May 11, 2015
When one thinks of Asian Americans, for most people what comes to mind are well-educated, high-income earners; overachievers; and hard workers whose children are destined for spots at elite Ivy League schools.
But this model minority perception is just that: a perception. It also overlooks one big issue: Asian Americans are far from homogenous.
“The Asian American Pacific Islander community is comprised of over 48 different ethnicities,” notes Joy Yoo, associate director of marketing and communications for the Asian & Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund, a Washington, D.C.- based organization that provides hundreds of scholarships each year to Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs). “There are hundreds of different languages. It’s very diverse. There’s also immense diversity in need and immense diversity in educational need.”
