Why is it that Asian and Asian-American students consistently perform so well on standardized tests in the United States? And why are students of Asian descent disproportionately admitted to America’s top colleges over their non-Asian American peers?
In an informative and entertaining book,
The Hybrid Tiger: Secrets of the Extraordinary Success of Asian-American Kids (Prometheus Books, 264 pages), Dr. Quanyu Huang, Asian/Asian American studies specialist and associate professor at Miami University of Ohio, answers these questions as he assesses the strengths and weaknesses of the different education systems of the many cultures that make up today’s American society.
Huang points out that while both Asian and Asian American students excel in mastering lesson material and test-taking, many of their non-Asian American peers don’t perform as well. On the other hand, he observes that because students in China are educated with heavy emphasis on conformity and rote learning, they generally demonstrate far less creativity and independence than their counterparts in America. He believes that this is one reason why the Chinese educational system has not produced a Nobel Prize winner in science to date, in contrast to the strong American record of award-winning innovations and discoveries.
Drawing on his own experiences as an immigrant to the U.S. in the 1980s and as a parent to a son raised in the U.S., Huang suggests that students anywhere will thrive when their families reinforce the seriousness of education and help children develop the study and discipline habits that ensure academic success.
Huang says he wrote
The Hybrid Tiger as counterpoint to Yale University law professor Amy Chua’s highly provocative and vitriolic 2011 book,
Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother (Penguin Group, 256 pages), which Huang describes as a harsh, anachronistic, and inaccurate portrayal of Chinese parenting that served only to deepen social biases against Chinese-American parenting and education. “The author of
Battle Hymn devoted large sections of her memoir to describing her parenting methods and philosophy,” Huang says. “But instead of labeling it as her own personal parenting philosophy, a style of parenting that she created, Chua boldly branded it as ‘Chinese parenting’.”
Read Sandra Tsing Lohjan’s “Secrets of Success,” a review of Quanyu Huan’s The Hybrid Tiger, in The New York Times now!Read an excerpt from Quanyu Huan’s The Hybrid Tiger in the BarnesandNoble website now!Read an excerpt from Amy Chua’s Tiger Mother in the BarnesandNoble website now!ABOUT THE AUTHORS:Quanyu Huang, Ph.D. (Miami, OH) is director of the Asian/Asian American Studies Program and an associate professor at Miami University of Ohio and the former director of the Confucius Institute. He is a specialist in Sino-American cultural and educational comparison, a columnist for the prestigious
South Weekly newspaper, a guest professor at Sun Yat-Sen (Zhongshan) University, and a visiting professor of the Training Program for High School Principals at Beijing University. He is the winner of the 2007 Profound Impact Award from EHS, Miami University. Huang has published numerous books in English and Chinese, including
Quality Education in America, the bestselling nonfiction book in China in 2000.
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Amy Chua is the John M. Duff Professor of Law at Yale Law School. Her first book,
World on Fire: How Exporting Free Market Democracy Breeds Ethnic Hatred and Global Instability, a
New York Times bestseller, was selected by
The Economist as one of the best books of 2003. Her second book,
Day of Empire: How Hyperpowers Rise to Global Dominance—and Why They Fall, was a critically acclaimed
Foreign Affairs bestseller.
