Cambodian Americans and Their Life Stories ______

CAMBODIAN AMERICANS AND THEIR LIFE STORIES ______

A Thesis

Presented to the

Faculty of

California State University, Fullerton ______

In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree

Master of Arts

Sociology ______

Salada Vann

Thesis Committee Approval:

Berna Torr, Department of Sociology, Chair Eileen Walsh, Department of Sociology Michael Perez, Department of Sociology

Fall, 2016

ABSTRACT

Cambodian Americans are the eighth largest Asian group in the United States but often their experiences are invisible because they are categorized into the pan-ethnic group Asian. However, not only do their experiences differ socially, cultural, and historically from other Asian groups, but their educational experiences in America differ as well. Only 14% of Cambodian Americans have earned a bachelor’s degree, an extremely low number compared to the national average of 29%. The purpose of this research is to explore the experiences of college educated Cambodians and to identify factors that have contributed to help or hinder their academic performance. Eleven face- to-face in-depth interviews were conducted to find the deeper meaning behind their educational aspirations and success. The main themes identified from the interviews include: the decision to go to college generally occurred at a young age, parents/family- members influenced their decision to go to college, all had challenges they encountered in college beyond academics, all had a strong support system before and during their college years, and they believed in the American ideology that if you work hard—you can achieve anything you want. In addition to these themes about education, there was also evidence of intergenerational PTSD that existed in their families as result of the

Khmer Rouge War.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT ...... ii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...... v

Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION ...... 1

Introduction ...... 1 Cambodian Historical Background ...... 2 Cambodian Statistics in the United States ...... 3 Statement of the Problem ...... 4

2. LITERATURE REVIEW ...... 6

Challenges and Struggles ...... 6 Cultural and Structural Factors ...... 8 Socioeconomic Status and Context of Reception ...... 10 Mental Health and Trauma of Cambodian Americans ...... 11 Physical Activity ...... 12 SES and Health Among Cambodian Americans ...... 12

3. METHODS ...... 15

Purpose of the Study ...... 15 Research Question/Hypothesis ...... 15 Data and Method ...... 15 Research Design ...... 17 Sampling ...... 17 Table 1. Participant Majors ...... 18 Data Collection and Analysis Procedure ...... 18

iii

4. RESULTS ...... 20

Deciding to go to College Early ...... 20 Challenges ...... 25 Strong Support System ...... 26 Parental/Familial Influence ...... 28 The American Dream Ideology ...... 31 PTSD Effects on the Family ...... 35

5. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION ...... 40

APPENDIX. INTERVIEW TOPIC GUIDE...... 47

REFERENCES ...... 48

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First and foremost, I would like to thank my parents for loving me and working

hard for me throughout my whole life to get to where I am now. For my father, you

taught me about hard-work, perseverance, and to be strong regardless of all the hardships

that came my way. For my mother, you taught me what it means to forgive the

unforgiveable, to love unconditionally, be humble, and to give more than you get in

return. I would also like to thank my siblings for supporting me through my whole

educational journey. Thank you to my little brother Vysal who is always taking care of

his older sister. I am so proud of all your accomplishments and the man you have become. Thank you to my little sister Lady who would always listen to me complain

about school and all the stress that comes along with it. Thank you for my niece Haley

and nephews Adrian and Austin for motivating me keep going on because of my love for

them.

There are so many people that have helped me throughout my education. First

would be my thesis chair, professor, and mentor Dr. Berna Torr, who always believed in

and supported me and helped me to develop holistically. It was through Dr. Torr that I

was able to understand how my personal experience and educational background can better serve my future students. Thank you for allowing me to be vulnerable with my

insecurities so I can gain a learning experience from it and use those insecurities to

confidently move forward. Thank you for always making yourself available to me

v whenever I needed it and always being there for me. I know how hard it is to teach a student to change their mindset and gain confidence, but somehow, you always have me feeling more confident after every meeting!

Professor Cynthia Irvine, thank you for encouraging me to apply for grad school and allowing me to work with you as a teaching assistant. You have inspired me as an undergraduate and helped me as graduate student with your support. Thank you for all that you have done to help me get to this finishing point here.

Thank you to the Asian American Studies program/Ethnic Studies Department:

Dr. Eliza Noh, Dr. Jennifer Yee, and Dr. Eric Reyes helping me gain a deeper insight on the importance of going beyond educational curriculum to assist the students in the Asian

American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community graduate from college. Thank you for also truly caring for my educational success and doing all that you have to help me gain skills for the job market.

I am so grateful and thankful for these professors at the Sociology Dept. at CSUF:

Michael Igataki, Jessica Grimes, Dr. Alan Emery, Dr. Eileen Walsh, and Dr. Michael

Perez. Thank you to for giving me bits of yourselves in your teaching which has helped me succeed in graduate school.

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Introduction

The educational experiences of Cambodian Americans are different from other

Asian groups (i.e., Korean, Japanese, Filipino, and Chinese) in America (Chhuon,

Kyratzis, and Hudley 2010). While many Asian groups are known for doing very well academically in America, Cambodian American students struggle academically. As part of this struggle, Cambodian graduation rates from high school and college are low compared to the national average. In 2015, it was reported that only 14% of Cambodian

Americans earned a bachelor’s degree, this is extremely low compared to the national level of 29% (CAP 2015: 1). In addition, 37% of Cambodian Americans have “less than a high school education” compared to the national average of 13% (CAP 2015: 1).

While Cambodians as a group have low levels of educational attainment, this study will examine what has contributed to the academic success of Cambodian

American students who have graduated from high school by exploring the experiences of those who are currently enrolled or have graduated from a four-year university. The purpose of this study is to analyze the experiences of college educated Cambodians and identify factors they believe have contributed to or hindered their academic performance.

This research seeks to find the deeper meaning behind their educational aspirations and success.

Cambodian Historical Background

Cambodians experienced a war called the “Khmer Rouge War” from 1975-1979.

During this war, they experienced severe labor conditions, physical abuse, mental abuse,

and emotional effects of losing their families and loved ones (APIAHF 2003: 1). In

addition, they experienced long periods of malnutrition, slave labor, imprisonment, and

witnessed atrocities (APIAHF 2003: 1). An estimated two million people were killed, but

it may well have been more than that. All doctors, scientists, intellectuals, and those who

were non-communist were executed; these were many of the people that had the potential

to be community leaders (APIAHF 2003:1).

At the end of the Khmer Rouge War in 1979 the United States granted asylum for

Cambodians as refugees, which led to a large influx of Cambodian immigrants that migrated to the United States. Ninety percent of these refugees experienced the devastation of the Khmer Rouge War.

The U.S. census estimated that there were 172,000 Cambodians residing in the

United States in 2000. However, according the U.S. Census Data of 2012, the size of the

Cambodian population has more than doubled (ACS 2012). Considering that they are still a small population in the United States, this makes their experience relatively invisible in

United States society (APIAHF 2003:1). Considering that the data from the U.S. Census and other data collection problems often aggregate Asian Americans into a single group,

Cambodian Americans as a single ethnic group are often invisible and under researched

(Chhuon, Hudley, Brenner, and Macias 2010: 30).

Cambodian Statistics in the United States

The Pew Research Center (2013) reported that Cambodian Americans are ranked as the eighth largest Asian group in America. The total number of Cambodians and

Cambodian Americans is only 276,667, just 8.7% (318.9 million) of the entire United

States population (Pew 2013). While 79% of Cambodians are foreign born, 71% are U.S. citizens (Pew 2013). The median age of Cambodians is 37 years old with a median income of $47,873. Only 53% of the population speaks English less than “very well” and

17% live below the poverty line. Only 50% of Cambodians are homeowners.

Cambodians have low levels of educational attainment with 38% reporting “less than a high school diploma” and only 14% have obtained a bachelor’s degree or more (Pew

2013).

