From Growing Disadvantages to Strategic Adaptation: The Permanent Evolution of Asian American SES, 1940 to 2018--22

• In Event: 30803 - Inequality and Diversity among Asian Americans and Beyond

Abstract

Stereotypical images of Asian Americans have shifted from unassimilable aliens to the Model Minority, and Strategic Adaptation has been proposed as a key mechanism of their success. However, few studies have explored the origins and evolution of Strategic Adaptation and its relationship to changes in the socioeconomic status of Asian Americans. This study advances the theory of Strategic Adaptation by examining heterogeneous returns to education and compositional choices in education and labor markets, using census data, the American Community Survey, and the Current Population Survey from 1940 to 2018–2022. The findings reveal significant historical shifts in Asian American (dis)advantage, characterized by multiple qualitative transformations and continuous quantitative changes--what we define as permanent evolution. Initially, Asian Americans experienced lower returns to education than Whites, but by the 21st century, they experienced higher returns. Strategic Adaptation began with immigrants and later spread to the second generation but not beyond. Without such a strategy, Asian Americans still face earnings disadvantages.

Authors

• ChangHwan Kim, University of Kansas

• Andrew Taeho Kim, University of Tennessee, Knoxville