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Ting Ting Huang

Prof. Philip Broadbent

Writing 39C

07 May 2018

Jennifer Pan grew up as the prized ‘golden child’ of her parents and expectations of her

success grew exponentially upon the discovery of her early talent in piano and hopes to compete

in figure skating at the Olympic-level. After tearing a ligament in her knee, which put a stop to

her Olympic dreams, she continued showing a promising future elsewhere. Pan was a straight A

student at a Catholic high school and won scholarships and early admission to Ryerson
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University. She graduated from the University of Toronto’s prestigious pharmacology program

and went on to work at a blood-testing lab at SickKids hospital. Pan’s accomplishments used to

make her mother and father, Bich Ha and Huei Hann Pan, brim with pride - but it was all “an

elaborate lie” (Wang). Pan nevered graduated high school from failing calculus her senior year,

she doctored her report cards since the 8th grade, and layered lie on top of another to appease the

immense pressure placed on her by her parents. Once her achievement facade unraveled, Pan

resorted to ease her spite through a planned assassination attempt against her parents with the

help of her boyfriend, Daniel Wong. Her father survived and his testimony led to Pan’s trial and

eventual guilty verdict.

As Pan’s crime cover newspaper headlines and local broadcasting stations, questions

such as “How could she have committed such a malicious crime?” “What did her parents do to

deserve this?” surfaced. Pan’s case is extreme but her sentiments and experiences that led to her

committing the crime oddly resonated with many Asian American children in the country. In

fact, Pan like many other youth in her ethnic community is simply a victim of the Asian

American Achievement Paradox. The only difference between her and her peers, however, is her

execution of thought.

The Asian American Achievement Paradox

Asian Americans are often seen as the model minority with their educational and

economic successes over other ethnic groups - leading to the big question: why are Asian

Americans more accomplished than their peers on average?

The Asian American Achievement Paradox is a term coined by Jennifer Lee and Min

Zhou in their journal explaining the phenomenon that first and second generation children of

Chinese/Vietnamese immigrants showed exceptional achievements compared to native-born

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whites and their co-ethnics whose families have higher socioeconomic status, an attribute of

cultural values in work ethic and emphasis on familial

values (Zhang). Immigrant parents build a strict success

frame for their Asian American children with

supplementary education and college preparatory classes

as well as extracurricular activities since early

adolescence to achieve what they define as the standard

of success, usually encompassing attendance to

prestigious universities and a well-paying stable job. As a result of the Asian American

Achievement Paradox, those who seem fairly successful in the eyes of others, is only considered

the norm within the community; the standards to becoming exceptional is another story.

Nonetheless, the true paradox occurs in the treatment of those who fell short of the standard of

success. Failure to conform to the high achieving standards of the Asian American community

lead to outcastment, rejection of ethnic identity, and overall lower self-esteem and self-efficacy.

In some other cases, parents would even increase their strict teachings and pressure in hopes to

better their children. This phenomenon

builds on top of the notion and

stereotype that Asian Americans

cannot be ‘less than the best’ which

continues to impact Asian American

youth and the thoughts they have about

their own identity.

Birth of the Asian American Dream

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A part of the excellence that Asian Americans strive for, traces back to the hyper-

selectivity of immigrants who received higher education and or had specialized skills prior the

establishment of the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965 (Zhang). Ever since the

immigration policy allowed mass

immigration, Asian immigrants saw

America as the land “to achieve a

level of prosperity and success

impossible in their homeland.” The

opportunity became even more

apparent when the U.S. “government,

eager to lead the race in

technological advancement, created legislation that encouraged foreign-born engineers, doctors,

and scientists to immigrate to America” (Gale). Asians then grew to know those occupations as

ones that ensured a stable life and success in America.

However, as time pass and job market became increasingly competitive and demanding

for higher education, the meaning of the Asian American Dream began to change from

immigrants bringing earnings back and support their families in their home countries to directly

securing a new life in America and living vicariously through their children instead. In order to

ensure their offsprings’ success, immigrant parents made difficult choices ranging from giving

up their own personal security and relationships back at home to establish a new life in America.

Parental Sacrifice and Cultural Values

Moving to a new country is difficult enough but “immigrant parents...work tireless lives

of sacrifice to open up every educational opportunity to their children” (Coates). This idea of
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parental sacrifice as ultimate love reminds Asian American children why they must work hard

and succeed because “their family’s future weighs on their shoulders” (Hsiang). These youth are

under the impression that becoming high-achieving attorneys and physicians and engineers is the

only way they can repay their parents (Coates). Moreover, in Asian culture, family is of great

importance and “independent behavior that may disrupt the harmony of the family is highly

discouraged.” Parents’ words are the law and it is the children’s duty to abide their requests and

demands (Carteret). Therefore, Asian American youths were raise to embrace their strict

upbringing as the product of true parental love. After all, knowing of their parents sacrifice,

Asian American children often find it difficult bringing up their own problems. As a result,

Asian American youth often times prioritize the overall family balance over their own wellbeing.

