People below are saying their poor Scottish ancestors didn't seem that unusually smart. Immigration restrictions have changed who comes to the US. Pre-migration parental socioeconomic status/educational achievement is one of the best predictors of educational success among children of immigrants. Your trick is simply an observation that Asians immigrating legally to the US come on certain visas which bring a non-representative socioeconomic mix to the US, and their children (who are now Asian-American) do very well. The people who stayed in Asia are not the same as the people who could afford to fight for a US visa.
The "immigrant advantage" fades in three generations, at which point achievement by children reflects the US average. This is the influence, if you like, of American "ethnicity", which is often quite anti-intellectual.
The "immigrant advantage" fades in three generations, at which point achievement by children reflects the US average. This is the influence, if you like, of American "ethnicity", which is often quite anti-intellectual.
The intro here is an interesting read: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3442927/