Chapter 6: Educational and Occupational Aspirations of Asian American Students

This study examined the educational and occupational aspirations of Asian American (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Filipino, and Vietnamese) students and compared them with those of Anglo youth based on a sample of 983 cases. This study found significant ethnic group differences among Asian American groups, as well as between the Asian American and white students. This study also found gender differences in students’ educational and occupational aspirations, that students’ educational and occupational aspirations closely mirrored those of their parents, and that students’ aspirations were closely correlated with their parents’ educational level, but not with their parents’ socioeconomic status. Furthermore, Asian American students’ educational and occupational aspirations were closely correlated with their length of residence in the United States.