College Admissions Debates

An investigation of affirmative action and its impact on the enrollment of Asian American college students

Resisting the “Do More with Less” Culture in Higher Education and Student Affairs

This paper explores how student affairs practitioners may engage in critical cultural praxis through participatory action research (PAR). As authors, both researchers and practitioners, we partnered with one another to conduct a needs assessment of Asian American students through PAR methods at a university in the northeast United States. Unfortunately, the PAR project as initially designed did not come to fruition. We used autoethnography to understand the many barriers that prevented the completion of the project, such as lengthy and unclear IRB processes, lack of organizational stability, and limited institutional support. Finally, we offer insight into how scholar-practitioners and institutions can better prepare for and support PAR initiatives as a way to engage in critical cultural praxis on their campuses

Visualizing Social Influences on Filipino American and Southeast Asian American College Choice

This study identifies and explores social influences on the college choice process of Filipino American and Southeast Asian American high school seniors in an urban Midwestern setting. In an effort to contribute more depth to the knowledge regarding college choice among Filipino Americans and Southeast Asian Americans, this study engaged seven high school seniors in a photo elicitation study, allowing the students to tell their own stories of their pathways to college. Photos and follow-up interviews indicated that the students explicitly acknowledged kinship and peer networks as playing the most influential roles in the college choice process. Gender differences were found in how students understood their college choice experiences. Though not explicitly recognized by students in this study, college preparatory support programs and resources in the students’ schools also provided important supports in navigating college-going systems

Asian American College Students and Civic Engagement

This chapter centers Asian American young adults within a discussion about civic engagement by highlighting findings from 35 years of data on Asian American college freshmen. It will also address future directions for Asian American undergraduate student civic engagement, taking immigration and population trends into account. Calling attention to Asian American civic engagement within the college context achieves at least two main goals. First, it will help scholars, practitioners, and policy makers move beyond racial stereotypes of this group and consider their complete college experiences, including their involvement outside the classroom. Doing so will help facilitate efforts to develop curricular and co-curricular practices that can better serve the learning and development of this fast-growing population in higher education. Second, examining these patterns of civic engagement will shed light on how Asian American students, as part of the future of our nation, are positioned for greater participation in a democratic U.S. society

Critical Cultural Student Affairs Praxis and Participatory Action Research

This paper explores how student affairs practitioners may engage in critical cultural praxis through participatory action research (PAR). As authors, both researchers and practitioners, we partnered with one another to conduct a needs assessment of Asian American students through PAR methods at a university in the northeast United States. Unfortunately, the PAR project as initially designed did not come to fruition. We used autoethnography to understand the many barriers that prevented the completion of the project, such as lengthy and unclear IRB processes, lack of organizational stability, and limited institutional support. Finally, we offer insight into how scholar-practitioners and institutions can better prepare for and support PAR initiatives as a way to engage in critical cultural praxis on their campuses

The Land of Opportunity Doesn\u27t Apply to Everyone: The Immigrant Experience, Race, and Asian American Career Choices

Despite their popular portrayal as high achieving and structurally incorporated, race continues to shape the career choices of Asian American college students. As second-generation Americans, Asian Americans negotiate a constellation of factors when deciding their career choices, most notably, pressures from immigrant parents, awareness of labor market discrimination, fear of being tokenized in particular occupational fields, and influences from peer networks. These findings help elucidate how race and the social context of immigrant adaptation can affect the occupational trajectories of Asian Americans and other children of immigrants in the United States, regardless of their educational achievement and socioeconomic status

AAPIs in the College Access Debate: A Case of Generational and Communication Gaps in the AAPI Education Agenda

Through the presentation of a case study, this resource article argues for the establishment of a national, comprehensive Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) education organization to facilitate communication among educators, students, and community and institutional leaders in order to develop an education policy agenda based on community interests and research. It presents an analysis of the debate over a new University of California (UC) admissions eligibility policy. After discussing how Asian Americans are framed within admissions debates, the article summarizes the new UC policy and presents an analysis of the policy change, addressing concerns raised by two community leaders. This case study demonstrates the need to connect the diverse intergenerational, ethnic, and gendered voices among AAPIs in education