The Hidden Struggles of Asian Immigrants in American Educational Institutions

Asian immigration to the United States of America started out as early as the 19th century. With the hope of finding vast opportunities and experiencing freedom, families left their homes in search of the so-called American Dream. However, met with discrimination and labeling, they had no choice but to silently endure what they did not deserve. For many Asians, success became the way out of that label, strongly tied to academic excellence. Yet, this extreme pressure came at a cost for the younger generations trying to live up to their parents expectations, while also adapting to the newfound school system in the United States. Met with their families constant reminders of “lawyer, doctor, or engineer”, their route to success wasn’t always easy. And why should the younger generation accept the path chosen by their parents? Furthermore, considering a completely new environment and different people, you’d think other diverse groups would be accepting. However, children were conditioned to spot, yet, avoid differences by school institutions. Additionally, the lack of support systems in public funded schools for younger children was never met with the bare minimum. They were always separated from the normal kids, treated less than they were, and constantly guilt tripped. 

The negative influence the American school system has on Asian immigrants is beyond unacceptable. An individual’s intelligence being undermined due to the way they speak should not be as normalized as it is today. June Jordan, a teacher of Black English at Stony Brook University, had written the essay, “Nobody Mean More to Me Than You And the Future Life of Willie Jordan”, to introduce a different English dialect spoken by a community that has been around for a long time and its rules. She states, “manipulation of language so that the syntax and diction of sentences will tell you the identity of speakers, the probable age and sex and class of speakers, and even the locale”(Jordan, 1988, p. 365). This segment from the text displays the idea that language itself is a powerful tool for self identity. A CHILD should be allowed to express themselves in a way they feel most comfortable, not what others find easier. So, the American school system putting restrictions on the way a growing child speaks their version of English is very detrimental to their early stages of life and adaptation to a new environment. From personal experiences, I have had to write short paragraphs using the RACE formula in elementary school. That led me to wonder why there was only one way to achieve full points for standardized tests, such as the State Exams. Additionally, leading me to struggle with proper grammar as I struggled to write and speak out according to their rules. This puts the thought of always having to approach certain situations the difficult way, demotivating young children from stepping out of their shells. June Jordan’s argument connects to “Test scores, subjective assessment, and stereotyping of ethnic minorities” by Simon Burgess and Ellen Greaves by highlighting the idea that certain stereotypes connected to a person can make others feel a negative way. They set out an experiment to test if teachers truly have low expectations of minority students in this writing. As stated, “teachers make a personal assessment of each child’s level in the same three subjects. The assessment is based on the teacher’s interaction with the child over the year, the child’s performance in in-school tests, and a set of “probing questions”.”(Burgess and Greaves, 2013, p. 539). This shows that the report is completely based on bias. Considering some difficult names and accents, teachers can sometimes get tired of trying to understand you. This can lead to minority students receiving lower subjective scores due to implicit stereotypes about behavior, effort, or ability during classes, even when their measurable performance is the same as white peers. Thus, school institutions stand as a barrier to a child’s early development.

Parental influence is detrimental to shaping the voices of Asian immigrants. Growing up, many children would have to translate, send emails, or complete paperwork in English for their parents. This second job adds extra pressure on children who have to maintain that “perfect” image at home but struggle with having proper support at school. A primary example of this is Amy Tan, who is a Chinese American author and writer of the essay, “Mother Tongue”, exploring the variations of English that shapes how the listener perceives an individual, through the experiences of her mother. Throughout this narrative, she explains how people were treating her mother poorly due to her usage of grammar and spoken sentence structures. She then mentions her having to step in to assert that her mother deserved to be treated with respect from the very beginning. I resonate a lot with this situation because at times, my own mother would struggle with explaining her problems to people, and ask me to help her word it better. Through these acquaintances, I was able to understand what she must’ve felt was very similar to what I had experienced starting out in first grade, in a completely new country. According to Tan, “ I do think that the language in the family, especially in immigrant families which are more insular, plays a large role in shaping the language of the child.” (Tan, 1990, p. 79). She argues against the claim of peers influencing thoughts and believes that parents play a larger role in that aspect. Her frustrations grew while having to constantly prove her family was literate in the American world. Given the piling expectations and idea of perfection, children start shifting their interests to areas they are able to make their parents proud. As depicted in this meme, posted on LinkedIn by Alvin Foo, who is a senior internet and mobile media executive and entrepreneur with 20 years of experience. This image shows that the symbol of success to Asian parents is money. They influence you to have other hobbies just so you don’t burn out and stand out in college applications, however, in the long run they want you to pay more attention to career paths that bring higher pay and are respected in society. Currently, people look down on artists as they assume they do not make enough to get by. Driven by this influence, parents become accustomed to believing in the same ideology. Growing up, my parents encouraged me to sing or do cultural art, but the idea of becoming a doctor to help secure their financial future was instilled in the back of my head. This meme connects to Amy Tan’s argument because she highlights the importance of parental influence on children. Specifically, how the desire to make parents proud can create an internal conflict between personal interests and cultural expectations of success. Adding on, the article “Social influence on positive youth development: A developmental neuroscience perspective” written by Eva H Telzer, Jorien van Hoorn, Christina R Rogers, and Kathy T Do differs with the ideas above. These authors are a part of the Department of Psychology & Neuroscience at the University of North Carolina. As stated, “While prior research has examined neural differences between social influence from family and peers, no study to date has delineated how youth incorporate the simultaneous influence of their family and peers into their decisions and behaviors” (Telzer et al, 2017). This published article differs from the meme and Amy Tan because it reframes the social influence to be nonimpactful. Whereas Tan’s narrative and the meme highlight the immense pressure, expectations, and demands placed on immigrant children, Telzer and colleagues argue that parental and peer influence does not have to support adolescents’ identity formation nor resilience. Thus, the pressure from parents play a major role in influencing the thoughts and actions of adolescents.

Some say that the influence of peers shapes the identities and behaviors of adolescents, however it is the (school) environment they are in that play a significant role in the development of their behaviors.

Uniforms, phones, trends…  

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REFERENCES

Burgess, S., & Greaves, E. (2013). Test scores, subjective assessment, and stereotyping of ethnic minorities. Journal of Labor Economics, 31(3), 535–576. https://doi.org/10.1086/669340

Foo, Alvin. “Asian Parents 😁.” Linkedin.com, 27 Apr. 2025, www.linkedin.com/posts/alvinfsc_asian-parents-activity-7322152717022302208-k-Cg/. Accessed 11 Nov. 2025.

Jordan, June. “Nobody Mean More to Me than You and the Future Life of Willie Jordan.” Harvard Educational Review, vol. 58, no. 3, Aug 1988, pp. 363–375.

Tan, A (1990). “Mother Tongue”. Threepenny Review. pp. 76-80.Telzer, E. H., van Hoorn, J., Rogers, C. R., & Do, K. T. (2018). Social Influence on Positive Youth Development: A Developmental Neuroscience Perspective. Advances in Child Development and Behavior, 54(1), 215–258. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.acdb.2017.10.003 ‌