Final draft for AIP-03172016

1ASIAN AMERICAN OR PACIFIC ISLANDER? EXAMINING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FILIPINO STUDENTS' RACIAL-ETHNIC IDENTIFICATION AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

Asian American or Pacific Islander? Examining the Relationship between Filipino Students' Racial-ethnic Identification and Academic Achievement

Yu Jung (Eddie) ChenUniversity of California, San Diego

Author Note Yu Jung Chen is an international student from Taiwan, and will finish his B.A. in Political Science with a minor in Education Studies from University of California, San Diego in Spring

2016. He is interested in bilingual education, public policy, and identity issues.


ABSTRACTMany researchers have demonstrated the relationship between racial-ethnic

identification and academic achievement (Arroyo & Zigler, 1995; Strobel, 1996; Sirin, 2005).

According to the Pew Research Center (2012), the Filipino American population has

dramatically increased since 1980. Yet, we still have much to learn about the experiences of

this dynamic and diverse ethnic group. In this paper, I examined how academic achievement

relates to Filipino American students’ racial-ethnic identification, and internalization and

experiences of the model minority stereotype. Drawing on survey data collected on 79

Filipino high school students attending a public high school located in Southern California,

findings show that Filipino students’ academic performance is not related to the strength of

their identification as Asian American or Pacific Islander. However, results indicated that

stereotypes of Asian Americans as a “model minority” are associated with Filipino American

high school students’ academic achievement. Possible explanations and implications of

these findings are discussed.

Keywords: Asian American, Pacific Islander, racial-ethnic identification, academic

achievement, immigrant student, Filipino.


Asian American or Pacific Islander? Examining the Relationship between Filipino Students'

Racial-ethnic Identification and Academic Achievement

Filipinos are one of the largest subgroups of Asian Americans in the United States (Pew

Research Center, 2012; Batalova & McNamara, 2015; US Bureau, 2015). Based on previous

research, we have noticed Asian American students have higher academic achievements

than White American students (Pang, Han & Pang, 2011). However, few researchers have

examined the variability of academic achievement among Filipino American high school

students. Previous studies with adolescents of African American and Chinese backgrounds

have shown how racial-ethnic identification influences students’ academic achievement

(Arroyo & Zigler, 1995; Strobel, 1996; Sirin, 2005). For example, when an academically

successful African American adopts behaviors and attitudes that is distance from their

cultural origins in order to achieve successes, it increased the feeling of depression, anxiety,

and identity confusion (Arroyo & Zigler, 1995). Group identification provides awareness and

belonging for individuals who share similar characteristics as groups. However, the

boundaries of these groups are both explicit and implicit; meanwhile, they are also

examined internally by members within the communities and externally by the whole

society (Arroyo & Zigler, 1995). Therefore, in this study, I will examine if Filipino students’

identification as Asian American or Pacific Islander influence their academic achievement.

While Filipinos are recognized as part of the broader category of Asian Americans (US


Census Bureau, 2015), the California government specifically created a separate aggregated

sub-group for Filipino for state reports in the late 1970s (CDE, 2016). This was done so in

order to more adequately meet the needs of Filipinos in California as their experiences and

outcomes in education and in the labor market seem to differ from their other Asian

American counterparts (e.g., Chinese, Japanese; Ong, Bonacich & Cheng, 1994). For

example, Filipino Americans are underrepresented in higher education, and earn

significantly less money than their Chinese and Japanese American counterparts after

accounting for their age, geographic region, and educational background (Ong, Bonacich &

Cheng, 1994). Research has shown that there is an extensive gap between thirteen Asian

American and Pacific Islander subgroups. . In their research, Pang, Han, and Pang studied

over 1 million Asian American and Pacific Islander and white seventh graders. For example,

the median math score of 2003-2005 California Achievement Tests for Chinese and Korean

students were over 70 but Lao, Cambodian, Samoan, and other Pacific Islander students’

median scores were less than 50. The median math score for Filipino students was 57.13 and

the median for English was 53.35. Meanwhile, their white peers’ median score was 57.72

(Pang, Han & Pang, 2011). East Asian Americans such as those of Chinese, Japanese, and

Korean backgrounds usually perform academically better than their peers of other Asian

American backgrounds. As a result, the performance of East Asian Americans such as

Chinese, Japanese, and Korean informs the model minority myth that is a pervasive


stereotype about all Asian Americans in broader society. However, the stereotype of model

minority cannot represent all Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (Pang, Han & Pang,

2011). Based on these findings, the current study examines how Filipino American high

school students’ racial-ethnic identification is associated with their academic achievement.

