This article offers an exploration of the Asian Pacific American (APA) ethnic groups that show high rates of departure, and presents strategies and approaches to improving their persistence and graduation rates. A detailed examination of the APA population is presented to identify the subgroups that are underrepresented in higher education and who suffer from high dropout rates. Subsequently, several traditional retention theories are reviewed to determine how they apply to these APA subgroups. Specific barriers to college persistence for these students also are examined. Finally, the article presents strategies and programs designed to improve APA's persistence rates.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AndersonE. (1985). Forces influencing student persistence and achievement. In NoelL.LevitzR., & SaluriD. (Eds.), Increasing student retention. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
2.
Asian American/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy. (1997). An invisible crisis: The educational needs of Asian Pacific American youth. [Report]. New York: Author.
3.
BempechatJ., & OmoriM. C. (1990). Meeting the educational needs of Southeast Asian children (ERIC/CUE Digest No. 68). New York: ERIC Clearinghouse on Urban Education.
4.
BennettC. E., & DebarrosK. A. (1998). The Asian and Pacific Islander population. In U.S. Census Bureau, The official statistics. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
5.
BrawerF. B. (1996). Retention-attrition in the nineties (ERIC Digest). Los Angles: ERIC Clearinghouse for Community Colleges. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 393 510.).
6.
BraxtonJ. M. (Ed.). (2000). Reworking the student departure puzzle. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press.
ChanK., & HuneS. (1995). Racialization and panethnicity: From Asians in America to Asian Americans. In HawleyW. & JacksonA. (Eds.), Toward a common destiny: Improving race and ethnic relations in America (pp. 205–233). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
9.
DaoM. (1991). Designing assessment procedures for educationally at-risk South Asian American students. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 24, 594–601, 629.
10.
DollyJ. P.BlaineD. D., & PowerK. M. (1989). Educationally at-risk Pacific and Asian students in a traditional academic program. Journal of Instructional Psychology, 16, 155–163.
11.
Educational Testing Service. (1997). Stereotyping shortchanges Asian American students. [On-line]. Available: modelminority.com/modules.php.
12.
HuneS. (2002). Demographics and diversity of Asian American college students. In McEwenM. K.KodamaC. M.AlvarezA. N.LeeS., & LiangC. (Vol. Eds.), New Directions for Student Services: Vol. 97. Working with Asian American College Students (pp. 11–20). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
13.
HunterR. L., & RatliffeS. A. (1991, July). A community volunteer program for supporting second language students who may be academically at-risk. Paper presented at the Speech Communication Association Summer Conference, Huntington Beach, CA. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 331 565.)
14.
IgnashJ. M. (1992). ESL population and program patterns in community colleges (ERIC Digest). Los Angeles: ERIC Clearinghouse for Junior Colleges. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 353 022.)
15.
ImaK., & RumbautR. G. (1995). Southeast Asian refugees in American schools: A comparison of fluent-English-proficient and limited-English-proficient students. In NakanishiD. T. & NishidaT. Y. (Eds.), The Asian American educational experience: A source book for teachers and students. New York: Routledge.
16.
KiangP. N. (1992). Issues of curriculum and community for first-generation Asian Americans in college. New Directions for Community Colleges, 80, 97–112.
17.
KimA., & YehC. J. (2002). Stereotypes of Asian American students (ERIC Digest). New York: ERIC Clearinghouse on Urban Education. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 462 510.)
18.
KuhG. D., & LoveP. G. (2000). A cultural perspective on student departure. In BraxtonJ. M. (Ed.), Reworking the student departure puzzle (pp. 127–156). Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press.
19.
LeeS. J. (1997). The road to college: Hmong American women's pursuit of higher education. Harvard Educational Review, 67(4), 803–827.
20.
Makuakane-DrechselT., & HagedornL. S. (2000). Correlates of retention among Asian Pacific Americans in community colleges: The case for Hawaiian students. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 24, 639–655.
21.
MooreW.Jr., & CarpenterL. C. (1985). Academically underprepared students. In NoelL.LevitzR., & SaluriD. (Eds.), Increasing student retention. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
22.
MowS. L., & NettlesM. T. (1990). Minority student access to, and persistence and performance in, college: A review of the trends and research literature. In SmartJ. C. (Ed.), Higher education: Handbook of theory and research (Vol. 6, pp. 35–105). New York: Agathon Press.
23.
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). (2001). The condition of education, 2001: Remediation and degree completion. NCES 2001–072. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement.
24.
NoelL.LevitzR., & SaluriD. (1985). Increasing student retention. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
25.
NoraA., & CabreraA. (1996). The role of perceptions in prejudice and discrimination and adjustment of minority students to college. Journal of Higher Education, 67(2), 119–148.
26.
OlenchakF. R., & HebertT. P. (2002). Endangered academic talent: Lessons learned from gifted first-generation college males. Journal of College Student Development, 43(2), 195–212.
27.
PangV. O. (1995). Asian Pacific American students: A diverse and complex population. In BanksJ. A. (Ed.), Handbook of research on multicultural education (pp. 412–424). New York: Macmillan.
28.
PetersH. A. (1988). A study of Southeast Asian youth in Philadelphia: A final report. Philadelphia: Institute for the Study of Human Issues. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 299 371.)
29.
PorterO. F. (1990). Undergraduate completion and persistence at four-year colleges and universities. Washington, DC: National Institute of Independent Colleges and Universities.
30.
RanardD., & PflegerM. (1993). Language and literacy education for southeast Asian refugees (ERIC Digest). Washington, DC: National Clearinghouse for ESL Literacy Education. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 365 170.)
31.
RendonL. I. (1994). Validating culturally diverse students: Toward a new model of learning and student development. Innovative Higher Education, 19(1), 33–51.
32.
RendonL. I.JalomoR. E., & NoraA. (2000). Theoretical considerations in the study of minority student retention in higher education. In BraxtonJ. M. (Ed.), Reworking the student departure puzzle (pp. 127–156). Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press.
SiuS. F. (1996). Asian American students at risk: A literature review (Report No. 8). Baltimore: Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed at Risk, Johns Hopkins University. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 404 406.)
35.
StewartS. S.MerrillM. C., & SaluriD. (1985). In NoelL.LevitzR., & SaluriD. (Eds.), Increasing student retention. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
36.
SueD. W., & SueD. (1999). Counseling the culturally different. New York: Wiley.
37.
SuzukiB. (2002). Revisiting the model minority stereotype. In McEwenM. K.KodamaC. M.AlvarezA. N.LeeS., & LiangC. (Vol. Eds.), New Directions for Student Services: Vol. 97. Working with Asian American College Students (pp. 21–32). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
38.
TierneyW. G. (2000). Power, identity, and the dilemma of college student departure. In BraxtonJ. M. (Ed.), Reworking the student departure puzzle (pp. 127–156). Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press.
39.
TintoV. (1993). Leaving college (2nd ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
40.
TsuchidaN. (1982). Support services and academic retention programs for Indochinese students at the University of Minnesota. Alternative Higher Education, 6(3), 160–171.
41.
ValverdeL. A. (1985). Low-income students. In NoelL.LevitzR., & SaluriD. (Eds.), Increasing student retention. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
42.
YehT. L. (2002). Asian American students who are educationally at risk. In McEwenM. K.KodamaC. M.AlvarezA. N.LeeS., & LiangC. (Vol. Eds.), New Directions for Student Services: Vol. 9 7. Working with Asian American College Students (pp. 61–71). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
