Is The “Model Minority” Myth Hurting the Asian Americans?

Asian parents focus on higher education and belief that their children will graduate from college and will get a good paying job so they can make a good living.  The career paths for their children are to become a doctor, lawyer, or engineer. Many Asian youths feel that their parents had scarified their lives to come to America to give them a better opportunity. These children feel obligated to obey their parents in choosing those career paths.  Upon graduation, a lot do land on a good job with a steady high income.  Statistically, they earn high income and thus they are being considered as the “Model Minority”.

However, Asian Americans are made up of many Asian communities with many different ethnicities. Not all Asian Americans are created equal. The Indian Americans are among the highest earning whereas the Cambodian Americans are among the lowest earning. Because of this “Model Minority” myth, some Asian students feel shameful when they underperform in school because they feel like they are not living up to their expectation of the society as “Model Minority.”

Due to this misconception of “Model Minority”, Asian Americans are not being included in some of the Minority statistical studies about social-economic issues and problems. This myth hurts those Asian Americans who have social-economic issues that need to be addressed and need help from the community.