According to the Pew Research Center (2012), 69% of 18 and older Filipino Americans

were foreign-born. As a result, I need to concern the “immigrant paradox” for my study.

Studies have shown that first-generation and second-generation immigrant youths usually

do academically better than their native-born peers; and they are less likely to use legal and

illegal substances and to engage in delinquent and violent acts (Fuligni, 1997; Georgiades,

Boyle & Duku, 2007). Therefore, participants in this study might have higher average of their

academic achievement than the average of the entire student body.

The Current Study

Two major research questions were addressed in the present study. First, what is the

relationship between racial identification and academic achievement among Filipino high

school students? Second, what is the association between Filipino high school students’

experiences of the model minority stereotypes and their academic achievement? Based on

data from Asian American and Pacific Islander Students: Equity and the Achievement Gap

(Pang, Han & Pang, 2011), I hypothesize that students who identify as Asian American will

have better academic achievement compared to those who identify as Pacific Islander.


Method

Participants were recruited from a public high school located in a San Diego

metropolitan area with a large Filipino community. Based on the California Department of

Education report, the student population of 2014-15 enrollment for my sample school were

composed of 54% of Hispanic/Latino students, 19.7% of Filipino students, 7.3% of African

American students, 7.4% of White students, and 8.7% of biracial/multiracial students (CDE,

2016). The graduation rate for the Class of 2013-14 was 95.6%. The white students had the

lowest graduation rate (83.3%) and the graduation rate of Filipino students was 96.6% (CDE,

2016).

Demographic Characteristics

The sample for this study was composed of 79 high school students who identified

themselves as Filipino American (50.6% female). Participants were 9th-12th graders ranging

in age from 14 to 17 (Mage = 15 years old). The mean of family household income for

students in our sample is $100,001 to $125,000. The majority were 2nd generation (e.g.,

U.S.-born participant with two foreign-born parents; n=39) or 2.5 generation (e.g., U.S.-born

participant with one foreign-born parent; n=20). The remainder were 1.5 generation (e.g.,

foreign-born participant who arrived in U.S. by age 12; n = 11), and 3rd generation or

beyond (e.g., U.S.-born participant with two U.S.-born parents; n = 9).

Procedure


This study used data from a larger study examining the academic achievement and

psychosocial adjustment of Filipino-American adolescents (Rodriguez & Mistry, 2015).

Students under age 18 obtained their parental consent to participate in this study. Students

typically finished the survey within 30-45 minutes. Parent consent and adolescent assent

were obtained prior to completing the survey. Along with the parent consent form, parents

of all participants were asked to complete a demographics questionnaire indicating their

birthdate, gender, grade, family’s household income.

Measure

Generational Status and Racial/ethnic Self-identification

Participants’ generational status was based on self-reports of their birthplace, as well as

the birthplace of their parents, and maternal and paternal grandparents. If participants were

foreign-born, they were also asked to indicate the age they arrived in the U.S. Participants

were also asked questions regarding their racial/ethnic self-identification based on a 5-point

Likert scale ranging from 1 (Not At All) to 5 (Very High Degree).

Strength of racial identification:

In order to examine the strength of identification, I created three different categories.

The first group represents those students who indicated that the degree of Asian American

identification is stronger than the degree of Pacific Islander identification. The second group

represents the students who indicated the degree of Asian American identification is weaker


than the degree of Pacific Islander identification. The third group represents the students

who indicated the degree of Asian American identification is equal to the degree of Pacific

Islander identification.

Academic Achievement:

Participants’ academic achievement was based on their school transcripts. Grade point

averages (GPAs) were based on their grades in core academic courses: English, mathematics,

social science, and science. The GPA scale from 0 to 4 was used to calculate participants’ GPA

(College Board, 2016). (e.g., A/A+ =4.0, A- =3.7, B+ =3.3, B =3.0, B- =2.7, C+ =2.3, C = 2.0, C- =

1.7, D+ =1.3, D =1.0 and E/F =0.0).

