The Asian-American Advantage in Math among Young Children: The Complex Role of Parenting

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

Abstract

Asian-American children exhibit stronger math and reading skills than white children at school entry, a pattern that has motivated scholars to examine early childhood to determine when and why these gaps form (Sun 2011; Koury and Votruba-Drzal 2014). Yet, to date, it has been unclear what parenting practices might explain this “Asian Advantage.” Analyzing over 4,100 children from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study—Birth Cohort, we find that the role of parenting is complex. Asian-American parents have high educational expectations compared with whites but are less engaged in traditional measures of parenting (e.g. reading to the child, maternal warmth, parent-child relationship) and these differences matter for understanding the Asian-American/white math advantage in early childhood. Thus, even by age four, Asian-American parents (across ethnic subgroups) play an important but complex role in the development of a child’s cognitive skills in the first few years of life.

Authors

• Benjamin G. Gibbs, Brigham Young University

• Douglas B. Downey, Ohio State University

• Jonathan A. Jarvis, Brigham Young University

• Priyank G. Shah, The Ohio State University