Educational Experiences of Southeast Asian American College Students: Understanding Influences on Student Persistence and Retention

• In Event: 31.031 - Advancing Social Justice by Bridging the Cultural Worlds of Students, Families, Communities, Schools, and Universities

Abstract

Purpose
Despite growing research on retention of underrepresented minorities, studies of Asian American students are rare (Gloria & Ho, 2003; Rendón, Jalomo, & Nora, 2000; Yeh, 2004). The “model minority” myth has prevented underrepresented Asian American groups from receiving support from educational and social programs on college campuses (Museus, 2010). Southeast Asian Americans trail far behind the overall U.S. population in bachelor degree attainment. More problematically, nearly half of Cambodians, Laotian, and Hmong Americans aged 25 or older who attended college left without earning associate’s or bachelor’s degrees (CARE, 2011). This study aims to understand the roles of students’ worlds and experiences in their decisions to attend college, graduate, and pursue careers and of campus racial climate in their academic and social experiences.
The research questions guiding this study are: What factors lead Southeast Asian American students to attend academically rigorous research universities? What factors affect persistence and retention of Southeast Asian American college students at their universities? How does racial climate affect Southeast Asian American students’ academic and social experiences at each campus?

Theoretical Frameworks
I adapted three related theories to examine factors affecting persistence and retention of Southeast Asian American college students. Cooper (2003) developed the Bridging Multiple Worlds model to examine how ethnic minority youth develop identities and maintain ties to their cultural communities as they navigate their academic pathways. Museus, Maramba, Palmer, Reyes, and Bresonis (2013) developed a grounded theory model of Southeast Asian American college student success to understand the role of cultural factors in educational trajectories of Southeast Asian American students. Yosso et al. (2009) defined campus racial climate as “the overall racial environment of the university that could potentially foster outstanding academic outcomes and graduate rates for all students but too often contributes to poor academic performance and high dropout rates for Students of Color” (p. 664).

Methods
The study used surveys and interviews with 24 Southeast Asian American undergraduate students from two public research-intensive universities in California. Southeast Asian students were identified as having Vietnamese, Cambodian, Laotian, or Hmong ethnic backgrounds. Participants provided unofficial school transcripts, completed the Southeast Asian American College Student Experiences Survey, and participated in individual interviews.

Results and Implications
Students were continually learning how to navigate expectations across their multiple worlds to succeed in college. Most were second-generation students from families of modest income. Due to their families’ struggles as immigrants and/or refugees, students aspired to contribute to family income; several also strived to create positive changes in their ethnic communities and neighborhoods. Their determination to succeed for themselves, their families, and their communities helped them persist through challenging periods in their college careers.
Still, students felt marginalized by negative campus racial climates and their identities as the “other Asian.” Seventeen reported incidents of racism and/or racial microaggressions. Although 14 were dissatisfied with their campus racial climate, most had found groups and spaces on campus that helped them find a sense of belonging to their campus. These findings illuminate key implications for supporting successful pathways of immigrant students.

Author

• Malaphone Phommasa, Marshall University