为什么亚裔人士教育回报率低？ (图)

为什么亚裔人士教育回报率低？
Why is “return on education” for Asians low?
《大中报》记者南茜（Nancy Jin）(2010-10-07 PM03:58)
( with special permission from 《大中报》)

根据2002年的《种族多元化调查》，论读书深造，中国移民的子女比加拿大本地出生的子女相比成绩更令人瞩目。特别是在第二代中国移民中，有逾65%的人完成了大学教育，这一比例比来自欧洲和南美的第二代移民的24%高出许多。
According to the 2002 Ethnic Diversity Survey, children of Chinese immigrants particularly attain higher academic achievements than children of Canadian-born. Specifically, second generation Chinese immigrants have a university completion rate of over 65%, compared with 24% for second-generation European and South American immigrants.

中国文化中所推崇读书，身为父母的中国移民都会督促孩子认真读书以取得优异学习成绩。而许多中国父母都相信，教育是确保孩子事业有成和经济独立的唯一途径。
While deep respect for learning in Chinese culture has motivated Chinese immigrant parents to push their children to achieve academic excellence, many Chinese parents believe that education is the only way towards their children’s financial and career success.

《大中报》在一篇发人深省的名为《别给我们太多压力，亚裔学生说》的文章中指出，中国父母在学业方面给孩子施加了太多的压力，一些中国家长在阅读后却对文章的内容表示了不同意见。
In the wake of the Chinese News article “Why do Asian students face so much pressure?”, which noted that Chinese parents put too much academic pressure on their children, some Chinese parents expressed their disapproval over the story’s findings.

一位家长说：“我们就是认为教育是孩子在加国取得成功的唯一途径。作为中国移民，我们在加国面对各种社会障碍并遭歧视。我们相信，只有取得良好的学习成绩，我们的下一代才能在这个国家获得与别人同等地位。”
“We do believe that education is the only way for our children to thrive in Canada,” said one parent. “As Chinese immigrants, we encountered social barriers and discrimination. We believe that to achieve academic excellence is the only way for our children to obtain equal status in this country.”

她所说的“同等地位”，指的是在经济上平等。她表示：“我们的孩子应该和本地的白人赚同样多的钱，这也是移民的加国梦想。” As of “equal status”, she means financially. “Our children should make as much as whites, which is also the Canadian dream of immigrants,” she said.

如果加拿大梦想指的是与白人赚取同样的酬劳，那么许多移民的子女看起来已经实现了他们父母的这一梦想。因为据统计显示，第二代的加籍华人已经与白人的收入水平相当。该项“加拿大出生的少数族裔人口收入差距发生变化”的研究指出，至1996年，第二代的加籍华人收入水平就与本地白人不相上下。
If the Canadian dream means equal earnings with whites, it seems that many children of immigrants have already realized their parents’ dreams, as stats indicate that the second generation of Chinese Canadians achieved the same income level as whites. According to the study -- “Have Earnings Gaps for Canadian-Born Ethnic Minorities Changed over Time” -- the second generation of Chinese Canadians earned about the same as the British by 1996.

不过，对于许多第二代的亚裔人士来说，他们对事业的追求可能远远不止与白人的经济收入持平。虽说美籍亚裔人士就读顶尖大学的数字，在过去几十年来突飞猛进地增加，并且亚裔在科学和工程领域成就显著，但其他研究发现，亚裔人士的教育回报率却大大低于美籍欧洲人士。
But to many second generation Asians, their career expectations may be much higher than just equal earnings with whites. While the number of Asian Americans in top universities has skyrocketed over the past decades, and Asians have been prominent in the fields of science and engineering, other studies also find that the returns on education for Asians have been much lower than for European Americans.

范德堡大学欧文管理学院的Raymond A. Friedman教授曾对他做了一项针对亚裔人士“教育回报”的调查，其中一些受访者为第二代亚裔人士。Friedman教授表示：“我研究中的亚裔人士比白人受教育程度更高，并且他们收入水平的确比白人高。” “Asians in my study tend to be more educated than whites, and they do make more than whites,” said Raymond A. Friedman, professor at the Owen Graduate School of Management, Vanderbilt University, who has done a study on the “return on the education” for Asians, where some respondents were second generation Asians.

“不过，同样是受到追加教育的亚裔人士与当地白人相比，亚裔人士因追加教育所获得的收入增加部分却比白人低……对于亚裔人士来说，他们得到的教育回报率更低。”
“However, compared with whites, Asians made a less amount of additional income resulting from additional education… For Asians, the return on education is low.”

