This qualitative study of five Chinese or Korean international high school students takes place in the Greater Toronto Area and explores, from a sociocultural perspective, their discourse on the topics of differences between their home countries and Canada on matters of school structure, home life, and views on the model minority myth of Asian students excelling academically. The model minority myth is defined as homogenizing Asian students as an encompassing group of students whose academic success is attributed to their ethnicity. Through semi-structured interviews, it was discovered that most of the participants agreed that Asian students who had been educated outside of Canada were stronger academically in the subject of mathematics due to earlier and more rigorous training. These students also expressed their changing identities as independent students, the relevance of mathematics to their future academic and career goals, and their parents' support of them following their own goals.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--UCLA, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 78-84).

Purpose: Although Asian Americans are the only racial group for whom cancer is the leading cause of death, colorectal cancer screening is consistently lower than that of White Americans. Physicians also recommend colorectal cancer screening to Asian Americans at nearly half the rate as White Americans. This study tests a mechanism that may underlie low recommendation rates. I based my hypothesis on a conceptual model that integrates the literature on information processing and decision making with Asian American stereotypes. Methods: I conducted an online study of primary care physicians and measured their cancer screening referral behavior in response to clinical vignettes. I used the existing Asian Attitude Implicit Association Test (IAT) and developed a new Health Attitude IAT to measure implicit attitudes about Asian American foreignness and health advantages, respectively. Explicit attitudes about these constructs were also assessed through self-report. I used binary logistic regression models to evaluate the association of attitudes about Asian Americans foreignness and health advantage with screening recommendation. Results: My sample included 167 physicians (23% response rate). I found strong implicit bias that Asians are foreign (Cohen’s d = 1.09) and strong implicit bias favoring a white health advantage (Cohen’s d = -0.86). There were weaker explicit biases that Asians are foreign (Cohen’s d = 0.62). Explicit beliefs about health advantage favored Asians (Cohen’s d = 0.73). Physician race, age and gender were significant moderators of bias score. .I found no evidence of a race based screening disparity and no association between implicit or explicit bias scores and making a cancer screening recommendation. Conclusions: Foreign and health advantage biases exist among a sample of physicians, but may not influence cancer screening recommendation behavior. Physicians demonstrated both implicitly and explicitly held attitudes that Asian Americans are perpetual foreigners. Physicians also reported explicit beliefs that Asian Americans have health advantages relative to other races. Implicitly, their attitudes indicated that White Americans are a healthier group. Further research should address whether race-based cancer screening disparities persist in real world settings, both in terms of screening completion, and physician recommendation. If disparities still exist, alternate explanatory mechanisms should be identified.

abstract: Using a sample of 309 Asian American college students, the present study examined the effects of color-blind racial ideology (i.e., unawareness of blatant racial issues, unawareness of racial privilege and unawareness of institutional racism) on the link between internalization of the model minority myth (i.e., unrestricted mobility and achievement orientation) and psychological distress (i.e., social climate stress, interracial stress, within group stress, racism stress and achievement stress). Results primarily suggest the denial of blatant racism and racial issues (and not denial of racial privilege and institutional racism) exacerbate the effect of internalizing the model minority myth related to unrestricted mobility, while it buffers the effect of internalizing the model minority myth related to achievement orientation on race-related social stress. Also, denial of racial privilege appears to buffer the effect of internalizing the model minority myth related to unrestricted mobility and within group stress. Clinical implications and future directions for research are discussed. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Counseling 2020

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The American Dream Ideology is defined by Sociologist, Jennifer Hochschild as, "All persons in the United States can achieve the American Dream, which is defined as the achievement of success however that is defined to oneself, through hard work and one's own efforts." Filipino Americans have a unique history with the United States and much of Filipino culture has roots within its history of colonization by Spain and the United States. Previous research has shown a high consistent rate of immigration into the United States, and high rates of social mobility among second-generation Asian immigrants compared to first-generation Asian immigrants. A study also has shown that college students predominately mentioned wealth and material goods when discussing the American Dream Ideology. Inquiry on Filipinos and their perceptions of the American Dream have yet to be completed. Using the framework of culture as a "tool kit," this qualitative study investigates if Filipino college students that attend the University of Central Florida buy into the "American Dream Ideology," as defined by Sociologist, Jennifer Hochschild. This was done by analyzing 3 interviews with Filipino college students that attend the University of Central Florida. Based on the data, there are many factors that can attribute to a student's understanding of the American Dream Ideology. This study lays the groundwork for further research on the processes that create one's definition of the American Dream Ideology within Filipino communities.

