Current Situation of Asian-American Immigrants
Learn more about: Socioeconomic achievement among Asian-American immigrants.
“The first waves of Asian immigration to the United States were halted by exclusion- ary and racist legislation in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. With the reforms of the 1965 Immigration Act, there has been a resurgence of immigration from Asia. This study analyzes changes in the socioeconomic composition of immi- grant and native-born Asian-Americans (Japanese, Chinese, and Filipinos) from 1960 to 1976. The educational levels of all Asian groups, immigrant and native-born, have equaled or exceeded those of whites in recent years. Asians are more likely to be found in professional occupations than are whites, although there is also a con- centration of immigrant Chinese and Filipinos in service occupations and the retail- trade sector. Native-born Asian-Americans have reached parity with whites in terms of average earnings, though immigrant Asians remain far behind. The findings are discussed in light of the changing structural conditions and opportunities of Asians in American society.”
Hirschman, Charles, and Morrison G. Wong. “Trends in socioeconomic achievement among immigrant and native-born Asian-Americans, 1960–1976.” The Sociological Quarterly 22.4 (1981): 495-514.
Learn more about: Academic achievement of Asian Americans.
“Recent scholarship claims that bilingualism has a positive effect on the academic achievement of immigrant children. According to this perspective, growing up speaking two languages is beneficial because it stimulates cognitive development and allows immigrants a means of resisting unwanted assimilation. Immigrant children who are fluent bilinguals can use their native-language ability to maintain beneficial aspects of their ethnic culture while accommodating to the linguistic demands of an English-speaking society. Using data on first- and second-generation Asian American students from the 1988 National Educational Longitudinal Study, we test for these hypothesized effects of bilingualism. We find no evidence that bilingualism per se has a positive effect on achievement. Instead, speaking a native language with parents has a temporary positive effect if the parents are not proficient in English. These results indicate that the academic importance of bilingualism is transitional: The educational benefits of delaying linguistic assimilation exist only before immigrant parents achieve a moderate level of English-language proficiency.”
Mouw, Ted, and Yu Xie. “Bilingualism and the academic achievement of first-and second-generation Asian Americans: accommodation with or without assimilation?.” American sociological review (1999): 232-252.
Asian American Masculinity: A Review of the Literature
Learn more about: Asian American Masculinity
“Asian American men have distinct histories and experiences within the context of masculinity. In considering gender role conflict, a concept that examines the negative impact of prescribed gender roles on both men and women (O’Neil, Helms, Gable, David, & Wrightsman, 1986), it is important to note that Asian American men are situated within the United States’ White hegemonic masculinity while also negotiating their racialized minority status. Asian American men, as do other racial minorities, experience gender role conflict in relationship to and interaction with their racial identity. The purposes of this manuscript are to provide an overview of how Asian American masculinity has been shaped and challenged by U.S. society, present existing literature on racial identity and gender role conflict with particular attention to intersections of identity, and address the implications of gender role conflict on Asian American men.”
Shek, Yen Ling. “Asian American masculinity: A review of the literature.” The Journal of Men’s Studies 14.3 (2007): 379-391.
Cases about Interracial Marriage
Learn more about: Cases of interracial marriage.
“For scholars interested in the social construction of race, gender, and culture, few subjects are as potentially revealing as the history of interracial marriage. Clearly, the phenomenon of interracial marriage involves the making and remaking of notions of race, gender, and culture in individual lives, as well as at the level of social and political policy. Yet, the potential of the subject has barely been tapped. The vast majority of studies have been carried out by social scientists, who search for laws of social behavior that might either predict or account for the incidence of interracial marriage. The handful of historians who have taken up the topic use their insight into change over time to expose flaws in nearly every theory social scientists have proposed. But whether historians focus on the actual patterns of intermarriage or on the enactment of laws against it, they tend to accept the social-scientific assumption that race and sex themselves are immutable categories, the ”givens” of historical analysis; they stop short of investigating historical changes in notions of race and gender.”
Pascoe, Peggy. “Race, gender, and intercultural relations: The case of interracial marriage.” Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies 12.1 (1991): 5-18.
Learn more about: Interracial marriage and psychological distress.
“We explore the association between racial composition of couples—that is, whether they are interracial or homogamous—and the psychological distress of their members, as measured in a screening scale for non-specific psychological distress. We use a pooled 1997–2001 National Health Interview Survey sample of the married and cohabiting population of the United States. We compare the odds of distress for interracial vs. same race married/cohabiting adults. There are several key findings. Interracial marriage is associated with increases in severe distress for Native American men, white women, and for Hispanic men and women married to non-white spouses, compared to endogamous members of the same groups. Higher rates of distress are observed for intermarried persons with African American or Native American husbands or wives, and for women with Hispanic husbands. Lower socioeconomic status explains approximately half of the increased distress experienced by white women, while higher socioeconomic status partially suppresses increases in distress for Hispanic men and women.”
Bratter, Jenifer L., and Karl Eschbach. “‘What about the couple?’Interracial marriage and psychological distress.” Social Science Research 35.4 (2006): 1025-1047.
Huilin Qi ’19