The Model Minority Myth and its Perpetuation of “Otherness” in Erasing Asian Issues in the U.S.: Disparities in the Monolith and its Intersection with Immigration and Trafficking

For her capstone project, Thi Vu examined how the model minority myth, a stereotype that generalizes the success and identity of Asian and Asian Americans, is a tool used to ignore the discrepancies in educational attainment and income that exist — along ethnic lines — within the monolith and, by extension, the intertwined issues of immigration, documentation, and other human rights violations. Influenced by her studies in HUMRTS 112 and CSRE 189, Thi’s project interrogated how the model minority myth, though considered a positive stereotype, becomes a means through which Asian Americans are maintained as “other” within American society. Using this analysis, Thi synthesized existing research on the effects of the model minority myth, the variation in attainment within the Asian American community, and the history of Asian immigration and trafficking within the U.S. that could explain these variations. Her research further demonstrated how all these factors affect the socioeconomic and health outcomes of Asian Americans and are unequally attributed across different ethnicities. She hopes her research and narrative will serve as a tool for connecting these complex issues and point at potential explanations for those inequities within the Asian American monolith in order to suggest areas of focus for future research on Asian Americans.

Student project deposited by department for archival purposes. Original work unavailable for public download due to permission restriction preferences of the author.