California is home to the largest Cambodian population in the United States. The

Cambodian-American graduation rates for students in California who graduated from a four-year university is 15% overall. However, there is a vast difference between the graduation rates between those who are “foreign born” and “native born.” For example, the graduation rates for those who graduated from a four-year university that are foreign born is only 13% versus native born at 27%. Fifty-nine percent of foreign born and 85%

of native born have graduated from high school (ACS 2008-2012). In addition, there is a

difference in graduation rates among those who are foreign born, depending on the “age

they arrived in U.S.” For example, for those who arrived in the United States between the

ages of 0-5, their graduation rate is 22%, for ages 6-12 it was 20%, for ages 13-18 it was

13%, and 18 years or older just 9% (ACS 2008-2012).

Statement of the Problem

Contemporary studies combine people from different countries into broad pan- ethnic groupings such as Asians and Hispanics (DiPietro and Bursik 2012: 247). Despite having different and important social, cultural, and historical differences, they are aggregated into one group: Asian or Hispanics (DiPietro and Bursik 2012: 247). Data on

Asians Americans in the United States include all the Asian ethnicities: Chinese,

Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Laotian, Cambodian, etc. The dangers of this type of grouping is that it may significantly restrict and hinder researchers from finding complex issues that can only occur when addressing the social, cultural, and historical relationships that occur in one ethnic group.

Cambodian Americans as a single ethnic group are invisible and under researched although they have doubled in population since 2012 (Chhuon, Hudley, Brenner, and

Macias 2010: 30). This small ethnic group is shown to have lower levels of educational attainment, and perform more poorly in school, and face other socioeconomic challenges compared to other Asian groups (Chhuon, Hudley, Brenner, and Macias 2010). To add to this problem, Cambodian Americans have not been thoroughly studied in the United

States and data on Cambodian-Americans are sparse.

As a result, the challenges of Cambodian American students are often invisible.

Teachers and professors may assume students are doing well based on the stereotype that all Asians do well in school (Wallit 2008). However, researchers have shown that

Cambodian students are more likely to face challenges in completing school because of the lack of support from their teachers and parents. Wallit (2008: 5) found that lack of support can result in failure to continue. Sothy Eng (2012: 382) discovered that

Cambodian parents are often more concerned with the moral development and the reputation of their child than educational achievement.

This study hopes to contribute to this area of research by helping to elucidate the stories of successful Cambodian American students and the factors to which they attribute their success. The purpose of this research is to differentiate these students from other Asian ethnic groups who fit the “model minority myth” of being innately smart, studious, and excelling academically. This research intends to investigate how these students have used a strategy of resilience to overcome challenges despite socioeconomic disadvantage and low parental levels of human capital, which refers to the skills, knowledge, and abilities that people possess.

CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

Challenges and Struggles

Wallitt (2008) argues that many teachers hold a model minority myth

(achievement gap) in which most Asian American students are known to be smart “model minority” students. However, this does not apply with Cambodian American students.

Unlike other Asian American students, Cambodian students struggle academically.

Furthermore, their struggle is often overlooked by teachers who do not believe they need the additional support (Wallitt 2008: 1). Empirical research and most data have overlooked this population; this oversight has made the experiences of Cambodian students in school more challenging. Cambodian students who are not academically successful feel invisible because teachers do not provide adequate resources to assist them (Wallit 2008: 2). In addition, students who are considered low performing are caught in between having low expectations from teachers and high expectations from others (Wallit 2008). The Cambodian students in Wallit’s (2008:5) study cited the perceived lack of support as part of the reason they dropped out of school.

The challenges these children have academically begin at home with the parents and their inability to help their kids with school work. Parents of these children experienced trauma from the war and have a lack of trust in societal institutions (Eng

2013: 379). This distrust creates challenges for the survival of their children, families,

and social structure (Eng 2013: 379). The most significant challenges among the

Cambodian students include low academic attainment, high drop-out rates, high

repetition, and poverty (Eng 2013: 379).

In addition, the parents of these children already arrived in the United States with low levels of human capital. Human capital refers to the skills, labor, abilities, and knowledge that an individual possesses (Tan 2014: 412). It is a stock of knowledge or a collection of characteristics that individual possesses is either innate or acquired and considered advantageous in gaining resources or increasing productivity (Tan 2014: 412).

Based on the Human Capital Theory (HCT), the most important and valuable type of human capital is education (Tan 2014: 412). Through education, one can increase his knowledge and skills through education and training. Thus, increasing productivity value based on their skills and labor can also increase wages (Tan 2014: 413). However, these parents arrived in the United States from poor rural areas and with low educational attainment levels. Some possess an education level as high as fifth grade considering that most of the educated class were executed in the war. This poses a bigger challenge for themselves and their children in their lives in America. Their low levels of human capital prevented them from seeking adequate resources and knowledge to increase their own understanding and help their children with their education.

The majority of the research on Cambodian Americans discusses the poverty rate,

socioeconomic status (SES), and past trauma of their parents that led to the academic

struggles Cambodian American children today. However, beyond the low levels of

human capital among the Cambodian adults/families, parental feelings about education play an important role. Parental attitude, aspirations, involvement, and beliefs influence

their children’s educational achievement. For example, Eng (2013) finds that parental

attitudes about their children’s math ability played a larger role in how the child

conceptualized their math abilities than the child’s past performances.

Parental income and education affect parents’ ability to provide resources and an

environment that allows children to thrive in learning at home. However, Eng (2013)

finds that the social capital is important between the relationship between the parents and

the child. This relationship shapes communication between parent and child about the

importance of education (Eng 2013: 384). In fact, parental beliefs and attitudes towards

their children’s education influence children’s educational outcomes more than parental

education and income levels among Cambodian young adults. These findings are

important in illustrating how important social capital is in creating human capital.

Cultural and Structural Factors

Both cultural and structural factors contribute to the lower educational attainment and performance of Cambodian American students. Researchers have suggested structural factors such as immigration context, low socioeconomic (SES) standing, inadequate bilingual education, and residency in poor neighborhoods could be the explanation for the poor academic performance of Cambodian students (Chhuon 2010:

348). Cambodian refugees who arrived in the United States after the Cambodian genocide under Pol Pot’s leadership had low levels of human capital (McGinnis 1997: 5).

Cambodian children had a tougher time than their parents. Not only did they have to adjust to their new life at home but they also had to adjust to the new cultural context in the United States and schools. The stress of cultural adjustment snowballed as they tried to adapt in the United States within their families, communities, and themselves.

Nonetheless, they also had to deal with facing socioeconomic deprivation as part of an

ascribed status they received from their parents.

Kim (2002) examined differences in educational attainment between Vietnamese

and Cambodian American students who are both immigrant groups from similar regions

and with the same political history. Though Vietnamese American students have a similar

history to Cambodians they differ academically in America. Vietnamese American

students seem to be excelling in education compared to Cambodian students (Kim 2002).

The political histories of the two groups are similar—both have fled their countries of

origin as refugees fleeing from the war, death, and persecution, and both suffered the loss

of families and contact with loved ones in the war and moving to the states. They also both dealt with cultural conflicts while adjusting to their new life in the United States

(Kim 2002). Nonetheless, they have both adapted differently in the United States, particularly in academic achievement, which is most visible amongst their children.

Kim (2002) proposes that some of these differences may be cultural, based on

values, beliefs, and practices. Some East Asian countries such as Vietnam practice the

Confucian tradition and Mahayana Buddhism, which has a high emphasis on education,

hard work, and social solidarity (Kim 2002: 215). Kim (2002) suggests that the cultural

values underpinning these cultural traditions may encourage Vietnamese Americans and

other East Asians to continue on with their education. In contrast, many Cambodians practice Theravada Buddhism, which is more centered on the individual evolving as a person, maintaining good behavior, and attaining enlightenment within themselves before

they can help others. Cambodian parents believe that a child has already been

10 predetermined to either do well or poorly in their education so they do not push or force their children to study (Kim 2002: 215).

Socioeconomic Status and Context of Reception

The context of immigration to the United States may also predict how well

students in different ethnic groups do academically in the United States. Compared to

other Asians, most Southeast Asians immigrated as refugees fleeing the war to the United

States (Sakamoto & Woo 2007: 1). However, there are differences even among Southeast

Asians. The Vietnamese people came in two waves: one consisted of the elite and the

second consisted of the poor. The first wave of Vietnamese immigrants helped establish

an economic and community structure for the second wave of Vietnamese immigrants to benefit from.

