Exploring the model minority: views of Asian American students on school climate with implications for school professionals

When Asian students are seen as the model minority, pressures to conform and meet high expectations combined with discrimination and harassment may serve to negatively influence how Asians view their school climate. The current study seeks to examine views of the school climate by Asians as a function of their majority/minority status in their schools, as well as variability within Asian subgroups. By examining the students’ perceptions of overall school climate, student respect, student friendship and belonging, students’ shaping of their environment, and student support and care by staff, this study seeks to empirically examine the notions that have been demonstrated largely theoretically and anecdotally. In addition, this study seeks to examine the moderating effects of ethnic composition of the school on Asian students’ perception of school climate. Data were collected from completion of the Developing Safe and Civil Schools School Community Survey (Elias, 2009), a self-report questionnaire. Participants consist of 10,401 sixth to twelfth grade students from 25 New Jersey public schools who were enrolled in the Developing Safe and Civil Schools (DSACS) Project, directed by Maurice J. Elias, Ph.D., during the years 2006-2007. A series of ANCOVA analyses were used to examine differences on aspects of school climate based on ethnicity, Asian subgroup, and ethnic composition of the school, while controlling for the effects of DFG. Asians held higher views than Blacks and Latinos on overall school climate, student friendship and belonging, and student respect. Asians had higher perceptions of students’ shaping their environment than Whites, Blacks, and Latinos. Asians had lower perceptions of student support and care by staff than Whites. Southeast Asians held higher views than East Asians on student support and care by staff. With regard to ethnic composition of school, non-White dominant schools had higher perceptions of overall school climate than White dominant schools. Asian dominant schools had higher views of student respect than White dominant schools. In non-White dominant schools, Asians held higher views on overall school climate than Asians in White dominant schools. Relationship of findings to the literature, limitations, and implications of the current study for practice and research are discussed.Psy. D.Includes bibliographical referencesby Alexandra Thuy-Tran Wiltshir