By Rita Rizzo.
Why do Asian students do so well in school?
A Black teen, a Latino teen, a White teen, and an Asian teen all take the same classes at the same high school. Who gets the best grades?
Although this sounds like a racist question, it has a statistically proven, factual answer. According to greatschools.org, although Asian American students make up only 4 percent of the student body, however the Asian student presence is considerably larger at the country’s top universities, 24 percent at Stanford, 18 percent at Harvard, and 25 percent at Columbia and Cornell. Upon graduation, they also pull down salaries that are about $10,000 heftier than their non-Asian counterparts.
So why does this disparity exist? It isn’t that Asian students are smarter than those other ethnic minority and racial groups, but they are raised differently. Four factors exist in the typical Asian-American home to assist children in becoming high achievers.
- Parents manage their children's time outside of school.
- Parents assume the role of educator after school hours.
- Parents teach their children that being a student is both fun and rewarding.
- Both parents and children have a genuine respect for educators.
Asian-American students do approximately 50 percent more homework than other students. But beyond this intense effort, Asian-American students come from families and communities that have been less devastated by racism than those of other minority students, and have more economic and emotional resources to draw on to support educational excellence. In fact, Dr. Stanley Sue, in a New York Times interview explains that a deeply rooted fear of failure and avoidance of prejudice are strong motivators for Asian students. Dr. Sue cites a study done by Stanford University that found that Asian-American students far more than any other group believed that ''if you do not do well in school, you are doomed to a poor job.''
Seldom does the student at the top of the class suffer from discrimination or prejudice. This observation has done much to help Asian students fuel the belief that being the best student will make you more valuable to and valued by others.
Family values, hard work, discipline, and a fear of failure drive Asian students to the top of the class. Maybe this is something that other ethnic minority groups could learn from these cultural beliefs and practices.
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