The unremitting image of Asian Americans as being "Model Minority" has created a veil that conceals their incessant struggles with discrimination, prejudice and microaggressions on individual, institutional and cultural levels. Previous studies have highlighted the personal and collective struggles of this group and emphasized the harmful consequences to physical, emotional and mental well-being of Asian Americans. The current study explored potential factors that may influence the impact of experiencing racial microaggressions for Asian Americans. More specifically, a 2 x 2 between-subjects factorial design was utilized to examine whether level of familiarity and role of power in the target's relationship with the perpetrator differentially impacts the experience of a racial microaggression. A vignette illustrated a microaggressive encounter with a perpetrator who differed on these conditions with a sample of 263 Asian Americans. The findings indicate support for the damaging psychological consequences of receiving racial microaggressions with participants reporting significantly negative experience when the perpetrator was someone familiar in a position of authority. The results of the present study contribute to the literature on racial microaggressions by providing support for the injurious impact it has for Asian Americans and continues to challenge the model minority myth that persists to silence their voices and invalidate their racial reality.

Americans felt threatened by Asian immigration in the late 19th century. As a result, Asian Americans were stereotyped as foreign and dangerous. The United States government supported Asian American stereotyping by passing prohibitive immigration policies. These policies were a reflection of discrimination and institutionalized racism at the time. Asian American stereotyping still exists today, but in covert form. The media plays a powerful role in perpetuating these covert stereotypes. Asian American stereotypes negatively impact the Asian American community in a number of ways, including ostracizing Asian Americans, making Asian American issues invisible, and harming the mental health of the Asian American community. As a result, stereotypes increase cumulative stress for Asian Americans, and also decrease Asian American community support. This paper reviews and provides recommendations to help reduce stereotypes and also change media representations of Asian Americans.

abstract: This study addresses racial segregation in schools by examining the self-selecting patterns of middle class Asian immigrant parents in a public non-charter school district who enrolled their children in specialized academic programs. This phenomenological study focused on the educational history and the decision-making process of school choice in a sample of 11 Chinese and Vietnamese immigrant parents; a majority of them were identified as Chinese mothers. This study was conducted to answer the research questions: (R1) How do the parents' past experiences play a role in their perception of specialized academic programs and the decision-making process of selecting a school? (R2) What kind of informational networks or sources are used to make school choice? (R3) What are parents' notions of academic achievement or success for their children? (R4) How do parents' perceive specialized programs after engaging in them? This study sought to understand the relationship between the parents' own educational experiences and their negotiation of school choice for their children by collecting data through interviews, focus groups, and artifact documents. This study found that (1) the competitive conditions of the parents' educational experiences attributed to their sociocultural belief of education as social mobility which was a significant factor in their selection of an advanced program and expectations of high academic achievement; (2) mothers identified school reviews from friends as the most important information they obtained when they made school choice; these reviews took place in their coethnic social networks in Chinese language schools that offered their children heritage language development, academic, and nonacademic-based extracurricular classes; and (3) parents indicated that school choice is a continuous evaluative and comparative process. Overall, the study highlights the participants' bimodal acquisition of school advantages for their children in market-oriented school systems and the roles parents play in establishing cultural norms in making school choice. In return, these norms have depicted the participants in the model minority role, which leads to the perpetuation of the racist stereotype of all Asians as high achievers. This study has presented a multi-layered perspective of how middle class Chinese and Vietnamese American immigrant parents capitalize on specialized academic programs. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ed.D. Educational Leadership and Policy Studies 2012

abstract: Despite high levels of academic achievement as a group (Ryan & Bauman, 2016), Asian American students face many challenges, including academic stress (Flatt, 2013; Liu, 2002) and depression (Aczon-Armstrong, Inouye, & Reyes-Salvail, 2013; Wang & Sheikh-Khalil, 2014). The purpose of this study was to examine self-beliefs (academic self-efficacy and independent self-construal) and family and cultural variables (perceived parental expectations for academic achievement and internalization of the model minority myth) that may affect the academic stress and depression experienced by Asian American undergraduates. A national sample of 314 participants (221 female, 89 male, 4 nonbinary) who self-identified as Asian American undergraduates were recruited online and through word of mouth. They completed assessments of six constructs: Academic self-efficacy, independent self-construal, perceived parental expectations for academic achievement, internalization of the model minority myth, academic stress, and depression. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed that of the two self-beliefs, only academic self-efficacy was a predictor of academic stress and depression. The greater the students’ academic self-efficacy, the less academic stress and depression they reported. Independent self-construal was not a significant predictor. Additionally, perceived parental expectations for academic achievement also predicted academic stress and depression. The more students perceived that their parents had high expectations for their academic achievement, the more they experienced academic stress and depression. The cultural variable, internalization of the model minority myth, was not a predictor of academic stress or depression. A moderated hierarchical regression examining whether academic self-efficacy and independent self-construal moderated the relation between perceived parental expectations for academic achievement and academic stress and depression revealed no moderation effects. The importance of academic self-efficacy is discussed in the context of cognitive theory that posits that thoughts and beliefs affect behaviors and emotions. In addition, cognitive theory is used to explain perceived parental expectations for academic achievement, as these are perceptions and beliefs about others, as related to one’s self. That the internalization of the model minority myth was not related to depression and academic stress is discussed. Limitations and clinical implications for working with Asian Americans with academic stress and depression are also discussed. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Counseling Psychology 2019