Eager to Leave? Intentions to Migrate Abroad among Young People in Kyrgyzstan1

This study examines young people's intentions to migrate abroad in Kyrgyzstan, focusing in particular on differences between Asian and European‐origin ethnic groups. The multivariate analyses of recent survey data show that even after controlling for socioeconomic characteristics and social embeddedness Europeans are significantly more inclined to migrate than Asians. Whereas no gender differences in migration intentions among either group are detected, marriage, childbearing, and social capital exhibit distinct ethnic‐specific effects. Although economic considerations are prevailing stimuli for migration in both groups, the results point to the formation of two dominant ethnic‐specific migration preference types – for temporary migration among Asians and permanent migration among Europeans.     

Ethnic Language Retention and East Asian Endogamy in the United States

This study examines the influence of ethnic language on the endogamy of three East Asian groups, which have been previously omitted within intermarriage research. The study findings present important indications of ethnic language playing a key role in endogamy amongst East Asian groups. Providing for this key component, the groups were divided into U.S. born vs. foreign-born East Asians. Amongst foreign-born East Asians, the effect of English ability provided significance over U.S. born East Asians. Separate examinations of Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans presented diverse patterns of endogamy, migration, and ethnic language retention. Specifically, findings provided insight to high levels of endogamy amongst U.S. born Japanese due to ethnic concentration, despite their loss of ethnic language.     

Migration Decisions,Acculturation, and Overweight among Asian and Latino Immigrant Adults in the United States

Using the 2002–2003 National Latino and Asian American Study (NLAAS), we examine relationships between acculturation, migration decisions, and overweight among Latino and Asian immigrants. Pooled logistic regression models showed no evidence that acculturation and migration decisions were related to overweight among Asians, but models for Latinos indicated that aspects of acculturation (duration of US residence and English proficiency) and migration decisions (moving to find a job) were significantly associated with overweight status. However, interaction models also highlighted the gendered nature of the acculturation–weight relationship, such that country‐of‐origin ties can have different implications for the overweight status of male and female immigrants.     

From 'White Australia' to 'part of Asia': recent shifts in Australian immigration policy towards the region

This article examines migration policy in Australia with reference to the "White Australia" policy prior to 1975 and the multicultural policy thereafter. Mass immigration has not caused major social tensions. Mass tourism has been welcomed. Australian attitudes have changed from fear of massive numbers of Asians and mass poverty and ignorance to multiculturalism. Suspicious attitudes toward Asians, however, are still present among a minority of Australians. The most influential arguments against Asians are the concerns about employment of new arrivals and the environmental impact of an increasing population. Although there are many cultural differences, Australia is linked to Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines in that all have a history of British or American influence. Educated Indians and Sri Lankans are linked to Australians by their common language and Christian religion. The integration of Asians in the business and financial community holds the potential for economic gain over the years. The author finds that the Australian relationship to Asia is more acceptable in public arenas than the comparable changing relationship between Britain and Europe. The roots of a Whites-only policy extend back to 1901, when the Commonwealth Immigration Restriction Act was ratified. The exclusion of non-European immigrants was not specified in the law. The mechanism for exclusion was included in the law. Undesirable immigrants could be excluded. Under mass migration programs after 1947 the population of non-English speaking Europeans increased. By 1973 government shifted from an assimilationist approach to a multicultural approach due to pressure from the Department of Foreign Affairs. Numerous historical events occurring during 1942-80 drew Australia out of its isolationist position in the world. At present about 25% of the total population are of non-British origin. Over 900,000 would have been excluded under the old migration policy. In 1991, 665,315 persons were born in Asia, of which the largest numbers came from Mainland China, Malaysia, and the Philippines. Asian immigrants are either refugees from Viet Nam, Cambodia, and Laos or voluntary Asian immigrants.     

