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Advocacy

Myths of the ‘Model Minority’ Revealed

U.S. Rep. David Wu of Oregon at a June 9 panel discussion about the report at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C.
U.S. Rep. David Wu of Oregon at a June 9 panel discussion
about the report at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C.

Despite common misperceptions, Asian Americans do not compose a homogeneous racial group that tops the academic testing charts and easily enrolls at selective universities.
This was the conclusion of a study by the College Board and
New York University, which provided important research about the successes and struggles of Asian American and Pacific Islander students. The report, “Facts, Not Fiction: Setting the Record Straight,” challenged assumptions and stereotypes about AAPI students’ participation in higher education.
 
“This study examined the needs of large segments of the AAPI community that are not as well connected to college and college success as the American public might think,” said James Montoya, vice president of higher education relationship development at the College Board. “Many of these students are successful, but stereotypes are pernicious because they fail to account for a variety of students facing challenges.”

While many AAPI students achieve substantially higher levels of education than does the U.S. population as a whole, many others are less likely to complete high school or have college degrees, the report showed.

"In reality," the report said, "there are significant numbers of Asian American and Pacific Islander students who struggle with poverty; who are English-language learners increasingly likely to leave school with rudimentary language skills; who are at risk of dropping out, joining gangs and remaining on the margins of society; and who are subjected to violence and discrimination on account of race, class, gender, ethnicity or language."

U.S. Rep. David Wu of Oregon said, "The conversation in our society has had this high-income, high-education group completely overshadow this other group of folks. It has been an education process to convince folks that we are not an ethnic group, every one of which has just graduated from Harvard.”

One of the study’s authors, Robert T. Teranishi of New York University, agreed: “Certainly there’s a lot of Asians doing well, at the top of the curve, and that’s a point of pride, but there are just as many struggling at the bottom of the curve, and we wanted to draw attention to that,” he said.
 
U.S. Rep. Mike Honda of California said the study will be valuable for national leaders. “This study will help lawmakers base policies on real experiences of our students,” he said.


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