In contrast, Cambodians arrived in one wave, which consisted almost entirely of people who were poor rural farmers and most had the education level equivalent to fifth

grade (Kim 2002: 219). In addition, they did not benefit from previous immigration of the

educated and affluent. They arrived in the United States with few resources to help them

overcome their traumatic experiences of the war. In addition to arriving to the United

States via forced migration, having little financial means, low human capital, and very

little education, they also experience a different type of poverty in the United States than

in Cambodia.

Many Southeast Asian refugees (including: Cambodian, Hmong, Laotian, and

Vietnamese) continue to depend on government assistance even after thirty years of

resettlement in the United States (Trung 2007; Marshall et al. 2005). In 2004, 29.3% of

Cambodian Americans reported incomes below the federal poverty level with an average

11 annual income of $10,215 (Hudley and Chuuon 2008: 15). Cambodians lag behind compared to most Asian refugees in terms of socioeconomic status. Since, low SES is associated with lower educational attainment (Chuuon, Kyratkis, and Hudley 2010), this may partly explain why Cambodian American students perform poorly. Furthermore, the low SES of Cambodian families means they often live in poor communities with schools that underperform (Chhuon 2010).

Mental Health and Trauma of Cambodian Americans

Marshall et al. (2005) examine the prevalence, co-morbidity, and mental health of

Cambodian refugees residing in the United States after twenty-five years of the Khmer

Rouge regime. This particular ethnic group has had high levels of violence exposure, multiple traumas, and high rates of mental disorders (Marshall et al. 2005: 2). The most common mental disorder found among this group is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

(PTSD). This community has high rates of psychiatric disorders that are untreated, even after two decades of being in a country where free health care is accessible for those who qualify for it. They found that most of the participants experienced trauma and violence prior to their immigration to the United States. For example, 99% of individuals (n = 483) reported near death due to starvation, 96% (n = 466) reported forced labor (like animal or slave), 90% (n = 437) reported having a family member or friend murdered, and 54% (n

= 241) reported having been tortured (Marshall et al. 2005: 5). They found that 62% if the respondents had PTSD and 51% had major depression. The co-morbidity among these conditions was high. For example, of the 71% with PTSD, 86% also had major depression criteria for PTSD (Marshall et al. 2005: 5).

Physical Activity

Among Cambodians, those with lower SES had less leisure time for physical activity and higher rates of occupation-related activity (Coronado et al. 2011). What

Cambodians perceive as physical activity involves sweating, which is viewed as a health benefit among Cambodians. They understand how sweat removes the toxins, improves blood vessels, lowers blood pressure, reduces stiffness in arms and legs, and increases energy (Coronado et al. 2011). However, barriers prevented them from getting a sufficient amount of physical activity. These barriers include lack of time because most participants had jobs that entailed working odd hours and others had more than one job,

family responsibilities, lack of knowledge of physical activity benefits, laziness, no

transportation, and safety concerns (Coronado et al. 2011).

SES and Health Among Cambodian Americans

Lower socioeconomic status has consistently been shown to increase the susceptibility of individuals getting sick and diseases (Syme 2013). Given the high levels of poverty and public assistance among Cambodians this likely increases their morbidity and mortality rates. In addition, Cambodians’ low SES leads to poor housing conditions, poor education, and unemployment (Syme 2013). However, their current living environment is better than the environment from their previous country. They have better housing, access to health care, and the government offers them financial assistance. Yet, despite all of that, they still have poor health in comparison to other Asian ethnic groups.

These conditions the Cambodian Americans are facing are “social causations” that are a result of the psychological disorders that result from the war and stressful life events that occurred during the war (Link and Phelan 1995: 81). Therefore, these

Cambodian immigrants currently have poor health as a result of something that is out of their control from the war (Williams and Sternthal 2013: 3). Furthermore, Cambodian

Americans may avoid seeking health care due to language issues.

In summary, Cambodian American students have a different educational experience compared to other Asian groups in America. Their experiences are often overshadowed due to census, research findings, and other data aggregating them into a single group: Asian. This aggregation creates a false presumption that all Asians are the same and they all do very well based on the “model minority myth” that all Asians are all smart and outperform even their white counterparts. However, Cambodians have significant differences due to their unique refugee experiences that impact their reception and mobility in the United States. Other Asian groups are often immigrants due to “self- selection” to advance academically and financially. However, most Cambodian refugees immigrate for personal survival as well as trying to recover from their experiences and trauma of the war prior to immigrating to the United States.

Not only do the parents struggle when immigrating to the United States, but their children struggle even more. Their college graduation rate is extremely low compared to the national average with only 6.9% of Cambodian Americans having earned a bachelor’s degree compared to the national level of 24% (Chhuon 2010: 348). Some of the factors found in the literature review that prevent this group from obtaining a college education include: structural and social factors, identifying challenges and struggles, examining

SES and how it affects their education, and parent’s health. In addition, their parents’ low levels of human capital upon entering the United States creates another disadvantage students have to deal with and navigate in school. Parental income and education level

14 also affect the parents’ ability to provide resources and an environment that allows children to thrive in learning at home. This is evidence of how important social capital is in creating human capital.

Considering that there are little to no data on Cambodian Americans’ educational experience, it is extremely difficult to study how educators can help to improve their educational level and learning experiences. Wallit (2008) found that Cambodian students who are not academically successful feel invisible because teachers do not provide adequate resources to assist them. Therefore, this research will explore the life stories of

Cambodian Americans who are either currently enrolled at a four-year university or have graduated from a four-year university. This study seeks to find the deeper meaning behind their educational aspirations and success and how Cambodian Americans navigate through college despites all their challenges. By exploring stories of how these

Cambodian American students have been successful, this can provide solutions to assist struggling Cambodian American students overcome their challenges and struggles and succeed academically.

CHAPTER 3

METHODS

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study is to explore the experiences and stories of a small group of college educated Cambodians. In examining the experiences and stories of these successful Cambodian students, this paper focuses on and the things they identify as helping or hindering their academic performance. This project explores how some

Cambodian American students have achieved academically and the deeper meaning behind their educational aspirations and success. Overall, the importance of understanding where this small group stands academically is to also understand how they have adapted to life in America since education is an integral part of the American experience.

Research Question/Hypothesis

This study explores the experiences and challenges faced by Cambodian

American students who are currently enrolled or have graduated from a four-year university. I am particularly interested in the experiences and stories of these Cambodian

American students.

Data and Method

Following Chhuon (2010), this study utilizes the life story approach using a narrative analysis. A narrative analysis is used in educational settings to reveal the

16 experiences the participants had about their social lives in that setting (Chhuon 2010:

350). This type of analysis is similar to Burawoy’s (1998) extended case method in that it standardizes the data collection and does not involve the researcher’s participation in the situation. The narrative framework helps us understand how individuals see their own experiences and how they interact with others (Chhuon 2010: 350).

It is very important to be able to coexist with others in the social world by having a sense of being, as well as being to be socially proper, and be a coherent, acceptable, stable person that people can associate with (Chhuon 2010: 350). A life story approach yields important details about how one conveys themselves to other people and to themselves as well. By collecting data based on the respondents’ own interpretations of real events, struggles, and their experiences that have occurred over time, we may learn the contradictions they have experienced between their traditional values and American cultures about education (Burawoy 1998).

Some of the life stories will include geographical location and life transitions such as transitions away from family (Chhuon 2010: 350). All these life stories and narratives will be about the protagonist to evaluate the protagonist’s personal experience and their role as moral agents (Chhuon 2010: 350). Furthermore, these narratives help the narrators

(participants) to observe, reflect, and correct the self that they have created in their life story (Chhuon 2010: 350).

This study aims to focus on the narratives these Cambodian American students have when they are recounting their life stories and to make sense of the experiences they had when they made the decision to go to college, how they transitioned into college life, the challenges they faced in college, and their future goals.

Research Design

This research was conducted using face-to-face in-depth interviews. The interviews were conducted in southern California except for one that was conducted via

Skype. The questions asked were open-ended questions, this allowed participants to respond in many different ways and they can be flexible with their responses (see

Appendix). This approach also encourages participants to disclose meaningful answers based on their own knowledge and feelings. A non-directive style of interviewing was

used. This offered participants a way to share their experiences from a first-person

narrative. Additionally, sub-questions were also used.

