Asian American Students Research Articles

Here's How The Affirmative Action Conversation Fails Asian American Students

Here's How The Affirmative Action Conversation Fails Asian American Students

Interconnectedness of mindfulness facets and their impact on mental health outcomes in Asian American and European American college students: A network approach.

Despite extensive research supporting the effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions, the understanding of the dynamic connections between various mindfulness facets, particularly across diverse cultures, remained limited. This study aimed to investigate the networks among mindfulness aspects across different cultural backgrounds and their individual associations with mental health and well-being. Using the data collected from 710 undergraduate students in Hawaii (445 Asian Americans, 265 European Americans), we constructed sparse networks for each group to investigate their centrality index. To compare the overall structures of these networks, we utilized permutation-based tests. In addition, we used relative weight analysis to evaluate the distinct contributions of each mindfulness facet to positive and negative mental health outcomes. The results indicated similar trends in both racial groups, emphasizing the importance of specific mindfulness aspects like describing and acting with awareness within the mindfulness construct. However, notable variations were observed, particularly in how observing and nonjudging facets related among Asian Americans. In addition, acting with awareness and nonjudging showed substantial inverse associations with negative mental health outcomes across groups, whereas the observing aspect displayed positive connections with anxiety and stress among Asian Americans. The findings suggest which aspects are fundamental to mindfulness, aiding in a nuanced understanding of the construct. They also emphasize the importance of acknowledging cultural diversity in both mindfulness research and its clinical applications. Practical implications and directions for future research were discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Burdensomeness, acculturative stress, and suicide ideation among second-generation Asian American and Latinx university students.

Burdensomeness, acculturative stress, and suicide ideation among second-generation Asian American and Latinx university students.

The relationship between classroom racial/ethnic composition and teacher perceptions of work conditions

PurposePrior research reveals that teachers have lower job satisfaction when they have more Black students, but this work does not consider how different aspects of work conditions – and the increasing diversity of students beyond a Black/White binary – may matter. This study aims to examine the relationship between teachers’ perceptions of work conditions and the racial/ethnic compositions of the classes they teach.Design/methodology/approachThis study leverages data from the Measures of Effective Teaching (MET) study. Analyses consist of both descriptive statistics and multilevel regression modeling.FindingsFindings show that teachers’ satisfaction with working conditions varies in relation to the racial/ethnic composition of their students. Increase in the percent of Black, Latinx and Asian American students in a teacher’s classroom, was associated with a decrease in satisfaction with community involvement and student behavior. For increase in Latinx and Asian American students, this study finds significant decrease in satisfaction with measures of pedagogical and job support. For measures of school leadership and responsiveness to professional development needs, this study sees no significant relationship, which suggests that perceptions of some working conditions are more strongly tied to classroom demographics than others.Originality/valueThis work adds nuance to previous research on teacher job satisfaction by exploring satisfaction with various working conditions and how it varies in relation to classroom racial composition. This study concludes with a discussion of potential explanations for observed differences in teacher satisfaction, as well as potential ways to address these differences.

Conversations and confusions: ethnic and racial identity exploration in a high school asian culture club

ABSTRACT This study investigates the identity exploration of Asian American students in an Asian Culture Club (ACC) at a predominantly white high school in Atlanta, Georgia. While past work focuses on similar ethnic student clubs, this study uniquely documents the processes of identity and community construction. Using participant observations and in-depth interviews, I show that student members of ACC explore and co-construct a panethnic Asian identity while downplaying ethnic boundaries. ACC serves as a community and connect student members to the broader Asian American community in the city and beyond. As the club later transitions into Asian Student Union, the students’ shared panethnic attachment and co-constructed community will now serve as the ground for future panethnic solidarity. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Transnational Funds of Identity of Korean American and Migrant Youth

ABSTRACT Situated in the scholarship of funds of identity, I focus on three Korean American and migrant youth who were involved in a Korean Student Organization (pseudonym) at a largely white institution in the suburban Midwest of the United States. Specifically, the study investigates how Korean American and migrant youth who served as leaders and members of the organization have developed and expressed their funds of identity, which assist them in navigating and resisting white-centric and monolingual schooling experiences and in creating a variety of organization events and activities centering their home languages, ethnic traditions, and cultural practices. By pairing funds of identity with the notion of transnationalism, I also build on and extend the current discussion on funds of identity into what I term “transnational funds of identity” to shed light on Korean American and migrant youth’s border-crossing and transnational connections that foreground their identity formation as well as their engagement in the organization. The current study will provide more multifaceted and complex perspectives on Asian and Asian American students moving beyond the discourses of assimilation, stereotypification, and oppression, by centralizing Korean American and migrant students’ strengths, assets, and resistance through the lens of transnational funds of identity.