Model Minority Stereotype:

In order to understand Filipino American students’ internalization of the model

minority stereotype, I will use adapted questions from the Attitude toward Asian (ATA) Scale,

which ranged from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). A sample item is, “As an Asian

American, I tend to be hardworking and diligent.” I also create two subgroups for model

minority stereotype: internal model minority stereotype and external model minority. For

internal model minority stereotypes, participants will answer a series of questions about

what they think about model minority; for example, “As an Asian American, I tend to have

close ties with my family.” For external stereotypes, participants will be asked what their

belief of others’ model minority stereotypes; for example, “Others often assume that I have


a strong commitment to family values because I am Asian American.”

Results

The mean of GPA for the entire sample (n= 79) was 3.08 with standard deviation= .615.

The minimum of our participant’s GPA was 0.33 and the maximum was 3.95. The mean of

internal stereotypes of model minority was 3.52 with standard deviation= .70. The mean of

external stereotypes of model minority was 3.61 with standard deviation= .91.

Our finding shows that there were 45 students had stronger Asian American identification

(e.g., mean of GPA= 3.14, standard deviation= .611); 17 students had stronger Pacific

Islander identification (e.g., mean of GPA= 3.0, standard deviation= .573); and 17 students

had equal identification for Asian American and Pacific Islander (e.g., mean of GPA= 2.996,

standard deviation= .681).

A one-way between subjects ANOVA was conducted to examine whether the strength

of racial-ethnic identification is related to academic achievement among Filipino-American

students who more strongly identify as (1) Asian American, or (2) Pacific Islander or (3) those

who equally identify as both Asian American and Pacific Islander. There was no statistical

significance between the three groups, F statistic for between groups is .507 (df= 2 between

groups, df =76 within groups), and p is .604. Finally, I examined the association between

Filipino students’ experiences and internalization of the model minority stereotype and their

academic achievement. Removing the outlier, the comparison was statistically significant at


p<.05. The outlier of the sample was a 9th grader who completed the first semester but

failed most of their classes and their GPA was 0.33.

Discussion

As the majority of participants are 2nd generation or 2.5 generation Filipino-Americans,

the findings for this study might differ from previous studies that have examined the

experiences of 1st generation immigrants. Because the sample size is too small to

statistically represent the differences for different generational statuses, I do not compare

participants’ academic achievements based on their generational statuses in this study. To

build upon this research, future analyses for this project will examine how the strength of

identification differs across generational status, and how this in turn may be related to

academic achievement. As we continue to collect data for the larger study, we will have

more participants that vary in terms immigrant generational status.

For family’s household income, the average of our participants was $100,001 to

125,000. Compared with the 2014 median of the neighborhood ($66,110), our participants

were from families with higher household income (U.S. Census, 2016). However, the gap

between the neighborhood and the participants may have been caused by a number of

invalid answers from the participants. For example, many participants chose “I don’t know”

(n = 6) or “I prefer not to answer” (n = 17). While we were not able to systematically

examine how…varies across family household income, future research should conduct a


larger study to consider the variable of household income.

Although we can tell Filipino students with stronger Pacific Islander identification had

slightly lower GPA than their peers, we cannot assume students with higher Pacific Islander

identification would have lower academic performance like Pacific Islander students from

Pang, Han and Pang’s findings (2011). Therefore, the result has rejected my hypothesis that

students who identify as Asian American will have better academic achievement compared

to those who identify as Pacific Islander.

Limitations and future research

The limitation of this paper is that the sample size is too small. However, it can still

provide some valuable information about relationships between Filipino high school

students’ academic performance and their racial-ethnic identification. I also recommend

future research addresses Filipino parents and parenting attitudes towards Asian Americans

and Pacific Islanders in order to understand how the model minority stereotype might

influence Filipino American students’ academic achievement. Furthermore, the findings of

this study should be examined again with a larger sample size in order to systematically

consider the differences in achievement across socioeconomic status and immigrant

generational status.

Conclusion

Based on my study, I have noticed that Filipino American adolescents might have


different self-identifications which is different from other Asian American groups. However,

the achievement of Filipino students is not associated with the ways in which they choose to

identify themselves. Interestingly, our participants’ academic achievements did seem to be

influenced by Filipino students’ experiences of the model minority stereotype. In light of

these findings, future research should investigate more about Filipino students’ perceptions

of model minority stereotypes; and the rationality why Filipino American adolescents have

different self-identifications as Asian Americans or Pacific Islanders. Therefore, I recommend

educators should be aware of the model minority stereotypes that they may use to

characterize Filipino American students as it may have negative implications for their

academic achievement.


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Documents

Final draft for AIP-03172016