1970, the proportion of Chinese working in personal services had plummeted to 7.1 percent (still higher than the 2.3 percent figure for whites). Chinese employed in manufacturing more than doubled, from 7.6 to 17.3 percent. And the proportion of professionals jumped from 2.2 to 21.2 percent, surpassing the figure of 17 percent for working whites. Today, higher percentages of Chinese men hold college degrees than do white or black males.
Chinese are still overrepresented in some fields. In 1970,83...