Ethnic Differences in Academic Achievement Between Vietnamese and Cambodian Children: Cultural and Structural Explanations

Abstract

Many Vietnamese and Cambodians fied war and communist takeover and entered the United States as part of the largest refugee resettlement program in the country's history. Both of the refugee groups traveled a great cultural distance and face similar barriers in adjusting to the United States. Despite these similarities in settlement, the two groups are adapting differently; this is made evident in their children's academic achievement. While the children of Vietnamese refugees seem to be successfully catching up to the children of other more established Asian immigrants, Cambodian children are trailing. Using the 1992 and 1996 data from the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study, I combine cultural and structural explanations of educational achievement and immigrant adaptation to explain differences in academic achievement between Vietnamese and Cambodian children.