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I came across a thread on deviantArt where someone brought up the whole notion of people in a Maclean news magazine complaining that the top Canadian universities are becoming "too Asian", that it's too hard and competitive, and that it focuses too much on academics.

Personally, coming from the state of California in the U.S. where every University of California institutions are dominated by Asians, I'm not exactly bothered by Asian dominancy in universities. And I don't see a problem with universities focusing on academics, either.

Too Asian
Who Gets Into University

For anyone here who goes to any of these top Canadian universities (UofT, UofW, UofB), what do you think of this?

Ok, before I comment, I'm gonna say that I may be biased (being part of that Asian cohort lol...), and that I don't live in Canada (but I live in the US, where the situation is much worse, imo.).

That said, I basically agree with what Pandora said. If abandoning meritocracy and thus losing efficacy is the cost of some supposed "ethnic diversity" that turns out to be little more than 'superficial', then I say that it's definitely not a good trade-off. University is meant to educate the brightest members of a community for the benefit of not only themselves, but the populace as a whole. Placing limits on the 'brightest' does little but hold the population back from what it could be. I mean, I understand that everyone wants to be successful, be knowledgeable, be respected, and have a comfortable income and lifestyle, but if you're not going to work for it, then you forfeit it. Campus life is pretty unique in the US and Canada--where recreation, mediums for expression, etc. are offered as both an incentive and a reward for one's endeavors--learning is still the focus of higher education.

Ehh, I've been tired all day, and I have more to say, but I'll add it later. =/

Off topic: How many colleges have you applied to so far? o_0

20?

Excuse anything incoherent: I'm tired from a long, early day at work.

The controversy over this article is absolutely stupid, I'm just going to say. People (Asian people, mostly) tried to get politicians to stop funding Maclean's magazine because of this article: because the article itself (not the people interviewed) were racist.

Personally, I did not find the article to be racist. I think some of the people interviewed do hold racist beliefs, but the article only informs the reader that prospective undergrads view campus life as important to their academic career, and that these people see an ethnic minority as a hindrance to campus life.

I go to the University of Toronto, and there is a large Asian community. However, are they a sign of a lacking campus community? Nope. But then again, there are 2 types of Asian students, largely due to their upbringing. Those brought up in Canada work hard and still have parents with high expectations, but they manage to work hard, do well, and go out and have fun. It seems that international students - though not all - tend to shut themselves out and study hard.

Studying hard is not bad, but it is preferred to be a well-rounded individual. In fact, at least in Canada, expectations have changed, and employers look for well-rounded employees. You may have gone to the best schools on the planet and got perfect marks, but that is not enough to qualify you as a doctor anymore. We're seeing now that doctors need to know how to be social creatures - to work with other people and patients and their families. I have a friend going to med school, and he said he needed to have had 40 volunteer positions in order to be considered! So, shutting yourself away is not only unhealthy, but detrimental to your career.

Students are universities like McGill, UofT, UBC and all others seem to go to school, have a job, and socialize with minimal problems. It's not so much about spending every hour of your life studying, but about how to study well and stay sane. Studies have found that students tend to do better academically if they have extracurricular activities.

Anyway, I think these pre-undergrads have misconceptions about what university is like. Work hard to get their and get the best education you can get. You'll always meet friends and have a social life. In university, you'll learn that what you think you know is not what really is.

I have a bigger issue with racial segregation. I find that all people, but more so Asian people, tend to disassociate themselves from people who are not of the same origins. Taking the example of Asian students, there are many Asian students who hang out with all groups of people. But then again, an awful lot of them choose to only hang out with other Asian people. I see groups of Koreans, groups of Vietnamese, groups of Taiwanese, etc. I don't think that's conducive to an open-minded and multicultural campus.

I can understand that we go through and experience the world differently, but that the way we interact with it is shaped by our upbringing and who we are. Obviously, Korean people will see the world through the eyes of a Korean person, and thus might prefer to hang with other people who see the world the same way they do. They were brought up in another culture and want to experience a fraction of it among other people who want the same thing. A white or black Canadian can't possibly understand them because they were raised and identify differently.

Maybe it's because of language barriers. For many international students, it's hard going to school and working in a language not your native tongue. It's easier if you have a group of friends who can speak your first language, because within this group of friends you can truly feel as though you're at home and comfortable. These other people can help you manoeuvre your way through this strange culture and language.

But is this the way to be? When I first moved to Toronto from Ottawa, I was stunned to have been shunned from a group of Korean people dancing to B.E.G.'s Abracadabra. I never knew many people (no one, actually) who listened to Korean music, let alone knew the entire dance to a popular song. I just went up to them to say that it was really glad and that I'm so excited that I'm not the only person who knew about B.E.G.

I spoke to another Korean res-mate about this and she told me that Korean people don't like to hang out with non-Koreans unless this person speaks amazing Korean or the Korean people are "white-washed". I was saddened because for the first time (second, because I'm gay) I was rejected for not being something. I don't see this as being a multicultural campus.

There's just as much prejudice towards Asian students as there are towards other students. It's a cycle of discrimination (not saying that people go out of their way to hate each other, but just don't hang out outside of class).

Anyway, I didn't find the article to be racist, but the people interviewed were due to misunderstandings caused by stereotyping. There is some truth to the article of course, but a lot of students are accepting of each other. We earned our way to go to that school, and so we are capable of being in each other's presence. Honestly, we don't care about each other, unless we're interested in their background and want to learn more about them.

The major concern, though, is racial segregation that happens at these large institutions.

Some people have complained about immigrants taking the jobs of Canadians, and there is some truth to that. It's so hard for undergrads to start careers after finishing university because no jobs exist. People spend upwards of an entire year before finding a position, so more people have to get a Master's degree only to be considered for actual jobs.

Canada lets in more immigrants and refugees than any other country, but people here feel that the government doesn't care about the people already living here. Our taxes goes to pay for these new people to live in the country (many seem to take advantage of welfare).

What upsets people the most is that universities and jobs are expected to hire a certain number of visible minorities. An example: a white man with a Master's degree goes for a job with the Federal government. A man of Indian descent goes for the same job. The white man has more qualifications for the job than the Indian man, but the Indian man is given the job because he is a visible minority. The government will hire him over you, even though your better for the job.

Universities are also competitive institutions. I wouldn't imagine them to be as nit-picky, but in programs were only a certain number of students are admitted, they will employ the same standard as the example above to make the group be more "diverse". This is a huge part about why people are upset - other people are getting opportunities only because they are a minority. Lots of people are Canadian-borne, but it appears to many others that jobs, especially good jobs, aren't going to the people who are Canadian. The government cares more about helping immigrants succeed than Canadians, when Canadians are the ones having a hard time just getting by!

In a country like Canada, one should be hired based on merit alone - race, sex, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, age should not be included in the hiring process. Unfortunately, I will be an unlikely candidate for a job because I am a white, male.

It's not only about people being lazy, because hard-working people are still rejected for something irrelevant to meritocracy.