The researcher determined the time and location for interviews according to participants’ availability. Participants were asked to sign an informed consent form prior to the interview. For the interview, a digital recorder was used to record the interview for later transcription.

Sampling

Each participant was selected using purposive and snowball sampling. All

respondents are Cambodian Americans (2nd generation) or Cambodian immigrants who

have been in the U.S. education system since kindergarten (1.5 generation). There were

11 participants selected, six males and five females. Those in the 1.5 generation refer to

those born in another country but immigrated to another before kindergarten for this

study. Those in the 2nd generation are born in the United States to immigrant parents.

All of the participants who were interviewed for this research graduated from a

four-year university except for one participant who is currently enrolled. Six of the

18 participants went straight to a four-year university after high school and five participants attended their local community college before transferring.

Most of the participants had different majors except for three who majored in

Asian American Studies, Asian Studies, and Ethnic Studies (see Table 1). Also, all the participants had siblings. There was no participant that was an only child.

Table 1. Participant Majors

Females Males

1. Asian American 1. Medical school Studies/Journalism 2. Asian Studies/Leadership 2. Ethnic Studies 3. Public Health 3. Business Administration 4. Law 4. Psychology 5. Communicative Disorders 5. Nursing 6. Biology

Data Collection and Analysis Procedures

The letter of consent was administered to respondents prior to the interview but they also had the option to have one emailed to them before the interview so they could review it in detail. The researcher informed the participants of the confidentiality between the researcher and participant. The subjects may receive a copy of the study when it is finished if they wish.

The researcher removed any identifiers from data and provided subjects with nicknames once the data from the participants were collected. All data collected will be kept confidential to the extent allowed by law. The information is stored in a secured office and in a computer with assigned security codes. There are no risks, deceptions, or discomforts that are anticipated from their participation in the study. Potential risks or discomforts include possible emotional feelings of sadness when asked reflective

19 questions during the interview. Participation is voluntary and respondents were informed that they could choose to withdraw from the study at any time.

CHAPTER 4

RESULTS

There were six themes about education that were found amongst the participants: the decision to go to college occurred at a young age, parents and family members influenced their decision to go to college, all had challenges they encountered in college beyond academic challenges, all had a strong support system before and during their college years, they had believed in the American ideology that if you work hard you can achieve anything you want. In addition to these themes about education, there was also evidence of intergenerational PTSD that existed in their families as result of the Khmer

Rouge War.

Decision to Go to College Early

Most of participants recounted that they knew at a very young at that they would go to college and all did well academically throughout their educational journey. For example, Chea, a medical student, claimed that he knew that he wanted to attend college as young as elementary school age because that was when the concept of college was first introduced to him.

Chea currently resides in Utah but first immigrated to Modesto, CA from the refugee camps in the Philippines. He lived in Modesto, CA with his dad but made the conscious decision at the age of 12 to move to Utah and live with his older brother. Until

21 the age of 12, Chea lived with dad and his dad’s girlfriend in Modesto. His mother was absent from most their lives due to PTSD that was not properly diagnosed.

Chea’s older brother who was at least 10 years older than him was extremely influential in his life. Despite not having a college education, through hard work, his older brother was able to maintain a steady job and have nice home. By being able to create a stable environment for himself and his family, he was also able to take in his two younger siblings: Chea, and Chea’s other older brother, who was only a year older than him, and began raising them in Utah. His father supported his son’s decision because he understood that there were there more opportunities and the communities were safer in

Utah. However, during his elementary education, Chea remembers clearly how important college was emphasized.

I'd made the decision when I was actually in elementary school. Elementary, close to junior high, because the teachers were already talking about college and stuff. So they mentioned about school, college . . . In class they ask you what career you want to be. Everyone wants to be a fireman, a policeman or whatever. I didn't know what I wanted to be but they mentioned that some of the professions that you want to do actually requires college, like accounting, or you want to be a doctor or a nurse, that requires college.

Most of the participants aspired to go to college because they were encouraged either by a teacher or a sibling to do well in order to go to college. Also, some of the participants had older siblings who did not attend college and this decision influenced

their own decision to go to college. They witnessed the hardships their older siblings

experienced due to their lack of a college degree that inspired an internal motivation to pursue a college education. Some participants had siblings that were already in college

that created this fixed path for them to go to college. Those who had a sibling that

attended college before them were already familiarized with the process of taking college preparatory courses in high school and the college life experience through their siblings.

Furthermore, they had someone who was already experienced with applying to college, university requirements, and applying for financial aid.

Deciding to attend college at an early age was extremely beneficial for these participants in the years to come. What set these students apart from other Cambodian

American students is that they were already provided with the knowledge of the

importance of college was at an early age and stayed committed to doing well to get into

college and then continue to complete college. In addition, they had the foundation

embedded into their life goals that in order to succeed, college was necessary. For

example, Samphy, a senior in college, stated:

I already knew that I was going to go to college at a young age. I always got good grades growing up.

Samphy was fortunate to grow up in a family that encouraged him going to college and had siblings before him who were familiar with the college system. He grew up in Long Beach, CA but attended school outside the Long Beach Unified District. He witnessed his sister who was five years older than him who was already in college.

Furthermore, she was always active in high school in preparing to go to college by participating in college prep courses as well as the Upward Bound program. The Upward

Bound program serves students that are predominantly from low socioeconomic backgrounds whose parents did not go to college. This program is designed to prepare these students for their future higher education endeavors. Samphy says that his sister was extremely influential in his decision to earn a college education. Along with his sister influencing him to go to college, how college was going to get paid was also a factor:

My older sister, she's about five years older than me, she was always college prep. She did Upward Bound and all that stuff, so I saw that from her. I knew I wanted to go, and that I'd be going to community college just because of the money factor. As you can see now I got a scholarship to go to college, so that's why I chose to go there.

Samrin lives in Orange County, CA. He was fortunate enough to already been born into an educated family. This is a rarity amongst Cambodians living in the United

States. Considering that most of the educated class was executed during the Khmer

Rouge War. Samrin’s educated family survived the war. Prior to coming to the United

States, Samrin’s father was a Supreme Court judge and his mother was a director of national bank in Cambodia. Both of his parents already had professions that required being college educated. Therefore, his decision to go to college was what he claims to be

“automatic” and equivalent to “drinking water” because it was required in the family. He stated that:

It was more like an automatic thing. It was not really a matter of decision. In my family, it's kind of expected that from high school you go to college. It wasn't really a decision.

Samrin also shared that he was independently studious. His father passed away so

his mother was his primary caretaker. However, his mother never had to pressure him to

do his homework or help him with anything with school, he would just do it. He

graduated high school with honors and got into one the best law schools after college.

Mona had a similar experience of discovering that she wanted to go to college at a

young age. Mona graduated from the University of California, Irvine in 2012. Her major

was Journalism and American Studies. Mona’s experience and background was different

from most of her peers at UCI. She grew up in a low SES family and her family relied on

the government for public assistance. Nonetheless, just like most of the Cambodian

American participants in this research, she also did well academically throughout her

whole education. As early as elementary school age, she loved to learn new things and

read. Mona always achieved good grades and was ahead of most of her peers in the K-12

24 grades. As a young child, she understood that the career she wanted to obtained required a college education:

Well, I've always said I wanted to go to college, and it was an aspiration that I've had since I was little. I would say whenever I had to diagram my life, college was always an aspiration that I wanted to fulfill. All the professions I had selected in my dream career required college at any level.

Also, most of the participants were aware of the lack of educated individuals in their community. They often used that as an inspiration to go to college. Samrin said,

I think a lot of it had to do with because my parents didn't go to college or my oldest brothers. I think it had to do with a lot of my teachers, my grade school teachers, junior high school, high school teachers. I think most of my teachers, I enjoy having them and they enjoy having me. But those are the people that you kind of look up to when you have family members or no one that doesn't have a college degree.

Sann, a senior at a Cal State University expressed something similar:

A lot of what happened in Cambodia or the genocide or education was taken away. I feel that if I'm not going to finish higher education, I'm doing a disservice to what was lost back then.