Analyzing In-Depth Study of Southeast Asian Graduate Students: A Qualitative Approach

Studying abroad can be a transformative experience, but it often presents significant challenges. Southeast Asian international graduate students, in particular, face considerable academic and cultural hurdles when transitioning to U.S. higher education. These stressors, including language barriers, financial difficulties, and academic adjustments, can negatively impact their mental health and academic performance. This study aims to illuminate these challenges and identify effective support strategies. It is essential to recognize the diverse experiences of Southeast Asian American (SEAA) students, who are included in this study. The SEAA community is rich in culture and heritage, contributing significantly to the U.S. landscape. This research seeks to understand the unique challenges faced by SEAAs and to foster a more inclusive academic environment. This study has identified key academic and cultural stressors by examining the experiences of Southeast Asian international graduate students. These findings highlight the urgent need for targeted support services to enhance student well-being and academic success. It is crucial to shift from a deficit-oriented perspective to one that centers on the voices and experiences of SEAA students. By listening to their stories, higher education institutions can develop effective strategies to support their academic journeys and create a more inclusive campus community.

Racial Rage, Racial Guilt: The Uses of Anger in Asian America

ABSTRACT Asian Americans are conventionally described as “middle-man minorities,” outside of dominant racial paradigms of White and Black, adjunct to White privilege and exempt from the brunt of systemic violence directed against Black people. Historical accounts of the in-betweenness of Asian Americans trace their origins to how Asian coolie labor has served to triangulate White capital and African slavery over the course of European modernity. If this is the material history of in-betweenness, what is the psychic corollary of the middle-man thesis? Through an analysis of the Netflix dark comedy series Beef, as well as case histories of Asian American patients and students, we argue that the psychic effects of occupying a racially intermediate position implicate an unexplored terrain of racial rage and racial guilt that Asian Americans are insistently socialized to hold on behalf of others.

Asian American Critical Pedagogy Framework and Principles in Art Education

In this article, we, as Asian American visual arts and social studies educators, propose an Asian American Critical Pedagogy framework and its four principles. Building on critical race and social theories and pedagogies, we developed the four principles: Asian American critical consciousness, counternarratives and reclamation, heterogeneity and intersectionality, and joy and wellness. The four principles are the outcome of our collective theoretical exploration, autobiographical reflection, and the analysis of contemporary Asian American artists and their works. We hope the principles serve as a theoretical framework for future research and pedagogical exploration to recognize and expand the authentic voices and experiences of Asian American art educators and students and to offer insights for intersectional research with other marginalized communities.

Opinion Instability and Measurement Errors: A G-Theory Analysis of College Students

ABSTRACT This study examines opinion instability among individuals from different ethnic groups (White, Latino, and Asian Americans) by analyzing measurement errors in survey measures. Using a multi-wave panel dataset of college students and employing generalizability theory, the study uncovers significant patterns. The results reveal that White students exhibit higher attitude reliability, characterized by larger variances in true opinions and smaller measurement errors. In contrast, Latino and Asian American students display lower attitude stability, with lower variances in true opinions and higher variances in both item-specific and measurement errors. Disparities in political socialization and issue concerns contribute to the observed attitude instability among Latino and Asian American students. Moreover, Asian American and Latino respondents require a greater number of survey items to mitigate measurement error compared to their White counterparts. However, the impact of multiple waves of surveys on improving reliability is limited for Latino and Asian American students compared to White students. These findings deepen our understanding of attitude stability across ethnic groups and underscore the importance of further research in this area.

