2025 Theses Doctoral

Understanding Asian Americans’ Attitudes Towards Practices that Address Racial Inequality: The Role of Belief in the Model Minority Myth and Colorblind Racial Ideology

Yen, Lea Lynn

The 2023 Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action in higher education (Students for Fair Admissions vs. President and Fellows of Harvard College, 2023) as well as the 2025 executive order instructing the termination of all Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion-related work within the federal government (Exec. Order No. 14151, 2025) have been two major recent examples of large-scale opposition to practices that seek to address racial inequality in the United States.

Asian Americans, who have been labeled as the “model minority” of the different racial groups in America have especially been portrayed within the affirmative action conversations as being monolithically opposed to this practice in higher education (Poon et al., 2016), despite survey results suggesting a wider variety of opinions within this population regarding both affirmative action and race-based workplace DEI practices (Pew Research Center, 2023; Pew Research Center, 2024). The present study seeks to understand the different factors driving the variance in beliefs within the Asian American population regarding these practices that address racial inequality.

The study focuses on two main predictors, the internalization of the model minority myth by Asian Americans and colorblind beliefs regarding race and racial dynamics in society. Results suggest that internalizing the model minority myth predicts greater opposition to both affirmative action and DEI, driven by the belief that Asian Americans have achieved greater success than other racial minorities due to individual merit-based explanations such as hard work and persistence. Holding more colorblind beliefs, particularly those that deny the existence of racial privilege and institutional discrimination in society, is also associated with greater opposition to both practices that address racial inequality. Colorblind beliefs also serve to mediate the relationship between internalization of the model minority myth and support for practices that address racial inequality.

Results also indicated that all of the relationships identified between the model minority myth, colorblindness, and support for practices that address racial inequality were significant above and beyond the impact of political orientation and gender. Additional factors such as generational status, perception of the integration between racial minority identities, and the perception of practices being seen as helpful or harmful to Asian Americans also appeared to shape beliefs about the model minority myth, colorblind racial ideology, and the support for practices that address racial inequality.

The present research contributes insights about the Asian American population which is still a burgeoning demographic in empirical research, particularly under-represented in organizational research. By understanding the wide and complex array of demographic factors and personal beliefs that are associated with the degree of support for practices that address racial inequality, Asian Americans and their colleagues across different organizational contexts can have more nuanced and constructive conversations instead of being pigeon-holed into sweeping stereotypes.