Advising Students of Asian/Asian American Backgrounds: Intercultural Perspectives

Hui-Min Kuo, Ph.D.Director of Undergraduate Studies

Department of Communication Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey

2009 New Jersey Advisors ConferenceNational Academic Advising Association

June 9, 2009

Who are they? Census estimate – approximately 17 million (~5%) Asian

American and Pacific Islanders in the United States that represents roughly 48 different ethnic groups from East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific Islands.

Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) make up ~10% of the undergrads in colleges and universities

A single culture, single population group, single ethnicity simply does not represent the complexity and diversity of Asian Americans or AAPI

Model Minority’ Stereotype Obscures Reality of Asian American and Pacific Islander Educational Experience http://www.collegeboard.com/press/releases/197310.html

Where do they come from?My observations -- Mostly local, from different cities and towns in New

Jersey; a small number of UG international students (more in graduate programs)

American Born – Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Indian, Thai, Vietnamese … etc.

Parents are 1st generation immigrants, very few whose parents are 2nd generation

Some of them are 1st generation in the family to earn a college degree

Many of them have opportunities travelling to their parents’ home countries

Case in point

Instructor: This student did attend class, in general. He never said a word in class for the semester. He never really sought help.

Student: I am very very embarrassed because I thought I

studied very hard. I really do respect that you are strict. Please let me ask you to give me another

chance.

What happened? In this case, challenges of advising a student who:

Turned out to be an international student Showed respect for the instructor, but was not

proactive about reaching out to the instructor timely Was unclear about what went wrong throughout the

semester Was embarrassed by poor performance and (through

in-person conversation) by being older than his peers; by disappointing the parents in his native country

Broader issues to discuss

Demographic trends – Asian American ethnicities and populations

Cultural implications for advising Strategies to address intercultural

advising challenges

2007 American community survey, 1-year estimates

Nationwide, 4.5% Asian (excluding PI) New Jersey, 7.6% Asian, 3rd largest Asian

population in US (Hawaii, CA, NJ, NY, Washington)

New Jersey, 30% of people born in Asia New Jersey, 27.8% percent of people 5 Years

and over who speak a language other than English at home

Fall 2008 statistics - Rutgers University

All campuses, 21% Asian New Brunswick campus, 22% Asian All campuses, 6.5% international

students

Communication characteristics influenced by culture relevant to intercultural advising

Individualism vs. Collectivism Individuals take precedence over groups, emphasize

individual needs and personal identity Groups take precedence over individuals, emphasize in-

group harmony, ordering relationships, obligation, face, family, strong parenting style, stability, education, self-discipline, subordination to authority

Low-Context vs. High-Context Low-context – information must be provided explicitly; tend

to communicate in an individualistic and direct manner; show high emotional responsiveness

High-context – information is drawn from surroundings; tend to communicate in an implicit and indirect manner; show low emotional responsiveness

Interview with Yul Kwon http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=

c9oczQKwIwk

How are they doing?My observations – They feel pressured by their parents – education is

top priority, good grades, need to pursue majors in those fields that can provide a steady job, e.g., medicine, law, engineering, business, finance … etc.

They may get bothered by people asking them “what are you?” “where are you really from?”

They feel annoyed by sometimes being assigned to ESL classes or questioned if English is their 2nd language

Not all of them are good at Math

How are they doing?My observations – They develop various cultural and ethnic identities –

e.g., Chinese, American, Chinese American, Asian American, etc. Some feel comfortable with multiple identities; some face struggles.

Some feel comfortable in a diverse university compared to growing up in mostly white/European American communities

They become to identify more with those who share similar cultural backgrounds, e.g., active in ethnic organizations or cultural groups

Intercultural advising challenges Culture

Insensitivity and misunderstanding of diverse cultures may discourage students

Language Limitations and barriers may frustrate students

Identity Shifting identities may isolate students

Acculturation Unfamiliarity with systems and resources may

disengage students

Where are you really from?

American-born vs. International 2nd generation vs. 1st generation

1st generation – moved to the US after age 13 1.5 generation – move to the US before age 13 2nd or later generation – born in the US

Model minority vs. regular students Stereotypes: studious, self-sufficient, high math; cluster in

science, technology, engineering … etc.

Identity seeking in a multicultural campus: identity denial and assertion. The “twinkie” metophor, yellow

on the outside but white on the inside.

More cases Overachiever? 1st-year with many AP classes

already completed and wanted to dive into more demanding classes immediately

Ethnic Pride Activist? 3rd-year student spent too much time in an ethnic student org., and did not do well academically

Underachiever? 4th-year needing a major because of unsuccessful pursuits in science or engineering areas

More issues They (1st & 2nd yr students) are found to display, on

average, higher levels of fear of failure and anxiety than Anglo American students (Zusho, Pintrich, & Cortina, 2005).

They may feel ambivalent about their identities since they receive little or no guidance from schools or mainstream culture (Lei, 2006).

They may feel ignored of instructional and institutional support because of model minority myth (Stanley, Rohdieck & Tang, 1999).

Can we offer culturally informed advising?In theory – “No two individuals have exactly the same life

experiences. No two people, therefore, interpret messages in the same way” (Gudykunst, 2001)

Develop approaches that pay attention to cultural differences and similarities and communicate proactively

Treat students as cultural individuals and learn from them as “culture teachers”

Multicultural counseling competencies (Association of Multicultural Counseling and Development) Awareness of own cultural values and biases. Understanding and appreciation of client's worldview. Culturally appropriate intervention strategies

Intercultural advising strategiesIn practice – Acknowledge that we all have our own specific cultural lens so

that we should be aware of our own ideological, cultural framework and how it shapes our philosophy and practice (Lei, 2006; McCalman, 2007)

Embrace that Asian American students are complex social beings who can bring dynamic cultural energies given opportunities.

Be aware of who they are and where they come from Reach out and encourage them to speak up and interact with

others especially if they are shy or quiet Avoid making assumptions about their knowledge about ethnic

cultures (some of them are simply Americans) Apply flexible and open-minded communication style and learn

to tolerate ambiguity and unfamiliarity

NACADA resources ESL/International Student Advising Commission,

http://www.nacada.ksu.edu/commissions/c26/index.htm Multicultural Concerns Commission,

http://www.nacada.ksu.edu/Commissions/C03/index.htm Monograph 17, Advising Special Populations: Adult

Learners, Community College Students, LGBTQ Students, Multicultural Students, Students on Probation, Undecided Students

Clearinghouse of Academic Advising Resources, http://www.nacada.ksu.edu/clearinghouse/AdvisingIssues/Multicultural.htm

Academic Advising Today, http://www.nacada.ksu.edu/AAT/search.htm

Additional resources Multicultural Competency Development (knowledge, skills and

personal attributes), http://www.k-state.edu/tilford/MulticulturalCompetencies.htm

Intercultural Communication Institute, http://www.intercultural.org/

DiversityWeb, Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) http://www.diversityweb.org/index.cfm

Association of Multicultural Counseling and Development, http://www.amcdaca.org/amcd/default.cfm

National Association for Multicultural Education (NAME), http://www.nameorg.org/aboutname.html

Home institution, for example, at Rutgers, Committee to Advance Our Common Purposes, UG Multicultural Engagement; Multicultural Programs (student life), Library’s Diversity Resources … etc.