Asian Americans and Voting Participation: Comparing Racial and Ethnic Differences in Recent U.S. Elections

This research assesses the significance of race and ethnicity in the participation of Asian Americans in recent U.S. elections. It reviews the major characteristics of the nonwhite, multiethnic population in recent census surveys and discusses the necessity for voting behavior research to address effects of international migration on eligibility issues in voting participation. Results from analyzing U.S. Current Population Survey Voter Supplement files, 1994–2000, indicate that Asian Americans' apparent deficit in voting participation among voting‐age persons can be reduced, removed, or even reversed when restricting analyses only to eligible persons. Multivariate analyses controlling for a set of institutional, contextual, and individual factors show that being Asian and foreign born may have the net effect of increasing voting registration, while being U.S. born and Asian may have the contrary effect, compared to non‐Hispanic whites of comparable background. Nativity is not significant in impacting turnout among registered Asians as a whole, but U.S.‐born Asians are less likely to turn out compared to their white counterparts. Among other findings, being foreign born may enhance the registration likelihood for Chinese, Korean, and Asian Indian American citizens and the turnout likelihood of registered Korean Americans.     

The question of discrimination: skilled migrants' access to Australian employment

Following a decade of increasing non English-speaking background (NESB) migration to Australia, including the migration of unprecedented levels of NESB professionals, this article examines two recent studies which report cases of direct and indirect labour market discrimination. The first relates to qualifications recognition for migrant doctors. Key findings include a growing trend to federal government intervention (in alliance with the medical professional bodies) to limit the entry and registration of migrant doctors, as well as the potential for English language ability to negatively impact on pre-registration examination outcomes.
The second study concerns labour market outcomes achieved by an élite sample of Australia's skilled migration programme – migrant engineers of prime workforce age and advanced level English, with fully recognized qualifications pre-migration. Based on longitudinal research conducted over a three year period, this study reports significant evidence of employer bias by region of origin, operating in favour of English-speaking background (ESB) and European origin engineers, compared with those of Asian or Middle Eastern origin.
The findings of both studies are contextualized by reference to a 1997 study (based on the Australian census) which reports the employment outcomes obtained by migrant professionals by country of origin, including the length of time taken to achieve professional integration.     

Changing U.S. immigration law and the occupational selectivity of Asian immigrants

This study explored the relationship between US immigration laws and their impact on the immigration of Asian professionals. The article relied on a 1996 Population Association presentation. Data were obtained from the US Immigration and Naturalization Service on legally admitted immigrants to the US. The authors describe the paths to admission, trends in immigration of professionals during 1972-94, and the Immigration Act of 1965 and its 4 amendments. Standardization-decomposition techniques are used to explain the relative differences in professional immigration across 1972-77, 1978-91, and 1992-94. The crude professional rate for all Asians declined by 19% during 1972-91. 62% of the decline was due to changes in the class of admission composition, and 25% was due to a decline in the class-specific professional rates. During 1992-94, the Asian crude professional rate increased 7%, most of which was due to changes in class composition, with the exception of Korean rates. Only the Vietnamese experienced a decline in rates. The 1965 law allowed for equity between countries in admission. The paths of immigration were family ties, job skills, or refugee status. During 1972-77, Chinese took advantage of family reunification, and Indians entered on employment preferences. The legal changes affected the size and share of each class of admission. The revisions indirectly affected the occupational selectivity of immigrant groups. 27% of the flow of Asians during 1972-77 was accounted for by employment preferences. Professionals were 44% of Asian immigrants during 1972-77, 26% during 1978-91, and 33% during 1992-94.     

THE CAREER ATTAINMENT OF CAUCASIAN AND ASIAN ENGINEERS

This article explores the influence of race and nativity on the one hand and assimilation, human capital, and market structure on the other to explain patterns of income and career transitions of Caucasians and Asians in the engineering profession. Multiple and logistic regression techniques are employed to analyze the career histories of 12,200 Caucasian and Asian engineers followed from 1982 through 1986. The objective is to determine how well Asians have performed in the American engineering labor market in terms of wages, occupational status, and promotion in comparison to Caucasians. The results indicate more racial disparity in managerial representation and upward mobility than in earnings, and more disparity in career attainment between foreign-born Asians and Caucasians than between native-born Asians and Caucasians. The data suggest that Asian engineers, except recent immigrants, have achieved earnings parity but have not yet attained occupational equality with Caucasians.     

A COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE ON RACIAL RESIDENTIAL SEGREGATION:

This article takes a first step to compare the residential segregation of blacks and Asians from whites in American and Canadian cities. The analysis is based on census data from 404 American and 41 Canadian cities. African Americans in the United States experience a higher level of residential segregation than Asians in U.S. cities. On the other hand, blacks in Canada experience the same low level of segregation as Asians. To explain the different experiences of blacks in the United States and Canada, a multivariate model is proposed and tested. The results reveal several patterns. First, African Americans are consistently obstructed much more than Asian Americans by their proportion in the city. In contrast blacks in Canada are not. Second, the residential segregation patterns of African Americans are affected strongly by the labor market and strucutral changes of the economy in the city. However, the structural change of the economy in the city has a very weak effect on the level of residential segregation of Asian Americans, black Canadians, and Asian Canadians.     

Military Brides and Refugees: Vietnamese American Wives and Shifting Links to the Military, 1980 – 2000

Since the immigration legislation of 1965, marriage to American citizens and resident aliens has been one of the primary paths for migration to the United States. Despite the rapid growth of the Asian American population over the course of the late twentieth century, Asian Americans had still reached only 3 per cent of all Americans by 2000, meaning that Asian marriage migration to the United States has been largely through marriage to non‐Asians. In this study, we look at exogamy among Vietnamese Americans using U. S. Census data (1980, 1990, and 2000) from 5 per cent PUMS sets made available through the IPUMS project. We ask: (1) What are the predictors of exogamy among Vietnamese Americans? (2) How do the rates of exogamy of Vietnamese American women compare to those of Vietnamese American men? (3) How have the predictors of exogamy and the apparent characteristics of the exogamously married changed over the decades of refugee movement from Vietnam to North America? We review data from the years 1980, 1990, and 2000. In the assimilationist view of immigration associated with the classic work of Milton M. Gordon, exogamy is the final stage of immigrant incorporation into a host country. Migration through marriage, which has become a major source of immigration to the United States since the Immigration Act of 1965, reverses this assimilationist pattern, placing marriage before immigration and incorporation, or at the earliest stages of immigration and incorporation. Our findings are relevant to understanding the specific Vietnamese experience in the United States. They highlight the continuing but declining importance of the Vietnam War in creating close connections between Vietnamese and other people in the United States, even after the war had ended. The findings also suggest how these connections changed as a result of Vietnamese mass migration to America.     

When “model minorities” become “yellow peril”—Othering and the racialization of Asian Americans in the COVID-19 pandemic

Using the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic as a case study, this paper engages with debates on the assimilation of Asian Americans into the US mainstream. While a burgeoning scholarship holds that Asians are “entering into the dominant group” or becoming “White,” the prevalent practices of othering Asians and surging anti-Asian discrimination since the pandemic outbreak present a challenge to the assimilation thesis. This paper explains how anger against China quickly expands to Asian American population more broadly. Our explanation focuses on different forms of othering practices, deep-seated stereotypes of Asians, and the role of politicians and media in activating or exacerbating anti-Asian hatred. Through this scrutiny, this paper augments the theses that Asian Americans are still treated as “forever foreigners” and race is still a prominent factor in the assimilation of Asians in the United States. This paper also sheds light on the limitations of current measures of assimilation. More broadly, the paper questions the notion of color-blindness or post-racial America.     

