Too Asian?

[Regorium]

Macleans article about the prevalence of Asians at top universities and what is happening, and what can/should be done about it.

http://oncampus.macleans.ca/educatio.../10/too-asian/

Still, an “Asian” school has come to mean one that is so academically focused that some students feel they can no longer compete or have fun. Indeed, Rachel, Alexandra and her brother belong to a growing cohort of student that’s eschewing some big-name schools over perceptions that they’re “too Asian.” It’s a term being used in some U.S. academic circles to describe a phenomenon that’s become such a cause for concern to university admissions officers and high school guidance counsellors that several elite universities to the south have faced scandals in recent years over limiting Asian applicants and keeping the numbers of white students artificially high.

I thought this was an interesting article. My dad always taught me, as an asian, I need to work at least 2x as hard as the white kids because that's just how life works.

Amusingly, I did go to U of T because of its prestige, and yes, my engineering class was probably 80% Asian (chinese/japanese/korean/indian etc.). Go stereotypes!

[Traditional_Ale]

I would have loved to been the prof for that class. Bonus marks everyday for bringing me traditional chinese/japanese/korean lunches! Yum!

[HotHotHeat]

I've never thought of it as a problem if we're talking about Chinese-Canadians, Korean-Canadians, etc., however, speaking from experience, I know that universities (especially in BC) are marketing themselves to Asian countries hoping to attract international students that pay up to 4 times the tuition fees to be there. It's not entirely an academic thing, it's a financial thing.

If these sorts of actions are keeping Canadian citizens of any ethnicity off campus, it's wrong. Especially when you consider that the Asians coming over here leave for home the second they have the degree in their hand. It's doing nothing to better Canada.

That said, the Asian students I had a chance to work with in university were some of the nicest, most appreciative people I've met.

Canada's universities should be serving Canadians, first and foremost. If the Asian kids are out working the lazy white ones, so be it.

[CaptainCrunch]

We need to corrupt them with bong's and reruns of dexter, because they're stealing all of our math related jobs.

They're stealin our jeeerbs!!!

[octothorp]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

We need to corrupt them with bong's and reruns of dexter, because they're stealing all of our math related jobs.

Thank goodness our punctuation-related jobs are safe, at least for now.

[Tyler]

I went to UBC and I would definitely say that this was an issue.

[alltherage]

I for one welcome our Asian overlords.

[anyonebutedmonton]

Originally Posted by HotHotHeat

I've never thought of it as a problem if we're talking about Chinese-Canadians, Korean-Canadians, etc., however, speaking from experience, I know that universities (especially in BC) are marketing themselves to Asian countries hoping to attract international students that pay up to 4 times the tuition fees to be there. It's not entirely an academic thing, it's a financial thing.

If these sorts of actions are keeping Canadian citizens of any ethnicity off campus, it's wrong. Especially when you consider that the Asians coming over here leave for home the second they have the degree in their hand. It's doing nothing to better Canada.

That said, the Asian students I had a chance to work with in university were some of the nicest, most appreciative people I've met.

Canada's universities should be serving Canadians, first and foremost. If the Asian kids are out working the lazy white ones, so be it.

The only thing I take issue with in your statement is the idea that international students are more financially attractive to universities. It is my understanding that they pay 4 times the tuition because their tuition is not subsidized by the government. A prof once told me that for every course I took in uni that cost me ~$500, that the government was spending around 6 times that to subsidize it.

Taking this into account, it would be no better financially to increase your foreign students.

[I_H8_Crawford]

Damn Asians ruining University for us lazy gwai-los!!!

[Fobby]

This wouldn't be a problem if you gwai-los will stop stealing our female friends....with no hope in dating, they turn to the books.

[vanisleflamesfan]

Originally Posted by HotHotHeat

I've never thought of it as a problem if we're talking about Chinese-Canadians, Korean-Canadians, etc., however, speaking from experience, I know that universities (especially in BC) are marketing themselves to Asian countries hoping to attract international students that pay up to 4 times the tuition fees to be there. It's not entirely an academic thing, it's a financial thing.

If these sorts of actions are keeping Canadian citizens of any ethnicity off campus, it's wrong. Especially when you consider that the Asians coming over here leave for home the second they have the degree in their hand. It's doing nothing to better Canada.

That said, the Asian students I had a chance to work with in university were some of the nicest, most appreciative people I've met.

Canada's universities should be serving Canadians, first and foremost. If the Asian kids are out working the lazy white ones, so be it.

