Cultural Capital and its Effects on Asian American Educational Experiences
Format
Oral Presentation
Faculty Mentor Name
Marcia Hernandez
Faculty Mentor Department
Sociology
Abstract/Artist Statement
In the United States, Asian Americans hold dual identities of perpetual foreigners and model citizens. There is a tension between the two, and I acknowledge that the model minority identity means that under-represented groups tend to get absorbed into broader categories and their struggles erased. My positionality as a Southeast Asian American, specifically Vietnamese American, draws my attention to the lack of disaggregated data on this subgroup in relation to education. I draw inspiration from Pierre Bourdieu, “a French sociologist, [who] developed the idea of cultural capital as a way to explain how power in society was transferred and social classes maintained” (Cultural Learning Alliance). In conjunction with that knowledge, via literature reviews, I analyze the three branches of cultural capital: embodied capital, objectified capital, and institutionalised capital in both educational and sociological frameworks. I connect that to University of California, Riverside professor Tara Yosso’s work entitled “Whose culture has capital? A critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth.” I have recognized that, generally, lower-income students of color tend to lack social and academic support, and, therefore, struggle with continuing in higher education. While Asian Americans holistically have been praised for their perceived academic and financial success, I call attention to the disaggregation of data that reveals the reality for Asian American subgroups other than East Asians. Overall, this iteration of my project-- reviewing the history and limited data surrounding Asian Americans and understanding critical race theory-- is a prerequisite to my overarching research goals. My next steps involve a narrative approach that recalls the way cultural and financial capital intersects in Asian American students’ lives and academic success. That line of inquiry will contribute to a community-based research project that will showcase collective themes shared by Vietnamese American families.
Location
University of the Pacific, 3601 Pacific Ave., Stockton, CA 95211
Start Date
24-4-2021 11:15 AM
End Date
24-4-2021 11:30 AM
Cultural Capital and its Effects on Asian American Educational Experiences
University of the Pacific, 3601 Pacific Ave., Stockton, CA 95211
In the United States, Asian Americans hold dual identities of perpetual foreigners and model citizens. There is a tension between the two, and I acknowledge that the model minority identity means that under-represented groups tend to get absorbed into broader categories and their struggles erased. My positionality as a Southeast Asian American, specifically Vietnamese American, draws my attention to the lack of disaggregated data on this subgroup in relation to education. I draw inspiration from Pierre Bourdieu, “a French sociologist, [who] developed the idea of cultural capital as a way to explain how power in society was transferred and social classes maintained” (Cultural Learning Alliance). In conjunction with that knowledge, via literature reviews, I analyze the three branches of cultural capital: embodied capital, objectified capital, and institutionalised capital in both educational and sociological frameworks. I connect that to University of California, Riverside professor Tara Yosso’s work entitled “Whose culture has capital? A critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth.” I have recognized that, generally, lower-income students of color tend to lack social and academic support, and, therefore, struggle with continuing in higher education. While Asian Americans holistically have been praised for their perceived academic and financial success, I call attention to the disaggregation of data that reveals the reality for Asian American subgroups other than East Asians. Overall, this iteration of my project-- reviewing the history and limited data surrounding Asian Americans and understanding critical race theory-- is a prerequisite to my overarching research goals. My next steps involve a narrative approach that recalls the way cultural and financial capital intersects in Asian American students’ lives and academic success. That line of inquiry will contribute to a community-based research project that will showcase collective themes shared by Vietnamese American families.