Ethnic,gender, and length‐of‐residency influences on sexual knowledge and attitudes

We examined potential differences in sexual knowledge and attitudes between 702 Canadian undergraduates of Asian (n = 356) and European (n = 346) ancestry. We also examined potential influences of length of residency in Canada on these variables among Asians, and the role of gender both across and within ethnic groups. The primary purpose was to examine whether length of exposure to North American sexual values influences sexual knowledge or attitudes among Asians living in Canada. Results revealed that compared to Europeans, Asians held more conservative sexual attitudes and demonstrated significantly less sexual knowledge. Recent Asian immigrants were significantly more likely than Canadian‐born or long‐term Canadian residents to hold conservative sexual attitudes on a number of sexuality items. Among Asians and Non‐Asians, males reported more negative attitudes toward homosexuals than did females; females held more conservative sexual attitudes toward uncommitted sexual relations than did males. The findings provide partial support for a cultural explanation of the frequently reported finding that, compared with North Americans, Asians are more restricted in their expression of sexuality.     

INTERMARRIAGE AND THE LABOR MARKET OUTCOMES OF ASIAN WOMEN

The impact of intermarriage with natives, on labor market outcomes of immigrants, is not homogeneous across ethnic groups. Wages of Asian women are compared with non‐Asians. Both ordinary least squares and instrumental variables estimates of the effects of intermarriage on the wages of Asian women are negative and significant. Non‐Asian women earn a wage premium that becomes insignificant when controls for selection into marriage are introduced. One possible explanation for the intermarriage penalty for Asians is an income effect of having a high‐earning native husband. Intermarriage penalties rise with husband's education. Assimilation patterns of intermarried Asians indicate that they have lower initial wages, market hours, and employment, but exhibit faster rates of growth over their years of stay. The results are robust across Asian subgroups and husband's ethnicity. (JEL J16, J12, J31, J61)     

The impact of the Gulf war on migration and remittances in Asia and the Middle East

The author discusses the impact of the 1990 Gulf war on the migrant worker populations in the region, with a focus on migration and remittances in Asia and the Middle East. Both immediate and long-term effects are considered. "From the perspective of foreign migrant communities living in the Gulf...the war...was much more of a disaster for Arabs than for Asians....Arab migrant populations...were dramatically affected by the Gulf crisis. In contrast, the Asian migrant community was largely concentrated in Saudi Arabia and the [United Arab Emirates] and remained relatively less affected by the crisis. Subsequent polarization in the Arab world gives Asian labor-exporting countries an unexpected opportunity to increase their share of Gulf labor markets still further in the coming years." (SUMMARY IN FRE AND SPA)     

Predicting group consciousness among Asian Americans: Considering commonalities,shared interests,panethnic group identification,and linked fate

Identifying factors linked to the development of group consciousness is important toward bettering our understanding of group formation processes among marginalized ethnoracial groups. This study examines predictors of group consciousness among Asians and Asian Americans in the United States, focusing on numerous dimensions of this concept, including linked fate, panethnic group identification, and four specific sources of perceived group commonality and interests: (1) cultural, (2) economic, (3) political, and (4) racial. We use data from a national survey to examine socio-structural, political, discrimination, and immigration correlates associated with separate dimensions of Asian group consciousness. We found that perceiving interpersonal discrimination increased the importance of being Asian; heightened the odds of feeling linked fate with other Asian people; and enhanced the odds of identification as “Asian American.” Republicans and Independents were less likely to perceive different elements of Asian group consciousness compared to Democrats. Educational attainment, income, gender, employment status, ethnicity, and English-speaking comfortability had varying effects across certain measures of Asian group consciousness. For Asians and Asian Americans, interpersonal discrimination and certain socio-structural, political, and immigration factors may be especially meaningful toward the development of linked fate, shared group interests and commonalities, and panethnic identification, all of which are key toward activating group consciousness.     

