The Perpetual Foreigner and Model Minority Spectrum: Comparing How Southeast and East Asian Americans Experience Racialization

Asian Americans are often viewed as a homogenous group with monolithic experiences. To examine how Southeast and East Asian Americans—two groups with different experiences to and within the U.S.A.—experience racialization relative to the perpetual foreigner and model minority stereotypes, I used the...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Vang, Houa (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2025
In: Race and social problems
Year: 2025, Volume: 17, Issue: 4, Pages: 291-306
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Keywords:
Asian Americans
Disaggregated data
Model minority
Perpetual foreigner
Racialization
Description
Summary:Asian Americans are often viewed as a homogenous group with monolithic experiences. To examine how Southeast and East Asian Americans—two groups with different experiences to and within the U.S.A.—experience racialization relative to the perpetual foreigner and model minority stereotypes, I used the 2016 post-election National Asian American Survey. The two variables measuring experiences with racialization were being assumed to be good at math and science and others acting as if they do not speak English. By conducting binomial generalized linear modeling with chained multiple imputations, I found that Southeast Asian Americans were less likely than East Asian Americans to be assumed as good at math and science. Southeast Asian Americans were also more likely to experience others acting as if they do not speak English, although this is moderated by birth origin in later models. I also examined the experiences of the Asian American ethnic groups on these two measurements of model minority and foreignness and found some differences among them. These findings demonstrate the varying experiences that Southeast and East Asian Americans have and how they experience racialization differently on the perpetual foreigner and model minority spectrum.
ISSN:1867-1756
DOI:10.1007/s12552-025-09441-5