The image of Asian-Americans as a homogeneous group of high achievers taking over the campuses of the nation's most selective colleges came under assault in a report issued Monday.
The report, by New York University, the College Board, and a commission of mostly Asian-American educators and community leaders, largely avoids the debates over both affirmative action and the heavy representation of Asian-Americans at the most selective colleges.
But it pokes holes in stereotypes about Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders, including the perception that they cluster in science, technology, engineering, and math. And it points out that the term "Asian-American" is extraordinarily broad, embracing members of many ethnic groups.
"Certainly there's a lot of Asians doing well, at the top of the curve, and that's a point of pride, but there are just as many struggling at the bottom of the curve, and we wanted to draw attention to that," said Robert T. Teranishi, the NYU education professor who wrote the report, "Facts, Not Fiction: Setting the Record Straight."
