Unraveling the Complicated Asian American Educational Experience

Session Type: Invited Speaker Session

Abstract

The term “Model Minority” was a conservative counterpoint to the Civil Rights Movement and popularized in the 1960s to characterize the increasing number of Asian Americans in the United States who seemingly succeeded better educationally and economically than other people of color. Yet, decades of research problematizing the “Model Minority” demonstrates that Asian Americans have a myriad of academic outcomes. These variances inform how Asian Americans experience education and how they contend with racial policies and practices as evident with the recent Harvard affirmative action case. This session brings together scholars and organizational leaders to explore more deeply the Asian American P-20 educational experience. They will discuss the need for data disaggregation, the material realities of underserved Asian American ethnic groups, and contentions about race, educational equity, and affirmative action.

Sub Unit

• Public Good: Power and Possibilities

Chair

• Stacey J. Lee, University of Wisconsin - Madison

Participants

• Vichet Chhuon, University of Minnesota

• Sally Chen, Chinese for Affirmative Action

• Loan Dao, St. Mary's College of California

• Mike Hoa Nguyen, University of Denver

Discussant

• Yoon K. Pak, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign