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Description
According to the U.S. Census Bureau (2000), Chinese Americans are the largest Asian ethnic group in the United States. In New York City, Chinese Americans comprise approximately 375,000, with a 53.4% growth since 1990 (Asian American Federation of New York, 2004). A large percentage of this population includes school-age children and youth who are expected to make decisions about their future career plans upon high school graduation. In spite of this expectation, a limited number of studies examine the career development of Asian youth (Leong & Tata, 1990; Ma & Yeh, 2005), especially among low-income, urban youth. Hence, this study attempted to explore the career decision-making processes of Chinese American and Chinese immigrant youth as they negotiate Chinese and American cultural values and norms.
The model minority myth creates a dangerous perception that all Asian American youth are self-sufficient, academically successful, and psychologically healthy (A. B. Kim & Yeh, 2002). Because of this misconception, it has only been in recent years that research studies have examined Asian American career development (e.g., Hardin, Leong, & Osipow, 2001; Leong, 1991; Leong & Chou, 1994; Leong & Serafica, 2001). However, Brown and Brooks (1991) indicated that Asian Americans actually form a bimodal distribution of success, with a highly educated and successful group and a poorly educated and less successful group. In addition, high socioeconomic status and occupational prestige do not necessarily imply that individuals are satisfied with their career choices, or that they do not struggle in making career decisions (Leong & Chou, 1994). Furthermore, the term Asian American implies a sense of homogeneity that does not exist in reality (Leong & Gim, 1995). Rather, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are extremely diverse, comprising about 43 different ethnic subgroups (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Surgeon General, SAMHSA, 2004); Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Asian Indian Americans are the predominant participants n previous studies on career development (E.-Y. Kim, 1993; Leong & Tata, 1990; Sue & Frank, 1973; Sue & Kirk, 1973). Because there are vast differences in cultural values across Asian ethnic groups, within-group differences among Asian Americans need to be acknowledged in understanding their career decision-making process.
It is of a particular importance to study the decision-making process of this population during their adolescent years (Brew, Hesketh, & Taylor, 2001). Specifically, when considering the development of career beliefs, adolescence is a period of intense exploration (Super, 1990). The adolescent years involve the formation of a general vocational goal through awareness of resources, contingencies, interests, values, and planning for the preferred occupation (Peterson & Gonzalez, 2000). To understand how Chinese Americans arrive at their career aspirations and interests, it is imperative to study them during this critical period of their development.
Construction of Career Interests and Aspirations
Very little is known about the process of how Asian Americans construct their career interests and aspirations. Only one study is available that used a qualitative method in gathering information about the experience of Korean American career decision making (E.-Y. Kim, 1993). More qualitative research needs to be conducted to understand the complex process of career development among Asian Americans. Despite the lack of research in this area, there are several cultural assumptions that may influence the career decision-making process of Chinese American youth.
Factors Influencing Career Decision Making
Family influence has been found to be one of the major factors influencing Asian adolescents' career decisions (E.-Y. Kim, 1993; Leong & Chou, 1994). Asian parents implicitly or explicitly convey their career expectations to their children, and familial pressure on career choices has been mentioned by various researchers (E.-Y. Kim, 1993; Leong & Chou, 1994; Leong & Serafica, 2001). However, E.-Y. Kim's (1993) research has been the sole study in which the participants have been able to voice how powerful the family pressure is for Korean Americans. It is important to note that there will be variability in the amount of family pressure individuals receive depending on their ethnicity, family structure differences, acculturation level of family members, gender stereotyping, intergenerational conflicts, and birth order and that recognizing these within-group differences in the Asian race is warranted.
Cultural values may also contribute to Asian youth arriving at particular career decisions, because there are occupations that are culturally more desired or respected (Tang, Fouad, & Smith, 1999). For example, in Korean culture, where money and prestige are considered the criteria for success, the definition of a "successful" career is narrowly defined with such occupations as doctors and lawyers (E.-Y. Kim, 1993). Therefore, Chinese youth may not only consider their individual interests and familial expectations but also cultural values and expectations when making career-related decisions. Specifically, when considering the influence of interdependence on life-altering choices, such as a career decision, it is imperative to take into account family reputation, saving face, caring for parents, and respecting elders' wishes as well as individual goals, such as being happy or satisfied with one's chosen profession.
Negotiating Two Cultures: Considering Multiple Expectations
It is crucial to understand how ethnic minority youth adapt to the majority society and yet keep their connection to their culture of origin (Sue et al., 1998). It is also imperative to examine how they balance two cultures when making critical choices in their lives, such as future career plans (Leong, 1985; Leong & Gim, 1995; Leong & Serafica, 2001). As mentioned previously, Asian American career development theory lacks a culturally embedded theoretical framework in conceptualizing the decision-making process (Leong & Serafica, 2001). More recently, researchers have attempted to make the connection between biculturalism/acculturation and career decision making (Carter & Constantine, 2000; Hardin et al., 2001; Leong & Chou, 1994; Leong & Tata, 1990; Luzzo, 1992; Mau, 2000).
Theory and research on Asian American ethnic identity and acculturation have tended to categorize individuals as either highly acculturated or highly traditional in examining their career development processes and outcomes (Hardin et al., 2001; Leong, 1991; Leong & Chou, 1994; Leong & Tata, 1990; Leung, Ivey, & Suzuki, 1994). These research studies have examined the relationships between acculturation and career maturity. Career maturity and vocational identity are found to be highly correlated, but they may not be identical constructs (Leong, 1991). One way to distinguish the two is to consider Asian Americans' interdependent ways of making life choices. Specifically, many studies have concluded that "career maturity" assumes an independent way of arriving at decisions without the influence of important others. Hence, for Asian Americans, interdependent decision-making styles, which include the influence of important connections, are conceptualized as being less career mature (Hardin et al., 2001; Leong, 1991; Leong & Gim, 1995; Luzzo, 1992).
Definitions of career success and advancement in Asian cultures may be different from those used in the United States. According to Taylor, Wang, VanBrackle, and Kaneda (2003), Japanese children in first grade explicitly mentioned the importance of thinking about older members of their family as they thought about their future career, whereas American children considered their own self-interest. Furthermore, occupations that are perceived as prestigious or highly admired can be differently or narrowly defined, as discussed previously (E.-Y. Kim, 1993). Further examination is necessary to better understand how Asian Americans are struggling to meet the expectations of both individualistic and collectivistic definitions of career success.
To Whom Do Asians Turn for Advice?
Asian immigrants have been reported to have intergenerational conflicts with their family members because of differences in acculturation levels (Lee, Choe, Kim, & Ngo, 2000). These conflicts may influence immigrant youth to avoid discussing career-related issues with their family members. In addition, intergenerational conflict may contribute to immigrant youth using resources other than their parents that are available to them. The present study seeks to further understand with whom Asian Americans feel comfortable discussing career related issues.
Previous research has contended that Asian Americans do not use mental health services and that when they do, they have a tendency to prematurely terminate. Despite this underuse (Atkinson, Lowe, & Matthews, 1995), Leong and Serafica (2001) found when examining the College Entrance Examination Board statistics from 1980 that 34% of Asian American students taking the Scholastic Aptitude Test in 1980 expressed an intention to seek vocational-career counseling when enrolled in college compared with 27% of Whites, 24% of African Americans, and 34% of Mexican Americans. Asian... |
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