Sann started at the community college but transferred to the CSU. He felt a sense of

obligation to continue on with his education because of what happened with the

Cambodian genocide. He wanted to seize the opportunity that people were executed for.

For him education was more than making money.

Yeah, typical Asian parent is like, "Oh, go to school and then make a lot of money." That was my thought initially too. As I got more into just taking courses wiping out your ignorance with education. That probably sounds to cliché. I was just like, "Oh, education is more than just, it's more than just money." It's finding your identity. Building yourself as a person holistically. Which includes the financial part of your future but also your identity, how you describe yourself.

The advantages these students had in comparison to others is that they had some sort of support from their primary family. For example, Samphy stated that his mother and sister were influential with his decision to go to college.

Even though my mom didn't go to college. She knew it was important. It pretty much started with my older sister, the one closest to me, just because she was always college

prep. She went to UCR and I would always have to take her to school with my dad and drop her off. I hated it at the time, but I guess it reinforced the idea of me going to college and then like, "Now it's your turn to take me to school," and stuff like that, so basically my family.

Challenges

All of the participants in this research stated that they all encountered at least one semester in college that was extremely challenging. Most college students who experience challenges in college often have difficulty adjusting to the curriculum, being away from home, and the change of environment. However, the difference between these

Cambodian American college students in this research and other college students is that they lack support from their parents, and the college environment is a dramatically different environment that they have to adjust to socially. For example, Samphy shared,

I'd say my first huge obstacle was getting used to the environment, especially coming from Long Beach, I'd never seeing so many white people in my life, nothing but white people. They were all from affluent areas and no one could really connect to where I was from and who I was as person. The more affluent people would talk about, "Oh, I got this car for graduation. My parents bought me this. My parents flew down here with me. They stayed in a hotel." I drove down the same day, moved in the same day, and they went back up because they had to go to work. That was always tough. Their family would visit, and my family never really visited me just because they couldn't. They were always working.

In the American culture, it is typical that parents are supportive of their children by helping them move to college. For Cambodian parents, there is a lack of understanding of the importance of college. This lack of understanding affects their children’s ability to do well academically.

Mona shared the challenges of adjusting to the curriculum but did not have family or peers to turn to. Despite being one of the top students at her high school, she not only struggled with the curriculum her first semester but struggled to life in college without the support of parents, family, or even friends to turn for help in essays and adjusting to life in college. She shared:

I guess the main challenge is that we didn't have, or I didn't feel like I had all the resources or know all the resources to tap into, and I was afraid too, at the same time people could just, oh you know I have a friend that is older than me who can help edit my essays or they can give me a second thought. Whereas I had friends that could help me in my dorms, but they were struggling with the same thing. Sometimes I remember in some cases they had parents that could help them with their college essays. I was thinking well, I have no one like that, I don't have anyone that's reliant in terms of helping me. I took a challenging class and I do somewhat regret it.

Chariya expressed that it was a mix of academic and social factors that was the most challenging part about college. Chariya now lives with her mom and siblings. At the time of this interview, she recently graduated from the University of California, San

Diego (UCSD). Her parents are divorced so after graduating from college so she moved back in with her mom to help her mom raise her little brothers. Chariya shared some of the challenges she had in college:

I think a lot of the challenges that I had were definitely academic and social, in a sense. Academically, I wasn't as strong. I think when I when to college I had, not culture shock but academic shock. I was like, "I am definitely not as smart as everyone here." I thought I would be at least at level playing field, but I definitely wasn't. I felt really unintelligent. I think socially it was really hard for to just find a community, and find people that I wanted to be around and knew and all of those things. It was really, really hard because UCSD has a lot of Asian folks, but it's a lot of East Asian international students from China, Korea, and Japan. I think for me it was really, really hard because when I was in high school I was always just identified as Asian, but when I went to UCSD, immediately people didn't identify me as the kind of Asian that I thought I was, which was really, really weird.

Strong Support System

Despite the challenges all these participants experienced, the most common thing

they all had was a strong support system. Whether the source of support was from family,

friends, peers, teachers, or counselors, they had someone to rely on to help them through

some their toughest days in school which prevented further academic consequences such

as getting bad grades the following semester, dropping out of the university, or getting

disqualified.

Chavy, a sophomore at California State University of Long Beach, shares her struggles of being in college but credits her resilience to her support system which consists of friends or family. Her support system is the main reason why she did not consider dropping out of college despite these challenges:

No, I never considered dropping out. I don't think that was ever something I really thought about. It didn't get to that point, and even if it ever did, or when I was struggling, I always had a support system around me. Even if it wasn't my parents that understood me, at least I had my friends or close family I really entrusted information like, hey, I'm not doing good in this course right now. I'm really stressing out at home because you know, my parents aren't understanding why I'm at school all the time. The responsibilities of me taking care of my brother as well.

Chariya also shared that she found support through those in her Ethnic Studies

department during the most challenging times in college. Not only did the people she met

through this department help her stay in school but she also had an academic advisor who

contributed to her success in college.

I guess in terms of who helped me in college, I would say later in college, my third year when I met a lot of other people, when I decided to actually . . . I changed my major to Ethnic Studies and so I met all of these new people, and so they became my community. I guess the people who really helped me in college was my Ethnic Studies advisor. She was awesome, because my college academic advisor for my general education requirements, I had 3 of them, I don't know. I didn't have one, they were terrible.

Another participant, Nary, who graduated from CSULB, shared that despite having siblings that she could turn to when it came to navigating through the community college, it was her college counselor that was helpful in her curriculum planning and transferring out of the community college.

I knew the idea of college but I never knew the steps to go through it. Usually I would learn from my siblings. The highest my siblings got to college was city college so from there I just knew about enrolling in classes but I never knew the steps to take to get my degree or obtain it. So from there I decided to take the step . . . to reach out to my counselor, because they said, "Reach out to your counselor," in order to plan things out and make sure you stay on track. So from there, I talked to my counselor and then also . . . That's pretty much it. When I went to city college, the only challenge I had, I guess, was being able to transfer.

Mona also shared how her retired high school teacher was the one that encouraged her to continue on with college by providing extra support in high school. This teacher first mentored her in Journalism class, then after she retired, this teacher continued to provide her with mentorship. This teacher went above and beyond by purchasing a van with her own money to drive these students to different debate competitions.

She was one of those people. She did above and beyond what a teacher normally would do, and that's what I respect about her. She had mentored me through Journalism class. I had found out about her because I took an elective class in Journalism. She was that person that was letting us come to her house to do debate practice. She was driving us to go to debate competitions. We went to Claremont College, she drove us to Cal State Fullerton. She even bought a van to . . . Well, she was retired, so she bought a van and I remember she was so excited about getting the van and I don't know, I don't remember if we actually even used it to go to places. The fact that she was willing to take our group to go to these debate competitions.

Parental/Familial Influence

These participants all had more than one sibling in their family. Although there

were other factors that influenced their decision to go to college, their parents and family

are the reasons why these individuals continued on with their education despite the many

challenges. In this research, it was found that most of the participants wanted to complete

their education for their parents. Not because their parents were making them go to

school or forcing them to complete, but they wanted to finish to help their parents and

family financially. Most of the participants were aware of the disadvantage their parents

had in the United States.

For example, Tavey is a college graduate but contributes her success to her parents. She understands the hardships her parents went through in order for them to

come to the United States. She also shares stories what the soldiers did to her parents in

the Khmer Rouge War and felt like she needed give back to her parents by being

educated and financially secured to take care of them. She stated:

The passion that my parents they always talk about their struggle. You see that, you don't want them to go through that. For me it's like I want to be able to retire my parents. I want to be able to give them what they gave me. I had so many things to be motivated, inspired about. I want to make a better life for myself for those around me for my family. Especially my parents I just want to make them happy.

Chariya also shared the same aspiration for going to college:

I think mostly when I went to college, I had this idea that I was going to have my life together when I graduated and to know what I was going to do, and to make all of this money and support my family and do all of those things.