Beyond the model minority myth: Student–counselor interactions and college enrollment of Asian American students

AbstractDue to the model minority myth, scant attention has been given to the college preparation of Asian American (AA) students. Using the national sample of High School Longitudinal Study of 2009–2013, this study examined associations among student–counselor interactions, school connectedness, and college enrollment of AA students. The results of the structural equation modeling indicated that school connectedness fully mediated the association between student–counselor interactions and college enrollment. The findings from the current study suggest that when AA students interact with school counselors in the 9th grade, they tend to feel more connected to their school, which, in turn, leads to increased college enrollment decisions in the 12th grade. Implications for helping professionals in schools are discussed.

Help-Seeking in a Crisis: COVID-19-Related Racial Discrimination and Asian American College Students’ Mental Health

ABSTRACT Researchers have documented an exponential rise of anti-Asian hate during the COVID-19 pandemic and its resulting adverse psychological impact on Asian American college students. Despite wide exposure to substantial risk factors, the increase in rates of mental health treatment for Asian American students during the pandemic has been minimal. In light of the significant dearth of related research, this article reviewed pandemic-related risk factors for Asian Americans and applied longstanding barriers relating to mental health treatment to the current crises, with a particular focus on college students. The researchers presented the historical trends regarding help-seeking needs and behavior, as well as how those trends could apply during and following the pandemic.

Toward a resilient, resistant, and reciprocal community: Everyday youth activism of Korean American and migrant students amidst COVID-19

Situated in AsianCrit, which emphasizes centrality of racism among Asians in education as well as youth activism scholarship that denotes the engagement of youth in informal, communal, and everyday political spheres, the current qualitative study aims to center and uplift the voices of Korean American and migrant students who were enthusiastically involved in a Korean Student Organization (pseudonym) since the COVID-19 pandemic. More specifically, this study explores Korean American and migrant students’ motivations, perspectives, and aspirations to participate in the organization at a predominantly white university in the Midwest since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. By highlighting how Korean American and migrant students foregrounded their experiences of racism and marginalization at a predominately white university during the COVID-19 pandemic by creating a variety of collective activities, events, and opportunities within and across the campus to survive, resist, and flourish amidst of heightened racist climates, this study will provide several implications for AsianCrit and youth activism scholarship. Together, the goal of this study is to bring attention to everyday youth activism and agency among Asian and Asian American students regarding racial justice and complicate and challenge the hegemonic representations of Asian and Asian Americans as model minorities, forever foreigners, or victims of anti-Asian hate crimes in contemporary U.S. society.

Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Barriers to Mental Health Treatment Among U.S. College Students.

Using a sample of U.S. college students, the authors evaluated whether barriers to mental health treatment varied by race and ethnicity. Data were drawn from a large multicampus study conducted across 26 U.S. colleges and universities. The sample (N=5,841) included students who screened positive for at least one mental disorder and who were not currently receiving psychotherapy. The most prevalent barriers to treatment across the sample were a preference to deal with issues on one's own, lack of time, and financial difficulties. Black and Hispanic/Latine students reported a greater willingness to seek treatment than did White students. However, Black and Hispanic/Latine students faced more financial barriers to treatment, and Hispanic/Latine students also reported lower perceived importance of mental health. Asian American students also reported financial barriers and preferred to handle their issues on their own or with support from family or friends and had lower readiness, willingness, and intentionality to seek help than did White students. Disparities in unmet treatment needs may arise from both distinct and common barriers and point to the potential benefits of tailored interventions to address the specific needs of students of color from various racial and ethnic backgrounds. The findings further underscore the pressing need for low-cost and brief treatment models that can be used or accessed independently to address the most prevalent barriers for students.

Faculty-student rapport, student engagement, and approaches to collegiate learning: exploring a mediational model

Students value a close, supportive relationship with their professors, which has been shown to enhance their learning in higher education. However, more needs to be known about how quality faculty-student relationships shape students’ engagement and approaches to learning in higher education. In a diverse sample of 966 undergraduates from two different institutions of higher education, the current study explored the relationship between faculty-student rapport, student engagement, and deep and surface approaches to learning. Faculty-student rapport was positively correlated with student engagement (r = .50) and deep learning (r = .30), and negatively correlated with surface learning (r = -.21). Student engagement was positively correlated with deep learning (r = .70) and negatively with surface learning (r = -.32). Using multilevel modelling with students nested within classrooms, engagement was shown to mediate the effects of rapport on greater levels of deep learning (β = .31) and lower levels of surface learning (β = -.12). Although results held up across a range of demographic characteristics, some differences were noted for rapport-building among Asian American students and engagement across men versus women. These results have important implications for how faculty can engage students in the learning process by developing close, supportive relationships with their students and by extending their relationship with their students outside the classroom.