“You Just Don't Understand Me!” Determinants of Second Generation Asian and Latino Youth Self‐Esteem

To understand the integration of second‐generation Asians and Latinos, we study the association between acculturation and self‐esteem, an aspect of psychological wellbeing and belongingness. Using data from the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study (CILS), we find that Asians have lower self‐esteem than Latinos. Females, youth who are from lower socioeconomic status families, have been in the US for less than five years, have lower grade point averages, experience discrimination, or experience more family conflict, are at risk for lower self‐esteem. For Asians, identifying as American is associated with higher self‐esteem than identifying by nationality or having a hyphenated identity, but it does not provide a similar benefit to Latinos. Both groups benefit from being fluently bilingual, whereas English‐language dominance is protective only for Asian youths’ self‐esteem. Our analysis nuances the role that acculturation factors play in adolescent self‐esteem, signalling that future research should consider interactions between acculturation and race/ethnicity.     

The immigrant experience: Houstonians’ family attitudes and behaviors

ABSTRACT

Although there is extensive scholarship that examines differences in family behaviors and attitudes between whites and blacks, there are very few studies that examine these differences across whites, blacks, Latinos, and Asians in the United States. In the current study, we do so by examining data from the 2011 Houston Area Survey. We explore Houstonians’ likelihood of engaging in interracial relationships, attitudes toward working mothers, and attitudes toward same-sex marriage. Houston was selected as the target of the study given its rise as the most racially and ethnically diverse metropolitan area in the nation. Non-white Houstonians are more likely to date members of other racial/ethnic groups. With regard to attitudes toward working mothers, only Latino and Asian immigrants hold less accepting views than whites. Finally, the results with regard to same-sex marriage equality suggest that increased migration and diversity within Houston could hasten social change and acceptance.     

Trends in Socioeconomic Achievement among Immigrant and Native-Born Asian-Americans, 1960–1976*

The first waves of Asian immigration to the United States were halted by exclusionary and racist legislation in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. With the reforms of the 1965 Immigration Act, there has been a resurgence of immigration from Asia. This study analyzes changes in the socioeconomic composition of immigrant and native-born Asian-Americans (Japanese, Chinese, and Filipinos) from 1960 to 1976. The educational levels of all Asian groups, immigrant and native-born, have equaled or exceeded those of whites in recent years. Asians are more likely to be found in professional occupations than are whites, although there is also a concentration of immigrant Chinese and Filipinos in service occupations and the retailtrade sector. Native-born Asian-Americans have reached parity with whites in terms of average earnings, though immigrant Asians remain far behind. The findings are discussed in light of the changing structural conditions and opportunities of Asians in American society.     

EARLY FACTORS LEADING TO COLLEGE GRADUATION FOR ASIANS AND NON-ASIANS IN THE UNITED STATES

This article explores factors that lead Asian Americans, both as a group and as subgroups, to obtain a college degree in comparison to members of other racial/ethnic groups in the United States. Using data from the 2000 wave of the National Education Longitudinal Study, we find that the effects of race on educational attainment virtually disappear once individual and family factors are controlled. However, there is significant heterogeneity in college attainment among Asian Americans. In addition, we find that the effects of socioeconomic status, parental expectations, eighth-grade grade point average, and family structure are generally weaker for Asian Americans relative to non-Asians while parental immigrant status and standardized test scores are stronger. Asians appear to be "protected" from many of the usual factors that negatively affect educational outcomes while receiving an enhanced benefit from being of an immigrant family.     

The British Ugandan Asian diaspora: multiple and contested belongings

In this article, I map the diverse allegiances and changing conceptions of home expressed by British Ugandan Asians. Drawing on in‐depth interviews, I situate the analysis within the wider literature on diaspora, belonging and home. By revealing their different trajectories of belonging, I challenge much of the current literature on the South Asian diaspora, which focuses on connections to India as the principal homeland. Their complex relationship to Britain in the aftermath of the expulsion provides an alternative insight to previous research, which has stressed their commitment to the UK. I trace how they constructed their sense of ‘home’ in Uganda, how their forced migration transformed this and how they responded to their contested and multiple belongings. The respondents' emphasis on their previous attachments to Uganda helps to challenge stereotypes about South Asians in Uganda and can partly be seen as an attempt to reclaim their place in Uganda's history.