教育能赋予人技能和专业知识，因此对教育投资应得到回报。普林斯顿大学经济学教授Alan B. Krueger表示，一般来说，追加的大学学历应该可以将某人的收入水平提高约10%。但是其他研究却显示出，追加教育却给白人和中国人士带来了不同水平的追加收入。一名年收入$42,000元的白人因其追加学历可获$4,349元的追加收入，而一个同等状况的中国人士却仅能多拿$1,936元。
Education provides skills and expertise and an investment in education should pay off. In general, an additional college degree is likely to raise a person’s earning by about 10%, according to Alan B. Krueger, an economics professor at Princeton University. But as other studies point out, an additional degree may bring different income increases to Chinese or whites -- A Caucasian making $42,000 a year can bring home $4349 more, whereas a Chinese in the same income level can only bring in $1936 more.

一份早期的研究发现，虽然亚裔工程师在工作场所中所受教育水平最高，而他们的收入却比本地出生的加拿大人低18%。根据Friedman教授的研究，对亚裔员工来说，追加的教育似乎并没有给他们带来追加教育给白人带来的影响力。
An early study reveals that although Asian engineers are the most educated in the workforce, they make 18% less than native-born Canadians. It seems that for Asians, the added education does not turn into influence within the team as it does for whites, according to Friedman.

Friedman教授称：“追加教育应能使某人成为团队的核心人物，也就应能令此人成为能给团队中其他人士解答问题，提供建议的核心人物……我的研究发现，与亚裔人士相比，追加教育与核心性之间的相关性在白人身上体现得更为强烈。”
“With each additional level of education, it should produce increments of centrality, where the person becomes a central figure in the team to offer others with advice… My study found that there is a much stronger correlation between education and centrality for whites than Asians, “ said Friedman.

Friedman教授还表示：“在追加教育为其拓展职业生涯之前，某人必须先成为团队中有影响力之人物。一个人在升迁于最高管理层之前，必须先成为一名其他同事都愿意向他咨询问题的核心人物。”
“Before turning higher education into career potential, an individual first has to be influential in a team. Before becoming top management, an individual must become someone that others seek advice from first,” said Friedman.

根据2008年“促进会”的一项针对亚裔人士在工作场所所面临的挑战的研究，许多亚裔人士认为“身为显著少数族裔的一员”是阻碍他们担当领导角色最大的障碍。
Many Asian minorities feel that “being too identified with visible minority group” is the top barrier for them to take a leadership role, according to 2008 Catalyst study on workplace challenges facing ethnic minorities.

在该项促进会的研究中，一位加籍主专业人士说：“虽然我出生于加国，但我还是觉得因为我是一个显著少数族裔，我必须在工作中比别人更努力 ……我认为只有我更加努力，才能被与他人同等看待。”
“I do feel that I have to work a little extra harder, even though I was born here in Canada, just because I am a visible minority…I feel that there’s this extra effort that I just have to put in to try and be looked [at] on the same wavelength,” .a Chinese Canadian professional told the Catalyst study.

那个“更加努力”是指什么？Friedman教授的研究发现，亚裔人士似乎在处理人事关系等方便略显天真及方面经验不足，他们不知道建立人事关系网，以及与工司领导及同事层建立良好的关系会对他们成为具有影响力之人士具有极为重要的意义。
What should be that required “extra effort”? Friedman’s research found that Asians seemed political naïve, as they were unaware that building up a social network and establishing ties with executives in the workplace are critical for them to become influential.

Friedman 教授表示：“我发现中国雇员更趋向于与他们的同胞接触交往……亚裔人士没有意识到，他们在工作场所中必须将教育与自我推销的努力相结合。”
“I’ve found that Chinese employees tend to hang out with people in their same race… Asians don’t realize that they have to combine education with the efforts of promoting themselves in the workplace,” said Friedman.

Friedman 教授建议亚裔人士不应该养成那种意识，以为别人都会因为他们因受过更高的教育而向自己询问意见，从而自然获得向心力。他们应该建立广泛的关系，并且从其他团队成员那里取得信任，以及在公共场合表达自己的想法。
Asians should not develop a sense of entitlement of centrality by assuming that others will come to them for advice due to the higher education obtained, but choose to build broad relationships and earn the trust from other team members, as well as express ideas in public settings, Friedman advised.

Friedman 教授补充道：“亚裔员工应该多花时间在与人打交道，及向他们兜售自己的知识和想法。”
“Asian employees should spend more time working with people selling their ideas,” said Friedman.

编注：如果你对本文有任何评论，或有任何社区、社会和生活故事与大中报的读者分享，或有问题需要大中报回答或调查，请将你的评论或问题细节以电话留言（416-504-0761 转215分机），或传真[phone]），或电邮（[e-mail]）发给大中报，或电邮给南茜（[e-mail]）。你可以匿名为本报提供调查线索，但调查线索应包括当事人的联系电话或地址、发生问题的时间及地址等信息。