Asian Americans are frequently deployed as racial mascots by pundits who fixate on their extraordinary levels of educational attainment. They comprise only 5.5% of the U.S. population, yet about one fifth of the entering classes in Ivy League universities like Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. Pundits have attributed these educational outcomes to cultural factors, underpinned by values or traits that are innately Asian. However, this cultural explanation fails to consider the pivotal role of U.S. immigration law which has ushered in a new stream of highly educated, highly skilled Asian immigrants. Based on a qualitative study of adult children of immigrants in metropolitan Los Angeles, we find that hyper-selectivity (as opposed to hypo-selectivity) of contemporary immigration significantly influences the educational trajectories and outcomes in the members of the 1.5 and second generation beyond individual family or parental socioeconomic characteristics, leading to group-based advantages (or disadvantages) that are consequential. Our analysis of qualitative data shows that the children of hyper-selected immigrant groups begin their quest to get ahead from more favorable starting points, are guided by a more constricting success frame, and have greater access to ethnic capital than those of other immigrant groups. In turn, hyper-selectivity gives rise to stereotype promise — the boost in performance that comes with being favorably perceived and treated as smart, high-achieving, hardworking, and deserving students—that benefits members of the group so stereotyped. Our analysis also suggests that, while the so-called positive stereotype enhances the academic performance of Asian American students, the same stereotype reproduces new stereotypes that hinder them as they pursue leadership positions in the workplace. We suggest that Asian American professionals face a bamboo ceiling—an invisible barrier that impedes their upward mobility much like the glass ceiling does for women.

中文翻译：

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超选择性与文化重塑：理解亚裔美国人的成就悖论。

亚裔美国人经常被专注于他们非凡的教育水平的专家部署为种族吉祥物。他们仅占美国人口的 5.5%，但约占哈佛、耶鲁和普林斯顿等常春藤盟校入学人数的五分之一。专家们将这些教育成果归因于文化因素，这些因素以亚洲人天生的价值观或特征为基础。然而，这种文化解释没有考虑到美国移民法的关键作用，美国移民法带来了新的高学历、高技能亚洲移民。基于对洛杉矶大都市移民成年子女的定性研究，我们发现当代移民的超选择性（而不是低选择性）显着影响了 1.5 和第二代成员的教育轨迹和结果，超出了个人家庭或父母的社会经济特征，导致基于群体的优势（或劣势） ) 的结果。我们对定性数据的分析表明，与其他移民群体相比，被高度选择的移民群体的孩子从更有利的起点开始寻求成功，受到更严格的成功框架的指导，并且更容易获得种族资本。反过来，过度选择性会产生刻板印象——随着被认为是聪明、有成就、勤奋、和应得的学生——这使如此刻板印象的群体成员受益。我们的分析还表明，虽然所谓的积极刻板印象提高了亚裔美国学生的学业成绩，但同样的刻板印象会复制新的刻板印象，阻碍他们在工作场所寻求领导职位。我们建议亚裔美国专业人士面临一个竹制天花板——一个无形的障碍，阻碍他们向上流动，就像女性的玻璃天花板一样。