This is a phenomena in the mass medias that cuts across most ethnicities. Characters in television shows and movies cannot act outwardly educated, show interest in fine art, classical music, science, or any intellectual achievement or personal refinement, because that is "elitist"
That’s a big part of it, but it also has to do with the limits on the part of the show’s writers and the show’s audience. The job titles Alex mentioned are all easily recognized and understood. If you say someone is a lawyer, doctor, or music producer virtually everyone knows what that is (on some level). In other words, the job does not require a big explanation, detail, or background information. This is true in “white” shows as well.
If you say someone is an actuary, a nuclear physicist, or an associate provost most people on the show--and in the audience--would go, “huh?” because they don’t know people who work in those fields. The job may be something young people should aspire to (because it requires a good education, discipline, pays well, etc.) but if it is unfamiliar, it becomes a distraction from what the show/character is really about.
The writers on shows like the ones mentioned don’t always have wide experience themselves so going out of their comfort zone (in terms of a job titles) would require the expense of working with or hiring a consultant to advise them on the field/occupation. Movie studies do this all the time, but TV shows don’t always have the budget to do this sort of thing. As some of you know, I work in higher education. I have several friends who have consulted with writers/film makers to advice them on what should/would/or would not happen in a script involving a university setting. Other professionals do this for hospital shows/films, and other fields (the military for example) that are unfamiliar to the writers. If you look at the credits for some TV shows/films you will see references to one or more consultants. These people are paid to provide the film makers with expertise about the world they operate in.
The job titles on most TV shows correspond to what the writers/audience knows or is likely to know. If you make it too complicated or varied it becomes a distraction.
Why are there so many hospital shows, police shows, lawyer shows on TV? Because they are familiar. Going outside this bubble requires more work, but it also potentially makes for better TV because it educates/pushes the audience. Think of Six Feet Under; most people know nothing about mortuary science, but the show took us there and in doing so became one of the best shows on TV.
