Co-sponsored by CDE
This seminar is a part of the Spring IRP Seminar Series.
As a high-achieving minority group, Asians—on average—have surpassed Whites in education, income, and wealth. This “controlling” narrative, however, is incomplete because it renders intra-Asian disparities invisible. One consequence of intra-Asian diversity is the divergent destinies of hyper-selected Asians and vulnerable Asians. This talk shifts the academic focus away from narratives of Asian American “success” to vulnerable Asian Americans. This least advantaged segment of the Asian population includes refugees and the elderly population. Future data collection efforts should also address the inherent bias toward the inclusion of the largest Asian groups at the exclusion of more vulnerable Asian groups in prior research. Investing in a robust data infrastructure, especially national surveys on health, aging, and retirement, will contribute to the narrative plentitude in future research and the cultural representations of U.S. Asians.
Dr. Van Tran is Professor of Sociology and International Migration Studies at the City University of New York Graduate Center. As an immigration scholar and urban sociologist, his research and teaching engage with New York City and its communities as a social laboratory for innovative research that seeks to inform urban social policy. His research focuses on four key themes: integration of immigrants and their children, neighborhood poverty and inequality, racial attitudes among Asian Americans, and intra-group diversity and its implications for ethnoracial inequality.