Confucius Once Said

A common stereotype for Asian Americans is their ability to do well in school.

Statistically speaking, Asian American students tend to score higher than their peers regarding

standardized test scores, grade point averages, and even college acceptances. However, this isn’t

a natural phenomenon. In fact, studies show that children of Asian descent tend to view cognitive

abilities as qualities that can be developed through effort unlike their American counterparts

(Morin). Moreover, effort and education seems to show a strong correlation in the community.

The emphasis of the importance of education originated from the teachings of Confucianism in

China in which education is seen as the way for human beings to improve through learning and

understanding (Kannan). In addition, education is regarded as a “equalizing force, creating

equality in opportunities which otherwise would be closed” due to socioeconomic standing or

gaps created by talent (Wan 27). This ethical philosophy about education established the notion

that although everyone is born with differences, education creates a level playing field for all and
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thus should be highly valued. Quality of education then becomes a matter of how much effort

someone is willing to put into learning. While this view on educational effort may allow Asian

American youth to build grit and value learning opportunities, it also disillusions these young

people from understanding that sometimes their less-than-exceptional performance has little to

none to do with their self-worth and identity.

The Impact on Asian American Youth

All their lives, Asian American

children were told that if they perform well

while they are young, they’ll eventually

become successful and therefore happy -

but like all things in life, nothing is free or

fair.

Stud

ies show that Asian American youth are less

psychologically adjusted and socially engaged in school

than their white peers. They may even experience more

conflict in relationships with parents because of the high

educational expectations their parents place on them

(Morin).

After what seem like endless hours of studying and extracurricular activities in which

success is naturally expected, Asian American children are often left drained and stressed. Their

strict upbringing also meant that there is less time and energy to explore subjects and activities

that actually interests them. This negatively impacts the childhood development of Asian
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American youth in which they are deprived of normal childhood experiences such as discovering

their individual dreams or passions and building healthy relationships with their peers.

Additionally, the idea that “Asians do well because they’re part of a group of naturally

high achievers” creates a gap between Asian Americans and other students in the education

system as well. Unlike their peers, Asian American students became increasingly “afraid to ask

for help in school because the model minority label suggests that [they] don’t need it” (Fuchs).

This matter-of-fact expectation of Asian American students not only adds additional pressure but

further takes away from their full

academic experience because they resort

to self-study rather than communicating

with others in classroom settings.

Moreover, as the pressure to achieve

grew greater and having been pushed to

their limits for far too long, many Asian

American students begin reaching their

breaking points.

Arriving at college, Asian students are neither able to adapt to the competitive

environment nor adjust to a community where emotional openness is accepted (Qiao). In such

settings, Asian American students’ carefully honed self-control and strong work ethic suddenly

means nothing anymore. Their failure to adapt to situations in which problems are solved

flexibly and creatively builds stress and thus “lead to mental health issues” (Fuchs).

The stress at the university level erodes Asian American students’ ability to endure,

leading to anxiety, depression, and, in the long run, suicidal ideation (Qiao). Asian American
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college students are 1.6 times more likely than all others to make a serious suicide attempt. Yet

despite their mental and emotional well-being being at risk, Asian students are also 3 times less

likely to seek out professional therapy or counselling (Qiao). The reason being, recognition of a

mental health issue also meant

recognizing their own weaknesses; a

flaw in their model minority

reputation in which these Asian

American student tie so closely to their own self-identity.

Double-Edged Sword

The key to becoming happy is to become successful and the key to becoming successful

is to sacrifice happiness; this is the turmoil presented by the Asian American Achievement

Paradox.

The face of the paradox are successful Asian Americans, those whomst ‘made it,’ and

though the averages look really good in terms of educational achievement or income, those

numbers in fact mask a lot of differences (Fuchs). In return for academic and economic

successes, Asian American youth often find the repercussions of having forsaken their

relationships and emotional well-being well into adulthood. After spending a lifetime of avoiding

failure and disappointment which prevented these Asian American youth from sharing who they

are inside, the consequences can be deadly (Hsiang). These Asian American students were only

able endure so much because they had the end goal - to be successful, and thus happy. However,

when they come to the realization “that all of the rewards in the world won’t make [them] feel

good”, they become entrapped by the ongoing cycle to chase after a goal with no end (Hsiang).
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Nevertheless, Asian American youths’ troubles are often disregarded despite the weight

of their problems. Why? Because the Asian American Achievement Paradox only recognizes its

best and brightest and those who failed to succeed simply becomes another addition to the

suicide rate or the headline of a newspaper like Pan.

Works Cited

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Culture, 21 Oct. 2010, www.dimensionsofculture.com/2010/10/cultural-values-of-asian-

patients-and-families/

Coates, Ta-Nehisi, and Julianne Hing. “Thoughts From the Daughter of a Chinese

Mother.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 11 Jan. 2011,

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www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/01/thoughts-from-the-daughter-of-a-

chinese-mother/69286/

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