The Cambodian parents who came to the United States as a result of the Khmer

Rouge War were mostly uneducated farmers who went into the labor force. Their views and value of education did not mirror their children who were raised in America. They did not understand the importance of education for upward mobility. Instead, most of the parents valued hard work.

However, for some of the participants in this project, their parents did place some value on education. For example, Mona’s parents rewarded her with In-N-Out for reading. Therefore, she would read countless books. This sparked her interest in the future to major in journalism.

Taevy expressed sadness for her father who was an educated soldier with lots of experience prior to immigrating to the United States. Despite the amount of education he had in Cambodia, it did not transfer and he had to start over. Therefore, he encouraged his children to continue to go on with their education by supporting their decision to go to college. Tavey understood what it meant for her father to have his children succeed and used him as a vehicle to keep going on with her education. Even her major was influenced by her parents. She ultimately decided to major in nursing to eventually take care of her ill father who later on passed away.

He also taught in college too. He'd speak French fluently and he'd teach that and he'd teach PE. All kinds of things and then he loves education. He goes I came here, I didn't use a lot of my knowledge but I try my best. He was the one who influenced us like keep going, keep going. Our parents is the one that pushed us because they feel like living in a new country or in a new state or somewhere that's not Cambodia you want to have a better living then having to pick scraps off the floor.

In addition, these Cambodian American parents did not reflect the typical description of the impoverished and uneducated Cambodian parents living in America. For example, one participant came from a line of educated family members. Both of his parents were educated and were working professionals in America. Another participant’s mother actually attended a community college but did not complete a degree. However, the generational gap between mother and child made it difficult for her mother to relate or support her in her educational journey. In addition, there is lack of understanding of how the American school college system works. She stated,

It's completely different from the time when my parents went. My mom only went to community college, so it's different when it comes to her perspective on when I'm supposed to graduate and how the UC system and Cal State system works now. It's a little challenging when it comes to parents understanding of how the education system works now than it was before.

Cambodians in California are known for being successful in running their own donut shop businesses. However, the parents of students in this research had jobs outside of the donut shop industry. For example, Sann’s father works in sales for an American company and his mother works as a paralegal. These jobs and careers already gave these students an advantage for being in a household with parents that excelled and achieved more than the standard Cambodian American family. Despite their achievements, their children understood how hard they work to get to where they are at in their careers and hardships that exist in their parent’s job because of their immigration experience.

Sann was a senior at California State University, Fullerton. His decision to go to college was inspired by his mother who he revered. Though his parents are divorced, his mother was very active in his life.

For some other cases where the parents were peasants their whole life rather than the city people. They came here, they've no education or foundation for them. I think that's a big contribution. Because it's like a cycle where the kids aren't having a good foundation because of what their parents did. There's no basis of reference.

Another participant shared a similar statement,

Sometimes it was hard because when it did come to the process, even though I had the resources at home when it came to applying for college, it was hard to make decisions because I didn't have anybody to really reference back to. I had my uncle and he went to Irvine, so I was expecting to go in the UC, but I stayed back in Cal State. Which I'm really glad because of my brother, my younger brother, it was hard because us growing up, I didn't have too many challenges. I had the resources at school to help me out, but for him it was different. Even though we're two years apart, he took school a lot harder.

Mona shared that it was her mother that influenced her decision to go to college. Her

mother aspired to learn several languages in the refugee camps and often purchased lots

of books for her to read. Her mother also had college books that she gave to Mona to

expand her interest in reading. Mona believed that her mother would have successfully

finished college if it not been for the Khmer Rouge War.

My mom, had she not been impacted by the Khmer Rouge she would have . . . I would say, if she had the opportunity she would have gone to high school. The fact that my mom had learned several different languages in the refugee camps and had aspirations to learn English, French and she had picked up Thai. For me it was something that, if she had the opportunity to go back to school, and she didn't have the war she would have done so. She had always instilled in us that we always had to do good. She purchased books for me that I would end up writing in, and she had some college books from courses she ended up taking I think early in her life, before she had children, so she had some college books still. I would pour over college books, not understanding it. She was a big part of it.

The American Dream Ideology

The “American Dream Ideology” belief was present amongst most of the participants in this research. Most of the participants in this research believed in the

“American Dream” that if you work hard, you can achieve anything you want in America despite where you come from or your race. It is a belief that everyone can achieve success and upward mobility through sacrifice, risk-taking, and hard-work, but not by chance. The first step in achieving this dream is to obtain a good education.

Chea strongly agrees with this ideology. He believes that he has been able to achieve all his accomplishments through hard work. He states:

I know this interview is about growing up Cambodian immigrants and getting a college education. And to really answer that, my experience, I think also I can talk about my brother as well, is that being Cambodian, it didn't really matter, just my personal experience growing up. Because I know Cambodian, the population, they didn't go to college, I mean not a large percent of them go to college. But my experience growing up with my brother and I, it's just up to the person really. And that's my experience, is that even though I was Mexican or even though I was black, the same person I am now, I can still accomplish what I accomplish. It doesn't matter if I'm Cambodian or not. I just happen to be Cambodian.

Khmera, who graduated with a master’s degree, shared that he believed his own inquisitive nature and strong will enabled him to be academically successful because he was able ask the right questions. Therefore, he was able to get the answers and resources he was looking for. In addition, he prides himself in continuing to persevere and was aware of the statistics of failure and dropout rates of Cambodian American males in college. This encouraged him to keep going to beat the stereotypes the statistics

“represent” for Cambodian American males.

That was not taught . . . Nobody encouraged me to do that. I think my inquisitive nature that it was like, "I got an exam and I keep on getting all these good grades. Is this really the hardest you can give me?" I keep on asking that. I guess the teachers just said, "Yeah, there's actually something higher if you want." No counselor or academic advisor told me that. My older brother and older sister didn't tell me that. My friends didn't talk about that.

When asked about how she made the decision to go to college, this participant shared that

she wanted to have the American Dream for her and her family.

Based on the social economics that I grew up in, we didn't really have much and we were reliant on Public Assistance. Even though my Mom had at one point, no longer accepted Social, Welfare or Public Assistance, I did have to use that in order to afford College. For me, my goal in life was to make enough money were I can actually finance my kid's College educations. Give that funding and financial aid to students that were really struggling and didn't have that support from their families. The American Dream, which is the middle class is to have a home and not worry about it and have enough money for retirement. I didn't want to worry about whether or not I had money stored under my bed or in a safe somewhere. I didn't want to have to live in that fear where I didn't have enough money or I had to figure out how much you need to sell of different assorted things to survive.

Chea successfully got in to medical school. He is aware of the opportunities that are available in Utah but still holds on to the belief that anyone can succeed despite where they live, race, or SES. The whole state of Utah is primarily Caucasians. Chea had a mix of friends that consisted of both Caucasian and “immigrant” friends. His Caucasian friends were all upper-middle class whose parents were all college graduates. The

“immigrant” group of friends that were Hispanics, Cambodians, and Vietnamese whose parents did not go to college. Chea, like most of the participants in this research believes that it is your own abilities, determination, and hard-work that will contribute to your academic success. He believes that he can succeed anywhere. Chea said,

If they work hard enough, they can do it. At the same time, some people need to be in that environment to help to boost them up. For some people like me, I can be anywhere, and be okay. But for some people they just need to have that environment.

What Chea does not realize are the structural and cultural factors that are preventing other

Cambodian Americans from advancing as successfully as he has. Their lack of social and

economic capital has hindered them from being able to successfully complete or start

college. They have no access to resources like most environments in the Caucasian

community can provide.

Similarly, Samrin, who graduated with a law degree from a prestigious school lived in a very affluent neighborhood in Orange County. When asked to describe the type of community he resided in, he stated,

No, mostly white. We were very few Asian. The Asian mostly are Chinese, rich Chinese kids; but I would say about 70% of the student body population were white, maybe more than that, maybe 80%. It's considered as the rich high school for rich area. Most of the homes were a million-dollar home over there. It's mostly rich kids over there.

The difference between Chea and Samrin was that this participant was aware of the advantage they had being in that environment. Most of the participants understood the importance of how geographical location can largely influence life chances.

