Class acts: Indian American high school students negotiate professional and ethnic identities

This article examines how class, race, ethnicity and identity interact at the macro and micro levels to reify the model minority stereotype of Asian American students. Specifically, data from a qualitative, interview study conducted in New York City with Indian American high school students (whose parents immigrated from India) reveal how messages from school and home shape professional and ethnic identities, pushing students toward careers promising financial security (for example, medicine) over those that may interest the students but be less financially viable (for example, teaching). Implications in terms of representation in school and society as well as teacher education are discussed.