How Southeast Asian Students Develop Their Science Self-Efficacy During the First Year of College

ABSTRACT To contribute to the scant yet growing literature on Southeast Asian students within college STEM, this quantitative study investigated factors that were most salient in science self-efficacy development of these students, which prior scholarship suggests is significant for various STEM success outcomes. Using descriptive and predictive statistical approaches on a multi-institution and nationwide longitudinal sample of first-year STEM students, results suggest that a unique set of predictors are associated with Southeast Asian students’ science self-efficacy development when compared to Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) students in the aggregate. Further, results point to the importance of disaggregating AAPI racial/ethnic data in research to reveal factors that are distinct to each AAPI ethnic subgroup and to dismantle the narrative that AAPI students are a monolithic group. Findings suggest that pedagogical approaches that employ community building among faculty and students within the classroom are associated with Southeast Asian students’ science self-efficacy. Guided by these findings, implications for theory, practice, and policy that center Southeast Asian students and their development within STEM are offered to inform relevant future research, program plans, and policy recommendations.

Serving Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Students: Examining How Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander- Serving Institutions Build Students’ Capacities

This study examines how Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions (AANAPISI) serve Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AA&NHPI) students. Through a two-site case study of a community college on the west coast and a regional comprehensive university on the east coast, this study details the processes that are undertaken to serve and enhance the educational experiences of AA&NHPI students by building their capacities. Findings suggests that federally-funded AANAPISIs design and implement their programs in a manner that reflects the lived experiences and realities of AA&NHPI students through academic coursework, co-curricular programming, and research opportunities, in an intentional and strategic multilayered process, which resembles a developmental nested design focused on five thematic domains. Implications for policy, practice, and research are also offered to advance the work of AANAPISIs.

Under The Law: Recent developments in the quest for racial diversity in K-12 schools

In June 2023, the Supreme Court held that the admissions systems at the University of North Carolina (UNC) and Harvard University were racially discriminatory, effectively ending affirmative action. Are race-neutral admissions policies at selective K-12 schools next? Bob Kim considers two circuit court cases — Coalition for TJ v. Fairfax County School Board and Boston Parent Coalition for Academic Excellence v. City of Boston — in which plaintiffs alleged that schools’ race-neutral admissions policies were discriminatory against Asian American students. In both cases, courts found that the cases were not discriminatory. Although how the Supreme Court might rule if it hears these cases is unclear, the bar for finding policies discriminatory is high, requiring not only a desire to increase diversity but also an intent to harm a particular racial group.

The disparate impacts of college admissions policies on Asian American applicants

There is debate over whether Asian American students face additional barriers, relative to white students, when applying to selective colleges. Here we present the results from analyzing 685,709 applications submitted over five application cycles to 11 highly selective colleges (the “Ivy-11”). We estimate that Asian American applicants had 28% lower odds of ultimately attending an Ivy-11 school than white applicants with similar academic and extracurricular qualifications. The gap was particularly pronounced for students of South Asian descent (49% lower odds). Given the high yield rates and competitive financial aid policies of the schools we consider, the disparity in attendance rates is likely driven, at least in part, by admissions decisions. In particular, we offer evidence that this pattern stems from two factors. First, many selective colleges give preference to the children of alumni in admissions. We find that white applicants were substantially more likely to have such legacy status than Asian applicants. Second, we identify geographic disparities potentially reflective of admissions policies that disadvantage students from certain regions of the United States. We hope these results inform discussions on equity in higher education.

Feelings of Safety and Belonging in High School for Asian American Students

ABSTRACT This study examines the experiences of school bullying and racism among Asian American Pacific Islander (henceforth AAPI) high school students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Asian students who report being bullied at school or online are more likely to report depression and poor mental health outcomes. Perceived racism is also associated with a higher risk of depression. Among Asian students, females and LGB Asian students are more likely to report adverse mental health outcomes, which suggests they may be particularly vulnerable populations. Finally, our findings suggest that increased social support may act as a buffer against adverse mental health outcomes.