The Sun Star reports that Asian Americans will make up 20 percent of the entering class at Harvard University in the fall.
That’s about the same as last year, but a significant increase from the class of 2015 when Asian Americans made up 17.8 percent of those admitted.
As Lelani P. Echaves states in her blog, stereotypes of Asian Americans has taken quite a turn over the years. Films and television used to depict Asian Americans as domestic helpers or uneducated immigrants.
Some readers may remember seeing reruns of Hop Sing serving the Cartwrights in the long-running TV series “Bonanza” or the Japanese housekeeper caring for Eddie in TV”s “The Courtship of Eddie’s Father”
Now a days that stereotype is turned on its head and you’re more likely to see Asian Americans depicted as computer geeks and lab analysts.
But perhaps Hollywood would turn the stereotype on its head a third time if it took a closer look at the numbers.
U.S. Census figures quoted by Echaves shows the percentage of Asian Americans with at least a bachelor degrees breaks down this way.
Seventy-four percent of adult Taiwanese Americans have at least bachelor degrees , followed by Indians (71 percent), Sri Lankans, Pakistanis, Koreans, Chinese, Bangladeshis, Indonesians, Filipinos and Japanese.
On the flip side, just 12. 1 percent of Laotian Americans have at least a bachelor degree, followed by Hmongs 14.4 percent, Cambodians at 14.5 percent.
The contrast is even more significant when you add Pacific Islanders. Just 10 percent of Samoans have been awarded a bachelor degree or higher, followed by Native Hawaiians at 15.9 percent and Guamanian at 16 point 8 percent.
You can take a closer breakdown of the numbers in a report from the U.S. Census Bureau.
And you can read more on Echaves blog in the Sun Star,
