Asian Americans

The term Asian Americans refers to Americans, and immigrants living in America, whose ancestral heritage is linked to several Asian regions of the world: East Asia, Southeast Asia, and South Asia. The region of East Asia comprises a variety of countries like China, Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, and Mongolia; Southeast Asia consists of Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam; and the region of South Asia includes Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan. Although Pacific Islanders (Hawaiians, Guamanians, and Samoans) may also be considered as Asian Americans, typically they are listed separately; therefore, they are not discussed here even though many of the issues discussed in this entry are applicable to the Pacific Islanders.

The Asian American population is not a homogeneous group. Yet, the term Asian American is used to categorize these diverse ethnic groups together. Although Asian Americans may share certain commonalities, they are an extremely diverse group of people from different countries and with rich cultures that are vastly different from each other. A true understanding of Asian Americans begins with their country's history, sociopolitical history in America, cultural practices and beliefs, language, conditions surrounding immigration, experiences after arrival in the United States, socioeconomic background, family situation, ethnic identity and assimilation, and length of residence in the United States.

Educational psychology has been interested in Asian Americans because they are a leading ethnic group with a long immigration history in the United States. Research with Asian Americans has focused on issues such as educational achievement, how they learn and develop in similar and dissimilar ways compared with White European Americans, and their psychosocial adjustment to mainstream American culture and schools. In the following paragraphs, Asian Americans are discussed along with their immigration history, Asian American subgroups, and Asian American issues.