Doctoral Dissertations

Ruth Wang Liu

Date of Award

5-1997

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education

Major

Educational Administration

Major Professor

Jeffery P. Aper

Committee Members

E. Grady Bogue, Mary Jane Connelly, Gui-Young Hong

Abstract

The challenge of ethnic diversity is one of the most critical issues facing higher education today. With proliferating numbers of Asian Americans enrolling in colleges and universities, higher education must more effectively address the needs of this group. The common misconception that Asian Americans are problem-free and the extant research suggesting otherwise give rise to the urgency of more research to better understand this group. This need is particularly salient for Asian-American students, whose academic achievement have been oversimplifed and whose mental health problems have been largely unrecognized and, consequently, unmet. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of one particular subgroup – second-generation Chinese-American undergraduates as they are confronted with self- and perceived parental educational and career expectations. Framing this investigation were the following research questions: (1) What are the educational and career expectations of the student? (2) What are the perceived parental expectations, and how do these perceived expectations relate to the variables of birth order and gender? (3) If the student perceives differing self- and parental expectations, how do the differences relate to differing self- and perceived parental ethnic identity and acculturation? (4) What are the effects of the perceived differing expectations upon the student, and how does the student manage these perceived differing expectations? Using grounded theory approach (Glaser & Strauss, 1967), individual interviews were conducted with a sample of 30 students at a highly selective, research and doctorate- granting university on the West Coast of the United States. The findings revealed consistently high self- and parental educational and career expectations. A predictable pattern of parental pressure for educational achievement was found. This investigation further revealed definitive parental wishes regarding the selection of academic majors and careers. The findings suggest a relationship between birth order and parental expectations, with higher and more definitive parental expectations experienced by firstborns than laterborns. In terms of gender and parental expectations, achievement-oriented expectations were equally high for both firstborn males and females, but gender-role behavior-orientated expectations remained distinctly bifurcated. In the event of differing expectations, the effects upon the student could be traced to a three-stage sequential process, resulting in a cyclic pattern of effort to eliminate the difference until a break was effected through an identified set of six intervening factors. Management of differing expectations involved the student's use of one or more strategies from a repertoire of eight strategies, which, although not always effective, nevertheless were reported to be satisfactory to the student. Due to the homogeneity of the sample, no relationship was found between ethnic identity and acculturation and differing expectations. The students' capabilities reflected intellectual and emotional resources which appeared to be serving them well. Moreover, their flexibility to accommodate multiple expectations from multiple sources, and their ability to be situation-appropriate in terms of operationalizing cultural values contributed to the success with which they negotiated this period of their lives. LaFromboise, Coleman, and Gerton's (1993) bicultural competence model and Bennett's (1993) intercultural development model provide an explanatory theoretical basis of the students' high level of functioning in both cultures. This study informs higher education of some of the salient impingements upon second-generation Chinese-American undergraduates as they attempt to manage internal and external educational and career expectations at this critical juncture in their lives.

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