Korean American-Q2A - Article Example

Korean American Introduction Social capital, socioeconomic background, and school resources are some of the factors that affect the aspirations of the Korean Americans especially in education. A wide range in education of Korean Americans exists with youths from the middle class accessing high-quality education since their families can afford the high cost of education in the country. Those from poor families and live in the low-income areas cannot afford such high-quality education and often drop out of school.

The growing divide in the educational experience of the Korean American youths arises from the lack of effective social capital in the society as the discussion below portrays.Social capital just as the name suggests refers to the value of the social network in a society. Such features local churches, entrepreneurship and ethnic networks played an integral role in facilitating the settlement of Korean immigrants in the United States. Such forms of social capital cushioned the first-generation immigrants with vital resources thereby enabling them to take their children to school.

Most of such families are in the middle class. However, the systematic weakening of the social capital is a vital feature responsible for the disparity in the Korean youth education. Such social networks weakened thereby leaving the modern day Korean American youths vulnerable to such social vices as racism that continue to hamper their attempt to seek education. Schools in America strive to provide a number of the basic resources. However, the number of Korean American students that drop out of high school continues to rise.

Korean American children who live in poor and isolated neighborhoods continue to drop out of schools owing to the vulnerability they feel while in the schools. The schools do not provide the students with adequate support services that make settling in such schools difficult for them. Socio-economic background is yet another equally important factor that influences the receipt of education services in the country. Most of the post-1965, Korean immigrants lacked effective social capital. This exposed them to the economic forces of the country.

Most of such families live in poverty and in isolated neighborhoods where they cannot access any formidable social network. Their socio-economic state makes it difficult for the youth to pursue education as most of them drop school due to the harsh social environment and the evident lack of resources. Such youths resort to drug abuse as most of them join the illegal trade of drugs. ConclusionIn retrospect, the wide range that consists with a group of Korean American youths who have effective education on one hand and another group of Korean American youths who drop out of high school on the other hand arises from a number of factors.

Key among such is the failed social networks that had previously provided the population with the vital social capital to settle in the United States and enhance them to achieve financial independence thus afford education among other basic services in the country.Work citedLew, Jamie. “The “Other” Story of Model Minorities: Korean American High School Dropouts in an Urban Context”. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, Volume 35, Issue 3, pages 303–323, September 2004. Print.