Week 2 - Kaitlin Zheng

Kaitlin Zheng

ASA 002 A03

Week 2

“Beyond Tiger Mom Anxiety: Ethic, Gender, and Generational Differences in Asian American College Access and Choices,” by Byrd and Poon turned out to be a different article than I expected it to be. In my high school AP Psychology class, we read a news article that was written by Amy Chua which briefly described her lifestyle as a ‘tiger mom.’ I was expecting another reading analyzing Asian mothers and their stereotypical fierce approach to upbringing for their children. However, the article was written to prove otherwise; it provided statistical information of Asian-American students, both 1.5 generation and 2nd generation children of immigrants, and their experience of their college selection process. The article broke the stereotype that Asian-American children’s choices and path for college were strongly influenced by their parents. Byrd and Poon present the facts that in fact there are many other factors that are decision-making points for the students, not their parents. While analyzing the differences of both genders, females tended to value the opinions of their parents more whereas males stated their choices were based upon their own decision. However, even though females regarded the opinions of their parents, it wasn’t the central deciding factor for their college choice process. The facts presented intrigued me because it truly debunks the idea that ‘tiger moms’ are extremely prevalent in Asian-American culture. My experience proves these ideas to be true in that my mom was largely involved in my college entrance process; she attended UCLA in the past and ever since I was young, encouraged me to work hard and dream of attending a four-year university as she did, and further. She aided me with the application process and inspired me to work as hard as I did to get into UC Davis. She didn’t directly influence my choice of college but she was a huge factor of encouragement in the entire process. The article was an honest and eye-opening read that shows that Asian stereotypes aren’t all as they seem since many students are able to make their decisions based on a multitude of factors such as high school counselors, peers, finances, relatives, etc., and not solely on the approval of their parents.

Will there still be the rare breed of tiger moms that exist in the future generation of parents?

References

1. Poon, O., & Byrd, A. (2013). "Beyond Tiger Mom Anxiety: Ethnic, Gender and Generational Difference in Asian American College Access and Choices. School of Education: Faculty Publication and Other Works, 23-30. Retrieved October 1, 2017. 
2. K. Knight Return of Tiger Mom (Artwork). (2010) Retrieved October 1, 2017 from http://www.knightlifecomic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/2012-01-29_return_of_tiger_mom.gif