The Smart Asian

There was a time when most of what the West saw of East Asians were either cheap labourers useful in mining and building rail roads, or as enemy soldiers during the Vietnam and Korean wars in the latter half of the 20^th century. That time is not today. Today, East Asians, especially Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Vietnamese and Taiwanese, are mostly associated with smart stuff. Say, robotics. Sleek, high-tech gadgets. Impossible skills when it comes to various field, including music, but mostly regarding science and mathematics. Suffice to say, as far as the West is concerned, Asians are smart. And as ever, popular media reflects and reinforces this image on a regular basis. Take for example an episode of Family Guy, in which, after being asked to take out his calculator, Peter Griffin sets an Asian child on his desk. 

C'mon, do math

Hiro Nakamura from Heroes, was a 

computer programmer before discovering his abilities.

He even has the glasses to match.

Interestingly, there does seem to be some truth in this stereotype; whilst only about 4% of the US population is American-Asian, 18% of students at Harvard, 25% of students at Columbia and 24% of students at Stanford are of Asian descent. There are even theories that some universities have an informal quota on Asian students to prevent them from outcompeting Caucasians.  This begs the question if Asians are per definition more intelligent than other races. Asking questions like this is treading on thin ice, as it can result in making social hierarchies on a racial basis. However, current research indicates that the difference in educational success in more likely to be due to different attitudes towards school and learning, rather than a biological advantage.

Even though this stereotype may seem to relate to reality, it is important to note that it can warp people’s view of the stereotyped group, and can cause things such as implied expectations (and resulting pressure or disappointment), and self-fulfilling prophecies. Luckily for us, there are also plenty of other Asian stereotypes; did you know, for example, that the majority of Asians know martial arts? They also tend to own restaurants or local stores, and prefer to travel in large groups of fellow tourists, snapping pictures of themselves posing in front of just about anything remotely interesting, flashing a V-sign.