Samphy and Sann both attended Lakewood High School. Samphy often describes the challenges of catching the bus each morning to make it to school on time. However, he understood how beneficial it was to remain at Lakewood High School despite all the challenges. Sann was fortunate to get affordable housing in Lakewood with his family but describes his experience as conflicting. He was not able to relate to the Cambodian

Americans at the school.

Another participant who also attended Lakewood High School described the school in the following manner:

Lakewood high school, so the high school was nothing like the city. Because the city is mostly white people. Then you have some minority here and there. It was basically a suburban community. Inside Lakewood you have people coming from Long Beach. That included a lot of low income families.

The other participant who lived and attended the same high school shared his views on

what the demographics of his high school consist of:

The majority was black and Mexican and then you have some Asian here. Then a good majority of white people too. It was pretty mixed. Then Asian is like the least group, just like a lot of other high schools.

Another participant shared that it was his mom that pushed him to apply for college.

Though she relied on the school system to educate her son and was not able to help him throughout his whole K-12 journey, she always encouraged him to do well in school. He stated that,

I don't think I can judge the Cambodians who didn't decide to go to a college. Because that could've easily been me. Had my mom not push me. Even though she didn't tutor me.

PTSD Effects on the Family

One theme that came up consistently with respondents is how the effects of the

Khmer Rouge War were present in their families and there were problems in the family

that the children accepted as a norm. There were some fathers who were not there for

their children, mothers who suffered from PTSD, some fathers passed away, and some parents who had health problems as a result of the war.

For example, one participant shared that his dad is absent from his life despite still physically living in the house with their family:

He lives with us. I can say that. He doesn't really resemble the father figure. My mom, she played the mom and the dad. It was like that. My dad was around. He was always a financial support up until I was in fifth grade, and then he left. He went back to Vietnam for about two years, and then he came back. After that he didn't work, he didn't do anything. He just laid around the house and just smoked his cigarettes and hung out with his friends and didn't contribute to anything. It's been like that ever since. It's kind of just dead weight.

PTSD and depression impacted the parents’ parenting style, the way they communicated to their children, and it created barriers that prevented them from having a relationship with their children. Despite the lack of emotional support the parents provided to their children, these children/participants highly respected and revered their parents. They understood the effects the war had on their ability to provide them with the type of emotional support most American parents provide for their kids.

One participant shared that his mother was not involved in his life due to PTSD that was never officially diagnosed or treated. He shared that there were no resources at the refugee camp that were living in or after immigrating to America. He shared,

The thing is my mom wasn't involved at all because she has post traumatic stress disorder. But my dad he was involved in our life, but not so much in our school. We kind of do whatever we want in school. And then he didn't have to worry about it because we were who we are, we were good kids in general, so he didn't have to really take care of us. I think back in their refugee camp; I don't think they knew what they were doing really. They don't have enough resources available to them and there were just so many people that needed help. So my mom wasn't diagnosed correctly at all, and they're at this camp when we were in the Philippines or when we were here. So yeah she was never involved in our life. Which is fine because we grew up and we were kids, we don't know. We'd go outside and play when our mom was having a lot of problems, but we don't know.

Despite having no maternal presence in their family, he shared that his family was

resilient and still did well in all aspects of their lives. He continued to share that,

But growing up realizing that we never actually really had a mom figure in our life, it didn't really bother our family that much but deep down inside it did really bother us. But we just kind of move on and said this is our family, this is how our mom is like. We just move forward and do the best we can. And all my siblings they're all pretty successful, they all own their own homes and stuff. My dad never had a problem worrying about any of us.

Another participant shared that the terror her father went through during the war.

She shared that,

My dad he's a rebel about education like forget it, they can't kill you for what you know but they did kill you but they still go along with you and you just bless you and you get . . . you know? My dad, he's been through so much they caught him three times. They tied him upside down, they hit him like a pinata. They put a bag over his head, they threw him in the freaking water and he just faint. He didn't die they just thought and they left him there.

She also shared that her father still believed in the power of education before and after the

war. He would continue to encourage to her to well in school despite the terror he

witnessed during his time in captive. After hearing the stories of the war told by her

father, it encouraged her to keep going her with her education.

Considering the lack of resources available to assist new Cambodian immigrants in the United States, the health and psychological consequences they experienced went untreated which has severe consequences on their health. Two of the participants’ fathers, unfortunately, passed away. This continues to cause intergenerational trauma amongst the children. Nonetheless, these children feel an obligation to support and take care of their widowed mothers by putting their responsibilities to the side.

Mona’s mother took four to six months off of work to cope with the loss of her husband. Losing her dad affected the whole family. Not only did she struggle academically to keep up but she also dealt with being unable to afford her home near the university, which resulted in her moving back home with her mother far away from campus. She shared that,

There was that moment after my dad's funeral that I was thinking that I should take a semester, quarter off, it’s not semester, quarter off of college just to help my mom through the process.

Sann and Chariya were the two participants had parents who divorced, and the divorce affected the family. Both lived with their mothers, but still in communication with their fathers. Chariya shared such a strong familial obligation to her family that she contemplated dropping out of the current university she was attending to enroll in a university closer to her family to help during their hard time. She suffered from severe depression after the divorce and loss of her grandparents within the same year and felt a strong obligation to take her of her mother and siblings.

I was like, "I should just drop out, I should just go to UCR, I should go home and be with my family," just because my family at the time, there was like so many things going on. My parents separated, both of my grandparents passed away my first year of college. I'm almost going through a really severe depression, I had 2 little brothers, she's a single mom. I was just like, "Oh my gosh, I need to go back." I never really thought about seriously and my mom never really let me think about it seriously. I would say I thought

about it, but I never took it into consideration in a very heavy sense. I just wanted it to be done as fast as possible.

Sann expressed shared how difficult it was to deal with the frustration of navigating through the educational system without parental guidance and the challenges of not living up to the “model minority myth” of doing academically well at school. Now as an adult,

Sann understands the structural and cultural challenges his parents dealt with as immigrants.

My parents were divorced, so my mom didn't have time to teach me when I was a kid. It was like that, she was relying on the school system to teach me because she had to work. Then as I got older and then I was like, "Why am I not good at college statistics? Oh, because my mom never taught me when I was four." Then I came to realize that it's not her fault. They all came here, she tried to go to school. Because our family is so traditional you have to get married by this age, have kids. Then when you try to combine it together, it's hard and then you bring in the divorce. I did get mad at my mom at first. Then my dad too because . . . This is personal. He was the main contributor to the divorce. Because I was just like, "Wow, why can't I be like the other Asian kids where you taught me early and taught me how to play piano and so I can live up to this model minority."

In addition to this, similar to the shared experiences of the other participants, Sann felt an overwhelming obligation to be there for both of his parents. One parent had health issues and the other parent had a gambling problem. As a result of his dad’s gambling problem, he relocated schools and moved in with his dad to help him. This is common amongst most of the participants, they have feel like they have a huge responsibility of having care of their parents that falls heavily on them. They sacrifice their own experiences and put aside their own plans to help their family.

The intergenerational effects of the war on these 1.5 and 2nd generation

Cambodian American causes hardships during their educational journey. Aside from having to deal with the new experiences of college, not meeting up to the “model minority myth,” academic challenges, and issues at home, they are also part of the struggles and problems that their parents are having due to their parents’ lack of cultural,

39 social, and economic capital in the United States. Considering that most of their parents do not have resources or support system, they use their children to help solve and mediate whatever problems they are dealing with.

CHAPTER 5

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

It has been more than thirty years since Cambodian Americans escaped the trauma in their country to come to America. However, despite the lengthy time they have been in the United States, they still have not made as much strides as other Asian ethnic groups. The literature review highlights how the war still has a profound effect on the parents, which in turn creates hardships for their children, who have accumulated cultural

capital as an American but lack economic and social capital from their parents.

Based on the statistics, Cambodians still perform below the national average

educationally. As of 2013, only 14% have obtained a bachelor’s degree. In addition, 79%

of Cambodians in the United States are foreign born. Children of 1st generation

immigrant parents with low levels of human capital experience difficult learning

environments at home. In addition, 53% of Cambodians speaks English “less than very

well.” This lack of language proficiency hinders the ability for them to assist their

children with homework or seek out resources, and causes language barriers between

child and parent. Complex issues exist amongst this group. However, it is the child that

has a difficult time trying to overcome barriers in obtaining academic mobility.

