Too Smart to Fail

Abstract

There is a considerable history of misunderstandings associated with Asian American in education. Although many educators and scholars have begun to pay more attention to unique issues associated with this population, studies exploring these students’ experiences as honors students in collegiate contexts are scant in the educational literature. The purpose of this study is to explore high-achieving Asian American students’ perceptions of their experiences in a collegiate honors program. Using an ecological framework, the authors explored four Asian American students’ unique experiences as members of a collegiate honors program at a large university in the Midwest. Using consensual qualitative research as a methodological framework, six domains were found: (a) experiences in the honors program, (b) resources, (c) perceptions of ethnic identity, (d) career aspirations, (e) suggestions for gifted students, and (f) needs and hopes.