Running head: RESEARCH REPORT

Research Report
Alysia Sin
SDAD 5300
Dr. Stringer
November 5, 2014
Seattle University

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Abstract
With the shift in the college-going culture in America, Asian American students are seen as the
model minority with impressive percentages of students graduating from college and beyond.
However, what people do not realize is that these numbers are quite skewed. Southeast Asian
American students, specifically from Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, and Hmong differ
significantly culturally from their East Asian neighbors from China, Korea, Japan, etc. Using
other academic research, Yang discusses how English language skills; discrimination; systematic
communication between students, parents, and teachers; and feelings of alienation in school all
have instrumental effects on Southeast Asian American students and their academic/professional
careers. This research is crucial to the world of student affairs because it shows us that culture is
a huge piece of a students educational development and that institutional policy and resources
are not where they need to be in order to serve all students successfully.

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Although a remarkable number of Asian Americans have successfully graduated from

college and beyond, society as a whole is under the wrong impression that all Asian American
students are the model minority. Yangs article goes into detail describing why students whose
parents that immigrated from Southeast Asia specifically highlighting Cambodia, Vietnam,
Thailand, Laos, and Hmong have great academic difficulty due to cultural and institutional
factors, including but not limited to English language skills; discrimination; systematic
communication between students, parents, and teachers; and feelings of alienation in school. In
2000, 25.2% of Asian Americans aged 25 and over held bachelors degrees or higher, compared
with 15.5% of Americans overall. In contrast, among the various Southeast Asian American
groups, the percentage with bachelors degrees ranged from 5.9%-14.8% -- proportions that more
closely resemble those of African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, than those of Asian
Americans in aggregate (Yang, 2004). With significant numbers of SE Asian Americans living
in the United States and more importantly, their continued indication of need, it is essential that
there is more focused attention on the education of this particular group of Asian Americans
(Yang 2004).
All of the above-mentioned reasons have shown significant impact on SE Asian
American students (SEAAS.) Firstly, even if SEAAS were born in America, the fact that their
parents may not be able to speak any English has a huge influence on the way that they learn and
speak English. If their parents welcome and support English they will most likely have no
problems being bilingual. However, if their parents see them learning and speaking English as
throwing away their culture they will have many problems even if they were born in this country.
This issue of English skills leads to systematic miscommunication between students, parents, and
teachers. They already often have trouble communicating with each other so when school issues

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come up it adds this extra layer of difficulty when parents have limited knowledge of, and impact
on, their childrens educational development. These language barriers have more effects than
people may think. Many Southeast Asian American parents and children may find it difficult to
communicate with each other because they have very different conceptions of healthy
parent/child relationships (Yang, 2004). Therefore, students internalize all of the cultureclashing at home and bring to school with them and it greatly affects their behavior at school.
Something that either heightens or neutralizes that clashing is the way in which teachers and
administrators interact with them. Educators either see SEAAS as the model minority or a
different view that is equally as damaging is that they are incapable of first-rate academic
achievement (Yang, 2004). There has been research done that has been reported that teachers
have discouraged their SEAAS in taking advanced placement courses and scholarship
opportunities. (Yang, 2004) The last major reason is feelings of alienation from not seeing
teachers and staff that look like them and barely hearing anything about their culture in the
curriculum. This is a critical factor because feeling a sense of belonging and community can
ultimately make or break students academic careers.
Ultimately, this information is crucial to the recruitment and retainment of all students not
just SEAAS. This helps us remember to not generalize our students and that they are all
individuals. This also shows that there is so much room for improvement in student and
academic affairs in inclusive programming and that culture plays a huge part in a students
development in college. As educators and higher education professionals, we need to all be
aware of this for all students of color in order to best serve them.

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References

Yang, K. (2004). Southeast Asian children: not the model minority.Future of Children. 14(2),
127-133. Retrieved from http://www.eric.ed.gov/contentdelivery/servlet/ERICServlet?
accno=EJ795838