Well I did one of my degrees in the UK where they also market their universities to North Americans. I paid 4 times the tuition. I left just as soon as I got the degree in my hand. So it happens everywhere.

Tony Blair spells it out directly in this op-ed piece.

[burn_this_city]

Originally Posted by anyonebutedmonton

The only thing I take issue with in your statement is the idea that international students are more financially attractive to universities. It is my understanding that they pay 4 times the tuition because their tuition is not subsidized by the government. A prof once told me that for every course I took in uni that cost me ~$500, that the government was spending around 6 times that to subsidize it.

Taking this into account, it would be no better financially to increase your foreign students.

It cant be a level playing field, otherwise there would be no incentive for the universities to recruit foreign students heavily.

[Kybosh]

Originally Posted by Fobby

This wouldn't be a problem if you gwai-los will stop stealing our female friends....with no hope in dating, they turn to the books.

I can't help it! Yellow fever is a disease that unfortunately has no cure.

If you donate today, we can make YF a thing of the past.

[Cowboy89]

Originally Posted by anyonebutedmonton

The only thing I take issue with in your statement is the idea that international students are more financially attractive to universities. It is my understanding that they pay 4 times the tuition because their tuition is not subsidized by the government. A prof once told me that for every course I took in uni that cost me ~$500, that the government was spending around 6 times that to subsidize it.

Taking this into account, it would be no better financially to increase your foreign students.

I always thought that Universities tried to recruit international students because it is a factor in Mcleans annual rankings and they are whores to Mcleans rankings.

[FlameOn]

It's the immigrant mentality... For the most part immigrant families drill into their offspring that they spent all that time and effort to get over here, if you don't work d*mn hard you'll just be wasting all your parents efforts. Whereas a lot of third or fourth generation locals do not always have that kind of drive or pressure from the families.

I totally disagree with the whole leaving here once they have a degree in hand. A lot actually do end up applying to stay if they did not already grow up here.

[Imported_Aussie]

I work at a University, and can say that yes, in Science-based programs, and also in Economics, we see a large number of Asian-Canadians and Asian immigrants in these programs.
I would also like to point out that these students, especially the immigrant Asians (many of whom apply for visas to work in Alberta after they graduate) are some of the nicest, friendliest and most appreciative students we see on campus.
The one drawback is when it comes to admission to graduate level programs. As these Masters students are the next group of teaching assistants, and PhD students the next instructors, if these students lack a sufficient command of English, this weakens the level of instruction provided for incoming undergraduates. That is the only drawback I see with an "influx of Asian students" - and is easily remedied by Universities taking some initiative, to set higher English requirements for admission to graduate programs, and to look for rounded PhD candidates, not just the highest GPA

As an immigrant myself (albeit from another commonwealth country in Australia), I feel that you give these people a chance, as often they want it more and work harder to get here and stay here.
If more Asian families value education, and their children are more likely to get into university as a result, then perhaps rather than setting quotas (affirmative action is no more than a band-aid), shouldn't we all take the lead and promote the importance of education to everyone?

[HotHotHeat]

Originally Posted by anyonebutedmonton

The only thing I take issue with in your statement is the idea that international students are more financially attractive to universities. It is my understanding that they pay 4 times the tuition because their tuition is not subsidized by the government. A prof once told me that for every course I took in uni that cost me ~$500, that the government was spending around 6 times that to subsidize it.

Taking this into account, it would be no better financially to increase your foreign students.

Most of them are also riding international scholarships, which would probably offset the difference.

The larger debate is should government be subsidizing costs at institutions that are for profit businesses? Educating students has never been the primary focus of universities, more specifically the professors at them.

[albertGQ]

I'm sick of all these Asians coming to our country stealing our jobs, and Facking our women!

[VladtheImpaler]

Originally Posted by albertGQ

I'm sick of all these Asians coming to our country stealing our jobs, and Facking our women!

You married a whitey?

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by Imported_Aussie

As these Masters students are the next group of teaching assistants, and PhD students the next instructors, if these students lack a sufficient command of English, this weakens the level of instruction provided for incoming undergraduates.

This isn't just a theoretical problem. When I was taking my engineering degree, we had a prof that was incomprehensible. He may have been speaking English, but nobody could tell. So both classes piled into the other section where the other prof (who was also a recent immigrant, but spoke heavily-accented, though understandable, English) was overwhelmed with students.

They actually began taking attendance, and threatening academic misconduct for those who were attending the other session.

Yeah, we were a real bunch of rebels, trying to learn the content like that.