Re-evaluating hyper-selectivity: occupational niches as ethnic capital.

This paper re-evaluates the concept "hyper-selectivity". Hyper-selectivity, that immigrants are more highly educated than nonmigrants and the average American, is thought to explain the exceptional academic and occupational achievements of Asian Americans, yet hyper-selectivity seems to be limited for one very large Asian American group: Filipino Americans. Unlike their counterparts who display incredible levels of upward mobility, Filipino Americans demonstrate a decline; they report lower levels of B.A. attainment compared to the first generation. Drawing on a five-year ethnographic study of middle-class Filipino Americans in the New York City metro area, I contend that one reason that hyper-selectivity is limited for Filipino Americans is their ethnic capital. Specifically, occupational niches in nursing and the U.S. Navy, have significantly impacted the ideas about success and social networks among Filipino Americans such that second-generation youth desire jobs in health care and enlisting in the military. Findings pose important implications to the study of second-generation mobility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]