s relationship with others. Collectivist cultures, such as Japan, believe that one has responsibility to the group. There is dependence in roles, and one’s self-concept is defined by being part of a group. Concerning the workplace, collectivism is defined as the “...degree to which a culture facilitates conformity, compliance, and the striving for harmony in the workplace” (Gardiner & Kosmitzki, 2011). This need to comply and conform may have an effect a student’s decision to seek help for issues, which is concerning considering that there is a higher prevalence of social anxiety in Asian American populations compared to other cultural

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