According to Census data, Southeast Asians as a group and students of Laotian and Khmer (Cambodian) descent in particular, have one of the lowest rates of high school graduation and college attendance in the Unites States. Using Bourdieu's cultural capital and Bourdieu's and Coleman's social capital frameworks, this cross-cultural qualitative study examined the influence that parents, friends, and teachers have on the academic achievement of thirteen Laotian students and twenty-seven Khmer students. Like other Asian American parents, and indeed, other immigrant parents, across national origins, all the Southeast Asian students' parents have high expectations of their children. Yet there is a paradox between what parents and children aspire to and what they know about how to achieve those goals. Contrary to the cultural-deficit argument, it was found that Southeast Asian parents and families are the most influential motivating factors in these students' academic lives.

Lao and Khmer parents lack what Bourdieu calls institutionalized and embodied capital to effectively assist their children's educational endeavors. In addition, they are limited by their working-class networks and social capital to provide any academic and career information to their children. Because of these reasons, these students rely on the social capital they can gain in school through their relationships with teachers and peers. The challenge for these students has been that social capital can operate in both positive and negative ways. My findings point to the fact that the social capital given to students may vary according to the relationships they develop in schools. In this study, the students' academic track was particularly important in determining the types of academic supports available to students. For successful students, the fact that teachers and peers have positive perceptions of their abilities and believe in their future success contributes to their academic motivation and achievement. This study adds to this extant body of literature by highlighting how Lao and Khmer students access support from parents, friends, and teachers. It reiterates the important role of institutional agents in Southeast Asian students' academic lives. Lastly, this research shows the variability of academic experiences of Lao and Khmer students.