This study aimed to learn the life stories and narratives of these children in the

American educational system. I explore their stories and experiences: when they made

the decision to go to college, how they transitioned into college life, the challenges they

41 faced in college, and their future goals. There were six themes about education that were found amongst the participants: the decision to go to college occurred at a young age, all had challenges they encountered in college that was more than academic challenges, all had a strong support system before and during their college years, parents/family- members influenced their decision to go to college, they had believed in the American ideology that if you work hard you can achieve anything you want. In addition to these themes about education, there was also evidence of intergenerational PTSD that existed in their families as result of the Khmer Rouge War.

Most of the participants in this research were successful in getting into college because they had already set this goal for themselves at a very young age. They all did well in school throughout their education but more importantly, they had the desire, motivation, and confidence to continue on with their educational goals. One of the main qualities of all these participants is their love of learning new things and their love of education. They also thought about college as young as elementary age. When you include all these characteristic traits with being resilient to the struggles they had at home, you get students such as the students in this research who not only succeed in graduating from a four year university but aspire to continue on with more goals such as serving the community, helping their families, or going to graduate schools.

All of these Cambodian American students who graduated from college attributed some of their success to their strong support system during challenging times in life as a college student, problems at home, and academic challenges. Most of the students had at least one strong support system that might either be a friend, mentor, parent, academic advisor, or university administrator.

In addition, these individuals were also at an advantage by being in a stimulated

environment and were strongly encouraged by their parents to do well in school and go to

college. Their parents seemed content to let their kids thrive and did not consider their

children’s intellect and future to already be pre-determined by destiny based on their

religious beliefs of Theravada Buddhism. Most importantly, some of the participants’ parents in this research had professions or an education level that surpassed others in the

Cambodian community.

All of the participants in this research were 1.5 or 2nd generation Cambodian

American students. Those who were 1.5 generation immigrated to the United States before kindergarten. The second generation are United States children born to foreign parents. Both generations of students were found to have assimilated and integrated well in America through education. Upon speaking to them, their mannerisms mirror those of native born Americans. The only difference is that they are bi-cultural. They consider themselves Americanized with a proud understanding and appreciation of their

Cambodian heritage. Evidently all the participants in this research whole-heartedly believe and put into action that they truly believed in the “American Dream” and that

through hard work and determination, anyone can succeed with a college education.

Considering that this research was conducted in California, a state with a strong

immigrant presence, Cambodian Americans’ experiences in this state are overshadowed.

Unlike their Mexican, Chinese, Indian, or Korean, immigrant counterparts, the lack of

resources in education, health, and mental health are very visible in the lives of these

students. These other immigrant groups were not forced out of their country because of political reasons like Cambodian Americans. These groups immigrated willingly for a

43 better opportunity for themselves and their families. Cambodian Americans escaped

Cambodia because they had no choice and some did not want to leave. Although some of these participants never experienced the war the way their parents experienced it, the effects the war had on their parents affected their lives in America. For example, there were two fathers who passed away because of heart disease, either an absentee father or mother, or divorce. The physical abuse and forced starvation during the war contributed to the current health of those who survived it. The lack of Cambodian physicians and mental health therapists contributed to the poor health most Cambodian Americans have today.

The challenges and disadvantages that these Cambodian American students experienced were their advantage amongst their other immigrant counterparts. Their advantages came in the form of being able to cope with the challenges, disappointment, and setbacks but still continuing to go on with their education. Considering that some of their parents did not speak English, this subjected them to translate for their parents and build self sufficient skills of independently doing things for themselves. Although the parents of these participants provided a stimulated an environment for them during their youth and were supportive of their decision to go to college, during challenging times for these students, they were left to deal with their hardships on their own or with a friend or university. This differs from their American counterparts who rely heavily on the support of their parents. An example would be applying for school, Cambodian American students will seek out resources on their own at their school or online and apply without parental help. These skills of being self sufficient enabled them to be successful in college. Considering that college requires strict demands of studying, prioritizing, and a

44 strong commitment, these students had an advantage by building these skills at a very young age.

The “model minority myth” popularized by journalists and educators created an image of Asian Americans as educationally and economically successful in America.

Their economic success was achieved by overcoming hardships and obstacles through

“hard work, thrift, strong family ties, and emphasizing their children’s education”

(Sakamoto 2012: 310). Success was often measured by academic achievement, social class, and income.

In addition, based on this “myth,” it is assumed that Asian Americans are least likely to have existing social problems in their communities such as divorce, single- parent families, poor educational attainment, juvenile delinquency, crime, drug addiction, unemployment, and welfare dependency (Sakamoto 2012). However, Cambodian

Americans face a multitude of social problems in their community. First, they faced the traumatic events in their home country which resulted them moving to America. Second, there are very low educational attainment rates, youth in gangs (juvenile delinquency), and most live below the poverty line which created welfare dependency. Furthermore, they have parents who are postwar victims who came to the United States with existing physical and mental health problems that went untreated because there were no resources at the time to assist them. Their parents also came to the United States with low skill levels and many with less than the equivalent of a 5th grade education level.

The stories of the students in this research highlight tremendous resilience in the face of these hardships and success despite the cultural and structural challenges they faced that were out of their control. They drew on their communities and social networks

45 to provide them with the support they needed to complete their college education even when their parents were able to provide little support financially and academically.

One advantage that the participants who shared their stories for this research had was that some were fortunate enough to live outside of the Cambodian ethnic enclaves, though some lived in cities with other members of the Cambodian community. It is within these Cambodian enclaves that we see a concentration of those with low educational attainment levels, those living below the poverty line, and those relying on government assistance. The participants in this study may have gained an advantage living cities and areas outside the enclave that may have afforded them access to better schools and social conditions than Cambodian Americans living inside the enclave generally face.

At the same time, although these students did not experience the war like their parents did, what happened to their parents affected their lives in America. As refugees fleeing from their home country, they already arrived in the United States with major disadvantages. As mentioned in the literature review, the first wave of Cambodian immigrants in America consisted of those who were uneducated with no resources.

Because no resources were available, existing mental health problems such as PTSD and physical health problems continue to be untreated.

Many of the participants reported feeling obligated to take care of their parents because they had few other means of support. Students reported concerns about being away from family, particularly in times of trouble, while others actually moved back home to help out. Participants also reported significant mental and physical health problems among their parents. Some of these problems are directly related to their

46 parent’s experiences during the war as those who were in concentration camps experienced physical abuse and forced starvation. PTSD was also a major concern.

Although I did not set out to explore the topic of parental PTSD, it was a consistent theme that was brought up by participants throughout the research. This points to another way in which this group of students do not fit into the “model minority myth.”

Cambodian Americans face unique challenges with their life at school and home that create barriers to graduating from college. However, despite all the hardships that they dealt with in their personal lives, somehow, these students persevered and made the decision to go to college.

Future research on this group should examine the educational experiences of

Cambodian Americans living in a Cambodian enclave and those living outside of an ethnic enclave. There are some resources and community services available for

Cambodian Americans living in Long Beach, CA, which is predominately a Cambodian enclave. Those living there will have more exposure to those resources based on knowledge of seeing flyers around the city, word of mouth, or through their friends and family social media accounts. However, these resources may not be accessible to those living outside the enclave. In addition, future research may wish to explore further the differences in the experiences of 1.5 and 2nd generation Cambodian Americans who graduated from college. Lastly, it would be interesting to examine the mental state or psychological health of the 1.5 and 2nd generation to understand how their parents’ inability to speak English to them has affected their development and shaped them into the person that they have become.

APPENDIX

INTERVIEW TOPIC GUIDE

1. Tell me about how you made the decision to attend college?

2. Tell me about who has contributed to your decision to attend college?

3. Give me an example of what you hope to achieve by going to college?

4. Describe some of the challenges you experienced in college?

5. Did these challenges make you consider dropping out of college? Why?

6. Tell me about who helped you while you were attending college?

7. Tell me about your future goals: grad school, occupation, career, etc.?

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