ABSTRACT
This study drew on the concepts of “funds of knowledge” (FK) – the existing resources, knowledge, and skills embedded in minority families – and critically examined the role that minority families and communities played in the university choice process among the least represented South and Southeast Asians for higher education institutions in Hong Kong. Two core questions were addressed: (1) What kinds of FK were available in minority households? and (2) How did minority students utilize and mobilize them in attempts to access university? Semistructured interviews with 15 minority university students documented the multiple forms of FK – motivational-emotional, informational, and financial – and how the familial and community-based FK positively influenced the minority students’ pathways to university. Viewing these FK through an antideficit perspective, this study challenges existing negative portrayals of the experiences of students from minority families and suggests that education policy and practice should leverage minority resources to boost their university/college enrolment.
