Academic Achievement Among Asian Populations Within the United States (Essay Sample)

Exploring the Academic Achievement Among Asian Populations Within the United States
Student Full Name
Institutional Affiliation
Course Full Title
Instructor Full Name
Due date
Exploring the Academic Achievement Among Asian Populations Within the United States
Various works of literature on matters relating to education have mainly been concentrating on the correlation that exists between education and the social inequality issue. In particular, researchers have greatly focused on matters that hinder learners from achieving academic success, optimum results as well as the successive occupational status that comes with high educational achievement. Recently, however, the academic achievement gaps between various social groups have turned out to be an issue of significant concern amongst many researchers, with literature beginning to examine the differences that exist among the racial groups. According to Yang (2013), standardized test outcomes, grades, as well as the rates of school dropout have formed the major measures that have been employed in the assessment of the United States achievement gap. This is in addition to identifying significant factors of inequality that are aimed at attaining a more just educational system. This particular paper explores the academic achievement that has been witnessed among Asian populations within the United States.
Zhou & Lee (2017) define academic achievement as the educational outcomes that reveal the degree to which a learner has attained their educational goals. The achievement can be assessed through various ways including examinations, learners’ average grade points, school dropout rates, college or university completion rates. Additionally, this may come about through the assessment of graduation rates. According to Joo, Reeves & Rodgrigue (2016), the Asian populations in the United States seem to be doing relatively well in the quest to attain academic excellence. Indeed, when compared to other races as well as ethnic minorities, the Asian-Americans reside within wealthier neighborhoods, have high rates of marriage, high academic achievement levels, besides being successful within the labor market. Nonetheless, the most remarkable accomplishment of the Asian population, and which is the most frequently mentioned within the media, is their academic achievement. Indeed, in terms of completion of a bachelor’s degree, which forms one of the academic achievement benchmarks, statistics reveal that members of the Asian populace are doing relatively well as compared to other races. For instance, according to Joo, Reeves & Rodgrigue (2016), whereas 36% of the white population, 23% of the black population, and 16% of the Hispanic population possess a bachelor’s degree or higher, 54% of the Asian population possess the said qualification. Besides, as noted by Chang (2014), the year 2013 American Community Surveys data revealed that approximately 21.6% of the Asian population of 25 years and above were holders of a master’s degree or had attained a higher certification. These particular statistics are indeed remarkable and can be looked upon as an achievement while bearing in mind that the national averages for those in possession of a bachelor’s degree and those in possession of a master’s degree and above is 11.2% as well as 29.6% respectively.
In a related instance, Lee (2018) offers important statistics that are derived from the city of Los Angeles. This reveals that the rates of Asian students graduating from colleges within this particular state are usually higher as compared to all the other groups, including the white population. As Lee (2018) reports, approximately more than 51% of the Asian population in Los Angeles possess at least one college degree as compared to about 48% of the white population, 26% of the black population, and 12% of the Latinos. According to Liu & Xie (2016), the high rate of academic achievement of the Asian population is attributed to various factors, including the Asian culture, which is reinforced by values and traits that are inherently Asian. The virtues in question also encompass the aspects of hard work, strong families, and a passion for education.
Standardized test performances also form another important benchmark that has been employed in the measuring of academic achievement. As highlighted by Jaschik (2018), the Asian population in America tends to score highly in their SAT and ACT as compared to their peer races. According to Shera & Molly (2018), for instance, data released after a Harvard university admission trial over a one-half years duration stretching from the year 1985 to the year 2013 revealed that students from the Asian population admitted to the University scored relatively higher on their SAT as compared to their colleagues from the other racial groups. At the same time, Shera & Molly (2018) reports that a review dataset on students admissions beginning with the batch of the year 2000 and ending with that of the year 2017 revealed that the Asian-America students admitted to the Harvard University got a mean score of approximately 767, with each section having a maximum score of 800.
By comparison, students from the white population had a mean score of about 745 through all the sections, Hispanic-Americans earning a mean score of 718, Native-Americans a mean score of 712, and African-Americans earning a mean score of 704. The rising gap in terms of scores between the test scores of the Asian-Americans and their peers was also revealed in the year 2018 ACT score results, with all the other racial groups showing a significant drop except for the Asian-Americans. We can thus argue that the factor in question reveals the exemplary academic achievement of the Asian population in America when compared to their peers from other racial groups.
In another related instance, a College Board statistics revealed rising gaps between the various ethnic as well as racial groups within the U.S. Indeed, As Jaschik (2018) reports, the combined mean score for mathematics, as well as practical reading and written units of SAT for the Asian-American students, was approximately 1223, representing an increase of 42 points. Jaschik (2018) also noted that the outcomes of the SATs were released at a period where there has been an increased inquiry over not just the utilization of SAT scores to gain admissions in college, but also increased trends revealing that some racial or ethnic groups, averagely, obtain relatively better scores as compared to their peers.
The college completion rates also form an important benchmark for measuring the academic achievement of a given group. Indeed, as noted by Tate (2017), the completion rates for colleges tend to vary significantly across racial lines. In fact, according to nationwide statistics obtained on students who joined either a university or a college in the year 2010, it was revealed that students from the white-American population and the Asian-American population finished their programs at almost similar rates of 62% and 63.2% respectively. On the other hand, the Hispanic-American and the Black-American students graduated from their respective colleges or universities at percentage rates of approximately 45.8% and 38% respectively (Tate, 2017). These particular data represented students whose course duration takes between two and four years and who studied both part-time and full-time. This is in addition to those who managed to graduate after transferring from another institution of higher education. According to Tate (2017) students who began pursuing their education at the community colleges and thereafter proceeded on to public institutions to pursue four-year courses and experienced diverse outcomes as has been revealed by outcomes from different races. According to the report, after a six-year timeframe, about 25% of Asian-American students and 20% of White-American students had completed their degrees, as compared to approximately 10% of the Hispanic-American students and about 8.3% of Black-American students.
The increasing number of Asian-American students competing for slots within the American elite universities also provides an important benchmark that is used in measuring the academic achievement of a given racial group. According to Hsin & Xie (2014), recent decades have undoubtedly witnessed a rising number of Asian-Americans forming part of the high-achieving individuals that are competing for slots within the American elite universities. The institutions in question are for example the Harvard University. According to Carnoy & Garcia (2017), in the year 2007, for instance, the percentage rate of the Asian-American students studying in the best 25 universities within the U.S reached 21% of the entire undergraduate body, with the figure maintaining the same level as is presently the case. Alternatively, over a similar period, the percentage rate of the White-American students within those particular universities dropped from 48% to approximately 43%. Besides, Carnoy & Garcia (2017) note that there has also been a major rise in the Asian-American student’s academic achievement in those universities as compared to not just the White-Americans, but the other racial groups. This can be specifically noted in mathematics, a factor that Carnoy & Garcia (2017) argue has played a part in increasing pressure on various White-American families to use the services of private tutors. The parties in question argue that the move in question is a means of ensuring that