Assessing Asian and Asian-American Exceptionalism in STEM Major Selection

• In Event: 177 - Regular Session. Educational Outcomes of Asian Americans and Immigrant Youth

Abstract

Using data from the Educational Longitudinal Survey (ELS), this study assesses patterns and
sources of heterogeneity in the likelihood of selecting and completing a science, technology,
engineering, or math (STEM) major in college (a) among Asian-American students from
different national origins and (b) between Asian-American groups and whites. We show, firstly,
that after adjusting for parental socioeconomic status, only Chinese, Southeast Asian, and South
Asian students are more likely than Whites to declare a STEM major; Japanese, Korean, and
Filipino students, by contrast, are no more likely than whites to select or complete STEM majors.
Secondly, these racial and national origin differences in STEM major choice are driven not only
by differences in pre-college academic preparation, but also by differences in the content of the
occupational plans that students hold in high school (see also Zhou and Lee). However, we also
show that Chinese, Korean, and Southeast Asian students have lower levels of self-assessed math
ability than other groups, which partially offsets the “Asian American” advantage in math and
science preparation and its effects on STEM major choice. These results suggest that Asian
American exceptionalism in math and scientific fields is much less universal than often assumed,
and moreover more closely linked to occupational aspirations than most prior researchers have
appreciated.

Authors

• Yuanyuan Liu, Cornell University

• Kim Weeden, Cornell University