|
|
Increased access to the job market after World War II has resulted in growth and upward mobility of the Asian-Pacific-American community. In 1990, households headed by Asian-Pacific-Americans had a median income of $38,449, 23 percent higher than the $31,231 average of White households. Because Asian-Pacific- Americans have bigger households, per capita income was lower, $13,420 compared with $15,270 for Whites. In 1992, 35 percent of Asian-Pacific-Americans had household incomes of $50,000 or more, compared with 26 percent for Whites. However, these high figures can be misleading. Many Asian-Americans are concentrated in high-cost urban areas. Also, there are large differences between subgroups. For example, according to an article in The Orlando Sentinel of May 16, 1993, "Of the 125,000 Hmong [Laotian] in the United States, more than 62 percent rely on public assistance." Additionally, Census data show that 11 percent of Asian-American families live in poverty as compared to 8 percent for White families.
Business
In 1987 Asian-Pacific-Americans owned 355,000 businesses, a 328 percent increase in just ten years. By starting their own businesses, Asian-Pacific-Americans are repeating their forefathers' immigrant success story. However, while earlier immigrants have gone on to bigger ventures, Korean entrepreneurs remain small in grocery and retail stores. When ready to expand, Koreans integrate their businesses by obtaining wholesale and distribution firms that supply their businesses.
Chinese-Americans have made a visible impact in business and industry. I. M. Pei is probably the world's most famous architect. He is the designer and architect of the Kennedy Memorial Library, and the new wing of the National Art Gallery in Washington. In 1957, China-born physicists Yang Chen-ming and Lee Tsung Date were the first Chinese to win the Nobel Prize. An Wang was the creator of the memory chip and has a multi-million-dollar electronics business and Japanese-American Rocky Aoki founded the Benihana restaurant chain.
Despite these and other exceptions, Asian-Pacific-Americans still experience legal, social, and economic discrimination. The Chinese, for example, find it extremely difficult to reach mid-and top-level positions in the federal government. One reason is that their mother country is a Communist country and this can be a barrier in matters of security. Chinese-Americans also often find it difficult to be promoted to managerial positions, so they frequently leave their jobs and start their own businesses after working many years for a company. Most Chinese-Americans today are economically still dependent on the ethnic niche of restaurants, laundries, grocery stores, and other Chinese-type businesses.
Southeast Asia refugees have entered the work force at rates comparable to, if not higher than, the American population. In 1975, the employment rate of Vietnamese refugees was 68.2 percent among men and 50.9 percent among women. Within three years, 94.9 percent of all first-wave Vietnamese refugees over the age of sixteen were employed, as compared to 94.5 percent of all Americans.
Education
Asian-Pacific-Americans are very successful in education, and they have, for many generations, immigrated to the United States for purposes of furthering their education. This strong commitment to learning has been passed to successive generations born in the United States.
Asian-Pacific-Americans are often viewed as "the reigning stars of academia". Two of five Americans with roots in Asia and the Pacific have completed 4 years of college or more, twice the rate for the entire country. While they comprise 2.9 percent of the population, Asian-Pacific-American representation at prestigious colleges and universities is much greater. In 1990 at Harvard, they represented about 12 percent of students; at Stanford, 20 percent; and at the University of California at Berkeley, 30 percent. In 1990, 1,282 Asian-Pacific- Americans received doctorates, and another 3,336 received their first professional degree (physician, lawyer, etc.).
Asian-Pacific-Americans have made the most of their opportunity to learn. Thirty-six percent of fourth grade Asian- Pacific- Americans, 43 percent of eighth graders, and 46 percent of high school seniors are in the top one-third of their classes. In 1989, college-bound Asian-Americans had a high school grade point average of 3.25, compared to an average of 3.08 for all other students.
|
|
|
|
|
Home
