Week 2 - Chloriza Avila - Section A02

I found many interesting points within the reading Beyond Tiger Mom Anxiety: Ethnic, Gender and Generational Differences in Asian American College Access and Choices. As a whole, it unpacked what it meant to be an Asian American in higher education and the difficulties that can come along with it. As I was reading, it felt nice to see that my own Filipino-American identity was finally being represented in a textbook, and actually had data that I was able to relate to.  Findings such as “Specifically, Filipino Americans and Southeast Asian American students  were  found  to  be  more  influenced  by  their relatives’ views and the proximity of colleges to home in the final stage of college choice” really hit home for me because I remember going through that process.  I felt I needed to pick a college that was not only closer to my family, but was also financially reasonable. In my own culture there is a (respectively) heavy influence on family which I believe also factors into college choice. The reading mentions how Asian Americans see education as a means of social mobility and I definitely agree with that. (pg. 4) It reminded me of the journey that it took for my family to get here and pave the way so that I could have a better life. In turn, I wanted to pick a school that made them happy so that I could make sure that I was able to repay them and make them proud. 

Another portion of the reading that I found interesting was the amount of trust that first-generation students put into their college counselors.  Compared to non-first generation students, 11.9% of first generation students saw their counselors as influential. (pg. 8) This really fuels my passion to cater to underserved communities because it is important that all students are given the same resources and opportunities for education regardless. 

                           

Question: How can we strive towards educational equity? What are the improvements that need to be made within educational systems that can support minorities? 

References: 
Poon, O., & Loyola, A. B. (n.d.). Beyond Tiger Mom Anxiety: Ethnic, Gender and Generational Differences in Asian American College Access and Choices. Retrieved January 12, 2019, from https://ecommons.luc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://scholar.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1077&context=education_facpubs.