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Southeast Asian Americans

The model minority stereotype is a myth and does not apply to the Southeast Asian American populations. Southeast Asian Americans are comprised of several ethnic groups, including Thai, Vietnamese, Hmong, Lao, and Cambodian. An empirical literature review shows that most of the existing data used to justify the model minority stereotype with Asian American academic achievement is aggregated and as a result, ignores important differences among individual Asian ethnic groups. Although many Asian Americans have succeeded academically and socioeconomically, survey research have shown that more recently immigrant groups, such as Southeast Asians, have been unable to replicate such success. According to the U.S. Census in 2000, the overall U.S. population for people 25 years and over with less than a high school education was 19.6% and Asian Americans were close at 19.4%; however, disparities exist when comparing South and East Asian Americans with Southeast Asian Americans. Only 12.5% of Chinese Americans, 8.6% of Japanese Americans, and 14.6% of South Asian Americans that are 25 years or over have less than a high school education. In contrast, Southeast Asian Americans more than double South and East Asian American percentages with 52% of Cambodian Americans, 59% of Hmong Americans, 49% of Lao Americans, and 38% of Vietnamese Americans ages 25 and over have less than a high school education. Looking at higher education, the 2000 U.S. Census showed that 42.7% of Asian Americans ages 25 and over held a bachelor’s degree or higher, which is higher than the national percentage of 25.9% of Americans overall. In contrast, individual Southeast Asian American groups ages 25 and over that held a bachelor’s degree or higher consist of 9.1% of Cambodian Americans, 7.4% of Hmong Americans, 7.6% of Lao Americans, and 19.5% of Vietnamese Americans. With the exception of Vietnamese Americans, these proportions are lower than other racial minorities including African Americans (14.2%) and Latino Americans (10.3%). As cited in an empirical literature review, research that lacks differentiation between the varying Asian ethnic groups can mask under-performing groups by the higher performing groups. Generally speaking, Southeast Asian American students are overlooked due to the overwhelming success of their East and South Asian American peers.

As cited in a case study, many of the deficits of Southeast Asian American students’ academic achievement can be attributed to many structural barriers of living in an immigrant household. Many Southeast Asian American students are children of refugees from countries at war. These refugees were forced to escape from their homes to avoid death and persecution; along the way, many witnessed the loss of family members and friends. Those who survived often arrive in the U.S. with fragmented families and were faced with more barriers as they had to rely on government assistance and were placed in low-income communities near poorly funded schools. As these families try to establish themselves in a new country with little to no understanding of the U.S. school system, Southeast Asian students are at a disadvantage having to quickly adjust to a new school system, while trying to keep up with native-born students. Inside and outside the school systems, Southeast Asians were faced with discrimination. These are examples of structural barriers that Southeast Asian American students are faced with.

However, not all is grim for Southeast Asian American students. Certain Southeast Asian ethnic groups have shown greater progress compared to others and resemble the success of other more established Asian Americans. As cited a case study, Vietnamese American students are beginning to show similar rates of academic success comparable to East Asian American students. Among Southeast Asian American students, Vietnamese American students are recognized as having the highest academic performance, whereas Cambodian American students have the poorest performance. Among Cambodian and Vietnamese refugees, despite enduring similar immigration hardships, differences in academic success can be attributed to structural and cultural factors.