New York Magazine on the Asian-American Achievement Gap

Maybe the title of this post is a little misleading. You might say – what achievement gap, don’t Asian-Americans routinely score higher in all educational metrics than their student peers? The answer to that question is assuredly yes. So why the title? Because, as this fascinating article in the most recent New York Magazine details, the tables are quite turned once Asian-Americans graduate from college. I won’t spoil the article’s startling statistics or anecdotes – it’s really a piece that deserves to be read in full. I will however say that the piece is of special resonance to us here at Dartmouth. While Dartmouth’s Asian-American student population (14%) pales in comparison to Penn’s (23%), the demographic is a significant one. Further, as the readers surely know, Dartmouth is the only Ivy League institution with an Asian-American president. Clearly for Jim Yong Kim, there has been no typical post-college achievement gap. The article, however would suggest that his success is more an anomaly than anything else. I won’t spoil the details, though. Go ahead and read the article.